SMALL FRUITS AND HOW HE GROWS THEM 
WINTER PROTECTION. 
In the case of strawberries it is not the freez- 
ings that does the injury. On many soils, 
especially clay, when the ground freezes all 
nig^ht and thaws the next day under the influ- 
ence of the brig^ht sun, the ground contracts 
and expands, and thus heaves the plants up, 
pullinij- the roots loose, which weakens them. 
Now if we place some coarse litter over the 
plants merely to shade them from the sun to 
prevent thawing during the day and the frost 
conies out very slowly, no injury can result. 
The plant must have air for its foliage 
even if frozen solid, hence, any heavy, dense 
mass like manure will smother and injure it. 
The strong ammonia washing' down from 
manure is very bad for the foliage and it 
should never be placed directly on the plants, 
but it may serve a g-ood purpose in conserving 
moisture between the rows. Light chaff, straw 
or marsh hay may be used. 
In the spriag if the mulch has been applied 
between the rows heavily enough we rake off 
from directly over the plants to allow the 
leaves and stems to come up through the mulch, 
and leave it until after the picking' is done. If 
the mulch has been applied only on the plants 
and none between the rows, we cultivate not 
over one inch deep and then rake part off to 
the edg'e of the row to keep the berries clean. 
CARE OF THE OLD BED. 
If an exhaustive crop has been produced, or 
the g'round is full of gfrass so as to involve a 
great deal of hand labor, it might pay better to 
plow it under at the second or even after the 
first crop. If it is in reasonably good condi- 
tion, a second or third crop will cost but very 
little and often give large profits. 
Just as soon as the last picking- is done 
mow off the top of the plants, not too close to 
the ground, but leave stems long- enough to 
hold the rubbish up from the crowns; stir up 
the mulching, and if necessary apply more 
straw. After it frets aa dry as possible, wait 
for a high wind so the fire will pass over rap- 
idly, and burn up rust, fungi, weeds and all 
insects. 
I wish to emphasize three things: 
First. This burning- must be done imme' 
diately after the picking season is over. The 
plants are now utterly exhausted. The old 
leaves and roots die, a spark of life remaining^ 
only in the crown. The plant remains in this 
dormant condition only a few days, when new 
leaves start and new roots come out above the 
old ones. The old foliage is an injury to the 
plant because it is often more or less affected 
with fungi and the spores are liable to go to 
the new leaves and should therefore be de- 
stroyed. 
It must not toe burned after this new 
g-rowth starts, or the plants will be killed or 
greatly injured. 
Second. A good, strong wind must prevail, 
to drive the fire over the ground rapidly, when 
there will be no danger of heating the crowns. 
If there is an abundance of mulch, it is better 
not to mow the plants off. Put the mulch on 
the row so it will destroy all the old leaves. 
Third. To cultivate the same day of the 
burning. The pickers tread the ground down 
hard making capillary attraction perfect so 
the water will draw up to the surface to be 
carried off by the wind and hot sun and the 
ground will soon dry out below the roots, and 
the plants will die. 
I have heard of plants being- killed by burn- 
ing- but in every case some of these thing-s have 
been neglected. We have burned over our 
beds every season for many years and never 
had a bed injured. In a few weeks the bed will 
look like a new spring set field. As all annual 
weeds are killed but very little hand work is 
required. 
It is important to cultivate so as to throw 
about an inch of fine earth over the plants as 
the new roots come out above the old ones and 
the crown of the plant is raised up every j-ear. 
This also acts as a mulch to conserve moisture. 
When runners start put on the rolling runner 
cutter and clip them all off. This will cause 
new crowns to form on the old plant and send 
its roots down deeper. Cultivate after every 
rain until ground is frozen. 
I have assumed that you were g-rowing- in 
hedg-e rows or hills. If you use the wide 
matted row narrow the bed up at first cultiva- 
tion so as to be about ten inches wide and cut 
the weaker plants out leaving them ten inches 
apart. 
INSECTS. 
3 and 4, May beetle; 2. larva or white grub; 1, pupa. 
The only insect likely to do serious damag-e 
in strawberries is the white grub or larvaa of 
the May beetle illustrated in the eng-raving. 
The larvse feed on the roots of g-rass and are 
often found so thick in old June grass sod or 
pastures as to destroy it. They are passion- 
ately fond of strawberry roots and great care 
should be exercised not to set plants on g-round 
infested with them. They remain in this lar- 
val state for two or three years, doing the most 
damage the second season. 
Grubs similar to these are often found in 
manure and old wood, but that kind does not 
eat roots and is therefore harmless. As there 
are so many kinds it will be safer to send some 
of those found in your ground to the entomolo- 
gist at your State Agricultural College and 
ascertain if they are the true May beetle. 
They can be sent by mail. They very rarely 
or never lay their eggs in fresh cultivated 
ground so that if the land has been in any 
hoed crop for two or three j-ears previous there 
will be no danger. Examine old strawberry 
beds carefully before resetting. 
IS 
