THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 



all the leachings of manure and prevent 

 puddling of the soil during the winter. 

 The following spring turn the rye and 

 the decayed manure under and bring the 

 peavines to the surface, and as soon as 

 they come in contact with the air, they 

 will readily crumble into fine particles. 

 The soil and vegetable matter should be 

 thoroughly incorporated by frequent har- 

 rowings and diskings. Now you have a 

 bed of soil about eight inches deep, com- 

 posed of about one part humus and seven 

 parts soil, the combination producing a 

 soft, loose, friable bed, which is capable 

 of holding large quantities of moisture 

 and which is full of sustenance for the 

 plants, making it possible to develop an 

 exceedingly heavy root system to the 

 plants grown therein. Before setting the 

 plants roll the surface quite firmly if your 

 soil is sandy loam, and then if you use 

 only good strong mother plants, and give 

 them good care, not allowing any runners 

 to mature until the mother plant has be- 

 come well established in its new home, 

 nor any laterals to form, you may be sure 

 of producing a quality of plants that will 

 not disappoint when set out in the fruiting 

 bed. For a propagating bed a rich sandy 

 loam is the most desirable of all soils. 

 The cultural methods employed in the 

 propagating bed should be the same as in 

 the fruiting bed, only that in the propa- 

 gating bed plants may be culti\ated until 

 later in the season. Be sure that no crust 

 is allowed to form in the row around the 

 plants. A dust mulch should be main- 

 tained there as in the space between the 

 rows. 



7. We have experimented by grow- 

 ing potatoes on land that had been in 

 strawberries the previous year, and after 

 the potatoes were dug we ga\'e the field 

 a light dressing of stable manure. The 

 following spring we turned this manure 

 under and then set to strawberries again. 

 The results far exceeded our expectations. 

 We never have seen nicer plants than 

 were those grown in that particular piece 

 of ground, and we are convinced that 

 there is nothing better than potatoes to 

 grow on strawberry land to renovate and 

 refit it for the growing of strawberries 

 again. And we secured 400 bushels of 

 excellent tubers from an acre. Thus it 

 will be seen that they not only put the 

 ground in ideal condition, but they put 

 money in the bank as well. 



We have been urging the importance 

 of a label for several years, and every 

 grower that has adopted it is getting 

 enough more for his berries to pay the 

 cost of the labels many times over. It 

 gives your berries a name and a standing 

 of their own, and makes it easier and 

 more satisfactory to do business. The 

 more attractive the label the more tempt- 

 ing the berries will look. 



The fact that you have succeeded so 

 well with the plants set last spring indi- 

 cates that you are bound to succeed in 

 your new and larger enterprise. There 



Established 

 in 1869 



Headquarters 

 For 



UhE MICHIDSN basket FACTDRY OFi 



' U'KI.1.S IIKi.MA^'CO ^ 



El 



ST. JOSEPH, MICH. 



is SEND FDRILLUSTRAtCD PRICE LIST. 



Experience 

 Counts 



BERRY BOXES 



Peach and Grape Baskets 



Also Melon Baskets 



Pi-uit shipped in our packaii^s insures high- 

 est j)rices. 



Order boxes iu»w and make up at your leisure, 

 erite us for Berry Box Maeliine. 



Illustrated Price List Free. 



Wells, Hitman Company 



Box 10. ST. JOSEPH, MICH. 



Save Money by Making Up Your 

 Own Fruit Boxes and Baskets 



"ADVANCE" FOOT POWER 

 WIRE STAPLING MACHINE 



A Time-Tested, Reliable and Fully Guaranteed Machine 

 Write for prices and circulars 



Mfg. by SARANAC MACHINE CO., 

 2731 Main Street ST. JOSEPH, MICH. 



The BASKET with the 



That is the distinguishing feature of the 



WAX LINED PAPER BERRY BASKET 



The height of Clean, Odorless, Taint- 

 less, Pure and Perfect Basket Perfection 



IF YOU ARE A BERRY GROWER yoo want our 

 B:isket and we want your name 



MULLEN BROS. PAPER COMPANY 



Send for FREE Sample and Catalogue of this 20th Century Basket Dept. B 



St. Joseph, Mich. 



is no doubt about the success of all who 

 follow the instruction given through The 

 Strawberry, as nothing is taught here but 

 what has been proved by actual experience. 



^ <^ 



E. T. M., Waukesha, Wis. I have a straw- 

 berry bed comprising about one-tenth of an 

 acre, mostly Brandywine and Senator Dunlap. 

 They all made a very fine growth, and are 

 entirely free from weeds, but had only enough 

 manure to give them a light covering in fall. 

 They are now mulched with coarse marsh hay ; 

 think that it was insufficient fertilizer to ma- 

 ture a good crop of berries Would a dress- 

 ing of wood ashes and finely ground bone ap 



Page 81 



plied early in spring help matters any? Or is 

 there any other commercial fertilizer that 

 would do more good? 



2. Would you advise using the Mullen Bros. 

 paper strawberry boxes? I have two samples, 

 one a wine quart and the other a full quart? 

 Which size is best to use? 



Wood ashes applied on top of mulch- 

 ing on the fruiting bed would do very little 

 good in the way of fertilizer, and bone 

 meal would do no good at all, because the 

 plants could not use it until it was mixed 

 with the soil and had become decomposed. 

 The best time and manner in which to 

 apply bone meal and wood ashes is n the 

 surface of the ground after it has beeu 



