THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 



stable manure and scatter it lightly between 

 the rows it will gi\e much better results 

 than will any commercial fertilizer, as 

 cultivation will mix it thoroughly with 

 the top soil and the rains will wash the 

 leachings so that the roots will feed upon 

 them. 



(i. W. D., Winnecoiine, Wis. Imiosed are 

 some strawberry leaves. Please tell me in 

 The Strawberry what it is that affects them, 

 and what I shall do to stop it on the plants 

 that I set this spring. 



The leaves which you send us indicate 

 that the plants are affected with rust. If 

 these plants are in the fruiting bed, after 

 fruit is picked, mow off the vines and 

 then burn over the entire bed, as rust is a 

 fungous disease and fire will destroy all 

 the spores and thus prevent a severe 

 attack in the future. Next spring it will 

 be a good plan to spray your fruiting bed 

 with Bordeaux mixture, repeating this just 

 before the buds open. 



H. D., Heyworth, 111. Have a patch of Bis- 

 marcks that has borne for three years. I 

 think it long enough, and after I pick the 

 present crop I shall mow it, burn it over and 

 plow under, and then treat the soil as follows; 

 Plow it up and sow corn for mulch for an- 

 other berry patch, and let the corn grow un- 

 til frost comes; then mow it and break the 

 ground and let it lie until spring, when I shall 

 put on some manure and plant to potatoes; 

 then when I dig the potatoes, plow it up in 

 the fall, and the following spring put into 

 strawberries. Will that be all right? 



In the main, your plan is ideal. But 

 in the fall after the potatoes are dug, sow 

 to rye at the rate of five pecks to the acre; 

 then during the winter when the ground 

 is frozen scatter barnyard manure lightly, 

 and in spring work thoroughly into the 

 soil. 



A. E., Voungsville, Pa. Some of my neigh- 

 bors tell me that mice or moles will destroy 

 the plants under the mulch. Is this true? 

 2. Is it now too late to sow cow peas, and 

 how many should I sow to the acre? I want 

 to plow the cow peas under this fall. Should 

 I then sow to rye and turn the rye under in 

 the spring before setting plants? I cannot 

 praise The Strawberry enough — so much help 

 for a new beginner. 



1. We never ha^■e heard of mice or 

 moles injuring strawberries under mulch- 

 ing. 



2. We have sown cow peas the latter 

 part of May and also the middle of July, 

 and the late-sown always proved the better. 

 This is because the cow peas thrive best 

 in real hot weather and if .sown early while 

 the soil is cold, it nearly always results in 

 a stunted growth. Last year we sowed 

 one field of peas the 1st of June and about 

 the 10th of July sowed another field, and 

 the latier sowing made a much heavier 



vine and also devloped more nodules on 

 the roots. They also were entirely free 

 from weeds and grass, while the earlier 

 sowing was very fotil. 



3. It is an excellent plan to sow rye 

 for winter cover crop. In your state the 

 rye should be sown about the middle of 

 September. This will give it time to 

 grow to sufficient size to make a good 

 mulch for the soil during the winter 

 months. The rye serves two purposes — 

 it prevents the ground from puddling and 

 also takes up the plant food and holds it 

 in reserve for the following crop. If the 

 ground were left bare, much of this plant 

 food would leach away and be wasted. 

 In the spring before setting plants turn the 

 rye completely under, and if you have 

 young stock it will be all right to turn 

 them out on the rye, either in the fall or 

 spring, when the ground is not too wet. 



^ ■$■ 

 Mrs. M. E. L., Brooklyn, Mich. In June, 

 190.S, I plowed under a piece of clover and 

 timothy sod that previously had been well 

 covered with stable manure, and sowed to 

 cow peas. These were turned under and the 

 groiuid sowed to rye, which in turn was 

 plowed under this spring and the ground set 

 to strawberry plants. Is the ground rich 

 enough, and would you advise growing the 

 plants in single or double hedge row? Would 

 it be of any advantage to scatter fertilizer this 

 season and work it in with cultivator and hoe? 



The fact that your soil previously was 

 in clover, then cow peas and rye, and well 

 manured, it will be unnecessary for you 

 to use any more fertilizer. There is no 

 doubt you will get better results by the 

 double-hedge row than by the hill method. 



J. W. R., Paducah, Ky. Would nitrate of 

 soda, raw bone meal and tobacco dust be a 

 good fertilizer for my plants? What is the 

 best way to apply them? 



We have had no experience with to- 

 bacco dust and do not believe it would 

 be of particular value to the strawberry 

 as plant food. Raw bone meal contains 

 a very large amount of phosphorus, which 

 is of course, one of the essential elements 

 of plant food. If you will look at the 

 bottom of page 94 of April Strawberry, 

 you will see how best to apply your 

 nitrate of soda. 



T. P. W. , Monett, Mo. Enclosed please find 

 $1 for The Strawberry for one year. Tell 

 me what you know of carbonate of lime. Is 

 it any better than phosphate rock or ground 

 rock? The carbonate of lime will cost me $2 

 per ton, and the phosphate rock $8 per ton. 

 Which will be the cheaper to use, consider- 

 ing results? 



Carbonate of liine is ground limestone 

 charged with carbonic acid and is a soil 

 stimulant, rather than a fertilizer — that is, 

 it tends to make the plant food already in 



Page 155 



the soil more readily available, and this, 

 of course, tends to exhaust the supply, 

 while rock phosphate adds permanent 

 strength to the soil, giving increasing re- 

 turns for several years after applying. It 

 should be yotir aim to make your soil 

 permanently valuable rather than to seek 

 for large immediate returns at the soil's 

 expense. Thus it will be seen that the 

 rock phosphate, or "floats" as it is com- 

 monly known, is by far the cheaper of 

 the two and in every way more desirable. 



W. B., Los Angeles, Calif. May berries be 

 cut off more than one time without injuring 

 plants? I cut the tops off last August to get 

 winter fruit. 2. Will they bear the same 

 treatment this year? ,^. I am keeping the 

 buds off of the fruiting bed and setting 

 two runners from each plant. Do they also 

 need the fruit buds kept off? 4. Would 

 they hear winter fruit without cutting off 

 tops? 5. Do you think it necessary in this 

 climate to keep the fruit buds pulled the whole 

 season when plants set in January make big 

 fine plants by the middle of May? 6. Will 

 strawberry plants that are set in January bear 

 fruit this winter without cutting off the tops? 

 Have kept off buds all spring; plants are look- 

 ing fine. 



1. Yes. 



2. Yes. 



3. If you are keeping the buds off the 

 year-old fruiting-bed you are making a 

 mistake, as these are the buds that should 

 give you the big crop of berries; but if 

 these plants were set this spring, your 

 course is the proper one. The young 

 plants will not bloom until the proper 

 time for fruiting, at which time they 

 should be permitted to mature into fruit. 

 In your latitude this probably will be late 

 this fall. 



4. They would bear fruit without 

 cutting ofF top, but it always is best to 

 mow the vines ofF and burn the bed over. 



5. In your climate it would doubtless 

 be safe to let the first bloom produce 

 berries, as your plants generally are set in 

 January and have the entire winter in 

 which to grow. Of course, if any bloom 

 appears shortly after the plants are set out 

 they should be picked ofF. 



6. Your plants which were set last 

 January will bear a crop of fruit this 

 winter without cutting off the tops. If 

 we correctly read your cjuestion you mean 

 to say that this will be the first crop they 

 have borne. 



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