THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 



ground is a black loam or a sriff clay do 

 not use the ashes, but if sandy or sand- 

 loam, the ashes will aid greatly in color- 

 ing the fruit and in increasing the crop. 

 ^. ^ 



R. S. T., Siisqtielianiia, Pa. What varieties of 

 strawberries will stand frost best? 

 2. I have found a few of the white grubs in 

 my new strawberry bed, but have not seen 

 any signs of them for three or four weeks. 

 Am I rid of them, or will they appear again 

 next spring? 



.^. We have found a few grubs on a piece of 

 potato ground which we would like to set to 

 plants next spring. Will it be safe if it is 

 plowed late this fall? 



As a general rule, one variety of plants 

 will stand abcuit as much frost as another. 

 Usually a pistillate variety has a hardier 

 bloom than a bisexual, which is due to 

 the fact that the flower of the pistillate 

 varieties contains no anthers. We find 

 the Warfield, Crescent, Tennessee Pro- 

 lific, Pride of Michigan, Dornan and 

 Mark Hanna good, safe varieties to set 

 where there is danger of frost during the 

 blooming season; but they are not frost 

 proof by any means. 



2. if the grubs have ceased working 

 upon your plants so early in the season it 

 is quite likely that your soil contained 

 only a few of them, and that these few 

 have been devoured by moles or by other 

 animals that feed upon the grubs. 



3. Your ground that has been in po- 

 tatoes, and where you have noticed grubs, 

 should be broken up at once and allowed 

 to remain in broken condition during the 

 winter. This will aid greatly in destroy- 

 ing what few grubs remain. 



L. M., Eugene, Ore. I have a piece of ground 

 near the house with quite a little small gravel 

 in it, but I could give it more attention, it 

 being handy, and probably irrigate, if you 

 think it advisable. Also have soil with no 

 gravel but not so convenient. 

 2. What is your advice in regard to turning 

 under sand vetch as a fertilizer? 

 Our neighbor picked six boxes of fine berries 

 from a small patch of plants the latter part of 

 September. 



If there is plenty of soil to make a good 

 body for the roots to feed from, the small 

 gravel is not objectionable. As a rule, 

 berries color up highly in such soil as you 

 describe. Of course, if the gravel is very 

 coarse and covered with but little soil, we 

 should prefer the piece of ground that is 

 free from gravel, even though it be not 

 so convenient to the house. 



2. All vetches belong to the legume 

 family, and there is no question but the 

 sand vetch will improve the soil. Any 

 vegetative growth turned under improves 

 the soil by furnishing humus and improv- 

 ing the mechanical condition of the soil. 

 This is particularly true of all legumes, 

 which add nitrogen as well as humus. 



VVe have been enjoying some late ber- 



ries ourselves. Some plants which came 

 to us from France yielded some delicious 

 berries in September; so your neighbor is 

 not ahead of us in that respect. 



'^ <^ 



¥,. n. G., Rochester, N. Y. I mowed my 

 beds at close of fruit season, loosened up the 

 straw mulch and waited two or three days, 

 which were sunny and hot, then I set fire but 

 they would not burn. I waited a few days 

 more and tried again — the weather dry and 

 clear all the while — but the fire would only 

 progress a very little way and go out. I at- 

 tempted the third time to burn them off after 

 the new growth had made quite a start, but 

 still failed. We had only very moderate and 

 unsteady winds at any time during the spell. 

 I think with a stiff wind I might have suc- 

 ceeded. How do you think it would work to 

 spray with kerosene oil, in such a case, and 

 then set fire immediately? 

 2. I set propagating- rows five feet apart and 

 having naturally good soil and this well ferti- 

 lized, I have complete mats of plants almost 

 five feet wide. They would have run across 

 the lines had I not kept them apart. Al- 

 though the season has been very dry here, 

 cultivation, hoeing and weeding has produced 

 this great abundance of plants. I raised a 

 fine crop of onions (from sets) head lettuce 

 (transplanted from hot bed) and early peas 

 between these rows early in the season. Now 

 I wish to transplant a lot of these plants next 

 spring and I want to raise a crop of berries 

 next season from this plat. I mean where my 

 propagating beds are. My plan is this: mulch 

 these beds with wheat straw and buckwheat 

 straw at ground freezing, rake it aside in 

 spring, first from one bed, stretch lines where 

 I want single or double hedge rows, accord- 

 ing to varietv, then take up all plants not 

 under these lines, selecting the best of these 

 to transplant, then bring back the mulch close 

 to or against the rows, as advised in The 

 Strawberry, so we can cultivate between. 

 Now proceed to clear line and dig another 

 bed and so on. I think I have plants thickly 

 enough set to form a fairly good hedge any- 

 where I may stretch a line over a bed. Do 

 you think my plan may prove practical, i. e. , 

 successful? 



3. Would you advise digging up the line of 

 mother plants? They were wonderfully large 

 and vigorous but have had a heavy strain, 

 producing so many young plants in a very 

 dry season. 



4. How do you apply nitrate of soda? I 

 never have used it, but a friend tells me care 

 must be taken that it touch not the foliage. 



Your mulching must have been quite 

 damp on the under side, because we never 

 have had any trouble in getting the straw 

 to burn quickly, or it may be possible 

 that there was not enough wind to drive 

 the fire along. The spraying with kero- 

 sene would not be advisable, because if 

 the mulching was damp, the fire would 

 merely take up the top where the oil had 

 come in contact. The better way would 

 be to take a common hay tedder which 



Fa«e 227 



They live, grow, make 

 money for you. Got our 

 catalog.' Jf not, send fur it 

 today. Millions of plants, trees, 

 bushes — general nurs- 

 ery stock ready. Free 

 catalog tells all. Valua- 

 ble spraying calendar 

 in it. Order stock now 

 for fall setting. 

 ARTHUR J. COLLINS 



Box 415, Moorestown, N. J. 

 — ^ i 



Peaches 

 Pears 



[Apples 

 California 

 Privet 



One (if the most 

 prolitable croiis 

 the small fruit- 

 j^rower can raise 

 Now is the time Ici plan for next sprintjN plant- 

 ing. Write for information ahout plants and 

 culture to 



Dewberries 



R. D. t. 



T. H. Smallwood, 



FORT SCOTT, 

 KANSAS 



Trees, Plants & Seeds ^^ 



THAT GROW /v-Vo-^, , , 



Best quality. Good lM';ir->^5X.*o$>^ I i'»li-'l 

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 IL'c: Peach 4c; all >^^Y,^>^ FreiKliL I'aid 

 buJded; Con- >«^ * e%?^"n tr;;.-s C'.ita- 

 coni Grapes ><*^Ae>-f Iokuc, r.iii;lis h or 



Tre. Serf- Ji^<C',e)°/ for it to.lav. Addr.'sa 

 t.'.<\/ OEFMAN NURSERIES, 



UngBll 



Box 101 



Beatrice, Web. 



CHJ:?A'JL'I^I 



our fruit with a good spray 

 n^ means dollars to y..u. 

 Eclipse earns big prolita 

 nd lasts for years. We in- 

 vented the 



ECLIPSE 



SPRAY PUMP 



after experimenting for 

 years in our own oreliards 

 with the common sprayer.'*. 

 We have it illustrate'! in 

 our 40-page catalog— send 

 for it to-dav— it's brimful 

 of useful ah<l interesting 

 reading for the gardener 

 and fruitman. 

 MORRIX.r. & MORT-EY 

 Kenton Harbor, Mi<h. 



I.^X. I Theivi Al_i_ 



Tkirty Years Experience 



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