THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 



handling the small area at their command. 

 2. Either muriate or sulfate of potash is 

 good for strawberries, but as a rule it is 

 not necessary to use so much sulfate as 

 muriate, therefore the cost of either would 

 be about the same. It will be well to 

 experiment by trying muriate on some 

 plants and sulfate on others, which will 

 inform you as to the better one to use on 

 your soil. 



R. S., Hammond, Wis. Would chaff from 

 flax straw that has rotted for seven years be a 

 good fertilizer for strawberries on a clay soil? 

 It seems to need something to lighten it up — 

 slopes to the south. 



2. Which varieties of late strawberries would 

 be best for the above soil.' 



The chafF from your flax straw will 

 malce an ideal dressing for your clay soil, 

 as you say it is perfectly decayed. What 

 clay soil needs is a sufficient amount of 

 humus to make it spongy so that it will 

 better hold moisture, and humus is made 

 from decayed vegetation. The straw also 

 will make the soil lighter and more easily 

 handled. We believe you would get 

 better results by breaking the ground this 

 fall and then covering it well with the 

 decayed chaff, and in the spring work it 

 thoroughly into the soil. A crop of cow- 

 peas is a wonderful loosener of clay soils 

 and one of the best humus makers. 



2. Clay soil when properly prepared 

 will grow almost any of the standard 

 varieties to perfection. For late varieties 

 we would suggest Dornan, Gandy, Pride 

 of Michigan and Mark Hanna. We 

 should also recommend trying a few 

 Stevens' Late Champion and the New 

 Home. 



L. W. , Talent, Ore. My soil is "neavy, black 

 and sticky. When plowed in the fall and left 

 to the action of the frost and air it works up 

 mellow in the spring; but when irrigated runs 

 together and becomes hard. Would it be 

 benefited by putting on gravelly sand and 

 manure before plowing? 



We would not recommend the appli- 

 cation of any gravel or sand, but a large 

 amount of coarse stable manure, turned 

 under in the fall, will aid greatly to loosen 

 your soil, because in the spring you will 

 replow this soil, and this will bring the 

 manure back to the surface. By working 

 it in lightly on the top it will be of much 

 benefit in correcting the trouble to which 

 you refer. 



<^ ^ 



N. A. S., Boston; Mass. In July someone 

 kindly mulched my little strawberry patch 

 with old straw, weeds and lawn clippings. 

 Had I better leave the mulching on the ground 

 or remove it? 



As the mulch has been on all summer 

 it will do no harm to let it remain until 

 after the berries are picked next season. 



but the best mulching during the summer 

 season is the dust mulch, which is made 

 by repeated cultivations and hoeings. 

 After the first freeze, a more thorough 

 mulching should be given the plants, so 

 that the plants themselves will be covered. 



M. R.,Eastport, L. I. Would I better cut 

 off the leaves which have reddish brown spots? 

 Some of them are nearly covered. The cen- 

 ter leaves are still fresh and green. 

 2. I have kept the runners cut off tlie plants 

 set this spring until now, and they still form. 

 Will it do to let them run now and set, or 

 will it injure the crop of berries next summer? 



It is unnecessary to cut off the leaves 

 which are affected with rust. Of course, 

 it would be somewhat of a prevention 

 against this fungi spreading to the healthy 

 foliage. If you could spray these plants 

 with Bordeaux mixture at first sight of 

 this trouble and repeat it every ten days 

 for several weeks, it could be completely 

 controlled. Unless the leaves are very 

 badly affected, we hardly believe that it 

 will do any serious injury. 



2. It will be all right for you to allow 

 your runners to set until the middle of 

 September; however, it would have been 

 better if you had allowed these runners to 

 form earlier. 



W. W. W., Berwick, Pa. Can I raise two 

 crops of plants (first and second year) from 

 my propagating bed without deterioration to 

 offspring, if I take No. 1 care of parent 

 plants? 



2. What is the value of pigeon droppings 

 for fertilizing strawberries? 



3. I have a compost heap made of the fol- 

 lowing: one-half leaf-mold, one-fourth each 

 of cow and horse manure. Can you recom- 

 mend this as of special value for strawberries? 



4. Could I use sawdust or tan-bark between 

 rows for pickers to walk on, removing same 

 when season is over? Sawdust is old and 

 partly decomposed. 



It always is best to grow only one 

 crop of plants from a propagating bed, 

 then you are sure to have the very best 

 developed plants. Even though you do 

 take the best of care of the mother plants 

 there is danger of the second crop of 

 plants being weak and unsatisfactory. 

 And when you propagate your own plants 

 it is best to dig up the entire row, dis- 

 carding the mother plants and any 

 weaklings. 



2. Pigeon-droppings make a very 

 valuable fertilizer for strawberries. If 

 combined with an equal amount of soil 

 and left for several weeks and given a 

 thorough "mixing" every few days, their 

 value will be increased greatly. 



3. Your compost is well made up 

 and it will prove a fine fertilizer. Glad to 

 know that you are composting your 

 manures. This is one way to get the 



Page 204 



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