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FOR BEST RESULTS WITH EVERBEARERS 



l/S£ THE SAWDUST MULCH SPACED PLANT SYSTEM 



The Ohio Experiment Station reported 7,000 quarts per acre the first year with 

 Superfection grown under this system. Iowa Station reported yields even larger 

 than Ohio. In Kentucky the Experiment Station reported, with irrigation, 14,000 

 quarts per acre the first year with Superfection and Gem. 



A brief summary of the Ohio Station report is given below. 



The Ohio Station report states that the latest development in everbearing 

 strawberry production demonstrates that the largest yields, greatest ease and 

 economy of operation and highest profits are to be secured by following a 4-row 

 bed type planting system. (See diagram and picture.) 



In this system the plants are set one foot 

 apart in rows which are one foot apart. A two 

 foot alley or middle is left between each 4-row 

 bed. The 4-row system produces high yields 

 in August which are maintained during the 

 remainder of the season. 



The plants should be set just as early in the 

 spring as the land can be prepared — late 

 March or early April. The first crop of weeds 

 will usually appear within two or three weeks 

 after planting. These should be controlled by 

 hoeing. After this first hoeing the entire area 

 should be covered with a layer of sawdust 

 one inch thick. This mulch is very important 

 for conserving soil moisture and suppressing 

 weed growth. Later weeds, if any, must be 

 removed by pulling because hoeing would 

 mix the sawdust with the soil and eliminate 

 its mulch effect. 



All blossom.s which develop on the new set 

 plants should be removed until early June or 

 a week or two later if plant growth has not 

 been quite vigorous. After fruit production 

 starts berries may be harvested about twice 

 each week until frost stops growth in Oc- 

 tober. The sawdust mulch helps to conserve 

 soil moisture during late summer. If an ex- 

 tended drought occurs the crop can be greatly 

 increased in size and quality by the use of 

 irrigation. All runners should be removed 

 from the plants as fast as they develop. This 

 is essential if highest yields are to be secured. 

 "The sawdust mulch appears to give ade- 

 quate protection over the winter period. A 

 thin renewal layer may be needed in the 

 fall if the spring application was too light. 

 A full inch of mulch should be maintained." 

 The spaced-plant saw dust mulch system 

 • comes high per acre, with more plants and 

 much hand labor required, but numerous 

 Ohio growers have demonstrated in small and 



medium sized plantings that a carefully man- 

 aged patch will give high profits. 



This Ohio system and variations of it 

 have been used in recent years in many 

 other states to enable growers to get far 

 more satisfaction from Everbearers than they 

 did before. (See page 23.) 



VARIETAL RESISTANCE TO 

 STRAWBERRY DISEASES 



Based on the New Jersey work of Varney, 

 we have the following information in regard 

 to varietal resistance to verticillium wilt: 

 Among the most resistant varieties that we 

 are listing are Catskill, Surecrop, Robinson, 

 Premier, Temple, Tennessee Beauty and Gem. 

 The varieties with an intermediate degree of 

 resistance include Blakemore, Redglow, Em- 

 pire, Fairfax and Albritton. The most sus- 

 ceptible variety to verticillium wilt is Earli- 

 dawn. Among those varieties with a high 

 degree of susceptibility are Dixieland, Red- 

 star, Midway, Jerseybelle, Midland Mis- 

 sionary, Pocahontas, Armore and Sparkle. 

 Verticillium wilt, which causes "summer 

 dying" of strawberry plants, has been par- 

 ticularly bad when strawberry plants have 

 followed a susceptible crop such as tomato, 

 Irish potato, eggplant and pepper. Verti- 

 cillium wilt is only a problem in some areas 

 of the north and we have never seen it at 

 all on our own farms here in Maryland. 



Red stele is a subject of continuing re- 

 search. At least five different races of red 

 stele root rot have been identified. Among 

 the varieties with resistance to the most com~- 

 mon form are Midway, Redglow, Sparkle, 

 Stelemaster, Surecrop and Temple. Stelemas- 

 ter and Surecrop have resistance to other 

 races of red stele and seem to be your best 

 bet where red stele is a major problem. 



30 



