CLEANING OUT THE STRAWBERRY FIELD PREPARATORY TO WINTER 



October Work With the Strawberries 



OCTOBER may be called the 

 "home-run" month so far as 

 cultural methods in the straw- 

 berry field are concerned. A 

 glance at the above picture will indicate 

 the last work to be done in the field be- 

 fore the winter comes on and the plants 

 are put under their winter covering of 

 mulch. Each of these men at work have 

 a sharp-pointed hoe which is used to pick 

 out any stray weeds and blades of grass 

 that still remain in plant rows. As the 

 corn men say, this is the "laying-by" pro- 

 cess, and by removing all noxious growths 

 at this season the danger of grass and 

 weeds getting ahead of you during the 

 picking season is greatly lessened. It al- 

 so improves the appearance of the patch, 

 and prevents the weeds from absorbing 

 the plant food which the vines so much 

 need in building up their fruit-bud sys- 

 tem. Many growers neglect this work 

 in the fall, leaving the plants at the mercy 

 of noxious growths, and in the spring 

 wonder why their berries are not so thrifty 

 and so large as those grown by the folk 

 who follow strictly the best cultural 

 methods. This work is easily and cheap- 

 ly done, and if the soil be moist, the grass 

 and weeds readily may be pulled up by 

 hand. While the grower is doing this he 

 may continue to fill in the vacancies in 

 the rows as suggested in the September 

 issue of The Strawberry. 



/'~\NE cause of plant injury during the 

 ^^ winter is the settling of water direct- 

 ly on the plants in the rows. Possibly 

 the ground has frozen so that the water 

 cannot leach away, and 



How to Protect , , . 



Crowns from Freezing a Sudden and Severe 

 freezing spell would re- 

 sult in freezing the water about the crowns 

 and thus, by shutting off all air, smother 

 I lie plants. This easily may be prevented 

 by making a furrow in the center of the 

 space between the rows, which will make 



a place for the surplus water to lie until 

 it may be carried off or taken up by the 

 soil. We have followed this method for 

 years and it has saved us from heavy 

 losses. The furrow may be made by 

 putting a small shovel on a furrowing 

 plow or, if the grower has no furrowing 

 plow, but does have a Planet Jr. twelve- 

 tooth or Iron Age cultivator, he may 

 attach a larger shovel at the point occu- 

 pied by the back tooth on the center beam. 

 This shovel need not be more than three 

 inches wide, and the furrow should be 

 made to a depth of about five inches. 

 This is actually a drain between every 

 two rows of plants. Many of our South- 

 ern friends grow their plants on ridges 

 because of the excessive rains and stiff 

 soil of that section. With them, of course, 

 these drain-furrows will be unnecessary. 



WE have received many letters from 

 readers saying that their soil was 

 not so rich as they would like to have it, 

 and asking if it would be safe to apply 

 manure as a top-dress- 



Top-Dressing ■ ,,, , , 



With Manure '"g- ^e WOuld say 



that this is a good time 

 to do that order of work, and the grower 

 whose plants have not made a satisfactory 

 vegetative growth can take fine stable 

 manure and scatter it lightly along each 

 side of the row. After it has been scat- 

 tered it will be well to take a small-tooth 

 cultivator and mix the manure with the 

 top surface of the soil. However, if this 

 may not be done, the manure will serve 

 a good purpose if it be left on top of the 

 ground. Of course, the plants would 

 get no plant food from the manure this 

 fall, nor would we have them do so; but 

 the winter rains and snows will leach the 

 plant food from the manure and store it 

 up for the plant's use the following spring, 

 and this will make them fairly jump. If 

 you intend to cultivate the manure inio 

 the soil as above suggested, be sure and 



Page 195 



do the work before making the drainage 

 furrow between the rows. 



TN most localities good mulching is a 

 A scarce commodity, and as it is such an 

 important feature of successful strawberry 

 production we cannot too strongly em- 

 phasize the importance 



Securing the . 111 



Winter Mulch of engaging the mulch- 

 ing now so that you will 

 have it on hand when the time comes to 

 apply it. \Ve have ours all bought, and 

 it amounts to 300 tons. This consists of 

 wheat straw, oat straw, rye straw, old and 

 new straw, besides forty acres of sowed 

 corn. Thus you will see we practice on 

 The Strawberry farm just what we preach. 

 The November issue will deal more at 

 length with the mulching question, going 

 deeply into the reasons for its universal 

 use and the large and varied benefits de- 

 rived from it. The suggestions here made 

 are for the purpose of getting you into 

 action; to be prepared for the work that 

 must later be done. 



pvOUBTLESS every reader of The 

 '-^ Strawberry has decided upon the 

 location of his field for setting plants in 

 the season of 1907. The land may have 

 been in potatoes or veg- 

 etables this season, or it 

 may have been in corn 

 or wheat, or in clover. If the ground 

 has been in a cultivated crop this season, 

 it will be a good plan to break up the 

 ground and sow five pecks of rye to 

 the acre, giving it a light dressing of 

 manure during the winter months. In 

 the spring replow this ground and thor- 

 oughly mix manure with the soil by har- 

 rowing or disking before setting the plants. 

 If it is clover sod, turn the sod under this 

 fall and cover with manure; then in the 

 spring go over the surface with the disc, 

 mixing the soil and manure thoroughly 

 togeth.r. By using the disc instead of 



Preparing for 



1907 Setting 



