THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 



a distance of four feet apart, and watch 

 them until they fruit, when I take all that 

 show two or more good qualities, set the 

 plants and breed them up by selection, 

 until I have the imperfections all bred 

 out of them. 



Bridgeton, N. J. 



Renewing the Strawberry Field 



By J. B. Graves 



JUST as soon as the picking is ended 

 mow the field as close to the ground 

 as the mower can be run. If the 

 trash is heavy enough to interfere too 

 much with the plows, rake it into wind- 

 rows and haul it ofF to use somewhere 

 else on the farm. Take now the double 

 shovel, put on the curved calf-tongues, 

 spread them sixteen inches apart and plow 

 across the rows. Plow shallow, not quite 

 the depth of the strawberry roots. This 

 cultivation will thin the plants, plow out 

 the grass and weeds, and partially level 

 the ground. This done, take the single 

 broad shovel and run lengthwise the row 

 squarely in the center. This will plow 

 out the mother plants, those originally set, 

 and will still further thin, cultivate and 

 level the row. When the ground has 

 settled, or after a rain, which would be 

 better, take a narrow "turning" or "break- 

 ing" plow and "bar off' rows crosswise 

 of the old ones. If the old rows run east 

 and west, lay off the new rows north and 

 south. Bar ofF rows eight inches wide 

 and three and a half feet from center of 

 one to center of next. These three 

 plowings will destroy nearly all the plants 

 in the field. There will be plenty left to 

 make a good row. Cultivate this row as 

 you would one newly set. Cultivate 

 often and hoe enough to keep free trom 

 weeds and grass. 



Stop your cultivation for awhile about 

 the first or middle of August. By the 

 20th of September your plants will have 

 run over 'all creation." The row will 

 be full, the back will be full, they will be 

 piled upon one another, and "thick as 

 hair upon a dog," If left thick in the 

 row the berries will be small, poorly col- 

 ored, illy flavored, and unsuitable for a 

 fancy market. Besides, when rows are 

 too wide and plants too thick the berries 

 are much slower to ripen and rot badly 

 in rainy weather. 



Now to thin out those overthick plants 

 and give them a final cultivation take the 

 double shovel with the narrow curved 

 calf-tongues, spread sixteen inches apart 

 and cross-plow the rows as was done at 

 the first cultivation after mowing. Do 

 this about the 20th of September. This 

 will plow up many plants, drag many 

 runners out of the row, and cover up 

 many others. To uncover these, to 

 draw the weak plants and runners out in- 

 to the balk and to level the ground, take 

 a havrake and run across the rows in the 



same direction as the shovels, holding it 

 firmly on the ground with the foot. This 

 will tear out the weak runners, and leave 

 the ground much nearer level than it was 

 when the lengthwise cultivation ceased. 

 When a field is serxed in this way it looks 

 as if it might be forever ruined. But it 

 isn't. It is the making of it. The plants 

 thus treated are given more room and 

 more plant food. They grow strong and 

 hold their rich color until late in the fall, 

 and in the spring they are the first to 

 wake and get ready for business. 



The beauty of this method of renew- 

 ing is that by pursuing it from year to 

 year you can perpetuate your field for an 

 indefinite period and have practically a 

 new field all the time. Besides, it is 

 much less expensive than to plow under 

 the old field and plant a new one. 



I have two other methods of renewing, 

 but I like this one the best. If you are a 



r- 



-% 



The Strawberry 



In the South 



BUTNER PRODUCE COMPANY 



Chattanooga, Tenn., 4-7, '06 

 Kellogg Publishing Co. 



The writer was down in Georgia 

 yesterday making some deals with 

 berry growers and saw one field of 

 40 acres which was the most perfect 

 stand, and showed the result of bet- 

 ter cultivation than any crop of berries 

 I ever saw in the North Georgia dis- 

 trict. I was at a loss to know the 

 reason of such a signal success — un- 

 til when we went in to dinner the 

 grower picked up "The Strawberry," 

 then I was "next." The grower is 

 Mr. W. A. Mitchell, Trion, Ga. 



Foster Butner. 



strawberry grower and can keep your 

 nerve with you you might try this plan 

 on a small scale to see how it works. 



Neosho, Mo. 



We prefer the plan of burning the old 

 bed over, but are glad to give the exper- 

 iences of others in all matters of this 

 kind. — Ed. The Strawberry. 



Conserving Farm Manures 



PRACTICAL horticulturists are 

 coming year by year to understand 

 the fundamental importance of the 

 proper use of farm manure. None is so 

 rich as to afFord the loss of fertility; the 

 world itself cannot afFord such a loss. 

 Therefore, it is the duty of everyone who 

 has any manure about his place to see 



Page 118 



that it is given to the land in its best form. 



The methods adopted for the conser- 

 vation of farm manure is an important 

 thing to decide. On this subject Pro- 

 fessor Snyder of the Minnesota Experi- 

 ment Station says: "In connection with 

 the subject of farm manure, there are 

 many points to consider, as composting, 

 hauling directly to the field, the use of 

 the manure spreader, and the crops most 

 suitable for manuring. The question of 

 hauling the manure directly to the field 

 and spreading it, or first composting it, is 

 one that has received considerable atten- 

 tion from practical farmers. 



"Experience has shown that wherever 

 conditions will allow, it is best to haul it 

 directly to the field rather than to let it 

 accummulate in yards and undergo leach- 

 ing, excessive fermentation and fire-fang- 

 ing. When hauled directly to the field 

 the losses by leaching are prevented and 

 the only losses that are liable to occur are 

 through the formation of volatile gases 

 containing ammonia and nitrogen. The 

 losses in this way, however, are not large, 

 and the advantages of having the manure 

 in contact with the soil so as to cause de- 

 cay and disintegration of the mineral mat- 

 ter are far greater than the slight loss of 

 ammonia due to volatilization. 



When manure is hauled directly from 

 the stable and applied to land the expense 

 for labor is much less than it would be 

 for spreading the manure in the spring, 

 and the land is in condition for seeding at 

 an earlier date than if the manure had 

 first to be spread and the land worked 

 before seeding." 



^ 4^ 



KALAMAZOO has done itself proud 

 by electing William Thompson to 

 be mayor ot that beautiful and progressive 

 Michigan city. Mr. Thompson is vice- 

 president and directing head of the world- 

 wide popular Kalamazoo Stove Co., and 

 has been giving the general public a 

 "square deal" for so many years that he 

 has the habit so well fixed we are confi- 

 dent Kalamazoo, the Greater Kalamazoo 

 that is to be under his administration, will 

 be governed in the interest of moral and 

 material progress: Mr. Thompson, in an 

 address to the public the evening of his 

 election, said a word that ought to repre- 

 sent the attitude of every administrator of 

 a public office in the land. We quote 

 from Mayor Thompson: "I fully realize 

 that my majority is made up of the votes 

 of persons of all shades of political belief, 

 and I want to assure the citizens of Kal- 

 amazoo that I shall be the mayor of the 

 whole people — with equal rights to all 

 and special privileges to none. I call 

 upon all good citizens, irrespective of 

 their political affiliations, to aid me in 

 every possible way in inaugurating and in 

 maintaining in Kalamazoo the era of the 

 "Square Deal for Every Man" and in la- 

 boring together for a Greater Kalamazoo. 



