THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 



access to them. By making; your soil 

 quite rich and ijrowino; them in hills as 

 you propose, this method will give you 

 nearly as much fruit, if not quite, as when 

 grown in the single-hedge row. And the 

 berries, as you suggest, would ripen 

 earlier. 



E. D. G., Rochester, N. Y. I wish to know 

 how buckwheat straw will do for mulching 

 strawberries. Have you seen it tried? I have 

 some bees and am about to sow some buck- 

 wheat. As straw is $10 per ton here the 

 buckwheat straw will be quite an object to 

 me if good for the purpose. I see no reason 

 why it should not be excellent. 



Buckwheat straw will make a splendid 

 mulching, and in your case it will serve 

 two purposes: that of furnishing nectar 

 for the bees and cover for the strawberries. 



B. V. W., Billings, Mont. I noticed the re- 

 mark of G. Q. , Theodore, Sask. , that the 

 frost wiped out his strawberry plants. Our 

 loss is quite heavy from light freezes if plants 

 are set out when plants arrive here. Plants 

 propagated here are the same way if set out 

 too early. I do not understand why a freeze 

 does not hurt them in the East. We are 

 5,000 feet above sea level here. Can you 

 solve the problem? Some varieties frost does 

 not injure much. 2. Does too much water 

 make benies soft and sour? 3. Will fruit 

 buds freeze when not mulched so as to weaken 

 and kill them? 



The reason your early set plants suffer 

 from frost doubtless is that you are located 

 so high above sea level where the atmos- 

 phere is light and dry. We have proved 

 by experiments that plants will stand 

 much more severe frosts where moisture 

 is abundant in the soil than where the 

 soil is dry. There is nothing more in- 

 jurious to the plant than alternate freez- 

 ing and thawing in a dry fall. In view 

 of this fact we would recommend later 

 setting of plants. We have been through 

 VOL"- section and are somewhat acquainted 

 with its climatic and soil conditions. 



2. Too much water during the ma- 

 turing and ripening processes will make 

 berries both soft and sour, and it may be 

 well to explain here why this is true: We 

 all know that moisture dissolves the min- 

 eral matter in the soil, and during a wet 

 season, or where large quantities of water 

 are used for irrigating purposes, the exces- 

 sive moisture is sure to dissolve nitrates 

 in excess of potash, and as potash is the 

 element that supplies the fibrous quality 

 and flavor of the berry, the lack of balance 

 in these elements causes the berry to be- 

 come soft and insipid, while the color will 

 be less brilliant. 



3. There is no question but the fruit 

 bud would be injured by failure to mulch, 

 and the plant would be much weakened 

 because the alternate freezing and thaw- 

 ing causes expansion and contraction of 



the soil which would weaken the plant, if 

 indeed, it did not loosen the roots from 

 the crown. 



1. S. v., Independence, Pa. What was the 

 cause of many of my berries being round and 

 flat, not pyramidal in form, the blossom end 

 being undeveloped; they contained a core? 

 We had late frosts last spring — had this hurt 

 them? The ones that were nice were real 

 nice, but half or more of them were such as I 

 describe to you. I had removed the mulch- 

 ing from the top of the rows about the middle 

 of April. There were several frosts afterward, 

 but I tried to recover my plants with the 

 mulching before each frost, but possibly did 

 not get it done. 



2. In the narrow-row system should plants 

 be allowed to grow closer than six inches to 

 each other? 



?:. Then after the plants are established at 

 the right distance, should all runners be pinched 

 off as long as tlie bed is in use? This I know 

 would mean much labor, but I don't expect 

 to have more than three-fourths of an acre in 

 strawberries and I want to make them pay me 

 $2.50 per day for each day's intelligent labor 

 put on them, and can I do this? 

 4. Our market will be local and mostly 

 ''among private customers, and I have some 

 rivalry in the business. This stijrs one's ambi- 

 tion to grow the best for which there is the 

 best demand and they command the best 

 price; and as I am an amateur I need the best 

 of advice from experienced sources, for by 

 having good advice and following it I hope to 

 learn in a short time what it took others years 

 to obtain. 



5. I know that my plants were much too 

 thick in the row this year, and after gathering 

 the berries in June, I lifted and transplanted 

 many of the most healthy, stocky plants, 

 trimming the tops all off but one young stalk. 

