THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 



rison's suggestions, these eastern and mid- 

 dle sections of the country would bloom 

 and blossom like the rose. 



The Home Strawberry Bed 



THE many beautiful pictures of fam- 

 ily strawberry beds we have re- 

 ceived of late prompts us to write 

 this article, and the letters which accom- 

 pany these photographs are so full of 

 cheer and enthusiasm that we are led to 

 repeat what often has been said before. 

 A home in the country, or a suburban 



wholesome and purer food than can any 

 millionaire in the great city. 



While country folks are regaling them- 

 selves with luscious strawberries and ber- 

 ries of all kinds, fresh from the vines, and 

 with fully ripened fruit of all kinds just 

 from the trees, the city folks are eating 

 what little of these goodies they can af- 

 ford that are picked half-green and ship- 

 ped and reshipped until scarcely eatable. 



Now don't spend your long winter 

 evenings trying to formulate an excuse for 

 not having a generous strawberry bed for 

 the family's use. Settle the question 

 right now, and in the morning after you 



IN THE FAMILY STRAWBERRY BED OF H. PIESINGER, LE SEUF.R, MINN. 



home; we may say a home anywhere 

 with soil enough for a flower bed, can be 

 made more homelike, more beautiful, more 

 readily self-supporting, and more appre- 

 ciated by the addition of a strawberry bed. 

 The photo-engravings of home gardens 

 shown in this issue of The Strawberry 

 tell the story in a more convincing man- 

 ner than words can do. And how often 

 these little family strawberry beds make 

 a turning-point in a boy's life. Just the 

 other day we received a letter from a 

 Strawberry reader saying that when he 

 was a boy of only ten years his grand- 

 father gave him a piece of land to set in 

 strawberries, and with a little help and a 

 lot of encouragement from his grandpa 

 this boy grew from a small boy with a 

 small berry patch to a muscular and in- 

 tellectual man, and his first position was 

 that of head gardener. From there he 

 stepped over upon his own farm, bought 

 by honestly earned money, and is now a 

 popular berry and vegetable grower. 

 Who can estimate the true value of that 

 boy's first berry patch and the encour- 

 agement he received from his grandfather? 

 Maybe that boy or girl of yours is at the 

 cross-roads of life, wondering which way 

 to turn. In one direction is the smoke 

 stacks, the hustling, bustling, smoky city 

 with its numberless temptations that are 

 so apt to lead innocent, pure-minded 

 country youths into sin and an unhappy, 

 rather than a blissful life. 1 he other di- 

 rection points to the countr\' with its 

 smokeless, pure atmosphere, good assoc- 

 iates, crystal water, boundless opportuni- 

 ties to deal with loving Nature in all her 

 glory. There one may make more 

 money, be more independent, eat more 



get the chores done and have eaten your 

 breakfast of good fresh sausage, fried eggs 

 which were laid just the day before, hot 

 biscuits and good cofFee, with real cream 

 from real cowr, (but no strawberries) — 

 and don't forget to ask the blessing — go 

 out to the garden and stake off a piece of 

 ground and mark on the stakes in big 

 black letters: "This piece of ground is 

 for strawberries." Now cover it lightly 

 with well-decayed manure, spreading it 

 evenly over the ground. This will take 

 about an hour and all the preparation 

 necessary is done until spring. This 



meals every day, winter and summer. 

 Do this tonight and you will have rich, 

 fresh strawberries, and all you want; but 

 keep on postponing it until tomorrow, and 

 you will eat old dried prunes! 



VV/^HAT is easily done may be overdone; 

 What is difficult to do is in demand; 

 What once has been done may be done again, 

 And you are the fellow thi.t can do it. 

 "Impossible" is un-American. 



AL.MJAMA horticulturists are antici- 

 pating a veritable feast of reason and 

 flow of soul at Montgomery February 

 6-7, at which place and time the annual 

 meeting of the State Horticultural Society 

 will be held. There has been a wonder- 

 ful advance all along the line of horticul- 

 tural development in that great state dur- 

 ing the last few years, and the good work 

 seems to grow in value and importance 

 as it moves forward. W. F. Heikes of 

 Huntsville is president, and R. S. Mack- 

 intosh, the well-known horticulturist of 

 the Experiment Station of that state, is 

 the secretary of the Alabama State So- 

 ciety. The latter's address is Auburn, 

 Ala. The strawberry is rapidly taking a 

 leading place in the horticulture of the 

 state and should be given due prominence 

 on the program. 



Working for the Ideal 



By L. E. Job 



IN January, 1906 I ordered four hun- 

 dred strawberry plants, and a month 

 later I subscribed for The Strawber- 

 ry. By the time the plants arrived in 

 April I had learned how best to prepare 

 the bed and set the plants. 



After the work of preparing the bed 



THE BEAUTIFUL HOME GROUNDS OF H. PIESINGER, LE SEUER, MINN. 



evening, instead of going down to the 

 store and giving your opinion as to how 

 the government ought to be run, or the 

 kind of gun Roosevelt should use to 

 shoot bear, spend your time in looking 

 over the catalogues to which the nursery- 

 men have devoted so much time and 

 given so much thought for your benefit, 

 and select your plants, choosing several 

 varieties from the earliest to the latest so 

 that you will have strawberries three 



Psfle 33 



and' setting the plants was completed, 

 cultivation commenced in earnest, and all 

 through the summer months not one 

 thing was left undone that was recom- 

 mended in The Strawberry. Not a weed 

 was allowed to grow, the ground was cul- 

 tivated as soon after a rain as it would 

 work well, and after the ideal rows were 

 formed not a runner was permitted to 

 grow. 



Early in the morning on Thanksgiving 



