THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 



work on the roots of the plants. The 

 best preventive against the beetle is rota- 

 tion of crops, clean cultural methods, 

 burning over the bed after fruiting and 

 using nothing but pure, clean plants. 



E. E. L. , Kettle Falls, Wash. A number of 

 strawberry growers here are bothered with 

 what they call the strawberry maggot. It is 

 about one-tifth or one-fourth inch long, with 

 pinkish-brown head and white body. It 

 works on the roots of the plants. When you 

 take up a plant the worms curl up in a semi- 

 circle. What is a good preventive, and also 

 how could one get rid of them? 



Your plants are evidently infested with 

 maggots, which are the larvae of a small 

 fly and feed upon the roots and crowns of 

 different kinds of plants. The best pre- 

 ventives are the same as in the case of 

 other insects — clean cultivation, burning 

 over of bed after fruiting and the avoidance 

 of setting plants from an infested bed. In 

 fact, plant life, like animal life, depends 

 more for health and vigor upon simple 

 cleanliness than upon anything else. 



J. M. B.. Wabeno, Wis. Have planted 900 

 plants, six different kinds, but are all male. 

 Will they bear big crops of berries? 

 2. How is cedar sawdust for mulching next 

 fall? Straw or such stuff is scarce in this part 

 of the country and the shingle mills are glad 

 to get rid of the sawdust. 



Certainly; bisexuals require no mating, 

 and will do as well when set without pis- 

 tiUates as with them. 



2. Sawdust sours the soil; that is one 

 objection. Another is that it would be 

 quite impossible to remove. A third ob- 

 jection to sawdust is that in your latitude 

 you need a covering that will protect the 

 foliage as well as the body and roots of 

 the plants. 



J. H. D., Lakeport, N. H. Will the Senator 

 Dunlap or Parson's Beauty make good plants 

 to poUenize the Haverland with for early va- 

 rieties and the Aroma or Pride of Michigan 

 for late ones? 



2. If you pollenize a light colored berry with 

 a dark colored one will it make the light col- 

 ored one any darker? 



3. How much earlier are the Excelsior and 

 Warfield than the Aroma, Bubachand Gandy? 



4. Is it because some berries are not pollen- 

 ized enough that makes them knotty and hard? 



Senator Dunlap or Parson's Beauty will 

 mate the Haverland nicely. The Arotna 

 and Pride of Michigan are both strong 

 bisexuals, and are ideal varieties to use in 

 connection with the Senator Dunlap and 

 Haverland. 



2. Pollenizing a variety that produces 

 a light-colored berry with a variety that 

 pr,)duces a dark-colored berry, would not 

 have much, if any, effect upon the variety 



producing the light-colored berry. Some 

 scientists claim that it does add to color, 

 but we never have noticed any difference. 



3. The Excelsior and Warfield are 

 about one week earlier than Bubach, and 

 about ten days earlier than Gandy. 



4. If the bloom is not perfectly pol- 

 lenized it will make a knotty, hard-end 

 berry. An ill-shaped berry of any kind 

 always is the effect of improper pollenation. 



Miss M. E. C, Kirksville, Mo. What price 

 do you pay for picking strawberries? 



2. How long shall I leave the stems? 



3. When and with what shall I fertilize my 

 strawberry bed after fruiting? 



In this locality the standard price for 

 picking berries is 1 '4 cents per quart. 



2. The stems of each berry should be 

 left about one-half inch long. 



3. The best fertilizer we have ever 

 found is stable manure. In your case the 

 manure should be applied after the plants 

 have been mowed off, and the rows nar- 

 rowed down for second crop. Scatter the 

 manure on top of the ground, between 

 the rows, and work it into the ground 

 with the cultivator. 



E. D. R., Gay Head, Mass. Will you please 

 tell me what liver of sulphur is? 



Liver of sulphur is a sulphide, or sul- 

 phuret, of potassium. It comes usually 

 in a wax-like form and it is especially 

 valuable when made into a simple solu- 

 tion, using one-fourth ounce to one ounce 

 to one gallon of water, for mildew and for 

 various kinds of blight, rots and scab. 



H. A. B., Berzelia, Ga. What do you mean 

 by "removing fruit stems" the first year, as 

 appears in April instalment of "Intensive 

 Strawberry Culture"? I simply pinch off the 

 blossoms. Should I break the entire stem off' 



2. As to proper pruning of plants before set- 

 ting out: should all the leaves be cut off except 

 one small one, and why is this done? 



3. Relative to your statement that a plant 

 built up twenty leaf stems, four crowns and 

 large well-developed body. Will you kindly 

 advise difference between body and crown of 

 plants, and should the number of crowns in a 

 plant be separated when plants are set eut? 



4. Also please describe difference between 

 double ahd single hedge rows, and how each 

 should be set out, i. e. , distance apart, etc. 



It does not matter whether you pinch 

 the fruit stem off, or merely the blossoms. 

 The reason we pinch the entire fruit stem 

 off is because the work is quicker done 

 that way than by taking off one blossom 

 at a time. 



2. It is not necessary to remove all of 

 the leaves from the young plants before 

 they are set, although we often do this. If 

 the plant is entirely dormant, then it is all 

 right to remove all but one small leaf. 



Page 165 



3. The crown and body of the plant 

 are really the same. Sometimes we refer 

 to it as the body, and sometimes the 

 crown. In the remark quoted we referred 

 to the plant as a whole. 



4. The difference between single and 

 double hedge row is that the single-hedge 

 row is simply a single line of plants, each 

 one setting about six inches apart, while 

 the double-hedge row is a double line of 

 plants. Please see May issue of The 

 Strawberry for illustration and full de- 

 scription. 



'^ ^ 



M. W. H., South Merrimack, N. H. I wish 

 to set out part of an acre of strawberry plants. 

 I keep no stock; I keep hens instead. The 

 manure made by the hens must serve for the 

 strawberry patch if it can be made to do so. 

 But hen manure is not a complete fertilizer 

 for strawberries. Will wood ashes serve to 

 "balance" the hen manure? If so, please state 

 the percentage or proportion of ashes I should 

 use with a given quantity of hen manure; also 

 tell me the proper time to apply the ashes to 

 the soil, in view of the fact that ashes mixed 

 w ,h the hen manure would liberate the am- 

 monia and thus detract from its fertilizing 

 power. I have preserved my supply of hen 

 manure with all its strength by adding about 

 one and a half of its bulk of dry earth as fast 

 as the manure accumulated Of this com- 

 post of manure and dry soil I have about 500 

 bushels. Keeping in view the fact that sorre 

 other fertilizing ingredient must be used to 

 "balance" the hen manure, how much ground 

 will said quantity of compost properly fertilize 

 for strawberries? If I cannot get a sufficient 

 quantity of wood ashes for "balancing" this 

 500 bushels of compost will sulphate of potash 

 serve instead? If it will, how much ought I 

 to use for each bushel of the compost? 



You should have at least one ton of 

 chicken droppings, mixed as you have 

 described yours as being, to the acre. Sul- 

 phate of potash alone would not balance 

 up this fertilizer, but you should use the 

 sulphate at the rate of 200 pounds to the 

 acre, and bone meal at the rate of 400 

 pounds to the acre. This would make 

 an ideal fertilizer for your strawberry bed. 

 The proper time to apply ashes to the 

 soil is just after you have broken it up, 

 and then harrow it into the soil thoroughly. 



^ '^ 



HOW widespread may be the influence 

 of an up-to-date horticultural asso- 

 ciation is indicated by the case of the 

 Minnesota State Horticultural Society. 

 That organization has a total membership 

 of 2192 of which 1862 reside within the 

 limits of the state. The 330 remaining 

 are scattered over tuenty-three states 

 (North Dakota ha\ing 155 and South 

 Dakota 45), two Canadian provinces and 

 the Philippines, the latter boasting but 

 one member. Manitoba contributes 

 twentv-two members and Ontario three. 



