A STRAWBERRY CROP IN WEST VIRGINIA. 
How It Is Grown and Picked. 
The picture on this page was taken in the berry field 
of D. B. Garvin & Son, of Wheeling, W. Va. A great 
manj' strawberries are grown at that point. Below we 
have an account of the methods followed by growers : 
The business of growing stra wberries in this locality, 
is one of considerable importance, more attention 
being given to this fruit than to any other. They are 
grown almost entirely by the matted row system, 
which gives the best satisfaction. More berries can 
be grown from the same amount of land than by the 
hill system. Our method is to plant in rows 3}^ feet 
apart, and 15 to 18 inches apart in the row. In pre¬ 
paring the ground for strawberries, we harrow and 
drag alternately until the field is as fine as an onion 
bed. then draw a line to set by. We use for setting, 
ordinary mason’s trowels, each man keeping a tight 
basket along with him with the plants, roots straight¬ 
ened out and dipped in water. By having the basket 
tight, the wind is kept from the roots, and by not 
taking too many at a time, they do not dry off much. 
The man takes the 
trowel in his right 
hand, inserts it the full 
length at a right angle, 
draws it toward him 
and, at the same time, 
takes a plant from the 
basket, and, with a mo¬ 
tion of the fingers, 
spreads the roots and 
slips it down in the 
opening when he with¬ 
draws the trowel and 
presses the soil back, 
being careful to have 
the crown on a level 
with the top of the 
ground. One man can 
set from 3,000 to 5,000 
a day. For fertilizer, 
we use stable manure 
exclusively, and have 
never tried commercial 
fertilizers. 
The cultivator is 
started immediately 
after the plants are set, 
and is kept going, never 
waiting for the weeds 
to show above ground. 
We use a 14-toothed cultivator, which we find to be 
the best labor-saving tool we ever used. It has small, 
diamond-shaped teeth, and when used by a careful 
operator, can be run very close to the plants without 
injury and does not leave more than three inches of 
row not thoroughly stirred. It lessens the hand hoe¬ 
ing more than one-half. One grower here claims that 
he saves S3 a day by the use of this tool. 
The varieties mostly grown for market are Bubach 
No. 5, Haverland, Warfield, Crescent, Sharpless, 
BederWood, Parker Earle, Gandy’s Prize, Cumberland 
and Lovett’s Early. Pickers are supplied with stands 
that hold six baskets, and are made with legs like a 
stool, about six to eight inches long, nailed on each 
corner and fitted with a handle made from an old 
hoop. The pickers are required to bring the berries 
to the packing shed when the stand is full, and the 
packer enters the number of baskets opposite each 
picker’s name on a book kept for that purpose. At 
the close of the day’s picking, the packer reads out the 
number of baskets each one has picked during the 
day. Some growers use the card, and punch out the 
number of baskets each time, the picker keeping the 
card. Our plan has always been satisfactory to us. 
The main points in growing strawberries are good 
soil, fairly well adapted for them ; good plants well 
set for a good stand are indispensable ; thorough till¬ 
age, as strawberries will not stand neglect or weeds ; 
good protection by-a covering of some kind during 
the winter, and varieties best adapted to the soil, 
providing, however, that the grower knows how to 
pick, and sell to good advantage. 
Various Notes. —Crimson clover is not wholly un¬ 
known to central New York. My father brought a 
quantity of the seed from England in 1869, and sowed 
it in the autumn of that year on a hillside field of 
about four acres. I low the ground was prepared I do 
not remember, but it was done under instructions 
from England. I remember how rank a growth it 
made that autumn, for when we boys were set to 
picking up loose stones early in the spring, they were 
well concealed by clover, pressed down flat under the 
snow. We had a great yield of hay. Not knowing 
that the plant was a strict annual, my father became 
disgusted when it failed to grow a second year, 
and concluded that it was too tender for our climate. 
The prettiest object, or combination, on our place 
last year, was a row of about 300 gladioli growing 
between two rows of Palmetto asparagus. The rows 
of asparagus are six feet apart, 80 feet long, and the 
masses of plumed foliage of several shades of green, 
formed a splendid background upon which the flower 
spikes, ranging in height from two to six feet, displayed 
their marvelous beauty. The middle ground was first 
occupied by a double row of early peas, between 
which a row of the bulbs was planted about May 1, 
and a second row in July, after the peas were removed. 
The blooming season was continuous from the middle 
of August to the second Sunday in November, when 
we collected our last bouquet for church. The plant¬ 
ing of bulbs 10 inches deep to procure late blooming, 
was discarded after two years’ experimenting. A 
thrifty quince bush at one end of the asparagus bed 
added greatly to the effect of the combination. No 
shrub is much more ornamental from blooming time 
till the golden fruit is gathered, than a well-kept 
Orange quince. Why not have an eye to the beau¬ 
tiful in our gardens and grounds ? 
Onondaga County, N. Y. john t. kouekts. 
A CHARGE OF STRAWBERRY SHOT. 
A Fruit Bed For Comfort To Lie In. 
The remembrance of the feast of strawberries fit 
for the gods that we had in our home last June—all 
we could eat of them every day for three weeks —makes 
my mouth water even now. We had a visitor during 
that time, and my wife says that it never, never was 
so easy to cook for company before; for just bread, 
Graham bread and butter, and strawberries were all 
that was needed for breakfast and supper each day as 
long as they lasted. Well might Henry Ward Beecher 
exclaim. “ Doubtless God might have made something 
better than the strawberry, but doubtless God never 
did.” 
But to have these, as well as any other of the good 
things of life, requires prompt effort in the right 
direction, and at the right time. They will never 
result from sitting on a nail keg discussing the silver 
question. More than two years ago, I was planning 
and making the necessary preparations beforehand 
for that feast of last June. 
I know I am writing this a little late. Our selection 
of varieties should be 
made, and our plants 
ordered before this 
time. But, for you who 
have no possible chance 
of having any straw¬ 
berries in your own 
gardens this coming 
June so near at hand 
because, alas, you have 
no plants growing 
there, it is not too late 
now to begin for a 
strawberry feast in 
June, 1896. 
Put on Some Steam 
Now. 
But you must “geta 
hustle on you,” for very 
soon it will be too late. 
First place your order 
for 200 plants with the 
nearest or most con¬ 
venient reliable nurs¬ 
eryman. The first four 
kinds which I would 
recommend to a begin¬ 
ner in this vicinity, are 
Michel’s Early, War- 
field, Haverland and Lovett. Warfield and Haverland 
are pistillates, and the other two staminate varieties. 
Parker Earle is a grand one for rich ground and extra 
good cultivation. Two hundred plants set out at this 
time of the year in good rich ground and rightly cared 
for, may be made to produce in June, 1896, about 10 
bushels of fine berries. 
For the very best results, one needs to commence to 
prepare his ground for them a year, or two years be¬ 
forehand. Do not let this deter you, though, from 
doing the best you can with the best piece of land at 
your disposal, even though you might not raise more 
than five bushels the fir&t year. How much ground 
will it take ? According to my method of planting, 
200 plants will require just about five square rods of 
land. The rows should be exactly four feet apart, 
and the plants about 18 inches apart in the row. Thus, 
if the piece of ground is 16 feet wide, it must be at 
least 75 feet long to set on it 200 plants in four equal 
rows, or twice the width with half that length would 
take eight rows of 25 plants each. Longer rows are 
desirable if to be cultivated with a horse. In a good 
season, the runners from these plants will cover with 
new plants so nearly all of the four feet space between 
IN A WEST VIRGINIA STRAWBERRY FIELD PICKING THE CROP. Fig. 80. 
