and spring growth of chickweed apply chloro 

 I.P.C. 3 lbs. per acre in 50 gallons of water. For 

 us one application in either November or the first 

 half of December has been effective. We doubt 

 if chemical weed control is practical or necessary 

 on very small plots. 



Geese are helpful in controlling crab grass. 

 They do not eat weeds. Use about 4 geese per 

 acre; get goslins or young geese, 5 to 6 weeks 

 old. They eat more and trample less than old 

 geese. The field must be fenced in. Supply shade, 

 water, some extra feeding. Large flocks in one 

 field often trample plants badly. Watch out for 

 dogs. 



IS MULCHING NECESSARY? Mulching is 

 necessary for winter protection in all the northern 

 states and would be helpful in many fields as far 

 south as Virginia and Kentucky. In addition to 

 giving protection from cold, mulching helps to 

 keep down weeds and grass, to conserve soil 

 moisture and to keep the fruit bright and clean. 



The mulch should be applied in the fall after 

 frost and light freezes (25 to 28 degrees F.) have 

 occurred but before hard freezing (20 degrees F. 

 or lower). It should be removed, (at least partly) 

 soon after growth starts in the spring. 



Wheat straw and marsh grass are considered 

 the best materials. Rye straw, pine needles, 

 coarse strawy manure and various kinds of hay 

 are satisfactory. In some sections sawdust has 

 been used with good results; also buckwheat 

 hulls. Use whatever you have or can buy at a 

 reasonable price. 



WILL IRRIGATION PAY? If you have irriga- 

 tion it will certainly pay to use it for strawberries, 

 especially just before fruiting time. However, 

 irrigation is not necessary. Most of the fine berry 

 crops in this country are produced on good straw- 

 berry soil that holds moisture well because stable 

 manure and green crops have been added or be- 

 cause of a high water table. 



Evidence piles up that irrigation during the 

 danger hours will save a strawberry crop from 

 severe frost and freeze damage with tempera- 

 tures as low as 20° F. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES. Red stele has be- 

 come serious in some areas. It is avoided by 

 using clean plants on uninfected soil. Red stele 

 can be largely ignored on infected soil by using 

 resistant varieties. Stelemaster and Surecrop have 

 triple red stele resistance. Sparkle, Temple, Fair- 

 land, Redglow and Vermilion have high resist- 

 ance to the most common form of red stele. If 

 you use these kinds red stele need not make much 

 of a dent in your berry profits. 



Captan sprays or dusts are proving helpful in 

 reducing fruit rot which can be serious any year, 

 especially bad in wet seasons. Captan can be 

 mixed with applications to control Clipper. Captan 

 dusts are now a standard practice with us. Hill 

 system or well spaced plants help to prevent 

 berry rot. The Clipper, sometimes present near 

 wooded areas, can be controlled by two apphca- 

 tions (25 to 35 lbs. each) of proper dust mixture. 



Some results in 1957 indicate that under certain 

 conditions early Captan sprays fully protected 

 berry beds from the worst known infestation of 

 leaf spot and leaf scorch which practically de- 

 stroyed the berry crops on other fields in the 

 area. If other insects or diseases become serious 

 consult your County Agent. 



RENEWING OLD BEDS. Most commercial grow- 

 ers pick one crop of strawberries and then de- 

 stroy the planting. Generally this is justified. 

 However, when plantings are on good soil, free 

 from weeds with little insect or disease damage, 

 a second crop may be had economically. To re- 

 new beds, don't plow away the old bed. Culti- 

 vate middles, remove weeds and grasses and 

 possibly fertilize. On thickly set beds remove 

 some of the excess plants. Don't be afraid of 

 hurting the beds. We have used a heavily 

 weighted (100 lbs.) spike tooth harrow very ef- 

 fectively. Train new runners to any vacant places. 

 Mostly the second crop of berries is bourne on 

 the same plants that produced the first crop. 



ODDS AND ENDS 



1. To control spittle bugs 'and tarnish plant bugs 

 which cause malformed berries (nubbins) spray 

 thoroughly one time with 50% D.D.T. 2 lbs. per 

 100 gallons of water as late as possible before 

 plants bloom in spring. Nubbins and malformed 

 berries, very similar in appearance, are also 

 caused by late spring frosts which injure but do 

 not completely kill the berry blossoms. 



2. How much virus free plants outyield ordinary 

 stock depends on the vigor of the non-virus free 

 plants. At the Ohio Station 68% average increase 

 was obtained on virus free Catskill, Sparkle and 

 Premier. In New Hampshire 83% increase on 

 the same, three varieties. In Massachusetts 35% 

 on four leading varieties, and in Nova Scotia on 

 four varieties 310% increase, the amazing in- 

 crease probably due greatly to lack of plant 

 growth of the ordinary stock. 



3. A new spray MH-30 (5 pints in 50 gals, of 

 water per acre) has been used to reduce runner 

 formation and prevent crowded rows. In tests 

 one spray was applied in early July, two others 

 in August. A well spaced row of plants resulted. 

 Suggested for trial only with varieties that form 

 too many runners. 



4. When sawdust is used as a mulch, the soil 

 will need extra nitrogen. Seven or eight pounds 

 of ammonium sulphate per 100 lbs. of sawdust 

 has been suggested. The Colorado Station states 

 "Sawdust is a good mulch, conserving moisture, 

 suppressing weeds and improving heavy soil 

 with no significant effect on the pH of the soil." 



5. Chlorodane will pay. About 10 lbs. per acre 

 of actual chlorodane broadcast with fertilizer (25 

 lbs. 40% material). Many of the things necessary 

 for growing top notch planting stock (page 3) a 

 berry grower cannot afford to do — the use of 

 chlorodane is one of the things he can and 

 should do. It's fairly cheap — it's very good. 



6. Gibberellins. Experiments were conducted in 

 New Jersey in 1958 on the use of potassium gib- 

 berellate applied to Sparkle in the fall, using the 

 optimum concentration of 10 ppm with 3 applica- 

 tions. Results showed a significant increase in 

 early yield — but not in total yield and a signifi- 

 cant decrease in average berry size. Experimen- 

 tal use only is suggested for the present. 



7. A "runner cutter" has been developed at 

 Cornell for use especially where hill or hedge 

 row system is used. 



8. Dr. Melvin Kolbe of the North Carolina Sta- 

 tion at Raleigh, N. C, has developed a "blossom 

 cutter" which seems practical to make it easier 

 to perform the very important job of removing 

 blossoms from newly set plants. 



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