THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 



understood as referring invidiously to any 

 honest employment, yet it must be ap- 

 parent to anyone with "half an eye" that 

 Mr. Van Doren's position is infinitely to be 

 preferred to that of the man who must seek 

 a job, or holds a job subject to the ca- 

 price of a "boss" or to conditions in the 

 making of which he has had no part. 

 Mr. Van Doren's occupation is his busi- 

 ness, and it is in such immediate and de- 

 lightful relation to his home and family 

 life! Then the occupation itself, so full 

 of interesting and varied tasks and oppor- 

 tunities, is one that grows and broadens 

 with each day's experiences. There is the 

 study of nature and the partnership with 

 nature; the study of animal life with its 

 infinite rewards; and the commercial side 

 brings him into touch with the great out- 

 side world and its interests. One is to be 

 congratulated, indeed, who has youth and 

 strength and enthusiasm and such a home 

 and such a business already established. 

 Mr. Van Doren is seen in the large en- 

 graving, resting on his favorite imple- 

 ment — the hoe — the person nearest the 

 driveway. The elderly gentleman sitting 

 on a basket in the center of the field is 

 Mr. Van Doren's assistant, and the others 

 are admiring visitors. The smaller of the 

 upper engravings shows the fine flower 

 and vegetable garden in front of the poul- 

 try house, and the larger one a front view 

 of the poultry house with its wired-in 

 runs for his thoroughbred poultry. 



'^ ^ 



Practical Experience in Mulching 

 By A. D. Stevens 



THE question often is asked. Does it 

 pay to mulch the strawberry bed 

 for winter.'' I have observed closely 

 the difference between the mulched and 

 unmulched bed, and have noticed in win- 

 ter when the ground was freezing every 

 night and thawing through the day that 

 the mulched bed was kept nearly in uni- 

 form condition — slight freezing or quick 

 thawing made little change in the mulched 

 plants; while the unmulched plants were 

 subject to "chills and fever" as I call it. 

 And when spring came their sickened 

 condition made it impossible for them to 

 recover their strength sufficiently ever to 

 catch up with those plants that were pro- 

 tected with an overcoat. 



And the condition of the soil was so 

 different that a blind man could readily 

 detect the difference in picking time, as 

 the mulched soil was moist and soft, 

 while the bare soil was almost like a rock. 

 The soil that is kept from freezing and 

 thawing contains more nitrogen than that 

 which is exposed to the open air in winter. 

 I find in my travels that most of the 

 farmers in this state are apt to let their 

 beds mat too thickly, which has a bad 

 effect on our markets, as there are but few 

 fancy berries going into them, while the 

 markets are glutted with inferior berries. 

 Then they wonder why it is that berries 



are selling so cheap! I have realized 

 that quality is the first mark to rise to if 

 we must win in the open market, and 

 that can only be obtained with good 

 plants, rich soil and plenty of cultivation. 



Bridgelon, N. J. 



PLEASURES are like poppies spread; 



You sieze its fiower, the bloom is fled; 

 Or like the snow flakes on the river, 

 A moment white, then gone forever; 

 Or like the Borealis race 

 That flit ere you can point the place." 



Summer Setting of Strawberries 



SOME folks think The Strawberry is 

 unnecessarily insistent upon the ad- 

 vantage of spring setting of plants 

 over that of any other season. But we 

 are no more emphatic on this point than 

 are other experienced strawberry growers, 

 and the following letter written by E. C. 

 Green of Medina, Ohio, which we find 

 published in his local paper, indicates his 

 feelings on this particular point. Mr. 

 Green says: 



"In common with other growers, I 

 receive many calls through the summer 

 months for strawberry plants, and very 

 often when I sell plants at this season of 

 the year I feel as if I had taken money 

 under false pretense, for I know that with 

 the care that must be given them they 

 will be a loss to those buying. 



"If you set your plants in the spring, 

 you will have from five to fifty new 

 plants from each one for fruiting; but if 

 you set in the summer you will only have 

 the one set, which will, in all probability, 

 not be as good as any one of those fifty 

 you get from the one set in the spring. 



"Much more might be said against 

 summer setting of strawberry plants. I 

 know but little in favor of it under ordi- 

 nary circumstances." 



ONE of the essentials to the successful mar- 

 keting of fruit of any kind is a neat and 

 strong package, and everybody who has ever 

 dealt with Wells, Higman & Co., of St. Joseph, 

 Mich., knows how well their goods fill the bill. 

 This company not only retains from year to 

 year its old customers, but their rapidly extend- 

 ing trade shows how their products are appre- 

 ciated by all who come to know them. Send 

 for their catalogue at once, confident that you 

 will get a square deal if you deal at all with 

 them. 



THE very title of the booklet put out by the 

 German Kali Works is suggestive of its 

 value and importance to the grower of straw- 

 berries. "Plant Food" is the title, and it deals 

 with the facts of fertility in the soil in a way 

 that is easy to understand and quite as easy to 

 follow in actual practice. Few institutions have 

 done more to help soil culturists understand the 

 proper and economical use of commercial ferti- 

 lizers than the German Kali Works, and we 

 hope every reader of The Strawberry will take 

 advantage of this opportunity to get this valua- 

 ble literature. It is free to you if you will ad- 

 dress German Kali Works, 93 Nassau street, 

 New York, mentioning The Strawberry. 



Page 250 



"The Whole Thing in a Nut Sheir' 



200 Eggs 

 a Year 

 per Hen 



HOW TO GET THEM 



''PHE sixth edition of the book, "200 Esixs a Year 

 -L per Hen." is now ready. Revised, eulnr^ed. and 

 in part rewritten. 90 pai:es. Contains among other 

 thtnL^s the method of feeding by whirh Mr. S. D. Kox, 

 of Wolfboro. N. H.. won the prize of *100 iu gold of- 

 fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition 

 powder for the best etrg record during the winter 

 months. Simplp as a. b, c— and yet we guaranteeit to 

 start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to Ihj 

 moreegt:s than any other method under the sun. Tht 

 book also containsrecipe for egg food and tonic us(C 

 by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 6t: 

 e^gs from 72 hens; and for flvedaysin succession froii. 

 the same flock 64 eggs a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain 

 ofWolfboro, N. H., says: '"By following the mcthors 

 outlined in vour hook I obtained 1.49G eggs from 91 

 R. I. Reds in the mouth of January, 1902." From 

 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock 

 the author got 2,999 eggs in one year— an avera-. e of 

 over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition in 

 writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the 

 standard book on egg production and profits in poultry. 

 Tells all there is to know, and tells it in a plain com- 

 mon-sense way. 



Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscription 

 to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 

 65 cents; or given as a premium for 4 yearly 

 subscriptions at 25 cents each. 



Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 pares. 

 2.'> cents per vear. 4 ninnths' trial, 10 cents. Sam- 

 ple free. CATALOUL'E of poultry books free. 



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