 These appear to be growing nicely. What 

 are my chances for a crop from these next 

 spring? I will giv3 them the best of atten- 

 tion and manure them late this fall. 



6. During the early and middie part of June 

 the rose bugs are here in such numbers that 

 they are almost a plague to us. They eat all 

 kinds of vegetation, even occasionally, weeds. 

 Can you tell me the way to prevent their 

 attacks upon our fruits? Spraying at this 

 time injures the fruit (as I have learned at 

 much expense) and still does not make any 

 visible eflfect upon the countless numbers of 

 bugs. 



7. Can you tell me of a publication that is 

 as valuable to the raspberry and blackberry 

 grower as The Strawberry is to the straw- 

 berry man? If so please do so, giving ad- 

 dress. 



8. Would it be a good plan to scatter wood 

 ashes on ground-the right amount-soil a little 

 sandy, this fall just before I plow and sow to 

 rye, which I would plow under next spring, 

 then set strawberry plants out, then follow 

 with a good coating of manure in the fall? 



There is no doubt that frost was the 

 cause of the poorly formed and hard- 

 cored berries. The petals of the bloom 



Page 1(8 



Strawberries Keep Their 



0^\r\f In the Wide-Mouthed, Sure- 

 LOlOr Seal, Air Tight 



ECONOMY JAR 



Fruit cant spoil in an 



Economy Jar 



STRAWBERRIES never 

 fade when canned in 

 the Economy Jar. 



The Economy Jar is the 

 only j ar made that is real - 

 ly hermetically, positive- 

 ly, air titiht. 



That is the reason straw- 

 berries canned in the 

 Economy keep their color. 

 The air that filters 

 throuu'h a nibber rin^; or 

 seeps under the eA<ie of ji 

 heavy, bunL'lesome glass 

 or zinc top, bleaches the 

 berry, fades it to a muddy, 

 forbiddinir color and robs 

 it of its delicious, appetiz- 

 ine: flavor. 

 Tlie Economy Jar is wide mouthed. The Economy 

 Jar seals itself with a trold lacquered cap (acid proof) 

 that is as cleanly and as sure a barrier atrainst the air 

 and auainst bacteria as tlie crj'stal flint glass itself of 

 which the Jar is made. 



Use tlie Economy Jar according to the simple direc- 

 tions and your strawberries \H11 come onto the table as 

 phinip and luscious and red as the day they were 



S«-nd us the name of vour dealer and state if he sells 

 the Economy Jar, and we will send you free a booklet 

 of recipes, containing the finest recipe for the canmn^ 

 of strawbeiTies known to the cuUnarj' art. 



KERR GLASS MANUFACT'RINGCO. 



265 Hoyt St., Portland, Ore. 



Eastern Office, Dept. R, Philadelphia, Pa. 



protect the under part of the cone that 

 forms the berry, here the pollen takes 

 effect, and here seed and flesh are devel- 

 oped, whereas the end of the cone is fully 

 exposed to 'frost, and when affected, both 

 anther and stigma are destroyed. Of 

 course, a very heavy frost may destroy 

 the entire cone, when there will be no 

 berry at all. These hard berries result 

 from several other causes. Sometimes 

 dust or rain at blooming time or improper 

 pollenation will have this effect. There 

 is no doubt that your covering the plants 

 when blooming affected the plants 

 as deleteriously as did the frost. 



2. No two plants should grow closer 

 one to the other than six inches. If al- 

 lowed to do so the\; will not have suffi- 

 cient room in which to develop. 



3. By all means keep the surplus 

 runners off after your ideal row is formed. . 

 Every dollar spent at this point will return 

 you two at fruiting time. 



4. Competition always is the life of 

 trade and a stimulus to better things. 

 The man who grows the best fruit and 

 picks and packs it in the most attractive 

 manner is the one who takes the lead and 

 gets the highest prices. His customers, 

 Uke Oliver Twist, call ever for "more." 



5. The fact that your June-set plants 

 are growing vigorously and that you are 

 going to give them the very best of atten- 

 tion, indicates that there will be enough 

 berries next season to more than pay ex- 

 penses. Don't let these June-set plants 

 make more than two runners each. 



6. The rose-bugs, or chafers, are a 

 difficult problem. They are not gross 



