A STRAWBERRY AFTERMATH. 



54 



we cover the plants with dry marsh-hay or straw just 

 deep enough to hide them from view. In the spring we 

 take off the cover, haul it away and stack it for use an- 

 other year, put another coat of fine manure or ashes 

 upon the beds, hoe them over and keep down the weeds 

 until picking time, and then usually gather a crop of 

 200 or 300 bushels of nice fruit from each acre. 



We turn the beds under as soon as the List berries are 

 picked. We are ploughing under one of them to-day 

 (July 12), and to-morrow we 

 cabbage - plants for 



the fall crop. Th 

 new beds that 

 set last spring are 



itend to set it out 



tilled between the row:; 

 of plants with bush- 

 beans, early dwarf peas, 

 onion sets, etc. These 

 will all be ripe and 

 taken off the ground in 

 a short time. Th 

 strawberry -runners will 

 be trained all over the 

 ground, no two of them 

 being allowed to run in 

 the same place. They 

 will be very carefully 

 watched and cared for, 

 and unless all present 

 signs fail, next season 

 ;ive us an immense crop 

 of fruit. 



Judging from my own 

 experience in the last 25 

 years, Warfield is the only strawberry that will compare 

 at all in financial value with Wilson ; and this year, grow- 

 ing beside the Wilson and receiving the same treatment 

 all the year, it has greatly excelled it. — J. M. Smith. 



OHIO METHODS OF CULTIVATION. 



Two facts in strawberry-culture have been brought out 

 more prominently in the past season, (i.) None of the 

 extra-early varieties are worth retaining for market pur- 

 poses. (2.) Several new varieties are valuable pollen- 



izers. Here in Ohio, our strongest competition comes 

 from regions not far south of us, hence the simple fact 

 that a variety is early counts for nothing unless it is pro- 

 lific and the berries are large and showy. Berries are 

 usually as low here before our season commences as dur- 

 ing its height, and we might as well think of growing a 

 small, unproductive sort alongside of Bub"-ch and Haver- 

 land as to grow it in competition with Kentucky and 

 Tennessee berries. This is the reason why Michel 

 Early, Stevens, Covel and Crystal City are not worth 

 growing here. Michel Early does 

 not produce heavily, but it may be 

 valuable in some localities where 

 earliness counts for more than any- 

 thing else. We rank the Covel equal 

 to it in earliness, however, besides 

 Covel is firmer and has a better color. 



The foliage of 

 the Stevens is so 

 suscep t i b 1 e to 

 rust that, in spite 

 of earliness, the 

 variety promises 

 nothing. Beder 

 Wood comes in 

 only a day or 

 two later than 

 the above varie- 

 ties, and out- 

 yields any of them. Its foliage 

 is a little weak, but it gives good 

 crops, and we think it promising. 



The early varieties yield about 

 one picking before the Beder 

 Wood and Crescent ripen. The 

 second picking of the former and 

 he first of the latter are about 

 in quantity, after which the ratio is 

 three to one in favor of Beder 

 and still higher in the case of Cres- 

 If I were planting for market in this 

 y, I would not set a single plant of 

 Michel Early. If located further south I 

 might choose differently, but in any case, 

 I would plant some kind that would fill 

 the baskets, even if I had to fall back on 

 the Crescent. 



We have made some improvement in 

 perfect-flowering varieties within the last 

 few years. Lovett Early is one of the 

 most promising of this class, even though its name is 

 a misfit. The plants are healthy and productive, and 

 the berries are of good size and attractive. Muskingum 

 is still better in some respects, although it may not yield 

 heavily. Parker Earle is a wonder in growth and pro- 

 ductiveness. The plants show some inclination to rust 

 and to overbear ; hence, on poor soil and in unfavorable 

 seasons, the berries will not reach a large size. I would 

 think more highly of the variety if the plants set onl) 



AS GROWN ON THB EDITORS 

 .. (See page 539-) 



