THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 



once, and don't neglect the loosening up 

 ot the mulching. 



Don't neglect to burn the bed over after 

 the mulching is dry. 



Don't be afraid, or so tender hearted 

 after the rows have been narrowed down, 

 to cover the crowns with fine soil. 



Don't neglect the cultivation and hoe- 

 ing after the plants have come up; and 

 above all, don't allow the runners to mat 

 thickly. 



Don't get tired or discouraged and give 

 up, but just keep cultivating, hoeing and 

 cutting runners, and layering runners to 

 make an ideal double-hedge row. 



I think by coupling these ideas with 

 your own, you always will be successful 

 in getting a good and profitable second 

 crop of strawberries. 



Berries from the Viewpoint of 

 Health 



By Edgar L. Vincent 



CARING for strawberries is one of 

 the most healthful occupations one 

 can engage in. When we came 

 on the farm, I had quite poor health — 

 stomach all out of order, so that I had to 

 be very careful all the time about what I 

 ate. In fact, that was one of the reasons 

 why I was led to give up town life and 

 move out to the farm. 



We wondered why none of the farmers 

 in our part of the country ever set out 

 strawberries. If we ever had any we had 

 to wait for an old man to drive up to the 

 farm from his place ten or twelve miles 

 away. Then at times, especially when 

 they had a lot of fruit on hand that they 

 were afraid would spoil, the grocers in 

 town would get a man to go out into the 

 country with some, but they were mostly 

 poor and indigestible fruit. 



In a day of great hope we ordered a 

 couple of hundred plants. They came 

 and we set them out on a nice plot of 

 ground near the house. It was our first 

 experience with berries, and we made 

 some mistakes. But one thing we did do, 

 we watched those plants and kept the 

 weeds out of them. Another good thing 

 resulted; and that is, health came to me. 

 l^'gg'ng i" the ground was a fine thing. 

 The smell of the fresh earth is better than 

 medicine. Changing the mind is another 

 fine thing. One stops thinking so much 

 of self. 



I don't just know who it was that dis- 

 covered the first big red berry, but I will 

 venture to say that it was a boy with the 

 sharpest kind of eyes. Probably that berry 

 was not so very red all over when the 

 keen eye of Laddie traced it to its hiding- 

 place under the rich ambush of leaves. 

 It was a great day when he piloted us 

 out to look at the glorious thing. When 

 I saw that splendid cluster of star-bright 

 fruit on the cover of the May number of 

 The Strawberry, it made me think of that 



ALL THE BOYS IN THE FAMILY TAKE A HAND IN THE STRAWBERRY PATCH 



beautiful first berry we found in our little 

 garden. The sight of that did us all good 

 as it doth always the upright heart to look 

 upon the fruit of one's own hands. It 

 brought health and strength to us that 

 will never be forgotten. 



Binghamton, N. Y. 



Some Wonderful Friends of Ours 



BEES are not only wonderful little 

 beings in their achievements as 

 honey producers. Scientists who 

 have carefully noted their methods of con- 

 ducting afFairs have discovered that they 

 have a clear and definite form of govern- 

 ment, having the mixed characteristics of 

 a monarchy and a democracy; they have 

 a system of cooperation and are guided 

 by a code of ethics far in advance of any- 

 thing yet devised and observed by man. 

 Prof. Gaston Bonnier says of his observa- 

 tions: "My experiments have revealed 

 the fact that the division of labor among 

 bees is carried to a surprising extent. Bees 

 which are seeking for pollen or nectar do 

 not carry it, but merely carry the news to 

 the hive. A number of bees are sent out 

 to strip the flowers, a number carrying 

 pollen only, others nectar only, others 

 again water only where water is needed. 

 The number sent out is proportional to 

 the number of flowers to be stripped, and 

 by marking the bees with colored tale it 

 was proved that each bee confined itself 

 for the time being to one class of work. 

 The same bee might be seeking for flowers 

 in the morning and collecting in the after- 

 noon, but did not change the nature of its 

 work without returning to the hive. 



There seemed to be something in the 

 nature of a working agreement between 

 bees of difi^erent hives, as when the work 

 of clearing a certain area of flowers had 



P»«e 160 



once been commenced by a few bees from 

 one hive these collectors were not inter- 

 fered with by bees from other hives." 



ON E member of The Strawberry fam- 

 ily who grows the most popular ber- 

 ries in his part of Oregon has won special 

 distinction this season. The Coquille 

 (Ore.) Herald, after quoting the Portland 

 Oregonian to the effect that the first 

 Hood River strawberries of the season had 

 reached Portland May 16 and sold for 50 

 cents a pound, goes on to say: "What of 

 it.? H. A. Todd of the Round Hill farm, 

 Arago, Coos county, Oregon, had elegant 

 fully ripened strawberries in the Coquille 

 market May L beating the Hood River 

 grower just sixteen days, and his custo- 

 mers did not have to pay 50 cents per 

 pound for them either, as they were re- 

 tailed at 25 cents per pound." Brother 

 Todd certainly has reason to be proud of 

 his record, and The Strawberry is proud 

 of him. 



THE farm-la "lor question is intelligently treated 

 and certain aspects of it soi.ed in an attract- 

 ive and expensively gotien up forty-eight page, 

 illustrated book, published by the American Fork 

 c*;: Hoe Co., 745 Am. Trust Bldg., Cleveland, 

 Ohio. VVe urge every reader of The Strawberry 

 to procure a copy before the present limited edi- 

 tion is exhausted. Write for it at once. 



ANNOUNCEMENTS have been 

 issued for the National Purity Con- 

 gress to convene in Battle Creek, Mich- 

 igan, October 31 to Novembsr 6, 1907 

 This congress will be held under the aus- 

 pices of the National Purity Federation, 

 an association having for its object the 

 cooperation in a national sense of all forces 

 in the United States that are striving to 

 promote purity in the life of the Individ- 



