THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 



where farming operations are on such an 

 extensive scale, would be attended by 

 ravages of crops such as have rarely, if 

 ever, been experienced. 



Timely preventive measures are much 

 wiser than corrective measures following 

 an invasion. Among the more important 

 preventive measures are: (1) The 

 preser\ation, both by legislation and indi- 

 vidual cooperation, of the natural enemies 

 of mice. (2) The curtailment of the 

 range of meadow mice by the drainage of 

 swamps and the periodic plowing of grass 

 lands for the rotation of crops. (3) The 

 destruction of weeds, trash, and litter of 

 all kinds about farm premises, gardens 

 and orchards, to prevent meadow mice 

 from obtaining the winter shelter neces- 

 sary to their survival. (4) The burning 

 of dead grass in meadows and pastures, to 

 the same end. Care should be taken, 

 howe\er, not to burn the grass in late 

 spring or early summer, when prairie 

 chickens, quail, and other birds that build 

 on the ground are nesting." 



^ ■$ 



Rotation With Strawberries 



TH E number of years that a strawberry 

 field can be profitably fruited will 

 depend upon the soil, the amount 

 of fertilizers used, the cost and availability 

 of labor when needed, and the amount of 

 work put upon the berries each year. In 

 the past I have been governed by the 

 many conditions after the fruiting season. 

 From three to five years tiave usually 

 been the number of crops secured. Since, 

 however, using a transpl.Tnter, which has 

 done better work and at less expense than 

 hand setting, I shall not in the future pick 

 over two crops, as I find it will be cheaper 

 and better to set out new plants than to 

 clean and fertilize the old fields, writes 

 Elmer G. Tufts in Rural New-Yorker. 

 Clover is one of the best crops to turn 

 under for a green manure. It adds the 

 desired humus, and at the same time 

 nitrogen, which is the most expensive 

 element of plant food. I have adopted a 

 four-year rotation, in which I secure four 

 money crops and two crops to turn under 

 to build up the soil and replace a part of 

 the fertility removed. The first year the 

 strawberry plants are set out a high- 

 grade fertilizer is used. The plants are 

 given frequent and shallow cultivation, to 

 conserve the moisture. The second year 

 the first crop is secured. The third year 

 the second crop is harvested. Imme- 

 diately after harvesting the second crop of 

 berries the field is plowed, turning under 

 the vines and what straw is used for 

 mulch. After thoroughly preparing the 

 ground it is planted to green stringless 

 beans. This crop is harvested and used 

 at the cannery, which is located on the 

 farm. This gives us the third crop at the 

 end of the third year. After the beans 

 are picked the land is sown to rye as a 

 cover crop. No land should be allowed 



to go through the winter without some 

 covering. The rye will be turned under 

 in the spring. While this crop will add 

 little fertility to the soil it forms humus, 

 and by its chemical action on the soil 

 helps to make more available the plant 

 food already in the soil. Tomatoes will 

 be set out and given clean culture, a lib- 

 eral amount of high-grade fertilizer used. 

 This crop is also used at the cannery. 



At the last cultivation the space be- 

 tween the rows is sown with hairy vetch 

 and crimson clover. This crop does not 

 interfere with the growth of the tomatoes, 

 and the picking does not injure the cover 

 crop. The clover and vetch will make a 

 fair growth in the fall and early spring, so 

 that by the time ground is in a condition 

 to plow for strawberries we have a good 

 crop to turn under. The crimson clover 

 and vetch both being legumes of course 

 add nitrogen to the soil. This is turned 

 under in the spring of the fifth year, and 

 strawberries set out to commence the 

 rotation again. We thus have a rotation 

 by which are secured six crops in four 

 years, or a money crop for each of the four 

 years, and two crops in four years to re- 

 turn to the soil. We also have a rotation 

 in which none of the crops is a soil ex- 

 hauster, and we can improve our farm 

 each year. Strawberries and tomatoes are 

 both, as everyone knows, largely water. 

 I use the tomatoes and beans as crops to 

 rotate with strawberries, as they work 

 well together, are easily grown and I can 

 convert them into a finished product up- 

 on the farm, so that they can be put upon 

 the market in a condition that commands 

 the highest price. Sweet corn is some- 

 times used instead of beans to plant on 

 an old strawberry field after the crop is 

 harvested. In somere'pects this is better 

 than beans, inasmuch as a crop of crimson 

 clover can be grown instead of rye, and 

 clover is worth more to turn under as a 

 green manure than rye. It is sometimes 

 difficult to get a stand of crimson clover. 

 I use a high-grade fertilizer; one especial- 

 ly rich rn phosphoric acid and potash, as 

 clover increases the supply of nitrogen. 



Mr. Tufts certainly is following ideal 

 methods, methods which give large re- 

 turns for the present and are storing up 

 soil-fertility, like deposits of money in the 

 bank, for future drafts. We could do 

 our readers no greater favor than to urge 

 their careful reading and study of what 

 he has to say. The only suggestion of a 

 change that we would make is that cow- 

 peas would be better than clover, provid- 

 ed he could get his money crop off by 

 the middle of July, which will give the 

 cowpeas ample time to make a heavy 

 growth. This for the reason that the 

 cowpeas make so much more humus than 

 does clover, and there is no question that 

 it is a better soil-improver. 



We notice also that Mr. Tufts plows 

 under his vines and the straw that is used 



Page 194 



for mulching after his last crop of straw- 

 berries is picked. We agree with him in 

 this, provided there are no insects present 

 and the vines are free from fungous 

 diseases. — Editor The Strawberry. 



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