THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 



through the water flumes is another bad custom- 

 er, as it is so tenacious in roo:'ng that it will 

 take up all with it when you pull it. — San Fran- 

 cisco World. 



pURSLEY and crab grass are difficult 

 * to get rid of once they get a foothold, 

 but there is no danger of their doing that 

 where a Planet Jr. cultivator or wheel 

 hoe is kept polished in the soil between 

 the rows and no rust is allowed to gather 

 on the blade of the hand hoe. All ob- 

 noxious growths may best be kept under 

 control by "killing" them before they start 

 lo grow — stir the soil and destroy the 

 seed while in the germination stage. If 

 crab grass or pursley should get started 

 among your plants, however, whether by 

 neglect or otherwise, the best way to re- 

 move them without disturbing the plants 

 is to hold the plants down by placing the 

 thumb and finger around the crown and 

 press down on the soil with the ball of 

 the hand while with the other hand pull- 

 ing the grass. Jerk or jar slightly while 

 pulling, which will lessen the danger of 

 destroying the plants' roots, and if possible 

 do this work after a rain. But as we said 

 before, the ideal time to do this work is 

 before the grass gets above ground. 



TN a lecture at our Chautauqua this summer, 

 Prof. P. G. Holden, the Iowa corn expert, 

 said that the main cause of the small yield or 

 corn was the poor stand This will hold as 

 true in strawberries as in corn. I have seen 

 strawberry patches where the skips and vacant 

 places would cut down the yield materially. In 

 fact, I did not have to go off my own place to 

 find such things. If it doesn't pay to cultivate 

 a field of corn with twenty-five per cent of the 

 hills gone, it pays less to do such work in straw- 

 berries, for they take much more cultivating and 

 hoeing. But I would give a good deal for as 

 easy a solution of how to get a good stand of 

 strawberries as Prof. Holden has of corn. This 

 year I have succeeded fairly well, having fully 

 ninety-five per cent of a stand on my whole two 

 acres, with the exception of the Sample, which 

 is not over .seventy-five per cent. Just why, I 

 am not able to explain. I have sent plants to 

 the Experiment Station but could get no help. 

 It is a saying among those who grow straw- 

 berries for the fruit, that "the worst weed in a 

 strawberry bed is a strawberry plant." But 

 with the use of the weeder I think I can control 

 that. The hot and wet weather of August has 

 given mo an unusual growth of "pusley," but 

 cool weather and a frost will soon stop that. It 

 is the perennial weeds that should be kept out of 

 a strawberry bed in the fall, such as dock, dan- 

 delion, plantain, etc., and with me nothing is 

 so bad as timothy. — E. C. Green in Ohio Far- 

 mer. 



TT does not pay to cultivate unoccupied 

 •*^ space in the case of any crop. In 

 order to insure a full stand of strawberries 

 these simple rules should be observed: 



1. Make a carefully prepared soil bed, 

 pressed firm enough with roller or float 

 to close all large air spaces. 



2. Avoid turning under coarse ma- 

 nure; even well-decayed manure should 



DO YOU see the two men in this 

 picture and the positions they oc- 

 cupy in the world.' One sitting 

 discouraged at the bottom of the ladder, 

 never looking up with ambitious, deter- 

 mined eye, resolved to climb to the place 

 occupied by his successful fellowi' Well, 

 it is the mission of The Strawberry to 

 change all that, and help the man who 

 labors under a burden of worry, struggle 

 and debt to throw off his galling chains 

 and take a place among those who are 

 named the Successful Ones. And those 

 who don't know just which way to turn — 

 these we know we may direct into paths 

 sure to lead to independence and a home 

 if — they will do their part. That is the 



object of The Strawberry and the Corres- 

 pondence School of Strawberry Culture 

 which forms so important a part of the work 

 of this magazine. Don't you want to get 

 to the top.'' If you do, come and let us help 

 you in your upward climb. Honor, fame 

 and fortune are certain to all who work in- 

 telligently and persistently in the field of 

 strawberry production, and we show you 

 just what to do, how to do it, when to do 

 it, and the why of it. Join our great 

 family and march forward to success. 

 It's The Strawberry folks who are reach- 

 ing the top of the ladder! Thirty thous- 

 and now on the roll — but we would leave 

 nobody out. There's always room at 

 the top! Don't stay down at the bottom! 



Page 246 



be mixed thoroughly with the soil before 

 setting the plants. 



3. Use strong, vigorous and dormant 

 plants that have been well protected dur- 

 ing winter with mulching, as this insures 

 well-calloused roots. 



4. Prune the roots back at least one- 

 third and be careful to have all the roots 

 well spread out in fan shape and placed 

 straight down in the opening when setting 

 them, and press the soil firmly against the 

 roots so that every root will come in con- 

 tact with the earth. Set all scant runner- 

 makers not more than twenty inches apart 

 in the row, and all excessive runner- 

 makers not less than thirty inches apart. 



5. Be very sure that the crown of the 

 plant is above the surface of the soil; bet- 

 ter have the top of the roots exposed 

 above the surface than to have the crown 

 even partly below the surface. A plant 

 will start growing quicker and more vig- 

 orously when the shoulder of the roots 

 is just even with the surface, and run- 

 ners also will start earlier, than if the 

 body of the plant is set below the surface. 



6. Cultivate immediately after setting; 

 plants should carefully be cultivated the 

 same day they are set out and hoed 

 within a week from setting. 



7. Always order ten per cent more 

 plants than you estimate your ground re- 

 quires. Heel these extras in and shade 

 them to hold dormant as long as possible, 

 and reset in vacancies. If you set your 

 own plants reserve some in the propagat- 

 ing bed for this purpose. In case you 

 are so fortunate as to get a full stand, the 

 surplus may be sold or set in other ground. 



8. If all plants do not start at once, 

 don't get discouraged, but keep cultivating 

 and hoeing. This will stimulate action. 



9. Pick all fruit buds off before bloom 

 opens, for just as soon as the flower opens 

 pollen exhaustion occurs; especially is 

 this true with all bisexual varieties. This 

 weakens the vitality which has been stored 

 up in the plant the previous year. And 

 don't forget that the plant must live upon 

 this stored-up vitality until its feeding 

 roots begin to absorb plant food from the 

 soil. 



10. Do not allow runners to remain on 

 any mother plant which appears weak or 

 backward in growth. 



Verily, verily, if these ten command- 



our fruit with a grood spray 



mp means dollars to you. 



3 Eclipse earns bigproflts 



and lasts for years. We in- 



nted the 



EGUPSE 



SPRAY PUMP 



experimenting for 

 years in our own (.>rcnarti.'^ 

 with thecommtin sprajeis. 

 We have it illustrated in 

 our 4D-pap:e cataloc:— send 

 for it to-dav— it's brimful 

 of useful and interesting 

 ^ leadinp for the gardener 

 an<i fruitniaa. • 



MORKiri. & MOR1.ET 

 Benton Harbor, Mirh. 



