THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 



kins family or been encumbered by debt, 

 and a Watkins never has retired from 

 farming. 



Some of the Season's Experiences 



THE season of 1906 has been a pe- 

 culiarly difficult one for the horti- 

 culturist, although the extensive 

 farmer who grows the cereals has been 

 blessed to an unusual degree with large 

 crops. Strawberry growers have had a 

 particularly hard time outside of the 

 Southern states, and the causes have been 

 varied. Frost, excessive rainfall, extreme 

 drought — all three of these natural causes 

 have operated in as many sections of the 

 land, and the white grub has been partic- 

 ularly active, if we may judge from re- 

 ports received by The Strawberry. 



One thing is especially encouraging, 

 however, and that is the universal state- 

 ment that the conditions are altogether 

 unusual, and that, for from twenty-five 

 to thirty years, according to the exper- 

 iences of different individuals, nothing 

 approaching this season's conditions have 

 been known. H. E. McGregor of Wis- 

 consin, writing in the Racine Agricultur- 

 ist has the following to say on the subject: 

 "Last winter and this spring, up to straw- 

 berry harvest, has been the most unfavor- 

 able season for strawberries I have known 

 in the twenty-eight years I have grown 

 them. The vines went into their winter's 

 rest in excellent condition, and the pros- 

 pects for good a crop for 1906 were above 

 the average. Thus matters stood until we 

 got our big storm of rain and sleet in Jan- 

 uary, which covered this whole section of 

 country with about three inches of ice. 

 This ice made splendid sleighing, but it 

 smothered the very life out of our straw- 

 berry plants, so that when spring came 

 strawberry plantations that were so prom- 

 ising in the fall were a sad wreck. Four- 

 fifths of the plants were dead and the 

 balance which were alive were so lacking 

 in vitality that many of them succumbed 

 to the cold, dry weather of spring that 

 followed. There was scarcely any spring 

 growth, and when blooming time came 

 such blossoms as came out were on stems 

 that formed close to the ground. 



"Since the berries began to ripen we 

 have had excellent weather, which would 

 have given us a good crop had the vines 

 been in good condition. As it is, we 

 gathered hardly one-eighth of an average 

 crop of inferior berries. There were no 

 fancy berries in this locality this year, and 

 the berry boxes we prepared last winter 

 for the expected crop will have to be car- 

 ried over to another year." Mr. 

 McGregor takes occasion in his report to 

 deprecate fall-setting of plants, in which 

 he aligns himself with the most progres- 

 sive growers of the country. 



But notwithstanding the difficulties 

 created by unusual meteorological condi- 

 tions, the season has been a good one for 

 (he men who practice scientific horticul- 



ture and "do things" in the right way at 

 the right time. Of course, no one can 

 can defeat Jack Frost when he comes at 

 you full tilt, and it is hard to turn great 

 floods of water to good account save by 

 creating a perfect drainage system. Yet 

 even Jack Frost and floods have had their 

 influence for harm greatly diminished by 

 the skillful and persistent work of the up- 

 to-date strawberry man. And the latter 

 fairly has laughed in the face of long-con- 

 tinued drought; for with cultivator and 

 hoe he has kept a dust mulch between 

 his rows, and drawn his moisture from the 

 depths, compelling all that did reach 

 the surface to do so through the plants 

 themselves. 



Altogether it has been a season of rare 

 informing quality, and the man who has 

 come out of it sound and whole better 

 than ever appreciates two important 

 facts regarding strawberry production — 

 first, the hardiness of the plant itself and 

 its extraordinary endurance when treated 

 just right; second, the effectivess of in- 

 telligent labor directed to the conservation 

 of moisture in the soil, the feeding of the 

 plant so as to develop its highest powers 

 and to the general welfare of the fields. 



IT is a perpetual source of surprise and 

 pleasure to the one who loves nature 

 and her ways and finds joy in the straw- 

 berry patch to try out different methods 

 of growing them, to watch the conduct 

 of different varieties under different meth- 

 ods of treatment and, in general, not only 

 cultivate the plants, but cultivate as well 

 a knowledge of them and their ways and 

 thus increase one's own store of informa- 

 tion while enjoying the delights and profits 

 of strawberry production. For instance, 

 have you ever tried the hill-system of 

 cultivation just to see what a quantity of 

 large, luscious berries one strong, healthy 

 plant, full of vigor and sap, will produce 



when relieved of all its runners? The 

 satisfaction of one such hill, so beautiful 

 and so marvelous in the results secured, 

 is hardly to be imagined. Strawberry 

 growing may be made as full of charm as 

 is the growing of flowers, and the beauty 

 of a fine patch of strawberries is not ex- 

 ceeded by the finest flower garden. 



Thinning Out Strawberry Plants 



THE sentiment in favor of thinning 

 seems to be growing stronger and 

 stronger, writes L. R- Johnson in 

 The Fruit Grower, for its advantages are 

 too obvious to be overlooked. Thinning 

 on the wholesale may be done with hoes, 

 but it takes some nerve just as it does to 

 thin fruit. To strike into the midst of a 

 mass of fine plants is a heroic operation 

 that is quite too severe an ordeal for 

 many souls. And yet there is no manner 

 of doubt that it will pay. The market is 

 yearly paying higher and higher rewards 

 for superior berries, and the grower who 

 wants profitable returns for his labor must 

 bestir himself to adopt improved methods. 

 An easy way of thinning, and one that is 

 fairly effective, but so mechanical and re- 

 quiring so little judgment that common 

 hired help may be employed, is simply to 

 cut across the row every twelve inches 

 with the full width of the hoe. The 

 grower who has never employed any 

 other method than the matted row should 

 by all means try at least a few rods of 

 narrow row with the runners spaced. 

 Then let him compare the yield, taking 

 into consideration size and color, with an 

 equal length of matted row. 



What Mr. Johnson says meets with 

 our approval so far as it refers to a grower 

 who has permitted his plants to mat up. 

 But how much better woidd it be to 

 start right and keep right clear through 



A VIEW OF THOMAS HUNTER'S PATCH AT HOLMESVILLE, OHIO 



P»«e 191 



