12 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE SUPPLEMENT 
February, 1919 
make up to 6 quarts. Pour the two so- 
lutions together through a strainer 
while stirring. The spray is then 
ready to apply. Both the upper and 
lower leaf surfaces should be covered. 
A combination of Bordeaux mixture 
and poison may also be used. 
Cucumber Beetles. These yellow 
and black striped or spotted beetles 
The purpose of this article is to help 
the beginner; it is not meant to be a 
treatise on strawberry growing. 
The points discussed cover only 
the first season so no attempt has 
been made to distinguish between 
growing for home use and for market 
as the methods are the same in both 
cases. 
Soils: — Any soil that will produce 
a good crop of corn will produce a 
good crop of strawberries. Straw- 
berries are grown for market in Wis- 
consin on light sandy, gravely loam, 
black prairie and light .clay soils and 
successfully in all cases. The kind of 
soil is of slight importance except 
that it must be well drained. 
Site: — Level ground is best for 
strawberries or any other fruit crop. 
A few days in earliness may be gained 
by planting on a south slope or ripen- 
ing may be retarded somewhat if the 
plantation is on a north slope but the 
difference is so slight that it rarely 
offsets the added expense and incon- 
venience of cultivation on sloping 
ground and the necessity of plant- 
ing so as to avoid erosion. The mid- 
season crop is the most profitable one 
for Wisconsin growers. No matter 
how much we struggle for earliness, 
Illinois can beaet us by three weeks. 
Preparation of Soils: — Don’t plant 
strawberries on sod land, that is land 
on which grass has been grown for 
two or more seasons as such soils are 
quite sure to be infested by the white 
grub which will feed on the roots of 
the strawberry plants. 
Soils light in texture should be 
plowed in the fall and only lightly 
disked or harrowed in the spring just 
before planting as strawberry plants 
do not grow well in soil that is very 
loose and mellow. On heavy soils 
spring plowing is preferable. 
Manure: — Strawberries require a 
soil rich in plant food in order to pro- 
duce paying crops. It will be a waste 
of time to plant for market on thin, 
worn out soil without first manuring. 
If stable manure can be had apply 10 
to 25 loads per acre. 
It should not be inferred form this 
that all land must be heavily fertilized 
with stable manure before planting 
as average farm or garden land that 
has been' fairly treated as to fertil- 
izers in former years will produce a 
are also not easily affected by poison, 
but their food plants, such as cucum- 
ber, squash, and melons, can be made 
unattractive to them by dusting with 
a mixture of powdered lime and to- 
bacco dust. Mix 1 pound of tobacco 
dust in 2 pounds of well-pulverized 
lime and dust the mixture onto the 
plants using a gunny sack or a tin 
good crop of plants the first year, if 
thoroughly cultivated, and commercial 
fertilizers may be applied the second 
and succeeding seasons. 
Plants & Planting: — Runner plants 
of the preceeding year’s growth are 
the only ones that should be used. 
Plants that have once borne fruit are 
not suitable, scarcely worth planting. 
Nurserymen furnish only runner 
plants. If plants are received from 
the nursery packed tightly in bundles, 
open the bundles at once, separate the 
plants and either pack in boxes or 
baskets with damp moss, chaff or 
sawdust, separating the roots or else 
“heel-in” outdoors. 
For convenience in planting shorten 
the roots, removing about one-fourth 
in length. Remove all leaves but one 
or two before planting. 
Strawberry, plants may be set as 
close as 18 inches in the row and the 
rows four feet apart but for most var- 
ieties 24 inches in the row is better. 
At 2 by 4 feet 5,445 plants are requir- 
ed for an acre. 
Plants are usually set by the spade 
method, two persons working in com- 
pany. This plan is a very simple one 
but requires more space to describe 
than is available here. 
One thing i s highly important, viz., 
the proper depth of setting. If the 
plants are set too deep the "crown” 
or growing point if covered; if set too 
high the roots are exposed. In either 
case the plant may fail to grow. With 
a little practice the right way may 
be found. 
Cultivation:- — Keep the soil loose, 
mellow and free from weeds through- 
out the season by frequent cultivation. 
An adjustable one-horse cultivator is 
a good tool to use. Run close to the 
plants at first and as the runners 
stretch out into the space between 
the rows, close up the cultivator al- 
lowing the plants to set thickly in 
matted rows two feet wide, thus leav- 
ing a two-foot path between the rows. 
Care should be taken to keep the 
rows full of plants by training run- 
ners so as to fill vacant places. This 
is what is known as the “matted row” 
system, the most practical for the 
average grdwer. Where there is a de- 
mand for very large berries, uniform 
in Size, the single or double “hedge 
row” or hill system may be adopted. 
can with small holes in the bottom. 
A small number of plants may be pro- 
tected by placing cages over them. 
These cages may be made by cutting 
barrel hoops in two, nailing the halves 
together at right angles to each other, 
and covering with cheese cloth. 
Planting a large number of seeds per 
hill will help to get a better stand. 
MARKET 
If the ground is rich and the season 
favorable too many plants may set. 
In this case as the season advances 
remove the surplus until the plants in 
the row stand about six inches apart. 
Remove all blossoms the first sea- 
son as soon as they appear. All of 
the energies of the parent plants 
must be directed to plant making the 
first sason and not wasted in the pro- 
duction of flowers and fruit. 
Considerable hoeing and weeding 
will be needed the first season for the 
beds must be kept clean. Grass and 
weeds rob the strawberry plants of 
food and moisture. We should en- 
deavor to secure a good stand of 
strong, vigorous, deeply rooted plants 
the first season; lacking this we can- 
not expect a profitable crop of fruit 
next year. 
Perfect and Imperfect Flowers: — 
Some varieties of strawberries pro- 
duce only imperfect flowers. These 
flowers have no stamens and are 
therefore incapable of self-pollination. 
It is important to keep this fact in 
mind when selecting varieties, for if 
only imperfect-flowered varieties are 
selected no fruit will be borne. A 
part of the plantation at least must 
be of kinds bearing perfect flowers. 
Nurserymen indicate in their cata- 
logues the imperfect varieties by the 
abbreviation "Imp.” 
Kinds to Plant: — The amateur as 
well as the professional soon learns 
that in the selection of varieties he 
must be guided largely by local con- 
ditions of soil, climate, etc. and that 
no list can be given that will be satis- 
factory over the whole state. How- 
ever, two varieties, Warfield and Dun- 
lap, seem to give satisfaction over a 
wider range of soils and climate in 
Wisconsin than any other standard 
varieties. Some growers advocate 
planting only Dunlap. 
Fall Bearing or So-called Ever- 
bearing Strawberries 
Within a few years a new group of 
strawberries has appeared, the so- 
celled “everbearers.” These kinds 
do not, as the name indicates, bear 
throughout the whole season but pro- 
duce a crop at the same season as the 
standard varieties and, after a short 
STRAWBERRIES FOR HOME AND 
Frederic Cranefield 
