48o 



STRAW' BERRY FARMING. 



for straw ; and to my knowledge one grower paid over 

 $300 in all in one season for straw for his berries. For this 

 item of cost we want to have a plantation in best trim 

 to put so much cost on. It is true straw does not always 

 cost so much ; the price mentioned was in a winter fol- 

 lowing a failure of the wheat crop from freezing in the 

 winter before. Taking these things into calculation, 

 we deem it best to plant in spring while nature has the 

 ground in fine condition. To give the plants a start then 

 we keep the runners off and get a good strong stool 

 which will afford a large crop of fine fruit, even if we 

 have to fight the grub. The plants started in late fall 

 will yield but little, although that little is apt to be fine. 

 Still, we want the quarts, as there is too much labor con- 

 nected with the business to run it just for the fun of the 

 thing. — Jas. Edgerton, Bameville, Ohio. 



Eight Months in the Year. — Both pot-grown and 

 layer plants can be planted with safety any time from 

 July 15 to November 20. By setting the pot-grown 

 plants, one can get some of the largest and finest fruit 

 next season. Set ordinary layer plants in August 

 and September and you may reasonably expect a half a 

 crop next season. Properly speaking, fall planting be- 

 gins October I, lasting well into November. This set- 

 ting of layer plants when set so late, should not fruit 

 the following season. When we consider that we may 

 plant strawberies eight months in the year, we certainly 

 can find time to make a bed of this luscious fruit. If 

 we have any land without strawberries we must charge 

 ourselves with the neglect of duty to our families. 



Fall Planting the Only Way where they Grow 

 THE "Biggest Berries in the World. — I have been 

 in the strawberry business for the past 20 years and find 

 that fall planting with me does the best. I plant dur- 

 ing the last of July and in August. If there is not suffi- 

 cient rain in July and August, then I set as late as Sep- 

 tember 25 and the next season I get a /'«// crop. If set 

 early in August I allow a few of the strongest runners 

 to set on either side of the row, making a row about 15 

 inches in width. I set the rows 32 inches apart (I set by 

 line using a ball of cotton grocery twine) plants in the 

 row from 10 to 12 inches. This leaves a path about 15 

 inches wide, just wide enough to pick in. As soon as 

 the ground freezes hard enough to bear a loaded wagon, 

 we cover the ground, close up to the plants, about three 

 to four inches deep with well rotted barnyard manure, 

 from cows and horses, mixed. It must be well-rotted so 

 as to kill all seeds ; if so there will not be any trouble 

 in hoeing and keeping the plants clean. Soon as the 

 paths are covered with manure, we cover the plants 

 about two inches deep with salt hay, just enough so that 

 the plants do not show through the hay. Our only 

 secret in growing fine fruit is rich land and keeping the 

 plants free from weeds and grass. Anyone who owns 

 heavy or damp soil can grow fine crops with the same 

 varieties : Great American, Sharpless, Davis, Hilton 

 Gem. Under like conditions, just as large and as fine 

 fruit can be grown in any state on heavy or low land. 



not sandy, as we can grow here in Hilton, where at pre- 

 sent we grow the best and largest strawberries in the 

 world, all of which can be proven. I have a single berry 

 in alcohol that measures thirteen inches in circumfer- 

 ence. — Henry Jerolaman, N. J. 



In Favor of Fall Planting. — I prepare a cold 

 frame (four single boarded sides and ends, set in the 

 ground) and make shades of lath and cheap white cloth 

 as a cover. I then secure the earliest plants formed on 

 the runners, not being particular as to roots having 

 been made or not, but prefer them just as the root 

 tubercles are an eighth of an inch long. Rich fine soil 

 is prepared and the plants set in two and a-half inch 

 pots, which are then placed in the cold frame, plunged in 

 finely sifted coal ashes, to prevent drying out ; water is 

 freely used, and the cloth shades left on during the day 

 but removed at night. In three to four weeks the pots 

 are well filled with roots, and the planting out can be 

 done at any time ; I prefer however to keep the plants 

 in the cold frame until the fall rains, as the plants con- 

 tinue to grow, and after being set out soon establish 

 themselves enough to withstand the winter. 



The bed should be carefully covered, and here lies 

 the main extra work, which to many seems a great bug- 

 bear, but the yield of fruit the first spring after plant- 

 ing nearly if not quite pays for this extra work and ex- 

 pense. On my last fall-planted Bubach, Gandy, 

 Eureka, Cumberland. Mt. Vernon and others, there 

 has been a nice lot of fruit that in every way compared 

 favorably with that on older beds. 



In addition to the fruit borne this summer, the plants 

 have made a fine growth, looking a hundred per cent, 

 better than those planted last spring, alongside of the 

 fall set plants, thus affording a good opportunity for 

 comparison. This stronger growth is another compen- 

 sation for the additional covering required, as the crop 

 of next spring on the fall plants will be far ahead of 

 that on the spring plants, each needing the same degree 

 of care next winter. — E. E. Summey, Niagara Co., N. Y, 



Fall Planting for Home Gardens. — We recom- 

 mend planting in the fall, not later than September i 

 for amateurs and family use ; but for market purposes 

 we prefer early spring setting. Growing as practiced in 

 Monmouth county is not a profitable crop As proof, 

 those who were largely in the business a few years ago 

 have either abandoned it entirely or are confining their 

 operations to a limited area. The reasons are the 

 great cost of marketing and low average of wholesale 

 prices, with frost and drouth as contingencies. — David 

 Baird, IMonmouth Co., N. J. 



Fall Planting in Missouri. — Success in fall plant- 

 ing depends upon strong plants, properly set, and liberal 

 watering in dry weather. These things secured, a fair 

 crop of fruit may be expected the following season, if 

 set any time before October ; and I have succeeded with 

 November planting. It don't pay to send off a distance, 

 get small plants, and set out late ; better not plant at 



