2419. SLrawberry nubbin. 



STKAWBERRY 



to the New York iimrket. yet ho iiovov s;iw cuUivatrd 

 Strawberries iu tluit market bet'uve ly-lO, iIjoul;1i tlier..-> 

 were probably a IVw before tliat limo. ]r is \>robablr 

 that there are lu-w more Slrawhci'i-ies carried to New- 

 York every fair day duriiii;' their si-ason of riiieiiiiiy; tluui 

 had ever been seen iu that city duriiii;- its entire hlstury 

 prerious to 1840. 



The introdnctioti of Hovey SiMMUini^- atu-ut 18;i4 or 

 ISX?, and of the Jersey, or. as it was sometimes railed, 

 the |-;arly Srarlet. a few 

 yoars biiei-. marked a new 

 or-a in Strawt)erry cnlinre. 

 'I'hese wei-e ^Teat imprtjve- 

 ments over the c o m m u n 

 wihl fruit ()ro\ ioiish* seen 

 in 1lie market; but it was 

 not until the inti'oduction of 

 tlie Wilsou. about 1854. that 

 it beeamo i-ossible for al- 

 most e\"ery oiii' wlio owned 

 a small i4ot of land to have 

 a su|>ij|y of lierries for liini- 

 solf and tiiends durin.ir the 

 lierry si-asnu. Tiiis modest 

 little plant completely revo- 

 lutionized Strawberry lirow- 

 ing. Its fruit was much lariror Than any other tijen 

 iu cultivation, beiu.i; also very tirm and ablo to hear 

 transportation much better than any oihor. and it 

 seemed to be perfectly at home in nearly cx-eiy soil 

 and climate from the Atlantic to the Pacihc ocean, and 

 from Lake Su]ierior to the Gulf of ^lexico. Iu addi- 

 tion to all these i[ualities, it was untrvelously produc- 

 tive. Soon after this. m"'w varieties bef,^an to appear in 

 nuiyibers greatly exceciliuLr anx'tbiiiL; ever before known. 

 This progress has l.iei-n ki-pt np nniil the present time, 

 and each succeeding >"ear many new varieties are 

 brought to norice. The ineriMse in the cultivation of this 

 fruit was not rapid until lb')~>. wle-n more attention be- 

 gan to be paid to it tiiau ever brton-. Since the close 

 of the Civil War the increase lias been alnu-)St beyond 

 belief, except to those who are familiar with its history. 

 Sfran-htrri/ -Sn/V. - If he cmild always <-boose. the 

 writer would select a dark samly loam, rather (.lamp 

 than dry, Imt this is by no means an absohite necessity, 

 as Strawberries will grow in almost any soil, unless 

 it be dry sand or an umlrained bed of muidv. Any soil 

 that will grow a good crop of corn or ].x"»tatoes will grow 

 a fair crop of Strawberries. This renuirk will apply 

 throughout the United States; and not only that, but 

 Strawberries will grow iu some places where the nights 

 are too cool and the seasons are too short for corn to 

 ripen. Hein.'e but few need have any fears about t|j(dr 





21 \ Ibun L r 



success on accnmit of chiint^ . Ijtitudi or lonyituiU^. 

 The richer the soil the hiruor the crop, lieuce the 

 necessity of making it ricli liy extra niainirius'. 



The first thing is to be siiretJiat the laiol is thoroughly 

 drained, as it is impossible to make Stra^-bcrries do 

 even fairly well with the roots iji Jaml tliat is lill.d wiili 



STRA^N'P.EKKY 



water. Underdraining is not always 



good surface-draiiiiii^- is, and no land si 



plants until it is so jirepared that it ca 



171: 



n 



surface-drained and 

 dined to be wet, it will 

 uuderdraiued, iu adiliii< 

 Next eonios the ]>vv]< 

 prefers spring setliiii;-. 

 with setting in Au^nist 

 never failed in spiiu;,^ : 



lit to be workeil, put on about twenty fa 

 liorse loads of manure per acre and plow it 

 dress with as much more tine, well-rotted 

 harrow it in thoroughly. If tine manure c 



t so. If the lan<l 

 pay w(dl to have i 

 n to the surface-dr 

 ration of the soil. 

 He has somelinii 

 ur early in Septen 

 etiing. As early a 



2421. Gandy St^a\^ berry ( 



tained, it would be better to plow all thenuinnre under, 

 as coarse manure on top of the beds would l)e an an- 

 in>yance, and cause more or less trouble the entire sea- 

 son. ^Vhether the manure is wholly or parliall}' ].)lowed 

 under, the land must be made fine ami mellow before 

 putting in the plants. 



Setii)Uj f]ie Ph'ii)fs.—Thid plants should be taken front 

 beds that were set the previous season, if possiltle. Use 

 a common six-tined manure fork and take u\> a. lot of the 

 youug plants, being sure to get only the ninners of the 

 previous fall. Pick them out of the lo(,)se earth, taking 

 off all the old dry leaves, and if they have long, nice. 

 light-colored roots (throw away all others ) . clip off abotit 

 one-third of their length. Fig. 2414. Be careful not to 

 let the suu shine on the roots for any length of time. 

 F) tiring some of the hot sunny days of our spring- 

 weather, even ten ininutes' exposure to the suu would 

 damage them so mmdi that one shouhl hardly dare risk 

 setting them out. IMark off the beds in rows two feet 

 apart each way. For tliis we use a nmrkcr made jtist 

 like the common haml hayrake with rhe headi)ioi-r of 

 pine or some other light wood, and abi.mt V2 feet lom^-. 

 the teeth set two feet ajiart and sh.ipin;^,' a little bai'k- 

 wards instead of forwards as in tlie (-i>mmon hayrake. 

 With this a num should mark an a^re in a half day. 

 and <lo it easily. If the grouml is still a little heavy, as 

 it is likely to "be if it is a clay soil, let a man go ahead 

 with a hoe and strike it into tlie earth w-h<>ri' tin- i>lant is 

 to be set and loosen it so that it will lie i^ertcctly mel- 

 low. A boy follows with the prepared plants, and drops 

 one at each crossing of the marks. He is tulli-wed liy the 

 setters, of whoiu there should br two lo work to best 

 advantage. They go on their knees botwoon tw-o rows, 

 pick up the platits with tlie lett hand and at the same 

 time, with the rtngers of tlie same htuid, sprca<l the ro(ns 

 into a fan shape, while with the tingm's of tho riL;lit 

 hand the ground is opened sufli(deutly to allow the fan- 

 sluiped roots of the plant to go down in a iHu-peiidicular 

 UKinner into the earth; then bring back tin' carib a round 

 the plant and, dotibling up both hands, 

 earth firmly around tlie m^wly set ])lani 

 the plant when set should be a very littl 

 surrounding earth. Be careful md 1o 

 covered with earth, as that would dam, 



I'css down the 

 The crown of 

 lower than the 

 ■AYr the crown 

 :e it. All this 



