BURNING OVER THE STRAWBERRY FIELD FOR THE SECOND CROP 



Some of our friends are skeptical about the burning over of the field, 

 fearful that it may be done only with danger to the plants — 



Preparing the Bed for the Second Crop 



JUNE is the month of realization to 

 the strawberry growers of the more 

 northerly latitudes. All the epi- 

 curean dreams of strawberries and 

 cream, of strawberry shortcake, and all 

 the other delicate and delicious com- 

 pounds into which this rare fruit enters, 

 is in this month brought to complete and 

 satisfactory realization. Now that the 

 fast express trains connect the North and 

 the South so closely that but a few hours 

 of time are spent in bringing the fruit 

 from the Gulf to the northerly lakes, the 

 strawberry has become an every-day af- 

 fair ere this, but this fact does not lessen 

 by one jot the delight we experience 

 when the home-grown article comes to 

 grace the table and lend its own inde- 

 scribable charm to the meal of the rich 

 and poor alike. That's a fine quality of 

 the strawberry — every son of man can 

 have them because they are as plentiful 

 and as inexpensive as they are delicious. 

 And so the months of preparation and an- 

 ticipation are fully compensated in the 

 joys of actual realization. 



June also is the month when the straw- 

 berry grower must take a long look ahead, 

 for it is the time in many localities when 

 he must consider what is to be done in 

 the way of preparing his bed for the second 

 crop. Just as soon as the last picking of 

 berries is made, the entire field should be 

 mowed over. If grown on a large 

 scale, the best way is to take a common 

 two-horse mowing machine, allowing the 

 horses to walk astride the row, mowing off 

 one row at a time. If berries are grown 

 in a small way, a common scythe or 

 sickle may be used. There is little dan- 

 ger of mowing the vines too close to the 

 crown, as the crown, which is the most 

 vital part of the plant, is well protected by 

 the surface of the soil. Before mowing 

 the plants off, the growers should watch 



weather conditions with an aim to get 

 this work done while there is not 

 much danger of a heavy rain before the 

 field is burned over. As a rule, thirty- 

 six to forty-eight hours will thoroughly 

 dry the vines after they have been mowed 

 off so they will burn very readily. Should 

 a heavy rain come after the mowing has 

 been done and prevent the burning over 

 for several days, a new growth would 

 start and then it would be dangerous to 

 burn the plants. If a day is selected 

 when the wind is blowing quite briskly, 

 there will be little if any danger of the 

 fire doing any damage to the plants. 



In setting the patch on fire, the grower 

 should go to the side from which the 

 wind is coming and set the entire bed on 

 fire just as quickly as it can be done. 

 We often have burned over four or five 

 acres and the entire time required to do so 

 did not exceed fifteen minutes. If the patch 

 of plants is close to an orchard or fence, 

 the first thing to do is to go to the op- 

 posite side from which you intend to 

 burn the bed and set the last row on fire. 

 This is what we call back-firing. This 

 would make it burn slowly near the fence 

 or orchard, thus preventing any danger 

 from injury in that direction. Then when 

 a few rows are burned in this manner, the 

 entire bed should be set afire on the side 

 from which the wind is coming as above 

 stated. If the mulching has been put on 

 quite heavily, it is best either to remove 

 part of the mulching, or loosen it up. 

 Where a large acreage is grown, the loos- 

 ening can be done with a hay tedder. 

 This will stir the straw up, causing it to 

 lie very loosely, and the fire will consume 

 it without any danger to the plants. If 

 the patch be small, the loosening can be 

 done with a fork. 



After the burning has been completed, 

 the next process is to narrow down the 



Vige 128 



rows. This can be done by taking a 

 common breaking-plow or bar-shear, and 

 throw a furrow from each side of the row 

 into the center. When this is done, there 

 will be a ridge left directly between the 

 rows, which can be leveled down or 

 thrown back to place by the use of a one- 

 horse five-tooth cultivator. After the cul- 

 tivator has been run through, a reversible 

 harrow, with the teeth thrown slightly 

 backwards, drawn across the rows, will 

 level it nicely. It also will draw the fine 

 soil over the crowns and bury them com- 

 pletely. This is very important, because 

 after the plants have fruited a crop the 

 roots are entirely exhausted and have be- 

 come wiry and lifeless. By covering the 

 crowns the new root system will start 

 rapidly. This new root system is estab- 

 lished just above the old roots and beneath 

 the crowns of the plants. If the soil is 

 not thrown over the crowns of the plants, 

 they will grow meagerly, . and will send 

 out no runners. The leaves will be small 

 and the plants almost useless, but where 

 the crowns are covered the plants will 

 come up through the soil in a few days, 

 and in a short time the foliage will have 

 a bright, glossy appearance and the plants 

 will look as vigorous and healthy as a 

 newly set bed. They also will send out 

 very strong vigorous runners. 



Just as soon as the plants come up 

 through the soil sufficiently to detect the 

 good plants from the weaker ones, they 

 should be gone over with a hoe, sorting 

 out all the weak plants and leaving noth- 

 ing but strong healthy ones which are to 

 act as mother plants. These mother 

 plants should be left about sixteen inches 

 apart, and each one of them allowed to 

 make four or eight runners, according to 

 the system you intend to follow. These 

 runners should be layered the same as 

 those which come from a newly set bed. 



