THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 



weeds take possession of the land, the 

 weaker feeding grain crops are compelled 

 to compete with the stronger feeding 

 weeds, and the result is survival of the 

 stronger. Weeds thrive where wheat 

 would fail, because of the difference in 

 the power of assimilating food. Weeds 

 may be said to possess strong digestive 

 and assimilative powers, while wheat and 

 flax possess weak digestive powers; hence 

 weeds are capable of exhausting the fer- 

 tility of the soil more rapidly than grains. 



.Fall Setting Once More 



THE number of inquiries that come 

 to us concerning fall setting of straw- 

 berry plants increases notwithstand- 

 ing the explanations given in these pages 

 as to the reasons why this method should 

 not be followed. We are therefore glad 

 that we can let another writer on horticul- 

 ture answer these inquiries, and so quote 

 from A. B. Sibert of Rochester, Ind., who, 

 writing in the National Fruit Grower for 

 August, says on that point: 



"In reply to several inquiries I will 

 again say, set strawberries in March, April 

 and May; never in the fall. Fall-set 

 plants have no time to set new plants and 

 are frequently so injured by hot, dry 

 weather that they are unable to become 

 well rooted. A plant set in the spring 

 will produce from its runners ten, twenty 

 or thirty new plants, each as good for 

 fruiting as the parent plant, and you will 

 have ten, twenty or thirty times as large a 

 yield as if the same number of plants are 

 set in the fall. 



In Florida, Louisiana and other por- 

 tions of the South late fall setting is quite 

 common, because labor is cheaper there 

 and results are sometimes equally good, 

 but our climatic conditions are not suited 

 to such work and although I have ex- 

 perienced and observed many failures from 

 fall setting in our latitude I never exper- 

 ienced or knew of a single success." 



On other points brought out by an in- 

 quiring subscriber, Mr. Sibert has the fol- 

 lowing to say: 



"I wonder why the gentleman cut the 

 runners until July 15. Why not let the 

 first runners set new plants until you have 

 a good row and then cut the late runners.' 

 If you cut the first runners and a drouth 

 sets in during mid season you are almost 

 certain to have poorly-set rows, and even 

 if late rains do fill these rows many of the 

 plants will not have time to develop fruit 

 buds before freezing weather sets in, and 

 you will wonder next year why so many 

 plants have but one fruit stem, or no 

 fruit stem at all. Late rains here last fall 

 filled the rows of most varieties fairly well, 

 but there was general complaint of barren 

 plants this season. I suffered but little 

 from this cause and I attribute it to the 

 fact that 1 always instruct my help to 

 carefully guard and guide the first runners. 

 I am aware there is good authority for 



Seven Bushels of 

 Wheat for 55 cents 



It lias bcfu iloiie ami can be 

 dune a^ain. It was tl^ne with 



Potash 



aililed to the common 

 iziT. Be sure tluit )• 



' complete " ferlil- 

 u luive 6 per eeiit. 

 of rotash ill the fertilizer. 



To increase ilie Potash one pir cent, 

 add two pounds of Muriate of I'l >tash 

 to each loo pounds of fertilizer. 



Details of this experiment and our 

 other valuable hooks are free. They are 

 not mere aJvertisinK matter, but lincks 

 written by practical experts, and contain 

 eut,'Kestions that will be helpful to the 

 man who is trying to get the beat oat of 

 bid farm. 



GERMAWKALI WORKS 



93 Nassau Street, New York 



Monadnock Building;, Chicago 

 Candler Building, Atlanta, Qa. 



Address office nearest yon. 



\^m' ^»>f i.^ 



cutting the first runners, but the advocates 

 of that method are growing fewer year by 

 year and I would strongly advise the 

 other plan. 



"Four inches of coarse straw is not too 

 much for a winter mulch, but I would 

 fear to put on four inches of fine broken 

 straw, "half chaff". Such mulch is sure 

 to pack and exclude the air, and injury to 

 the plant ensues. I believe it was the 

 open winter with packed mulch that 

 caused the stem casing to decay. I would 

 also suggest that as soon as the ground is 

 frozen sufficiently to bear up a team and 

 load, mulch should go on at once. On 

 account of the difficulty in getting straw 

 out of frozen stacks many growers are 

 now spreading their mulch before the 

 ground is frozen, but no covering should 

 be placed immediately on the plants until 

 plant growth has practically ceased." 



One Canadian Grower's Success 



By William J. Moffatt 



1AM an enthusiastic reader of The 

 Strawberry, having been a subscriber 

 since a short time after it was first 

 published. I have been growing straw- 

 berries now for four years. Although I 

 am a school teacher, I always find time 

 on Saturdays and during holidays to carry 

 on the strawberry business on a small 

 scale. 



1 am one of those who began at the 

 beginning and all my knowledge has been 

 gained by experience and by studying your 

 excellent literature. 



1 have tried the following varieties: 

 Sample, Brandy wine, Haverland, Dornan, 

 Pride of iMichigan, Enormous, Klondike, 

 Wolvertoii, Climax, and others, and I find 



Phgt 183 



in my experience that Sample is one of 

 the most productive. Next come Dor- 

 nan, Brandywine and Pride of Michigan. 



I use no commercial fertilizer, but give 

 the land a good solid coat of stable ma- 

 nure, and work it well into the soil the 

 fall before planting. Then in the spring 

 as soon as the soil is in fit condition I have 

 it worked up and the plants set out. 



In planting we use the dibble and the 

 spade. We have watered plants when 

 set out but find from experience that they 

 are better without it if the soil is cultiva- 

 ted right after planting. 



iMy method of planting is this: Rows 

 three and one-half feet apart, plants two 

 feet apart in the row. When plants are 

 formed on runners place two between 

 each of the mother plants, making a con- 

 tinuous row. Then lead the runners out 

 on each side of the row about eight or ten 

 inches and layer them in by placing a 

 small lump or stone just behind the node. 

 Allow these runners to lengthen so that 

 you will have a row of young plants on 

 each side of the center row. As soon as 

 the row is full, pinch off the ends of the 

 runners and all new runners as soon as 

 they come out. When this is done your 

 plants are between eight and twelve in- 

 ches apart and have plenty of room in 

 which to develop, ^'ou also have about 

 a foot and a half of space to cultivate be- 

 tween the rows, and this affords lots of 

 room for pickers. 



I could say much more, but i must 

 make it short and say a few things about 

 the great success of this year's crop, con- 

 sidering the unfavorable weather condi- 

 tions, [here were 950 plants in the fruit- 

 ing bed; 500 of these were bearing their 

 second crop, and the rest were bearing 

 their first. 1 hey had been well cultivated 

 in the summer of 1906 and had been well 



