OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ;'?!%,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE 



WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE 

 SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

 IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET 



)'- PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT 

 PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE 

 OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION 



THIS is the first issue of the second 

 half of The Strawberry's first 

 year, and as we look over the ex- 

 periences of the past six months, 

 we feel a sense of gratitude to our fellow- 

 members in this school of ours for the 

 inspiration their generous words have 

 given us. Unlike the teacher in the 

 school-room, we are not privileged to 

 meet face to face with the members of 

 the school, yet we have received from the 

 kindly, cheery words of many of them 

 quite as much satisfaction, perhaps, as 

 does the teacher in the little red school- 

 house or in the big city building devoted 

 to education, from personal contact with 

 his pupils. 



Here comes a fresh and breezy note 

 from far-off British Columbia: "Tho 

 June issue is a 'Cracker-Jack.' Wish you 

 would send some sample copies to my 



friend ." And a New York 



clergyman writes: "The June number 

 came today. The Strawberry seems to 

 improve with each succeeding number. 

 I find myself anticipating its arrival, not- 

 withstanding my table runs over with 

 periodicals of all sorts, religious, secular, 

 scientific and special. The Strawberi-y is 

 a beauty and a winner every way. Suc- 

 cess to you. 



Dollars are important; they supply the 

 materials necessary to the publication of 

 the magazine. But you couldn't pay us 

 a good many dollars and be privileged to 

 deprive us of the pleasure and gratifica- 

 tion such messages bring. They assure 

 us that the efforts we are putting forth in 

 behalf of better methods and more good 

 fruit in the strawberry world, no less than 

 for the building up of our friends' best 

 business interests, are appreciated and 

 that our suggestions are being followed 

 to success. Let us all, every member of 

 us, see that we do our part to make this 

 work more effective still 

 ^ ■*. 



A. E. S., Chippewa Falls, Wis. Can one 

 raise plants the first year, if no berries are al- 

 lowed to form, or is it better to keep o^F 

 all lunners as well as berries the first year? 

 2. Will I have mora and finer berries if I 

 never allow the runners to form? 3. How 

 many seasons will the plants bear? Would it 

 be better to get a fresh supply of plants than 

 to try and raise plants from what I have? 



1. If you intend to raise fruit it will 

 be proper to allow each mother plant set 

 this spring to make from four to six run- 

 ner plants. Layer these aloiig in the row, 

 and after they take root all the rest of the 

 runners should be cut off. This is what 



we call restriction. Every time you cut 

 off a runner the plant from which that 

 runner comes will gain more strength, 

 and this in turn will assist in building up 

 a heavy crown system. The crown pro- 

 duces the buds which makes the big crop 

 of berries the following summer. 



2. A few varieties may give larger 

 berries by keeping them in hills and pre- 

 venting runners from growing. But most 

 varieties will produce just as large berries 

 and many more of them in single or 

 double-hedge rows than they will in hills. 



3. Two profitable crops may be taken 

 from a bed of strawberry plants before it 

 is discarded. 



F. B. M., Piqua, Ohio. I send you under 

 separate cover a berry plant, having blossoms 

 and berries, the name of which I have lost. 

 Can you tell me what it is? Shall set about 

 three acres to this variety if I may learn its 

 correct name. 



It is rather difficult to describe a va- 

 riety from a plant that has come a long 

 distance, but as the plant you have sent 

 us has berries attached, it is easy to dis- 

 cover its identity. This plant was taken 

 from the Clyde variety, which has proved 

 to be valuable in most localities. It is a 

 strong pollenizer, and you will make no 

 mistake in setting largely to them. 



J. F. , Bliss, N. Y. I notice about my plants 

 some small insect, bright red in color, and 

 about as large as the head of a pin. Will 

 they harm the plants? 



From the description you have given 

 us of this insect, we are led to believe 

 that it is the little red spider. They con- 

 gregate on the lower leaf surface, spin- 

 ning a very fine protective web, and suck 

 out the juices of the plants. They are 

 distantly related to ordinary spiders and, 

 like them, have, when fully developed, 

 four pairs of legs. They multiply be- 

 neath their silken webs where one may 

 find colonies of individuals so small as to 

 be scarcely visible to the naked eye, in all 

 stages of growth. The young have but 

 three pairs of legs. The egg is very 

 small and nearly colorless. The infested 

 leaves take on a yellowish hue, and many 

 of them finally drop off. Now for the 

 remedy: The red spider flourishes best 

 in a dry atmosphere. It is seldom troub- 

 lesome where the soil is saturated with 

 moisture. The plants should be sprayed 

 with soapsuds, tobacco tea, or kerosine 

 emulsion, or they can be dusted with fine 



Page 151 



tobacco powder or insect powder, as soon 

 as the plants show signs of the presence 

 of the pest. 



S. A. S. , Mediapolis, Iowa. Please advise me 

 how to get rid of the ants that infest my 

 strawberry plants. How shall I spray them? 

 Give me directions for making the spraying 

 solution by the gallon, so that I may know 

 just what I shall need. I have wide paths 

 through the garden and the ants are there in 

 large numbers. 



The presence of ants about your plants 

 indicates that there are plant-lice working 

 about the roots of your plants. We never 

 have found any spray material effective in 

 dealing with the ants. One of the best 

 preventives is thorough cultivation and 

 hoeing. Ants always prefer to work on 

 ground with a hard surface. I his is why 

 you will find them so numerous in your 

 garden paths, while cultivating the ground 

 disturbs them so much that it drives them 

 to other fields. Another preventive is to 

 dip the strawberry plants in a tobacco tea 

 before setting them out. Full directions 

 for this were given in April Strawberry. 



A. E. B., Center City, Minn. Please tell me 

 through The Strawberry how I can put a five- 

 acre piece in the best possible condition for 

 strawberries next spring. The soil is black 

 loam with clay subsoil; it was fertilized with 

 manure and planted to potatoes and the year 

 after it was seeded to clover and timothy with 

 wheat as a nurse crop. This crop averaged 

 twenty-eight bushels to the acre, and it has 

 been cut for hay now for two years. After 

 the hay is cut this year I intend to plow it 

 up for strawberries next spring. 



As your soil is black loam with clay 

 subsoil, be careful and not use manures 

 too freely, as soil of this kind generally 

 contains a large amount of nitrogen and 

 is apt to produce large vigorous plants 

 without emnloying fertilizers. As this 

 land is now in hay, and cannot be broken 

 up in time to grow any leguminous crop, 

 it will be best to break it up after the 

 hay is cut and sow to turnips, and if the 

 seed is not too thickly sown there will be 

 a good profit in this crop. Then in the 

 winter this ground could be covered very 

 lightly with manure — about eight tons to 

 the acre. Next spring disc this groun.l 

 rather than replow it, as the disking will 

 keep the sod on the under side and thus 

 prevent it from interfering with cultiva- 

 tion. The disking will also keep your 

 soil more firm than if turned up before 



