GREAT CROPS OF STRAWBERRIES AND HOW TO GROW THEM 
Copyright 11)14, by R. M. Kellogg Co., Three Rivers, Mich. 
A TRIO OF JOCUNDAS 
IT would be aifflcult to find a variety that has won gaccess over a wider field than that now occupied by 
* Jocunda. For years it was the most popular variety in the high altitudes of the inter-mountain states;. 
Indeed, to such a degree that it was set exclusively in some sections of Colorado. Its fine qualities led us 
to test It out at Throe liivers. and the result is that we find it is Just as desirable in other sections as it 
is in the higher altitudes of the Rocl<y IMountains. Jocunda Is of the perfect strawberry form. Is very hardy, 
and has a leaf-tissue so tough as to malie it a strong reslster of insect pests and fungous diseases. It is 
a powerful bisexual, and an excellent mate for pistlllates of mid-season. Grown at Three Rivers and Twin Falls. 
orchard will mix. All mixing is done in the 
seeds — neither plant nor fruit is affected. The 
seed of a Delicious apple will not I'eproduce a 
Delicious apple tree; no more will a Clyde 
strawberry seed reproduce a Clyde strawberry 
plant. In both cases something entirely unlike 
may safely be counted on. 
One may set in the same field as many dif- 
ferent varieties of strawberries as he chooses 
without the identity of a single variety be- 
coming affected. 
Many times we are asked to supply straw- 
berry seed. The above will indicate of how 
little value strawberry seeds would be under 
these conditions. 
The Functions of Soil Bacteria 
WE ALWAYS have urged the necessity of 
making soil conditions favorable to the 
multiplication of soil bacteria, and the follow- 
ing from the pen of Howard S. Reed, professor 
of bacteriology in the Virginia Agricultural 
College, so emphasizes this point that we quote 
it here for the benefit of our customers: 
"When the rock-layers disintegrate to form 
soil they ordinarily produce a soil which con- 
tains all of the ordinary elements required for 
plant food except compounds of nitrogen; for 
of this latter class the rocks contain none. 
Yet, when productive soils are analyzed — for 
example, the so-called virgin soils — they are 
found to contain large quantities of nitrogenous 
material — as much as five thousand to ten 
thousand pounds an acre — to a depth of one 
foot. Chemists are unanimously agreed that 
all of this nitrogen has been derived in some 
way from the large store of gaseous nitrogen 
in the air and that the major part of it has 
been accumulated through the bacterial action 
and the growing of certain plants." 
Herein lies the strength of the argument 
for the use of lime in a proper form. When- 
ever the soil is acid, the bacteria cannot work, 
hence there is a lowering of fertility. Destroy 
the acid, sweeten up the soil and you set the 
bacteria at work at once. Professor Reed also 
explains the relation of bacteria to humus: 
"Though humus is extremely important, both 
as a chemical and as a physical agent in pro- 
moting soil improvement, its usefulness does 
not end there. Humus contains different ele- 
ments, one of which is very essential to plant 
growth, namely, nitrogen. This humus-nitro- 
gen, as such, is of practically no use to green 
plants, but must undergo transformation. 
Most, but not all, cultivated plants thrive best 
when nitrogen is furnished to them as nitrate, 
such as saltpeter or nitrate of soda. One 
class of bacteria has labored to convert the 
plant tissues into humus; subsequently another 
class of bacteria must lay hold on the humus 
and bring about a decomposition of the humus, 
with liberation of the nitrogenous compounds 
and formation of new products." 
And don't let anybody make you believe that 
an acid soil is congenial to the strawberry. It 
is true that the strawberry is very hardy and 
will endure much, but lime is as essential to 
the growing of big crops of big red straw- 
berries as it is to the development of a crop 
of clover or alfalfa, or any other crop. In 
fact, the only thing we know that acid soil is 
good tor is sorrel and other weeds of that 
nature. 
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