OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. ,^.0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE 



WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE 

 SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

 IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET 



PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT 

 PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE 

 OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION 



WITH the return of cooler u eath- 

 er, we note a decided increase 

 of interest on ihe part of the 

 members of this siIk);>1 m the 

 work of strawberry culture, and we are 

 sure all the members will enjoy the qms- 

 tions which appear in this i^siie. If some 

 of our older members discover in this ls^ue 

 qi.ie>iions and answers which in one form 

 or anoiher have appeared in pievious 

 issues, it will not be surpri>ing, and we 

 may repeat what we have said, at least 

 once before, that some of our reasons for 

 repeatinjj matter which ma\ have appeared 

 in previous issues, is that ii is new matter 

 to many of our new members, while thou- 

 sands of our old members reaJ these in- 

 structions in the light of recent experiences 

 with ereaier understanding. As a maiter 

 of fact, it is the repetition of lessons — 

 "line upon line" — that fix the facts firmly 

 ill the mind of the learner, tintil they be- 

 come a part of his mental equipment for 

 the particular work in which he is engaged. 

 Then, again, the people are being edu- 

 cated up to the point where they are de- 

 manding higher results from the straw- 

 berry held. It is within the memory of 

 our younger generation of strawberry grow- 

 ers, that a man who netted ,$100.00 an 

 acre from his strawberry field, considered 

 hirnself a successful grower. I'oday the 

 man who take<- anything less ihaii ,$500.00 

 from an acre is diss.itished with results; 

 the man wiio rtceives from $750. UU to 

 $1,000.00 from an acre is no longer a 

 curiosity, and the man who under some 

 conditions receives as high as $1,200.00 

 to $1,500.00 from an acre, now writes 

 his name upon the records of strawberiy 

 production. 



The other day we received a letter 

 from a man who raised more than $900.00 

 worth of strawberries from the hrst acre 

 he ever grew, and he said that it was all 

 due to instructions he received through 

 The Strawberry. "Whenever 1 was in 

 doubt," he wriies, "1 simply turned to my 

 back numbers of The Strawberry and 

 found there just the inforinaiion 1 needed 

 to meet the particular emergency." That 

 statement is not only very gratifying to u.s, 

 but it suggests how great are the possi- 

 bilities in this direction, where the in- 

 structions given in this iniblication are 

 faithfully followed out. 



Now that the time is come when we 

 may sit down and study these instructions, 

 we hope that every member of the school 

 will read over again and again the facts 

 and learn to distinguish the fine poin s 

 which underlie the general statements 

 which are made; learn to fit these in- 



structions into the particular conditions of 

 clim:ne, soil, etc, which are his. Lei us 

 ill this way prepare for the greatest crop 

 of strav\berries possible to be grown in 

 the season of 1908. 



E. S v., Foxboro, Ont. In tliis sertion ue 

 always li;ne relied ti)ion maisli liay for winter 

 mulc'lunu for our berry beds, but oh ing to 

 the scarcity of good bay and the extremely 

 dry season this can now be procured only at 

 a premium; so I thought I'd ask you concern- 

 ing other methods of mulching. These meth- 

 ods 1 have heard of but never tried. First, 

 late sowing of oats on the patch and letting it 

 grow up and be cut down by the frost, thus 

 covering the vines. Second, the use of pine 

 and cedar boughs. 



2. Also, I'd like to ask you concerning the 

 putting of elm ashes on a berry patch; should 

 it be done before the planting or after.' 



The principal objection to sowing oats 

 between the rows of strawberry plants is 

 that they draw so heavily upon the mois- 

 ture in the soil. In a wet fall this would 

 be a great advantage, as it would take up 

 the surplus moisture, leaving just sufficient 

 to develop a good fruit-bud system in the 

 plant, while in a dry fall the oats would 

 rob the plants of the moisture they should 

 ha\e for developing the fruit-bud system. 

 in order to grow a crop of oats th.it would 

 be of an>' benefit at all, the seeding should 

 be done the latter part of Jtily or first of 

 .■\ugust. If we knew at that time what 

 kind of fall we were to have we should 

 know what to do, but that is impossible, 

 and the risk taken is too great. Without 

 the oats we may better control the supply 

 of water in the soil. If dry, cominue cul- 

 tivation to hold the moisture already in 

 the soil. If we ha\e frequent rains, defer 

 cultivation, which will allow much of the 

 moisture to evaporate, cultivating only 

 frequently enough to keep down the 

 weeds. Successful horticulture depends 

 largely on knowing how to create your 

 own conditions, as far as may be done, 

 and this is what The Strawberry aims to 

 teach. We may also say that the oats 

 decompose to such an extent during the 

 winter as to afford little protection to the 

 plants. Of course, if the fall were favor- 

 able and the oats ripened before frost af- 

 fected them, then they would be the same 

 as threshed oat straw. Pine and cedar 

 boughs would serve the purpose of pre- 

 venting the sun from striking the ground 

 in bright wi-iter days, which would cause 

 rapid thawing. In this respect the\' would 

 be as good as anything you might secure; 



P>«e 205 



but they would not afford a proper carpet 

 for the berries to ripen upon. We really 

 believe the maish hay would be the cheap- 

 est even though you have to pay a high 

 premium to get it. 



3. Elm ashes are not so valuable as 

 the ashes of hickory, oak or maple. You 

 could safely use as much as sevent\-fi\e 

 bushels to the acre of them, and they 

 should be applied and thoroughly worked 

 into the soil before the plants are set. 



?fe -^ 



C. E. T. , Digby, N. S. I want to set some 

 more strawberry plants next spring. How 

 shall I prepare the ground — spread the ma- 

 nure this fall and plow it in or spread it this 

 fall and plow it in in the spring.' 



2. I want the late varieties. 1 have some 

 Pride of Michigan. Would the Dornan be 

 all right set with them.' If not, tell me which 

 kind will be the best.' 



3. I want to save some plants from the run- 

 ners. When they take root do you cut the 

 runner from the mother plant.' 



4. I see in The Strawberry that you say to 

 mow off the vines and burn them. Do you 

 burn over the crown or between the rows.' 



After many years' experience in prepar- 

 ing the soil for strawberries we have de- 

 cided that the best way is to break it up 

 in the fall, sow rye at the rate of five pecks 

 to the acre; then in the winter, u hen there 

 is lime to spare, haul out manure and 

 spread it evenly over the ground. This 

 will in no way interfere with the growing 

 of the rye, as it is so hardy that it will 

 work its way up through the m;inure. 

 The rye as a fertilizer is of itself of little 

 \alue; but as a conserver of the plant food 

 in the soil it plays a very important part. 

 The freezing and thawing which alternate 

 during the winter tends to cause the dis- 

 solution of the plant food and the rains 

 tend to leach the most vakiable elements 

 from the manure, and just at the time this 

 is going on is the very time when the roots 

 of the rye are feeding the most heavily. 

 Consequently, the escaping plant food is 

 absorbeu and held by the roots of the rye, 

 and when plowed under is in readiness 

 for the plants. Rye also is valuable as a 

 winter covering, preventing the soil from 

 puddling and becoming hard and lifeless. 



2. Your idea in setting late varieties 

 is a good one for your locality, as this will 

 enable jou to put very late berries upon 

 the market, and get top prices. Dornan 

 and Pride of Michigan go very well to- 

 gether and both are very valuable varieties. 

 We also would suggest Gandy, Sample 

 and Mark Hanna. Stevens' Late Cham- 



