June, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



vn 



twenty-four plates. Their reproduction leaves 

 nothing to be desired. It is a book that will 

 win many friends, both for itself and for the 

 lovely plants it illustrates. 



Bungalows, Camps and Mountain 

 Houses. 1908: W. T. Comstock. 8vo, 

 pp. 12. Price, $2.00 net. 

 The urgent demand for inexpensive summer 

 homes has brought forth another edition of 

 "Bungalows, Camps and Mountain Houses." 

 The editor, in compiling his book, has en- 

 deavored to bring together a group of bunga- 

 lows, camps and mountain houses of a distinc- 

 tive and interesting character — houses that are 

 within the reach of the average man of modest 

 means who desires a small place in the country, 

 which can be easily built and easily maintained. 

 Most of the illustrations present houses which 

 have actually been built, and many of them 

 show diagrams of the floor plans. There are 

 also sketches which are helpful in the sugges- 

 tions which they present for the prospective 

 builder. Now that so much attention is being 

 given to the summer home, this book should 

 meet with a liberal response, and will be found 

 of value to persons contemplating erecting 

 such a home. 



AMONG THE STRAWBERRIES 



OF all the Rosaceae, or rose family, the 

 strawberry is best loved by the people. 

 It is a cousin of the apple, and of the 

 pear, and of the plum, and the peach; and it 

 likes to nestle in the shade of these bigger 

 relatives. The ordinary country home should 

 let the strawberry bed be near the orchard for 

 shelter, but there are other things to be con- 

 sidered in this matter of location. You must 

 set it down at the outset that if you want good 

 strawberries and plenty of them you must 

 give the plants enough water and enough 

 food. If your home is not on a low flat 

 section you must make sure of artificial wa- 

 tering — if the weather is not decidedly 

 showery during the ripening season. One 

 of the simplest methods of irrigation is 

 through a series of V-shaped wooden troughs 

 made of inch boards set at right angles to each 

 other. The water must be permitted to flow 

 out through auger holes placed near the bot- 

 tom of the trough. But for permanent work 

 nothing is so good as a line of tile placed deep 

 enough under the plants to escape the culti- 

 vator and the plow — about two and a half 

 feet under the surface. When it is necessary 

 to irrigate block the lower end of the tile and 

 keep the tiles full — while enough will soak 

 out into the soil to supply the strawberries. 

 This is a simple plan if you can have water 

 from a stream or from a tank placed above 

 the plantation. More important is it to hold 

 the water that Nature gives; and this can be 

 done by a continuous stirring of the surface 

 soil. If you hand-water a strawberry bed be 

 sure you never sprinkle it. Dig a small hole 

 as large as the palm of your hand beside each 

 hill and pour in not less than a quart of wa- 

 ter at a time; then draw over this some dry 

 earth to prevent evaporation. Sprinkling any 

 kind of plants does more harm than good. 

 It simply makes a cake over the surface of the 

 soil, preventing the absorption of moisture 

 from the air. 



The next matter of importance is to locate 

 your bed where it can be most easily fed. 

 Of course, you can accomplish this feeding 

 easiest by planting near the barn and stables. 

 I never have used any commercial fertilizer 

 on any crop whatever, not even on strawber- 

 ries, nor do I ever intend to do this. I am 

 a firm believer that stable manure composted 

 with whatever Nature supplies will serve to 

 enrich sufficiently all sorts of crops. Feed 

 your plants and feed them high; even your 



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big apple trees should be well fed. But 

 make your own food and waste nothing — pre- 

 cisely as you should supply your own table 

 from your own orchard and vegetable gar- 

 den. By composting all weeds, leaves, stable 

 manures, road waste, etc., you will soon be 

 able to fatten your acres quite beyond your 

 expectations. There is no sense in throwing 

 this away or burning it up, and then buying 

 commercial fertilizers which are used up at a 

 stroke, leaving no humus behind them. 

 Ashes are very important and may be ap- 

 plied at the rate of fifty bushels to an acre. 

 However, if you must use fertilizer of a com- 

 mercial sort, nothing is better than a combi- 

 nation of cottonseed meal, acid phosphate and 

 muriate of potash. 



The soil must be thoroughly: prepared be- 

 fore you undertake to plant strawberries — rid 

 entirely of grass, roots and seed. Be care- 

 ful about applying stable manure that is not 

 thoroughly decomposed. Good potato soil is 

 said to be good strawberry soil. There is a 

 difference, however, in the choice of soil by 

 varieties. The Sharpless is a delicious berry 

 grown on clay soil, but on light soils it is 

 flavorless. Just as soon as you have your 



plants in the ground let them be well 

 mulched. This last point is not half appre- 

 ciated in its effect on all sorts of small fruit 

 culture. During the growing season the cul- 

 tivator should be at work nearly every day; 

 not only to irrigate, but to remove every 

 weed that starts. When the runners begin 

 they should be guided in their growth so as 

 to leave room for the cultivator. Setting 

 strawberry plants is a matter of unusual im- 

 portance. You can not press them down 

 carelessly as you do cabbage plants, but must 

 leave the plant when well pressed into the 

 soil so that the crown of the roots shall be 

 exactly on a level with the level of the soil. 

 Spread the roots over a little mound of dirt, 

 and gently but firmly press down ; draw over 

 some more dirt and press down again ; then 

 brush over some loose dirt, leaving everything 

 exactly level. The reason for this is that 

 the runners when starting must not be set oft 

 on an angle of forty-five degrees into the air. 

 The choice of varieties is a puzzle to an 

 amateur; but I have grown nearly all the 

 novelties for forty years, and have reduced 

 my selections to a very small number. I re- 

 member a long succession of wonderful ber- 



