A Strawberry Specialist's Intensive "Systems" 



F. H. VALENTINE, £z 



INTENSIVE BERRY CULTURE IN HAND TILLED BEDS YIELDING 40,000 QUARTS TO THE ACRE 



A METHOD of strawberry growing 

 that produces "at the rate of" 

 40,000 quarts to the acre, or even 

 10,000 to 20,000 quarts to the meas- 

 ured acre, is worthy of attention. Tice C. 

 Kevitt, the strawberry specialist, claims that 

 his system will do this — and more. He is 

 constantly studying the strawberry, experi- 

 menting in new ways of handling it as a crop, 

 and in the production and testing of new vari- 

 eties. Thus it comes about that he has an 

 "old system" and a "new system." I say 

 "has an old system," because beds set under 

 that plan are still fruiting'. 



Look at the Old System 



'TPHERE is no question that the "old system" 

 produced big berries and lots of them. 

 Those familiar only with the matted row 

 method of growing strawberries can hardly 

 realize how quickly these big berries fill the 

 baskets, which is what makes these heavy 

 yields possible. Experienced hor- 

 ticulturists, after careful examina- 

 tion of the beds in full bearing, 

 have estimated yields as high as 

 50,000 quarts to the acre. But 

 the method involved a tremen- 

 dous amount of hand labor, which 

 is a drawback when operations are 

 to be conducted on an extensive 

 scale. 



By this old system, strongly 

 rooted plants were set in beds five 

 rows wide, just one foot apart each 

 way, each plant thus occupying 

 one square foot of space. The 

 spaces between the beds were wide 

 enough for a man to get through 

 comfortably in doing the work. 

 From these spaces, he could reach 

 to the middle of the beds in hoeing 

 and in picking the fruit, so he 

 need never set foot in the beds. 

 The runners are all kept off and 

 the beds absolutely free from 

 weeds. By this means, great 

 strong-rooted stools are formed 

 which go on producing year after 

 year. Of course, fertilizers are applied, and the 

 beds are mulched in the fall. So long as fertility 

 is maintained and the plants are kept vigorous 

 and in good health, so long may one expect 

 good crops of fruit. One quart to the hill is a 

 modest estimate with a good yielding variety, 

 and I have seen hills of the Glen Mary that 

 would produce much more. This is certainly 

 intensive culture. But to keep off all runners 

 and cultivate entirely by hand requires much 

 labor — a commodity not over-plentiful in the 

 market, and costing much money. For the 

 amateur with a small area, and able to give 

 constant attention, it is a very good method. 



Now for the New System 



"\JL7~HAT Mr. Kevitt calls his "new system" 

 ™ requires more plants to a given area, 

 but arranges them differently so that a wheel 

 hoe or hand cultivator may be used, and hand 

 labor be reduced. In the new system, the 

 rows are two feet apart, and three plants are 

 set to each foot of row. This is pretty close 

 setting. The plants may be potted or layers, 

 and be set in late summer or fall. The 

 photograph shows a field, set November 15th 

 last, as it was on June 23d. The plants 



were carrying a heavy crop of fruit, and Mr. 

 Kevitt estimated the yield at 10,000 quarts 

 per acre which, I think, was conservative, if 

 a good proportion matured. Double this 

 yield is expected the second year. Here cer- 

 tainly a crop is produced with a minimum of 

 labor. It receives no cultivation till after the 

 first crop is gathered. After setting, at any 

 time before freezing weather, the rows, not 

 the spaces between, are covered to a depth of 

 three inches with coarse, strawy manure, 

 swale hay or any good mulch, as a winter 

 protection. As soon as the plants show life 

 in the spring, the mulch is raked off the plants, 

 but left close around them. After fruiting 

 is over, they are cultivated and kept clean. 

 The spaces are wide enough to allow the 

 use of a hand cultivator. For continuous 

 fruiting, the runners should be kept off; but, 

 if new plants are desired, some may be allowed 

 to grow. But no plant except the strawberry 

 must be permitted. The commercial fer- 



Strawberries grown by the "new system." Set out November 15th, photograph made June 23d 



Variety Glen Mary 



tilizer used is dried blood and bone. The 

 essentials of this system are: 



(a) Fertile soil well filled with humus. 



