482 



STRAWBERRY FARMING. 



ducts since 18S6, many general farmers had gone into 

 berry culture which up to 1S86 and 1887 had been a 

 profitable business. Now, since the recent advance in 

 grain and stock products, many of these adventurers 

 who were seeking the golden egg in the culture of ber- 

 ries will return to their good old way. We grow about 

 all the varieties that are profitable, and we try all the 

 novelties. Our best berries for shipping to distant mar- 

 kets are Captain Jack, Downing, Windsor Chief, War- 

 field, Glendale, Gandy's Pride. The Captain Jack and 

 Windsor Chief are the most profitable on a five years 

 basis, on account of the extremes, very wet or very dry 

 seasons. These do fairly well in drouth, when the foli- 

 age of others burns. Our largest are Bubach, Edgar 

 Queen, Jessie, Jumbo, Cumberland and Miner. Our 

 earliest are Michel, Old Iron Clad and Crescent. The 

 latest are Mt. Vernon, Glendale and Robinson ; the last 

 named, of Kansas origin, promises to be a valuable ac- 

 quisition. 



The outlook is somewhat gloomy, for berry culture 

 here is easy, owing to the natural fertility of our soil, 

 and the large acreage of the prolific but poor Crescent 

 that growers still continue to plant. Yet horticultural 

 societies continue to recommend it above other sorts 

 simply on account of its productiveness. Now as we 

 have seen in the past three years that the product is 

 greater than the demand, why not cease planting it so 

 largely ? Anybody can grow a field of Crescents. It is 

 as easy to grow as clover or blue grass. The second 

 year afcer planting, the Crescent will clear a field of 

 weeds, except perhaps blue grass ; it requires several 

 years to clear a field of the crescent. If the berry grow- 

 ers of the west would unite in putting down this poor, 

 soft berry, then we would soon get our business out of 

 the ditch that has swamped so many, and berry grow- 

 ing would be a profitable branch of farming to those 

 who make it a life time business. — B. F. Smith, Kansas. 



Results in Western New York are usually sa- 

 tisfactory to the growers, who, in the main grow 

 berries as a farm crop, with extra manure and cultiva- 

 tion, in an average three-fold rotation, as berries, wheat, 

 corn ; or berries, wheat, potatoes. They raise, perhaps 

 an average of seventy-five to a hundred bushels to the 

 acre, shipping or carting them about twenty miles to 

 market. The cost of raising, picking, marketing, etc., 

 is put at about five cents a quart, while the average 

 price is about ten cents. 



The Wilson only is grown here by the general far- 

 mers, but here it seems to have found a congenial spot, 

 for to-day as fine berries are grown as at any time for 

 twenty years. During this period it has been cultivated 

 on the same soil, the beds being renewed from the same 

 old stock of plants, and yet the plants are healthy, 

 thrifty, show no signs of running out, are troubled with 

 no disease except the spot, which seldom appears early 

 enough to affect the crop seriously. 



The beds are picked two years, a new one being plant- 

 ed each spring, the two-years old being turned under 



right after the second crop is gathered and the land 

 sown, as a rule, to wheat. For all practical purposes, it 

 would seem as though a new race or strain of the Wil- 

 son had been evolved, peculiarly adapted to this treat, 

 ment and soil, no new blood having been introduced for 

 many years. — Elmer E. Summey, Alonroe Co., N. Y. 



Against Matted Rows. — From the standpoint of 

 fruit production I would discard this system as unwise. 

 The maximum yield of a well developed strawberry 

 plant may be placed as high as two quarts, and this 

 cannot be had without space for full development. For 

 spring planting I know of no better plan than to set in 

 rows three feet apart and one and a-half feet in the row, 

 allowing each plant to throw one strong runner on each 

 side, rooting the single plant opposite the intervening 

 spaces. For July planting select strong young plants 

 to set 2 by i '/( feet apart. These should be set just 

 after a rain, each with a mat of earth adhering. Hoe 

 frequently and keep all the runners nipped off. 



When winter comes apply a mulching of coarse hay 

 as soon as the ground is well frozen, and remove it as 

 soon as the ground ceases to freeze in spring. Then a 

 shallow hoeing should be given, and when the fruit be- 

 gins to color, restore enough mulch to preserve the mois- 

 ture and keep the fruit clean. Such plants by the last of 

 May should touch each other and yield on the average 

 one quart per plant in June, thus showing a possible 

 average of 412 bushels per acre for the July planting, 

 or 313 bushels for the previous spring planting. In cul- 

 tivating, all unnecessary tramping of the ground should 

 be avoided, and convenient paths, for travel exclusively, 

 be provided. Many men in hoeing and weeding often 

 do more harm than good by unnecessary stepping. Im- 

 plements for horse and man should be constructed to do 

 the most work in a single passage in which the mechan- 

 ical movements should be as slow as possible with 

 strength and efficiency. — P. M. Augur, Comi. 



Strawberries in Canada. — The climatic conditions 

 of this part of Ontario, lying between Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario, make the planting of strawberries in the fall 

 of doubtful expediency. The rainfall during the sum- 

 mer months is usually very light, indeed we may safely 

 expect a period of six weeks without rain to occur be- 

 tween the first of June and the middle of September. 

 From this cause it is often impossible to procure young 

 plants of sufficient vigor, or else if to be had, the dry 

 spell prevents their growth, when transplanted. Hence 

 it is wiser to plant in the spring in this section. — D. W. 

 Beadle, Ontario. 



The Plants Approved. — The best results from fall 

 set plants I ever obtained were had this season. Last 

 autumn I had my pea ground prepared for a strawberry 

 bed; the plants were lifted with a ball of earth about 

 the roots, a few at a time, and set in place in August. 

 The weather was extremely favorable, the plants did 

 not know they had been moved ; unless they showed 

 their approval, for they kept right on growing till the 

 season closed. This bed contained 600 plants in ten 



