OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL, ff^,OF 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 



STRAWBERRY-RAISING is 

 quite irresistible to one who once 

 has felt its charm, and we are glad 

 to know that there are many mem- 

 bers of this school who are so full of the 

 ;ubject that they "can't stay away," even 

 though they feel they ought to be some- 

 where else than in the strawberry patch. 

 Here is a sample letter from one member 

 who raises strawberries in New Hampshire: 



I'm a fool for taking The Strawberry, for it 

 and your catalogue will make me imcomfortable 

 because I haven't time to put into strawberries; 

 but I just can't let it alone. 



I grew at the rate of 5,500 quarts to an acre 

 a few years ago. This is not large for \ou, but 

 good for this section. Your catalogue did it. 



Well, we plead guilty to the soft im- 

 peachment, and are sure that with the 

 passing years our friend will be glad that 

 he was thus "goaded on" to his own edi- 

 fication. The finest and sweetest old men 

 we meet are the men who thus have had 

 some touch of the soil in their life-expe- 

 rience, and we usually find that it is the 

 strawberry patch that lingers longest and 

 most delightfully among those tender 

 memories of the days gone by. Don't 

 give up your strawberry patch! It is the 

 most satisfying vocation or avocation you 

 will find, and old age will be all the bright- 

 er and happier for the hours spent in cul- 

 tivating the fruit and watching the luscious 

 berries bud and grow and ripen into de- 

 licious and health-giving beauty. 



Miss I. C, Loveland, Ohio. What shall I do 

 to stop black ants working on my fruiting bed? 

 They make little dirt mounds around each 

 plant and when I brush them away the dirt 

 seems to stick to the plant and stops growth. 

 I tried Bordeaux and Paris green before the 

 blossoms opened, then flower siilphu , and 

 lastly tobacco crushed up, still the bad work 

 increases. 



2. Shall I cut off runners that start in a fruit- 

 ing bed while the fruit is growing.' 



3. Can I cultivate my berries after all the 

 blossoms have fallen off and the fruit growing? 



4. If a plant seems overloaded with young 

 berries shall I cut part of them otf- My Sen- 

 ator Dunlaps have so many blossoms they 

 look like they could not make large berries. 



The black ant is \ery hard to get rid 

 of. Thorough and clean cultivation has 

 a tendency to drive them away, as the ants 

 love to work in firm, solid .soil. However, 

 it is not the ants which are doing the in- 

 jury to your plants. The fact that they 

 are present is evidence that there are root 

 lice working upon the roots of your plants. 



1 he ant's mission is to carry the lice from 

 the roots of one plant to another, and 

 while the lice suck the juices from the 

 roots and tender parts of the plant, the 

 ants are getting their reward by taking up 

 the honey-like substance which comes 

 from the lice. Neither lice nor ants may 

 be destroyed by Paris green or Bordeaux 

 mixture. These lice have long beaks 

 which penetrate into the tender parts of 

 the plant, through which they suck the 

 juices. There is really no practical way 

 to destroy these enemies, as they are a 

 sucking insect, and can be killed only by 

 spray material that comes in direct con- 

 tact with them. Coal-oil emulsion, or 

 whale-oil soap will destroy them, but the 

 trouble is, the lice work on the under side 

 of the leaf, hid away in the crowns in such 

 a manner that it is almost impossible to 

 reach them with these spray material.s. 

 Finely ground tobacco dust sprinkled 

 around the plants is quite effective: also 

 clean and thorough cultivation, and burn- 

 ing over the bed after fruiting season. All 

 these have a tendency to make it dis- 

 agreeable for these pests. 



2. It is unnecessary to sever the run- 

 ners from plants which are to fruit. 



3. The cultivating of the fruiting bed 

 may be begun as soon as all danger of 

 frosr is over, and continued through the 

 entire fruiting season; but you should not 

 cultivate while the plants are in bloom 

 unless the soil is moist enough to prevent 

 any dust from flying, which would have 

 some effect on the pollen. 



4. Removing some of the berries from 

 overloaded plants, will make the berries 

 which are left grow somewhat larger, but 

 it is impracticable and unprofitable to do 

 so. The Dunlap is a very productive 

 \ariety, and is capable of maturing all of 

 its berries to good size. 



C. E. \'. W., Alpena, .Mich, .-^fter reading 

 the different experiences in The Strawberry I 

 have concluded to use nitrate of soda on my 

 strawberries but have been told that it has a 

 tendency to make the berries soft. Would 

 you kindly advise me through The Strawberry 

 if this is true? 



Nitrate of soda when used too freely 

 tends to make the fruit soft, but when 

 used in proper qtianti ties stimulates growth 

 and is altogether a benefit to plants where 

 there is a deficiency of nitrogen in the soil. 

 An application of forty pounds of nitrate 

 of soda, scattered along the rows of plants 

 just as growth starts in the spring, and the 

 second application of the same amount, 



Puge 147 



made in the same way just before the 

 buds open into bloom, has been found to 

 be of very high value in the production of 

 a crop of strawberries. Be very careful 

 that the nitrate of soda is not allowed to 

 come in contact with the foliage of your 

 plants. 



A. H., Dennis, Mass. Will strawberries ripen 

 well on a north slope, or will they rot? 



2. I am planning to grow some of my straw- 

 berries in the hill system this year and next 

 year let them grow a few runners. Is this 

 right? 



3. Will eighteen inches apart in the row be 

 too far apart or not far enough? My rows 

 are three feet wide. 



It is advisable to set late varieties on a 

 northern slope. This retards the ripen- 

 ing somewhat, making the berries later 

 than they would be if grown on level 

 ground. Berries will not mildew or rot 

 on a northern slope any quicker than they 

 would on the level. 



2. You can grow your plants in hills 

 the first season, then after the first crop is 

 picked, mow off the foliage preparing for 

 the second crop Allow each hill to make 

 several runners, layering them around the 

 mother plant. This is what we call the 

 cluster hill. 



3. Eighteen inches will not be too far 

 apart to set the plants for the system you 

 intend to follow. 



^ <^ 



W. W., Sunrise, Minn. Is there enough humus 

 in a heavy blue grass sod well manured and 

 planted to potatoes to make a crop of large 

 strawberries? 



2. How would you arrange to apply Bor- 

 deaux mixture e.ery week on a very small 

 patch of strawberries? 



3. Is cultivation by hand with hoe and rake 

 as good as to cultivate with a horse? 



4. When you cultivate by hand how clo.se 

 may the rows be made when you want to 

 economize space? 



'^'es; this piece should contain an abun- 

 dance of humus and be in ideal condition 

 for a big crop of strawberries. 



2. You might use an old broom. Dip 

 it into the Bordeaux and apply it in that 

 way; or, if you have enough plants to jus- 

 tify the investment, a knapsack sprayer is 

 a good thing to have on hand. The sprayer 

 is better than a broom, because it puts the 

 poison on in a fine spray. You might 

 join your neighbors in the purchase of a 

 sprayer. 



3. Some' very large crops of berries 

 have been grown where hand-cultivation 