(b) Strong, well-rooted plants. 



(c) Protective mulch during winter, to be 

 kept around the plants during summer to con- 

 serve moisture, keep down weeds and keep 

 the fruit clean. 



(d) Moderate application of a suitable 

 commercial fertilizer. 



(e) Frequent and thorough cultivation 

 during summer. 



See the Possibilities in This System? 



"\X7"HILE it may be as well to set the plants 

 » » a little earlier, they may be put out after 

 almost any crop is off in the fall, a crop of fruit 

 be gathered early the next summer, and if 

 desired, the ground plowed and late corn, cab- 

 bage, or other fall-maturing crop be grown. 

 Of course, after a strawberry bed is well estab- 

 lished, it would be more profitable to keep it 

 producing year after year. But the securing 

 of the first crop before any cultivation is re- 

 quired, gives a good margin of profit on the 

 start. 



For horse cultivation, Mr. Kevitt recom- 



20 



mends rows three feet apart and plants one 

 or two feet apart in the rows. 



The Glen Mary is the variety usually 

 grown for market as it is strong and vigorous 

 in plant, a heavy bearer of large, handsome 

 fruit that ripens through a long season. Mr. 

 Kevitt says that in more than 20 years' ex- 

 perience and testing more than 100 varieties, 

 he has never fruited any variety from which 

 he has realized as much money. There are 

 varieties of better quality which are preferable 

 for the home garden. Of these, the Chesa- 

 peake is one of the best though a little weak in 

 plant. 



Mr. Kevitt had a "field day" June 23d 

 (postponed from June 16th because of the 

 lateness of the season) to give horticulturists 

 generally an opportunity to inspect the re- 

 sults attained, particularly by his "new sys- 

 tem." He also gave them the opportunity 

 to pass upon the apparent merits and demerits 

 of a large number of varieties of what he calls 

 "a new race of strawberry 

 plants." These were the selec- 

 tions from 30,000 hybrid seed- 

 lings grown in 1913. Several 

 of them appear to have much 

 merit, but more than one — or 

 two — seasons are necessary to 

 prove the worthiness of a new 

 candidate. This is shown by 

 the fact that last year a number 

 of horticulturists selected Beal 

 as the best of these seedlings, 

 while this year several others 

 appear more promising than 

 that variety. Not only is more 

 than one season required, but 

 tests on a variety of soils and 

 under varying climatic condi- 

 tions are necessary. The present 

 season's weather conditions are 

 classed as very unfavorable. 



A Look at Some Novelties 



AMONG these new hybrid 



*-*■ varieties which some of the 



visiting horticulturists preferred 



to the Beal, are the Seitz, of a rich 



red color inside, with a strong vigorous plant 



growth; the Lobb, good but soft; Von Hinden- 



burg, which was preferred by one old market 



grower to any other; Frey, a finely colored 



dark berry; Davis, medium but of uniform 



size, heavy bearer, large hull, color good, made 



a most favorable impression; Runyon which 



showed up well. 



The ideal strawberry plant must have 

 strong vitality to carry it through adverse as 

 well as favorable weather conditions; must 

 have a mass of long, fibrous roots that go 

 deep for moisture and plant food; must 

 produce a large number of fruit crowns that 

 send out strong fruit stems to sustain the load 

 of fruit; must be perfect-flowered; must have 

 strong and abundant foliage to protect the 

 fruit as well as to maintain the vigor of the 

 plant; must send out strong runners to repro- 

 duce its kind. 



The fruit must be borne abundantly, be of" 

 a good bright red color, even the inside, firm 

 in flesh, sweet and luscious, and of aromatic 

 flavor. For home use, a lack of firmness may 

 be excused if superior quality be present. 

 Possibly some one of these new seedlings may 

 be the ideal for which we are looking; — possibly!! 



