THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 



Only first-class plants with large bunches 

 of roots are used These are tied in 

 bunches of twenty-five, labeled and set 

 into a tLib containing a few inches of 

 water. In this they are taken to the field. 

 Here they are carried during the setting 

 in a paper-lined and covered basket. A 

 cloth gunny sack or paper are equally 

 good for cover, so they keep the sun from 

 wilting the plants. The plants are not 

 dropped ahead but as they are planted. 



The rows are marked with a hand- 

 made marker three and one-half feet apart. 

 Plants are set two feet apart. We aim 

 to set them firmly in the ground with 

 roots well spread and at the same depth 

 they stood in the propagating bed. 



We are growing at present five va- 

 rieties — Warfield, Bederwood, Splendid, 

 Dunlap and Staples. The first three 

 named are our main crop. We are try- 

 ing the Dunlap and hoping it may prove 

 good enough to take the places of both 

 Splendid and Bederwood. Splendid with 

 us is a very good berry when it is good, 

 but it has spells of being bad "and when 

 it's bad it's horrid." Bederwood is a 

 splendid fertilizer, as it blooms both early 

 and late. It always has a smooth well- 

 developed berry of excellent flavor, but it 

 is light in color, therefore not desirable for 

 canning. 



Staples is a very sweet dark berry, but 

 it is a shy bearer. Of these we have 

 only one row which is for our own use. 

 We have tried many other varieties but 

 have discarded them all. 



Heretofore we have planted our rows 

 as follows: one Bederwood; two Warfield; 

 one Splendid. Next year we shall plant 

 Dunlap in the place of Bederwood, every 

 other row. 



It would be impossible to tell how 

 often we cultivate or hoe. We hoe fre- 

 quently enough to keep them clean. It 

 is a great saving of labor to hoe when the 

 weeds are small. We cultivate enough 

 to keep a constant dust mulch — after 

 every rain and at least once a week if it 

 doesn't rain. We use a twelve-tooth 

 Planet Jr. and a roller runner cutter if the 

 row gets more than a foot wide. 



We have always had a narrow-matted 

 row and tried to keep it thin, but in the 

 next bed we are going to test the hedge- 

 row in a small way. We pick off all 

 blossoms the first year. In the fall we 

 mulch with oat straw or rye straw. We 

 do this earlier than we used to do. We 

 cover the rows very lightly, putting it 

 thickly between rows. In the spring we 

 uncover enough so the plants can grow 

 through the straw. We never have been 

 obliged to spray strawberries, although at 

 times we have had some rust on Beder- 

 wood rows. 



We never have removed mulch and 

 cultivated in spring, but I am of the opinion 

 it is a fine thing to do. 



From the time of removing the mulch 

 until the harvest our beds have received 

 no attention, but when that time comes 



HARDY BLIZZARD BELT 



EVERGREENS 



FREE 



If you are not already acquainted with us we want 

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^^^^^^■^^^^^^ "Gardeners" by occupation. We grow Hardy Trees. 

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RESERVED 600,000 TREES 



for this free advertising distribution and if you want your share of them 

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The Gardner Nursery Company, 33 Nursery Ave., Osage, lowa< 



You Can Buy and Lay DA AFINfi 



Gordon.VanTineFirrit^RibLitWWI ■■111 

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Than Half What 

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r^nlOEL 108 sq. feet 



1-Ply $1.41 per Roll 



2- Ply 1.96 per Roll 



3-Ply 2.29perRoli 



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GORDON, VAN TINE & CO. VnT.'jr' Station 037 , DAVENPORT, IOWA 



Grand Catalog of Factory Prices on S»ah. Doore, Building MateiT*! and Woodwork sent free also. 



Page 36 



