THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 



vegetative part of the plants growing while 

 retarding the development of the fruit 

 buds until so late that they would not 

 open until spring. Setting of late varieties 

 might prove of some advantage. 



This is an answer also to W. F. M., 

 Marshall, Texas. 



F. 1. [.., West Webster, N. Y. Does freezing 

 spoil or injure Bordeaux mixture? Does age 

 injure or weaken it? 



We would not advise anyone to use 

 Bordeaux mixture after it has been frozen. 

 We have always found the mixture just 

 about as effective after it had been made 

 for several weeks as when applied im- 

 mediately after making. However, the 

 safer way is to use it while fresh. 



C. B. W. , Denver, Colo. My soil is a sandy 

 loam and I have been told that strawberries 

 raised on such soil were too costly, as they 

 had to be washed in order to remove the sand 

 etc. , that sticks to them. Now can you sug- 

 gest some method whereby I could make a 

 success of them' 



2. I would like to set about one acre as I 

 have a little over two acres on which I am 

 growing nothing. We are just starting our 

 place to fruit (four and one-half acres). We 

 are to set 1,500 dewberries and 1,000 currants 

 and about 3,000 asparagus, and have not de- 

 cided just what to finish with, but would 

 like to set strawberries if I could make it pay. 



3. Next, our place had been neglected before 

 we bought, so sand burs and Russian thistles 

 have had full sway. Is there any crop outside 

 of a hoed crop that would keep them down? 

 I will have too much work for next summer 

 to care for a hoed crop, but could perhaps 

 plow the ground several times if a crop could 

 not be raised to do away with the weeds. 



4. Would it be best to set, say one-third 

 acre in 1907, one-third acre in 1908, and the 

 other one-third in 1909, then after the crop of 

 1910 on the first one-third, plow it up and 

 sow cow peas and reset in 1911, continuing 

 this order each year after? 



It is evident that your neighbors are 

 not advised in this matter. It is a very 

 simple thing to do to keep your berries 

 clean by mulching. You will see that 

 by covering your berry plants with straw 

 late in the fall, the winte.- rains and snows 

 will press the straw flat upon the ground. 

 Then in the spring take a fork and loosen 

 the straw directly over the row of plants 

 just enough to make an opening for the 

 plants to come up through, and the ber- 

 ries will lie directly upon this clean straw 

 floor, which will keep them so clean that 

 they will be ready for table use with no 

 washing whatever. 



2. It would seem to us that four and 

 a half acres near a large city like Denver 

 could be made into a little Klondike, and 

 you need not hesitate to set one acre to 

 strawberries. We shall do our part to 



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3. If you had the time to look after 

 this foul land when planted to some hoed 

 crop it would be the better way, but we 

 suggest a plan for handling this piece of 

 land that will prove quite satisfactory, we 

 are sure. As early as your ground may 

 be worked next spring, plow it up and let 

 it remain in that state until you observe 

 that the weeds are germinating — about 

 ten days to two weeks. Theii harrow it 

 twice, going once over it from north to 

 south, then from east to west. This will 

 destroy all the weed seed that has started 

 to germinate. Repeat this operation every 

 week or ten days up to the latter days of 

 June, when you should give the ground 

 another thorough harrowing and sow at 

 least six pecks of cow peas to the acre; 



Page 51 



seven would be even better. The fre- 

 quent harrowings will have destroyed a 

 large percentage of the seeds which have 

 sprouted, and by sowing peas late the 

 ground has become thoroughly warmed, 

 and in a few days the cow peas will quite 

 cover the ground. Now take a one-horse 

 weeder, such as the Hallock or Keystone, 

 and go over the peas the same as you did 

 with the harrow over the bare ground. 

 The weeder teeth will not injure the peas, 

 but will break every particle of the crust 

 and thus destroy those seeds that are still 

 germinating. This may appear to be a 

 lot of work, but it will require only a 

 short time to go over the acre as we have 

 indicated. This will give you an im- 

 mense quantity of hay valuable for either 

 horses or cows. The time to cut the pea 

 hay is while the peas are in bloom. And 



