THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 



the average yield of corn for the state of 

 Illinois can easily and very profitably be 

 increased to at least ten bushels per acre 

 above the last four-year average, and this 

 average, 36.8 bushels, is the highest aver- 

 age ever recorded for four consecutive 

 Illinois corn crops." 



Just what your breeder of dairy cows 

 is doing in the improvement, by breeding 

 and selection, of the milk flow and but- 

 ter-fat content; just what your breeder is 

 doing to increase the number of high- 

 priced steaks in the beef steer; just what 

 the nurseryman is doing whose trees you 

 know always are the best; just what the 

 the seed-corn specialist is doing to furnish 

 a quality of pure-bred seed that, coming 

 from a thoroughly tested ancestry, is sure 

 to yield splendid results at harvest time — 

 just this sort of work is what tells the 

 story of success or failure in strawberry 

 production. Plants that have been bred 

 up to the highest degree of productive- 

 ness, that possess known powers — these 

 certainly are the ones that afford the only 

 safe basis upon which to build the struc- 

 ture of an enterprise from which one may 

 hope to realize fortune and independence. 



Cultivating the Fruiting Bed 



NO matter how well a strawberry 

 bed has been cared for during the 

 growing season, weeds and grass 

 are almost sure to bob up through 

 the mulching, especially if the mulching 

 be lightly spread. The mulching itself 

 is likely to be responsible for the presence 

 of weed seeds, as the materials composing 

 it are almost sure to be infested with such 

 seed. 



It is at once apparent that weeds must 

 not be permitted to dispute possession of 

 the ground when the vines are in full 

 frutt, because the making of good fruit 

 and lots of it requires all the moisture and 

 plant food the soil can supply. And it is 

 a big job to keep the fruiting bed free 

 from these obnoxious growths by hand. 



The easiest and best way to get rid of 

 the weeds is to rake the mulching close 

 up to the row of plants, and then cultivate 

 the bare space between the rows. By 

 doing this the mulching will be so thick 

 along the rows that weeds and grass can 

 not come up through it, and the stirring 

 of the soil between the rows will prevent 

 seed from germinating there. 



If the grower is careful to see that he 

 does not cultivate too deeply; does not 

 start the work until danger from frost is 

 past; does not cultivate when plants are 

 in bloom save when the soil is so damp 

 that the dust will not fly — if these points 

 are observed this work will serve two 

 purposes: it will destroy foul growths and 

 conserve moisture in the soil, and these 

 will insure an increase in crop. If any 

 weeds should grow in the row they would 

 be so few as to make it a simple matter 



to pull them out by hand; and this is 

 easily done after a rain and the ground 

 is moist and yielding. 



Success to the Man Who Does 



By Joseph Bolt 



AS you invite accounts of practical 

 experiences in strawberry growing, 

 I will try to tell you of mine, not 

 in any spirit of boasting, but in the hope 

 that it may encourage someone who is in 

 the same position that once I was to take 

 courage and try it, too. 



For thirty years I worked at the trade 

 of blacksmith, and always considered my- 

 self a little above the average, especially 

 in the matter of horse-shoeing. So I al- 

 ways could earn good wages and part of 

 the time was in business for myself. But 



JOSEPH BOLT 



do what I would, I could not make more 

 than a living and keep my family decently. 

 Expenses always equalled income. Fi- 

 nally, when I was nearly fifty years of age, 

 my health gave way; my v\ife's health 

 also was poor, and the doctor told me I 

 had to give up my trade and keep away 

 from the fire, or I could not live a year 

 longer; that I must get into a warm cli- 

 mate and work in the open air. 



Well, the warm climate was a long 

 way from Pennsylvania, where I then 

 lived, but we made up our minds to 

 make the change; sold out nearly every- 

 thing but those effects we could pack in 

 boxes and a set of my tools which I 

 knew would come in handy here, and 

 came down to Florida in the spring of 

 1900, with a capital of less than $100, 

 both wife and myself in poor health and 

 having a five-year-old child. I bought 

 twfenty-three acres of wild land for $30. 

 It was thought to be poor land, but it 

 was well located on a public road, with 

 railroad station and lake only a half-mile 



Pg&e 102 



away. Here I erected a rude house — as 

 all we need in this climate is enough to 

 keep the rain and wind out — and started 

 to clear and fence. 



We soon found that health was return- 

 ing, and before the summer was over 

 both of us were strong and healthy. 

 The next spring I set out 200 peach 

 trees and had enough land under cultiva- 

 tion to raise our vegetables. Then I re- 

 ceived a strawberry catalogue from the 

 North, and the truths set forth in that 

 book so appealed to my reason that I 

 concluded to try strawberry growing. 

 That summer I got a piece of ground in 

 readiness, and set out 2,000 finely bred 

 plants the following spring. Everybody 

 said that my land was not good for the 

 purpose of strawberry growing, and that 

 I was foolish to pay so high a price for 

 plants, with high express charges added, 

 when I could get plants here for one- 

 fourth the cost. But I was in for it, and 

 was bound to see it through, although the 

 summer was very unfavorable — hot and 

 dry — but the plants all lived, save about 

 thirty, which were cut by worms. 



Last spring I had my first harvest. 

 Although I lost some berries through un- 

 favorable weather, and some through a 

 blunder I made, still we sold 1280 quarts, 

 not counting what we ate, canned and 

 gave to our friends. And we had pre- 

 served enough to last until now. This 

 spring we picked our first berries Febru- 

 ary 6, and have picked twice a week ever 

 since. Still the vines are full of green 

 berries and are blooming, with a promise 

 of doing better than last year. 



Now I have a piece of ground ready 

 to put into strawberries as soon as the 

 plants come, which will double the out- 

 put, and next spring I shall double again. 

 I also have a nice peach orchard of 615 

 trees, most of them in bearing, and am 

 now breaking up land to set to peach 

 trees next spring. I a'so have a nice bed 

 of asparagus, which will be ready to cut 

 for market next spring. So you can see 

 that with strawberries, asparagus and 

 peaches I have almost a continuous har- 

 vest for seven months of the year. Of 

 course we have to grow several varieties 

 of berries and peaches to do it. 



It is pleasant when you can take fruit 

 to the station every week-day and stop at 

 the postoffice and get a check for prod- 

 ucts marketed. And the beauty of it all 

 is that I can blow my own whistle as to 

 when to commence and when to quit 

 work. 



Brooklyn, Fla., March 12, 1906. 

 ■^ ■^ 



THE world has heard a great deal 

 about Nicholas Longworth lately. 

 This young Congressman, who was for- 

 tunate enough to become the son-in-law 

 of Theodore Roosevelt, had a grandfather 

 — Nicholas No. 1 — to whom strawberry 

 growers and the world in general owe a 

 debt of gratitude. He was an interesting 



