Strawberry  Culture 
Matted  Row  and  Hill  Culture 
We  would  like  a  list  of  strawberries 
which  can  be  successfully  grown  by  the 
hill  system,  and  the  kind  of  soil  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  best  development  of  each 
variety.  ^  __  n.  w.  b. 
Carthage,  X.  Y. 
The  Two  Systems. — The  two  most 
common  systems  of  growing  strawberries 
are  in  matted  rows  and  in  hills.  In  the 
matted-row  system  all  runners  are  left 
on  the  mother  plants*  and  are  allowed 
to  take  root  at  the  nodes  or  joints,  so 
that  by  the  dose  of  the  season,  instead 
of  the  single  row  of  plants  originally  set, 
there  is  now  a  solid  row  from  IS  inches 
to  two  feet  or  more  wide,  filled  with 
many  plants — too  many  for  best  results 
in  most  eases.  In  the  hill  system  all 
runners  are  removed  from  time  to  time 
during  the  season,  so  that  at  the  end  of 
the  growing  period  there  are  just  as 
many  plants  as  were  originally  set. 
Work  Involved. — Considerable  work 
is  involved  in  keeping  the  runners 
removed.  Some  varieties  have  a  natural 
tendency  to  develop  many  runners,  and 
the  plants  most  be  examined  repeatedly 
during  the  season  and  all  such  runners 
removed.  By  this  method  the  plant®  de¬ 
velop  in  size  and  vigor,  the  crown  en¬ 
larges  and  sub-divides,  and  the  strength 
of  the  plant  is  concentrated  into  the  one 
channel  of  building  up  a  single  plant  to 
an  unusually  high  degree  of  development. 
Under  snob  conditions  it  is  not  surpris¬ 
ing  that  berries  larger  in  size  and  more 
attractive  in  appearance  would  be  pro¬ 
duced  by  such  plants.  As  a  rule,  how¬ 
ever,  a  larger  quantity  of  fruit  will  he 
produced  from  the  matted-row  system, 
and  at  less  cost  for  culture. 
Varieties. — A  variety  to  succeed  by 
either  method  must  be  adapted  to  its  en¬ 
vironment.  Failure  of  a  variety  under 
the  matted-row  system  due  to  unfavor¬ 
able  soil  may  be  followed  by  failure  of 
the  same  variety  on  the  same  soil  under 
the  hill  system.  The  first  thing  to  deter¬ 
mine  then  is  the  adaptability  of  the  va¬ 
riety.  After  this  has  been  found,  it  is 
obvious  that  there  is  an  advantage  in 
selecting  for  hill  culture  varieties  de¬ 
veloping  comparatively  few  runners,  on 
account  of  the  less  amount  of  work  in¬ 
volved  by  their  removal.  Unfortunately, 
a  variety  doing  well  on  a  certain  soil  in 
one  locality  may  be  a  failure  in  another 
place  on  apparently  the  same  type  of  soil 
because  of  some  other  factors  involved. 
For  this  reason  it  is  impossible  to  pub¬ 
lish  lists  of  varieties  which  will  succeed 
equally  well  everywhere  on  the  same  type 
of  soil.  Actual  trial  with  a  few  plants 
will  answer  the  question.  The  follow¬ 
ing  varieties  which  have  done  well  un¬ 
der  the  writer’s  observation  on  a  heavy 
clay  loam  are  well  worthy  of  a  careful 
trial  by  anyone  wishing  to  grow  them 
by  the  hill  system. 
Marshall. — The  old  standby  for 
home  use  and  in  a  few  places  of  commer¬ 
cial  value,  requiring  high  culture. 
Blooms  and  ripens  in  mid-season.  Ber¬ 
ries  of  largest  size,  irregularly  n  >umli  sli- 
roine  to  wedge,  with  furrowed  surface, 
attractive  dark  scarlet.  Flesh  dark  red 
to  center,  firm,  pleasantly  sprightly ;  good 
to  very  good  in  quality. 
Chesapeake. — A  newer  variety,  al¬ 
ready  of  considerable  commercial  im¬ 
portance.  Noted  for  the  vigor  and 
health  of  the  plants  and  for  the  size  and 
'characteristic  plumpness  of  the  glossy, 
bright  scarlet  surface  over  which  are 
thickly  scattered  the  raised  seeds.  Flesh 
not  so  red  as  Marshall,  yet  highly  fla¬ 
vored,  mildly  acid  and  fully  good  in 
quality. 
•Toe. — A  late-blooming  variety  matur¬ 
ing  in  late  mid-season.  Fruit  of  largest 
size,  blunt,  roundish -conic  or  irregular 
wedge,  attractive,  glossy  dark  scarlet. 
Flesh  dark  red  to  center,  very  firm, 
pleasantly  acid,  high  flavored;  very  good 
in  quality.  The  three  varieties  just  de¬ 
scribed  produce  comparatively  few  run¬ 
ners  and  are  unusually  well  adapted  to 
hill  culture. 
Other  Varieties. — Dunlap,  a  me¬ 
dium  early  variety,  with  leaves  of  me¬ 
dium  size,  produces  an  abundance  of 
glossy,  bright  rod  herri.es  large  to  me¬ 
dium  in  size,  usually  slightly  necked, 
conical  in  outline,  mild;  of  good  quality. 
Joe  Johnson,  a  chance  seedling  from 
Maryland,'  noted  for  its  large,  perfect 
blossoms,  began  ripening  in  Western  New 
York  June  24,  producing  fruit  of  great 
size,  blunt-vvedgo  to  blunt-conic,  the  lar¬ 
gest  berries  furrowed,  necked,  somewhat 
variable  in  color  and  with  well-colored, 
very  firm,  subacid  flesh  ranking  good  in 
quality.  Mascot,  a  late  variety,  charac¬ 
terized  by  the  size  and  crinkly  appear¬ 
ance  of  the  blossoms,  produces  fruit  of 
largest  size,  often  heavily  furrowed  and 
somewhat  variable  in  color  but  of  high¬ 
est  quality,  sweet  and  mild.  Columbia 
is  an  imperfect-flowering,  late-maturing 
kind,  producing  large,  vigorous  plants 
with  dark  green,  healthy  foliage  and 
with  unusually  large  fruit  in  the  earlier 
pickings,  wedge  to  roundishl-conic,  nt- 
tractivc,  glossy,  light  scarlet  in  color,  a 
splendid  shipper,  pleasantly  sprightly, 
ranking  good  to  very  good  in  quality. 
The  varieties  mentioned  are  just  a  few 
of  those  that  might  be  named  as  worthy 
of  trial.  They  are  all  high  in  quality — 
none  being  of  the  Ben  Davis  apple  type; 
yet  they  have  their  special  requirements 
and  will  not  succeed  unless  they  feel 
comfortable  and  are  at  home  in  their  sur¬ 
roundings.  O.  M.  TAYLOR. 
Geneva  (X.  Y.)  Exp.  Station, 
Y ou  Country  Home 
who  still  use  oil  lamps  to  light  your  rooms  and  ancient 
wood  and  coal  stoves  to  cook  your  meals,  consider  this — - 
Your  ‘i860  conveniences”  are  costing  you  as  much,  or 
more,  than  others  pay  for  modern  up-to-date  conveniences . 
Tens  of  thousands  of  Country  Homes  are  today  as  brilliantly 
lighted  as  the  finest  city  homes  —  and  the  same  thousands 
of  country  homes  have  kitchens  equipped  with  practical  dupli¬ 
cates  of  the  gas  range  which  no  city  home  could  do  without. 
You,  yourself,  will  hardly  continue  to  put  up  with 
your  old  conveniences  after  you  have  investigated 
Country  Home  Carbide  Light 
and  Cooking  Plants 
We  supply  these  plants  to  progressive  country  home  families 
—  families  who  want  and  appreciate  the  conveniences  enjoyed 
by  their  city  cousins. 
We  show  these  good  people  by  actual  demonstration,  how  the 
Colt  Plants  furnish  automatically,  gas  for  cooking  and  good  light — 
beautiful  white  light  as  brilliant  as  the  city’s  best — light  that  pro¬ 
vides  just  as  wonderful  a  convenience  for  barns  and  out-buildings 
as  it  does  for  homes.  The  safety  of  this  system  will  appeal  to  you. 
We  prove,  too,  that  the  Colt  Light  and  Cooking  Plant  is  a  high¬ 
ly  profitable  investment  and  a  permanent  feature  of  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  country  homes  in  which  they  have  been  installed. 
Drop  us  a  line  and  we  will  be  pleased  to  mail  you  promptly,  our  latest 
catalogue  “Modern  Light  and  Cooking.”  Address— Dept.  A, 
J.  B.  COLT  COMPANY,  90  W.  Broadway,  New  York  City,  New  York 
Sweet  *Strawberries 
I  used  to  raise  Charles  Downing 
strawberries  and  liked  them.  I  cannot 
find  a  sweet  strawberry  among  the  cur¬ 
rent.  varieties.  Can  you  advise  oue  or 
more?  o.  11.  M. 
Junction  City,  Kan. 
There  are  so  many  varioti.es  of  straw¬ 
berries  with  different  flavors,  it  would 
appear  a  simple  matter  to  Select  a  few  of 
the  type  mentioned  in  the  inquiry.  Yet 
we  find  on  examination  that  nearly  all 
the  standard  commercial  varieties  are 
not  strictly  sweet,  but  have  more  or  less 
of  acidity  mingled  with  their  sweetness. 
Flavors  appeal  to  people  in  different 
ways.  Some  prefer  a  very  mild,  sweet 
berry.  Others  desire  a  berry  with  con¬ 
siderable  sprightliness.  A  berry  that  is 
simply  acid  or  SOur  is  scarcely  in  de¬ 
mand,  while  most  palates  are  delighted 
with  a  berry  in  which  there  is  just  enough 
mingling  of  acidity  wti,li  sweetness  to 
mellow  down  the  acid  to  a  rich  snliacid 
or  to  a  pleasant,  refreshing  sprightliness. 
Some  varieties  ranking  sweet  are  un¬ 
desirable  because  of  weakness  in  some 
important  plant  or  fruit  habit.  Most 
of  our  best  commercial  varieties  are 
pleasantly  sprightly,  or  become  nearly 
sweet  when  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
plants  until  dead  ripe.  Baltimore  is  a 
mid-season,  sweet  berry,  attractive  in 
Early  Jersey  Giant  is  a 
Saves  Potato  Seed 
THIS  year  seed  will  be  scarce  and  high— every  bushel  will  count.  The 
1915  U.  S.  crop  was  nearly  sixty  million  bushels  short.  Potash  will  be 
practically  impossible,  but  some  of  the  best  experts  recommend  4-10-0  fer¬ 
tilizer  without  potash.  Less  acres,  better  planting  and  as  good  fertilizer  as 
you  can  get  will  be  the  rule  of  the  best  growers. 
IRON  ACE 
Potato  Planters 
save  1  to  2  bushels  of  seed  per  acre  by  planting  one  seed  piece  in  every  space 
and  one  only.  Costs  no  more  to.-oll  iviUc,  spray,  weed  and  ridge  a  perfect  stand.  Make 
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and  Walking  Cultivators,  four  ami  six  row  Aiders  uudWeedtir*. 
Ask  yourdealcr  to  show  them  but  write  ns  for  separate  book 
for  each  liny.  Sont  t'roe  to  all  who  statu  in  which  they 
aro  interested,  tiow  many  acres  are  you  going  to  plant  2 
Bateman  Manufacturing  Co.,  Box  2 IS  -  Grenloeh,  N.  J. 
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100  Per  Cent 
k.  Plantar  ^ 
appearance, 
very  productive  variety,  maturing  early, 
mild  ami  sweet,  but  disappointing  in 
color.  Grand  Marie,  said  to  be  a  “fig 
type”  strawberry,  blooms  late,  matures 
early,  produces  sweet  berries  of  largest 
s:,ze  and  attractive  color  but  must  be 
picked  with  care  to  avoid  green  color  on 
the  long,  tapering  apex.  Late  Jersey 
Giant  is  another  sweet,  very  productive, 
late-ripening  variety,  but  lacks  some¬ 
what  in  color  and  firmness.  Mascot  is 
a  sweet,  late-maturing  variety  of  largest 
size  both  in  flower  and  berry,  somewhat 
subject  to  green  tips  unless  picked  with 
care.  Xew  Discovery  is  somewhat  of  a 
“tig  type”  berry,  sweet,  maturing  in  mid- 
season,  one  of  the  most  attractive  in 
color  and  size,  Patagonia  is  doubtless 
the  sweetest  of  all  these  varieties  named 
— an  introduction  of  Luther  Burbank; 
fruit  very  sweet,  of  high  quality,  but  de¬ 
cidedly  unattractive  in  color  and  varia¬ 
ble  in  size.  Cumberland,  a  seedling  of 
Gandy,  originating  in  New  Jersey,  is  a 
sweet,  mid-season  variety,  enjoyed  by 
those  who  cannot  eat  acid  fruit.  Mar¬ 
shall,  an  old  variety  of  highest  quality, 
suits  almost  every  taste;  pleasantly 
sprightly,  becoming  milder  when  fully 
mature.  Dunlap,  an  old  variety,  pro¬ 
duces  too  many  plants,  which  yield  ber¬ 
ries  variable  in  size,  mild  and  sweet 
when  fully  ripe.  It  must  not  be  over¬ 
looked  that  changes  in  environment  often 
profoundly  affect  characters  of  both  plant 
and  fruit.  The  varieties  referred  to 
fruited  on  a  heavy  clay  soil,  not  especial¬ 
ly  adapted  to  strawberry  growiug. 
O.  M.  TAYLOR. 
Potato  Ridger 
Potato 
Digger 
wth.^si 
a  Enpino 
iX  wanted 
Riding*  - 
Cultivator 
With  Disks  If 
^wanted  ^ 
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