Proper Spacing of Plants 



It has lon.ET been noted that the biggest and 

 best strawlierries in a matted row field were 

 produced along the edges of the rows and in 

 spots where the plants were thin. 'Don't let 

 the plants of free-growing varieties get too 

 thick" is advice that has been freely given. It 

 has remained for experiments in N. C. by U. S. 

 l»ept. of Agri. and N. C. state workers in 1933-34 



to really demonstrate the possibilities proper 

 spacing holds out for bigger and better crop.s 

 of berries. It is not expected that all varieties 

 in all sections will equal these results, but they 

 are striking enough to be given careful study in 

 all the states that grow berries with the matted 

 row system. 



Results from Spacing Blakemore Plants in N. C. in 1933-34 



Vield 

 in 32-<|t. 

 System of training' orates 



per acre 



Doable hill ro«- «ith runners rooted early 110 



Run.s "4 inches nide n'ith plants .spnoeil 9 inches 



apart 15C 



Rons 24 inches n'ide n'ith plants .spaced G inches 



apart 14» 



Matted ro«s 12 inches «ide <!C 



Matted rows 30 inches n ide 72 



Per cent 



ot V. S. 



Vo. 1 berries 



Relative 

 size of 

 berries 



Per cent of 

 berries show- 

 ins decay 

 after 24 hours 



90 





100 



5 



84 





88 



8 



SO 





80 



10 



68 





72 



IC 



57 





63 



26 



Note that yields increase with wider spacing up to 9 inches apart. Note also the poorer keeping 

 quality of berries from the thick, densely shaded matted rows. Li other of the N. C. experiments 

 rows with plants numbering 30, 4, 1.8 and 2/3 of a plant per square foot producetl yields of market- 

 able fruit of 40, 119, 131, and 99 crates per acre respectively. 



Without going to extremes on insufficient evi- 

 dence, it is safe to say that "bigger crops of 

 better berries" can be had by saving the very 

 first runner plants made and by restricting the 

 total to from 4-6 per square foot. This should 

 help especially varieties like Dorsett, Blakemore, 

 Xarcissa, Bellmar, etc., and also Catskill, Fair- 

 fax, Premier, Aberdeen, and others in places 

 where they make large numbers of runners. 



Concerning field observations of the new varie- 

 ties, Dorsett and Fairfax, Dr. George M. Darrow 

 of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture made this state- 

 ment in "Science" magazine of October 5th, 1934 : 

 "Growing conditions were favorable in 1933, and 

 dense stands of plants were usual. The Dorsett 

 commonly made three or more times as many 



plants as the Fairfax and produced less fruit. 

 Even in one of the best commercial fields, ^reas 

 occurred having over 38 plants of Dorsett per 

 square foot and producing little fruit. In this 

 fiebl good crops of Dorsett were not produced 

 when there were more than 8 to 14 plants per 

 square foot. In adjoining rows of the Fairfax 

 where the yield averaged 12,000 to 15,000 quarts 

 per acre the best yields were where there were 

 as few as 4 plants per foot. The Chesapeake 

 variety in adjoining rows were producing very 

 large crops with 6 plants per .square foot." 

 Runner restriction, conserving as it does the soil 

 nutrients and moisture, tends toward more 

 crowns, more fruit buds and more fruit per 

 plant. 



Canvas Hose Irrigation 



.Adequate moisture for strawberries is impor- 

 tant. The addition of stable manure and green 

 manure crops, as well as thorough cultivation 

 and mulching helps retain water from rainfall. 

 Usually these are adequate, but dry seasons like 

 1934 in many areas emphasized the value of an 

 additional water supply. 



Canvas Hose Irrieration, though new and lim- 

 ited in trials, we consider a promising method 

 for economically and profitably irrigating straw- 

 berries as well as other small fruit and garden 

 crops. "With this method a canvas hose is laid 

 between two rows or on top of each strawberrv 

 row, attached to the supplv of water, with a plug 

 or cap at the farther end. The hose is filled and 

 the water oozes out slowly and seeps through the 

 soil for some distance on each side. It seems 

 especially well adapted for gardens and small 

 nlantings that have a convenient water sunnlv, 

 -although strawberry growers in "Wisconsin, Mich- 

 igan and other states are using it profitably on 

 larger commercial plantings. 



The advantages of th's method are several: 

 I. It is relatively cheap. Home made hose can be 



prepared or the commercially made product pur- 

 chased at small expense. 2. High pressure water 

 supply is not necessary, a moderate pressure pro- 

 viding for its use even on slightly rolling land 

 as well as on level land. 3. Wliere city water is 

 available, common garden hose can be used to 

 carry to the canvas hose sufficient water for irri- 

 gation of small plots. 4. Being applied slowly 

 and absorbing slowly the distribution of water 

 is more even than with other methods, especially 

 on rolling land. 5. It does not wet and "mess 

 up" the foliage and berries as overhead methods 

 do. This should certainly help the keeping quality 

 of the berries. 6. It is well adapted for use in 

 mulched plantings. 7. The hose can be moved 

 frequently and used for other garden crops or 

 other rows. 



As objections, it may be stated that the canvas 

 is rather hard to handle when wet, that, though 

 inexpensive, the hose is rather short lived, and 

 that the method is new and that its limitations 

 as well as possibilities are not fully developed. 



Further information about commercial sources 

 of supply or on making homemade hose will be 

 sent to any of our customers requesting it. 



15 



