STRAWBERRIES 



The summer of 191 1 was unusually dry everywhere and all plants and trees suffered. Not only were 

 crops short, but vegetation dried up and young plants were badly stunted. This was so marked in some in- 

 land localities that few Strawberry plants are offered for sale from those sections. 



Now for a little geography: Berlin, Md., is located only seven miles from the ocean, the influence of 

 which can be felt all the time. In summer the cool breezes make our evenings delightful. But by far the 

 greatest effect of these gentle winds comes from the moisture they carry from the ocean. While we notice 

 drought, and everything gets dry, there is not nearly so much evaporation from the soil, and from leaves, 

 as a hundred miles farther away from the ocean. Consequently our Strawberry plants did not suffer so 

 much from the dry weather, and last fall, when the rains came, our plants came out in fine shape — we were 

 surprised to see how good they were. 



This year we have the usual number of Strawberry plants ready for planting. Altogether, in the part 

 of the nurseries given to Strawberries, there are about no acres, and a conservative estimate would place the 

 number of plants at eleven millions. You may not want the whole number yourselt, but we want to convince 

 you that Strawberry plant growing is an important branch of our business and not a mere side-line. We 

 have been growing plants for twenty years. At first we grew only a few thousand, then each year the acreage 

 was increased, till now we do not think many growers in the United States produce more plants. 



The average trucker and Strawberry planter does not understand a few important things about this 

 fruit that everyone needs to know. Strawberry plants inherit the characteristics of their immediate parents. 

 That is, if a plant that is well fed and which produces big crops of flawless berries makes runners and sets 

 crowns, the new plants formed will probably be good ones also, and likewise produce big crops of fine fruit. 

 On the other hand, young plants produced by parent plants that have been starved and which do not pro- 

 duce much good fruit, likely will not bear well, or they may produce many berries of inferior size and qual- 

 ity. Plants should he produced in breeding beds — never selected from old fruiting beds if it can be helped. 



It is easy to double the yield of a bed by properly 

 selecting the plants. There are other features than those 

 named, that have a bearing on the amount and quality 

 of the berries produced. Some plants seem more subject 

 to attacks from insects and fungi. Our salt breezes make 

 the leaves tough, and the whole plants sturdy and hardy. 

 Shipped anywhere in the country, they retain these qual- 

 ities to a remarkable degree. We always have test-beds, 

 in which we try new varieties, and select the best plants 

 of old varieties. Only by this constant watching can the 

 good characteristics of any kind be kept up to standard. 

 There are strains of the different varieties, just as there 

 are strains of Plymouth Rock chickens, or of Holstein 

 cattle. Get Harrison strains of Strawberry varieties, 

 particularly of Klondike and Gandy. 



We have explained in "How to Grow and Market 

 Fruit" a good many things about growing Strawberries 

 that we would like to tell you here, but we do not have 

 space. Get the book. Read first the chapters on soil 

 handling that apply to all fruits, then the special matter 

 on Strawberries. You will find good points on every phase 

 of the subject, from selecting the plants to marketing 

 the fruit. 



Land intended for Strawberries should be well sub- 

 dued for a year or so before the plants are put in. Do not 

 plant Strawberries on the same land an old bed grew on 

 till it has been cultivated in other crops for two or three 

 years. Plant in the spring. The matted row is the only 

 practical commercial system, though the hill system has 

 been used by some successful growers. This system 

 undoubtedly produces the finer berries, though it requires 

 more work. The hill system is suitable for gardens, where 

 the plants are for recreation and entertainment rather 

 than for the value of the berries they produce. When 

 planting by the matted-row system, put the plants in 

 rows 3 to 4 feet apart and 15 to 24 inches apart in the 

 rows. Allow them to "runner" all summer, and by fall you 

 will have a thick row as wide as you permit the runners 

 to set crowns. This should not be more than 12 or 15 inches. 

 A cutter on the cultivator will clip the ends of runners that 

 grow too wide. 



Old beds may be burned over, then all of the matted 

 rows but about 6 inches at the centers ought to be turned 

 down with a landside plow. Go over the remaining plants 

 with a hoe and cut out all that have borne fruit, leaving 

 the remaining young plants 6 or 8 inches apart. Then level 

 off the plowed surface between the rows with a fine- 



Newly set field of Gandy Strawberries in Delaware, 

 and part of one of the 1,200 crates harvested the nejst 

 summer. 



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