THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 



STRAWBERRY GROWING ON THE ISLE OF PINES, WEST INDIES 



visit Ben's folks durin' berry time. They 

 dressed fit to kill, an' put on a heap of 

 style, though my wife's cousin that lives 

 next to them in the city told us they had 

 hard times to make both ends meet, an' 

 never laid up a cent. But Ben — well, as 

 I said, stranger, it takes a fool for luck; an' 

 I don't .mean to insinuate that Ben is jest 

 a fool either, but he is sure lucky at 



money-makill'. Red Cedar, Wis. 



How to Discover Sour Soil 



SIRAW BERRY growers, like every- 

 body else, must meet soil-problems, 

 and one of these is the problem of 

 sour or acid soil — a condition that care- 

 fully should be guarded against and which 

 may be relieved by liming. F. E. Bone- 

 sted describes in Cjarden Magazine the 

 litmus paper test for acid in the soil as 

 follows: 



An acid soil often refuses to grow a 

 good crop, especially of hay, for instance, 

 and the only recourse is 'o counteract this 

 sourness. I'or all-around purposes a neu- 

 tral soil is far the best. I'o determine 

 whether \our soil is acid and needs to be 

 rectified by an addition of lime, get some 

 strips of blue litmus paper from the drug- 

 gist; it costi but a few cents. Now take 



a fair sample of the soil and mix with 

 sufficient water to make it the same con- 

 sistency of thin mortar. Imbed a strip of 

 the paper in this and allow it to remain 

 for half an hour; then withdraw carefully 

 and rinse it. If the paper has turned a 

 decided pink, it is safe to assume that an 

 application of liine will be beneficial. 



Several forms of lime are used to cor- 

 rect soil acidity. Ground limestone is the 

 slowest and mildest form; air-slaked lime 

 comes next in respect to these points; 

 stone lime (burned) and fresh slaked or 

 hydrated are the quickest and strongest 

 in action. 



I he common objections to lime do not 

 hold on well-manured ground and you are 

 safe in applying considerable quantities. 

 One to two thousand pounds may be used 

 per acre of fresh-slaked lime when broad- 

 casted on plowed ground and well worked 

 in with a disc harrow. This must be done 

 at least two weeks before any other ma- 

 nure or fertilizer is applied, or any seeds 

 sown, as it prevents gerinination. Apply 

 as early as possible in the spring. 



A common practice in Pennsylvania is 

 to distribute stone lime in the fall in small 

 piles, covering with soil and spreading in 

 the spring when it has slaked. Do not 

 plow lime under in a mass; always dis- 

 tribute on the surface and harrow in. 



Page 186 



There is little danger from excessive ap- 

 plication where there is plenty of organic 

 matter in the soil. 



FROM Danville, 111. comes the follow- 

 ing dispatch: Alleged to have sold 

 strawberry plants with the guarantee that 

 they would grow on bushes, on the sides 

 of barrels and in many other and peculiar 

 places, H. S. Blake who was before Jus- 

 tice Osborn Saturday appeared yesterday 

 afternoon and was arraigned on the charge 

 of working a confidence game. A con- 

 tinuance was taken and the man's bond 

 was placed at ,$500 which he could not 

 give and he was taken to jail. 



Horticulture at the Jamestown 

 Exposition 



SOMETHING of the growing im- 

 portance of scientific horticulture is 

 suggested by the number of associa- 

 tions having each a different speci*ic ob- 

 ject, yet all of them directly having to do 

 with this great subject, which are to meet 

 at the Jamestown Exposition during the 

 latter part of the present month. For the 



