THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 



mixture just as growth starts in the spring, 

 repeating in ten days, and again just be- 

 fore the buds open will do much towards 

 preventing this trouble. The ants you 

 speak of will do no injury, more than to 

 carry root aphis from the roots of one 

 plant to another, if there should be any of 

 these aphides present. We cannot tell 

 what the other insects are which are work- 

 ing upon the bloom of your plants. The 

 strawberry weevil often attacks the flowers 

 of strawberries; also the fruit stems. The 

 weevil is a small black insect, and is easily 

 recognized. 



2. Liquid manure of any kind is very 

 beneficial when properly applied. The 

 liquid you speak of should be weakened 

 considerably with water before applying 

 it, and it should be applied after a rain, 

 when the ground is full of moisture. The 

 liquid manure would not have any effect 

 upon insects, but it would stimulate the 

 growth of the plants, making them strong 

 and better able to resist the attack of 

 insects and fungi. 



3. If the soil and the roots of the 

 plants are very dry, it is all right to dip 

 the roots of the plants in luke-warm water 

 before setting them out, leaving a little 

 hole around the crown of the plant in 

 which about one pint of water should be 

 poured, and after the water has leached 

 down into the soil the opening should be 

 closed with dry soil, which will prevent 

 the moisture from escaping. This is quite 

 a little trouble, and would be ratjier ex- 

 pensive where a large acreage is set. But 

 in a small garden it would be a very good 

 plan. The crowns of plants never should 

 be watered, either before or after set out. 



F. W. M., Wausau, Wis. I notice quite a 

 number of plants which seem to be dead, and 

 on examining them I find that a small worm 

 is eating the roots. The worm might be 

 called a wire worm. I enclose a few in the 

 bottle herewith. What is the remedy.? 



The worms are maggots. They feed 

 upon the roots of different species of plants. 

 1 here really is no remedy we can give 

 you. It has been recommended to place 

 a hen with chickens near the infested 

 patch. The little chickens will destroy 

 I he fly which lays the egg. Rotation of 

 crops and clean cultural methods are good 

 preventives. 



C. F. S., Deep River, Conn. Will you kindly 

 tell me whether I can plant the common white, 

 bush or field bean, and get a crop, after our 

 strawberries are turned under, about July 1? 

 2. Would potatoes come all right planted at 

 that time? If so, early or late variety? 



It all depends upon the length of the 

 growing season, whether you can mature 

 a crop of beans after July 1 in your lati- 

 tude. It has been done even further 

 north, but a crop is not certain. How- 

 ever, you would have the satisfaction of 



knowing that, even if you could not secure 

 a crop of beans, the value to the soil as a 

 renovator and fertilizer would quite equal 

 the value of a crop. Nothnig would be 

 better for your soil than to plow under 

 such a mass of nitrogenous vegetation. 



2. It would not be safe to depend at 

 all upon potatoes, as the chances would 

 be all against their maturing in so short a 

 season. 



J. E. K., Berryton, Kan. Will plants that 

 were set last season and got the fruit all froze 

 do to let make runners this season for next 

 season's setting? If not, why not? 



2. Some of my Clydes have no fruit on them. 

 Why? 



3. Would these plants that got nipped by 

 old Jack Frost bear fruit enough to pay to let 

 them fruit three seasons. Of course this sea- 

 son would be one season, the one that is now. 



As your plants made no fruit, there is 

 no objection to using them for propagating 

 purposes. 



2. The Clyde is an exceedingly heavy 

 fruiter, and we can give you no reason 

 why they did not fruit. You did not say 

 whether they bloomed. If they did bloom 

 and they have no fruit it is likely that a 

 heavy frost destroyed the flowers. 



3. If your plants are in good thrifty 

 condition it may be that it would pay to 

 leave them for third crop. The fact that 

 their bloom was killed this year by frost 

 indicates that they should be strong fruiters 

 for two good crops yet. 



I. H., Clifton, Ariz. In the May issue of The 

 Strawberry you answered my question con- 

 cerning sulphuric acid applied to bone meal. 

 Will you now please advise me just what 

 quantity of the acidulated bone meal you 

 would advise to the acre on sandy soil con- 

 taining very little vegetable matter? 



About 400 pounds to the acre. If 

 worked into the soil with a little stable 

 manure it will give much better results. 



C. E. R., Burton, Wash. I have one patch of 

 about an acre all set with the Marshall except 

 five rows set with the Oregon Iron Clad. 

 This will be the first year for it to bear. 

 Would you advise me to take runners from it 

 to set out a new patch next year? 

 2. Would I get better results by setting some 

 other variety with the Marshall and if so what 

 variety would do best? The Marshall is the 

 main berry grown here. 



.1. We have our rows four feet apart and 

 from eighteen to twenty inches in the rows. 

 We keep them in single hills. Do you think 

 I could get more berries by planting closer? 



We would not advise you to take plants 

 from your fruiting bed. Young plants 

 should always be taken from plants that 

 are set for propagating purposes only. 

 Many strawberry growers are making a 



Page 164 



failure in the business simply because they 

 are taking plants from fruiting beds. That 

 is, they are trying to grow plants and fruit 

 in the same place at the same time. This 

 cannot be done successfully. 



2. While the Marshall is a strong 

 bisexual, and produces an abundance of 

 rich pollen, yet, like all other bisexuals, it 

 will do better if set in alternate rows with 

 anorher bisexual of the same season. The 

 Pride of Michigan or Dornan mate well 

 with it. 



3. If you would make them three and 

 one-half feet apart you would get several 

 more rows to the acre, which of course 

 would give you more berries 



^ '^ 



H. E. H., Waltham, Mass. On the front page 

 of the June issue of The Strawberry is a pic- 

 ture of berry plants covered or shaded with 

 strips of cloth. Does that method have a 

 tendency to ripen the fruit later than other- 

 wise? If so, will you kindly inform me how 

 many days later? Also what sort of material 

 to use as covering. Does it to any extent 

 reduce the yield per acre? 



The covering shown on cover of June 

 Strawberry is common cheese cloth, and 

 is placed over the berries for the purpose 

 of retarding ripening, which encourages 

 the berry to grow larger before it ripens. 

 This is the method used for growing large 

 show berries. The shading should be 

 placed over the rows after thj berries be- 

 gin to form. This method will retard the 

 ripening about one week. It would in- 

 crease the yield rather than decrease it, 

 but would not increase the yield enough 

 to justify placing this over a large field. 



M. L. K., Woburn, Mass. I am sending you 

 two leaves picked off my strawberry field 

 which bore fruit last year for first time. I 

 find about the plants a small, shiny black or 

 brown bug about one-eighth inch long, which 

 probably does the mischief. Can you tell 

 me if they are liable to seriously injure my 

 crop, and what I can do to stop their work? 



The leaves you send us are eaten full 

 of holes. The holes in the leaves are 

 made by beetles. There are many dif- 

 ferent kinds of beetles — some are brown, 

 others black — but all insects belonging to 

 the beetle family are leaf-eating and may 

 be destroyed by the use of Paris green or 

 arsenate of lead. We prefer the latter 

 because it may be used stronger without 

 danger of burning the foliage. You may 

 use two and a half or three pounds of the 

 arsenate of lead to forty gallons of water. 

 The best way to prepare it is to put three 

 pounds of arsenate of lead in a wooden 

 bucket and pour over two or three gallons 

 of hot water; keep stirring until it becomes 

 thoroughly dissolved into a creamy sub- 

 stance. Then add enough water to make 

 forty gallons. The larvae of the beetle 

 look very much like a small grub. These 



