OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ^?%,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE 



WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE 

 SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

 IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET 



PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT 

 PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE 

 OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION 



MEMBERS of the Correspondence 

 School are to be congratulated 

 upon the extremely interesting 

 nature of the questions which 

 will occupy the time of this session. It 

 is remarkable how many questions arise 

 in the work of strawberry production when 

 a field which extends from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific and from the Gulf of Mexico 

 to Alaska is considered; and that is the 

 size of the field covered by this school of 

 ours And yet scarcely a question is 

 asked by one member which does not 

 possess interest for every other, even 

 hough the conditions of soil, climate and 

 market vary so widely. Here is a letter 

 from one member whose home is in Perth 

 County, Ontario, in which he says: 



I have received every number of The Straw- 

 berry since first it was pubMshed, and have read 

 and re-read all the numbers. It has been a great 

 help to me as a beginner in the business. I have 

 kept ail of the numbers together for the year 

 and am going to have them bound in a book, 

 and will continue to follow this course from 

 year to year. Soon I shall have a regular en- 

 cyclopedia on strawberry theory and practice. 



Thus the influence of the school is not 

 only widespread, but it is permanent in its 

 nature. 



What so many of our members already 

 are doing we hope other members will 

 imitate, as we desire that every member 

 of the school shall feel that this depart- 

 ment belongs to him equally with every 

 other, and that it is the highest pleasure 

 of the instructor to answer questions as 

 they come to him. Send in your ques- 

 tions; send them in in regular order and 

 numbered so that each question will be 

 in a paragraph by itseif, and try to have 

 them reach us by the 10th of the month 

 preceding date of issue, as the number of 

 copies of The Strawberry printed is in- 

 creasing so rapidly that we have to put 

 forms to press very early in the month. 

 Remember that it takes a question to 

 draw out the answer. Therefore the 

 questions are quite as essential as the an- 

 swers themselves. 



A. J. F. , St. Louis, M ch. Would ground that 

 raised sugar beets l.i^t season be suitable for 

 strawberries.' It is free from grass or weeds. 



2. What would you think of tl e refuse beet 

 pulp from a sugar factory as a fertilizer.' 



3. Would leached ashes be of any value to 

 the soil? 



4. Would the waste lime from a sugar fac- 

 tory be beneficial to the soil? 



We have never grown strawberries on 

 land where beets have been grown, but 



see no reason why the beets should not 

 put the ground in ideal condition for straw- 

 berries. Prepare the ground thoroughly 

 and get it in good condition. Then set 

 well developed plants and give them good 

 care, and we are sure the results will be 

 entirely satisfactory. 



2. We would not recommend beet 

 pomace or the refuse from beet pulp as a 

 fertilizer. 



3. Leached ashes contain some value 

 as a fertilizer. The leached ashes can be 

 applied at the rate of 100 bushels per acre. 



4. Lime of any kind is good for sandy 

 loam, but it is not good for clay or stifl soil. 



<^ ^ 



T. T., Cleveland, N. Y. I plowed up my 

 old bed, put on a good coat of manure, 

 plowed under a good crop of buckwheat, 

 (wanted to sow to rye, but could not get the 

 seed). Do you think it will need anything 

 more before setting plants? 



2. I put on one acre a ton of phosphate in 

 the spring; had a good big crop of berries. 

 Can I get as good results by using eighty or 

 one hundred pounds of nitrate of soda as I 

 did with that amount of phosphate? 



3. I sow my phosphate on the plants and 

 sweep it off with a broom. Will it do to use 

 nitrate of soda the same way? 



4. Will it do to use Pride of Michigan and 

 Klondike to fertilize Sample, and Klondike 

 and Ridgeway for Downing' s Bride? What 

 male plants would you use with Crescent and 

 Warfield? ^ 



As you have plowed under so liberal a 

 dressing of manure and a crop of buck- 

 wheat, it will not be necessary for you to 

 use any more fertilizer, unless it would be 

 to put 500 pounds of Mapes fruit and 

 vine manure, which can be purchased 

 from the Mapes Peruvian & Guano Co., 

 143 Liberty st., New York City, N. Y. 



2. We doubt if nitrate of soda will 

 give you as large returns as the one ton 

 of phosphate. We presume that you 

 worked the phojphate into the soil before 

 setting the plants. One hundred pounds 

 of nitrate of soda, scattered directly over 

 the row wnen the foliage is dry, will in- 

 crease the yield of berries wonderfully. 

 One-half of it should be applied when 

 growth starts in the spring, and the other 

 half before buds open. 



3. If you are careful when scattering 

 the nitrate of soda, it will not be necessary 

 to brush it off tne foliage. We always 

 aim to throw it on the bare space between 

 the plants. Of course, if the plants grow 

 very thick in the row, this would be im- 

 possible, and in such a case it would be 



Page 109 



well to go over the rows with a broom, 

 or something of the kind, to jar the soda 

 off the plants before it dissolves. 



4. By setting Sample in rows between 

 Klondike and Pride of Michigan it will 

 be perfectly mated. And Downing's Bride 

 set in rows between Klondike and Ridge- 

 way will be perfectly mated. Crescent 

 will do best when set between such vari- 

 eties as Splendid and August Luther. 

 Warfield should gq- between Texas and 

 Senator Dunlap. .,?^.- 



J. J. F. , Slayton, Minn. I have about two 

 acres to set this spring to strawberries, all 

 being well. About one acre was garden last 

 summer, which was covered with a heavy 

 coat of stable manure before cropping, and 

 this winter I am giving it a coat of poultry 

 droppings. One acre was clover and timothy 

 stubble plowed un^ji^nd sown to buckwheat. 

 When this was 5; bloom, I gave it about 

 three to four tons5-gf.,£omposted manure and 

 plowed all under, seeding to rye; but the rye 

 did not do well on account of drouth. I am 

 intending to give this a light sprinkling of hen 

 droppings and plow again, then put in condi- 

 tion for setting berries. Am I right or wrong 

 in my plan? 



2. What varieties would you advise setting 

 this ground with? Would prefer late varieties 

 that I could set in single-hedge row, as help is 

 hard to get. 



3. Could I harvest a crop of cowpeas from 

 land, then get second crop large enough to 

 plow under? Have two acres I would like to 

 get ready in this manner. Land is all good, 

 and of the black sandy loam quality. I pro- 

 pose to follow the directions of The Straw- 

 berry, and I believe with its aid I can make a 

 showing this season. 



From what you tell us of your two acres, 

 it should be in splendid condition for straw- 

 berries. We would suggest that you ap- 

 ply the fertilizer from the chicken coops 

 very sparingly this winter, then work all 

 manures thoroughly into the soil next 

 spring before setting the plants. 



2. Inasmuch as you have made your 

 ground quite rich, we will suggest varieties 

 that thrive in such soil. August Luther, 

 Clyde, Warfield, Haverland, Splendid, 

 Pride of Michigan and Bubach. These 

 varieties should give you exceedingly big 

 crops of fancy berries. 



3. We doubt very much if you could 

 harvest one crop of cowpeas and then get 

 another crop suflicientty large to do any 

 particular good. However, you could 

 harvest the first crop, and even if the sec- 

 ond crop did not make much growth, the 

 roots and stubble of the first crop would 



