THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 



the entire fruiting season and the cultiva- 

 tor should go through after each picking, 

 as the pickers trample the soil firmly. 

 Cultivating will cover the tracks and 

 avoid any danger of waste through capil- 

 lary attraction. 



<^ ^ 



F. M. R., Bridgeton, N. J. For the last few 

 years I have been very much annoyed by a 

 small bug which stings the stem just below 

 the blossom, causing the blossom to drop off, 

 wither up and die. Does not affect the rest 

 of the stem. There will be a good stiff stem 

 — but no fruit, compared with what there 

 should be. Do you know of any preventa- 

 tive to remedy this trouble? 



The insect is the strawberry weevil. 

 It is a small black snouted beetle. They 

 deposit their eggs in the buds of straw- 

 berries and then gnaw partly through the 

 stem, a short distance below the buds, 

 causing the latter to wilt and droop. 

 Their eggs hatch into little grubs which 

 develop in the bud, becoming full grown 

 in a few weeks. They pupate in the 

 buds, and emerge as a perfect beetle. 

 The beetle then migrates to flowers of 

 other plants. About the only remedy, or 

 rather prevention, is clean cultivation. 

 Then after the fruiting season mow off the 

 vines, burn the bed over and narrow 

 down the rows. Full instructions for 

 this work are given in this number 

 of The Strawberry. The April issue 

 of this magazine gives complete in- 

 structions in the treatment of insects 

 and fungous growths. Never take plants 

 from an old fruiting bed. Keep the 

 fence rows near your plants clean. 



G. W. G., Clinton, Mo. Would it be ad- 

 visable to spray for rust now? The plants 

 are all in bloom. 



Certainly not. Never spray while 

 plants are in bloom or in fruit. Spraying 

 materials are deadly poison; if they were 

 not, they would not be effective. All 

 spraying must be done before blooming 

 and after the crop is harvested. 



'^ ^ 



J. M. C, Fresno, Cal. I have a number of 

 chickens, enough with my hogs and horses 

 to furnish about all the nitrates I will need. 

 I mix my wood ashes from the house with 

 the barnyard manure and apply that to the 

 ground and with my chicken droppings. I 

 use land plaster under the roosts. Now what 

 I want to get at, does the land plaster contain 

 any potash and, if so, about what proportion 

 is available? 



The manure from your chickens and 

 hogs will be ideal for your strawberry 

 field. But it should be applied very 

 lightly and thoroughly incorporated into 

 the soil. Either of these manures can be 

 scattered on the ground before plants are 

 set or afterwards, whichever suits you 



best, and they will furnish all the nitrogen 

 the plants need. \'ou should never mix 

 the wood ashes with the manure of any 

 kind, as the lime in the ashes will set the 

 nitrogen free which the manure contains. 

 This is the most costly part of the ferti- 

 lizer. The best way is to apply the 

 manure and ashes separately. 



In regard to the land plaster: it con- 

 tains a very small percentage of potash. 

 Its principal advantage is to improve the 

 mechanical condition of the soil. Land 

 plaster is one of the best things you can 

 use in your hen house, as it will absorb 

 moisture and hold it in reserve for the use 

 of the plants. 



G. R. E. , Alba, Texas. I have an acre set to 

 strawberries; half of them are runners taken 

 from thoroughbred plants set out in the spring 

 of 1905. I have a propagating bed of 500 

 plants put out at the same time. I let this 

 bed bear a crop of runners last year and they 

 are fine ones. Will the runners from this 

 bed the second year be as good as those grown 

 the first year? 2. In layering the runners, 

 when is the best time to do so, or what time 

 of the year do you stop cutting them off when 

 you mean to layer them in the double-hedge 

 row? 3. 1 have a few roots set in the twin 

 double- hedge row. My rows are eighteen 

 inches and thirty-six inches apart, and the 

 plants are set twenty-seven inches in the row. 

 I intend to layer two plants between each hill 

 and they will be nine inches apart. Will this 

 be too close to set Lady Thompson? 



1. The runner plants in your propa- 

 gating bed grown from plants set in 1905 

 will be ideal for this year's setting, but it 

 is bad practice to take runners from a 

 two-year-old bed. If you wish to grow 

 your own plants for several years you 

 should take some of the plants produced 

 from your 1905 setting and start another 

 propagating bed for next year's setting. 

 Please read complete article on "The 

 Propagating Bed" in this issue of The 

 Strawberry. 



2. In layering runners the physical 

 condition of the mother plant should be 

 considered. If the mother plant is strong 

 and bears a large foliage, showing vigor 

 and activity, it is in prime condition to 

 permit its first runners to be layered. In 

 order to get a good plant the first con- 

 sideration is a well-developed crown, and 

 this can be had only by giving the plant 

 all the advantage possible. Just as soon 

 as the node forms throw some soil with 

 hoe or hand on the runner wire just back 

 of the node. This soil will hold the 

 runner in place, preventing the wind from 

 moving it about. It also holds moisture, 

 which encourages the roots to start from 

 the crown at once, and just as soon as 

 the roots take hold of the soil the runner 

 plant is fed from two sources — from the 

 mother plant and through its own roots. 

 In a short time the roots of the runner 

 are able to supply an abundance of food 



Put 136 



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