316 
‘Iht RURAL NEW.YORKER 
March 4, 1922 
Half the Farmers Reported 
I Buy My Seed of Henry Field’ 
SEEDSENSE'FREE 
BLOOM 
E S 01 vjur ,,,onp V b ac k 
P/IKRD SEEDS ARE GUARANTEED 
Read Our t # 
SPECIAL 
OFFER 
Sweetest Corn in the World 
BROMFIELDS 
^DEPENDABLE, 
Orchard and Small Fruits 
A few of the leading farm papers recently sent a question 
The Strawberry Crop; Planting and 
Prospects 
We usually try to plan our future 
berry ground a year ahead. That is, to 
have a piece of ground that lias been 
heavily manured and planted to some 
crop like beans, peas, carrots, beets, cab¬ 
bage or some crop that bus been con¬ 
stantly hoed and cultivated and kept ab¬ 
solutely free from weeds, The one great¬ 
est. trouble with strawberry culture is to 
keep the weeds down ; hence it. is very 
important to select a piece of land unite 
free from weed seeds. The land is plowed 
and harrowed early in April, I usually 
like to let the ground lie idle for a week 
or so after plowing, or until after a good 
soaking rain, as the strawberry likes a 
firm soil. 
There nve several systems in use, but 
for a commercial proposition I think the 
regular matted row pays the best. We 
mark out (he rows 4 ft. apart and set 
the plants about 20 to 24 in. in the row. 
Cultivation starts within a few days with 
a regular 12-tooth strawberry cultivator. 
About this time it is a good plan to scat¬ 
ter broadcast along each side of the row 
a heavy application of commercial fer- 
a job going through those rows pulling 
out thousands, maybe, of surplus plants 
and runners, but it pays, and pays big. 
Keep cultivator going until all growth 
stops. Alter soil is frozen bard cover 
lightly with long strawy stable manure, 
salt hay. marsh bay or straw. We like 
salt hay best of all when we can get it. 
One year we had to use rye straw on our 
quarter acre, and in Spring had to go 
over that, bed and pull out the rye that 
came up. It is surprising how much 
grain is left in the straw one buys. 
About the first week in April we re¬ 
move the mulch by raking same into the 
clear space between the rows. This is 
about, all there is to do now till picking 
the fruit, and this is the most delicate 
job of all, A whole season’s work can 
be practically lost b ; v poor harvesting, 
and by poor harvesting is meant poor 
picking. It is not a question of getting 
the pickers and getting the berries picked, 
but it is a serious question of getting 
flood pickers. For example, I have had 
10 pickers in the patch, and out of that 
10 there may be three or four that would 
put up their quarts in such manner that 
one would think they were of a different 
variety of berry altogether. The fruit 
would look much better, would hold up 
hotter, and naturally bring a much higher 
price. One of the most difficult things 
the berrv grower has to contend with is 
poor pickers. They will persist in pick¬ 
ing the fruit by the berry itself in place 
of the right way, i.c., by the ntnn. How¬ 
ever, in raising berries every year one 
can usually get (he same pickers, and 
somi learns which one to hire, and when 
you have good pickers it is a joy and 
pleasure to be a berry grower. 
As to production, that is a matter that 
should have much thought. Some varie¬ 
ties will prove good judders, while others 
will not. You can look through the nur¬ 
seryman’s catalogue and read glowing re¬ 
ports, but you must try them out on you Y 
soil. Some varieties do well down South, 
while up North they are worthless, I 
Usually try half a dozen new varieties 
each year in a small way. nnd believe I 
have tried over 1(10 different varieties in 
this manner, and out of all these hundred 
or so different varieties I wouldn't, recom¬ 
mend over half a dozen or so to be 
planted around our section of North Jer¬ 
sey. I prefer the mid season to late 
varieties, and at. present my money-mak¬ 
ers are 15ig Joe nnd Chesapeake. There 
are many other good kinds, but these two 
have done better with me than many 
others. Soil conditions seem to be just 
to their liking, for they seem to grow to 
perfection. 
You will also find some varieties .will 
do better oil different parts of your own 
farm. Some may thrive bettor on a 
lighter soil, while others would like a 
heavier soil, and so on. That is some¬ 
thing each grower must find out for him¬ 
self. 
There is another system of raising ber¬ 
ries that 1 should have spoken of at the 
beginning of this article. That is the 
hill system. That term ‘‘hill system” 
doesn't impress me very favorably, so I 
shall call it the “single plant" system. 
The plants are set much closer together, 
say for horse cultivating or large fields, 
rows .30 in. apart, and plants set IS in. 
in row, or for garden purposes about 
15x20 in. All runners to be pulled off 
as soon as they appear. In this manner 
one produces n great big plant, with sev¬ 
eral crowns, and from each one of these 
crowns appears a stem of berries. Tf you 
wish to raise berries “de luxe” 1 believe 
the single plant method is far superior to 
the matted-row system. This system 
should appeal to the busy farmer who 
only wants berries for his own use, and 
the suburbanite whose garden space is 
quite limited, for one can get a large 
number of plants on a given space and 
a large yield of fancy fruit. In using 
this system one would naturally plant a 
variety that is a poor plant or runner 
maker. I should think Chesapeake would 
he ideal for this purpose, especially if 
your soil suits it. These single plants 
could be left in the original lied for pos¬ 
sibly three years, will’ll I should prefer 
to dig them under, having planted a new 
bed previously. In the matted-row sys¬ 
tem I like to have u new bed set out each 
year. Wp get one crop only, and then 
plow down, having another new bed com¬ 
ing along to take its place. 
You can let a bed stand for two years, 
or practice a renewal system for several 
years, but for large yields of fancy ber¬ 
ries experience has taught, me that the 
first year pays by far the best. There is 
absolutely no reason why every farm 
can’t have its strawberry bed ; that is, if 
you like strawberries. And for a business 
proposition I don’t believe there is one 
thing you ran plant that will bring in 
such large returns, Peaches find aspara¬ 
gus are money-making crops, are popular 
and always in good demand, but an acre 
of strawberries will bring in almost dou¬ 
ble, nnd you don't have to wait four or 
five years to get it, either. However, it 
is a good plan not to have your eggs all 
in one basket, so don’t tie up to any one 
tiling. This past season we were rather 
shy on peaches, and cherries total failure, 
hut the strawberries and asparagus enme 
through with flying colors. 
New Jersey. a. L. vhekland. 
blank to several thousand farmers asking where they buy seed and why. 
Over half reported they buy by mail and 50 % said: “I buy 
my need of Henry Field; I get fresher,better seed—seedsthat 
grow and yield big crops. Hi* prices nre always reasonable, 
too." There’s 600,000 folks trade with me every year. You 
ought to feel safe in trying me once. And I’m sure you’ll 
find our dealings satisfactory, as the other* have. 
What Others Do 
You Can Do 
A garden will make 
you money. Give it 
a chance. 
VT?. lawless mode 
$950 off a quarter- 
acre of Field's Red 
Head Tomatoes. 
P. J. Alhvel! made 
$52 on 280 tomato 
plants last year. 
W. E. Watson grew 
200 citrons from 
10c worth of seed 
and sold them for 
10c to 25c apiece. 
Big gardens arc 
getting popular. 
Why don't you put 
one in? Take my 
word, it’ll pay well 
HENRY FIELD 
special offer. If you’ll send me your name I’ll send you /t 
free copies of my magazine. Seed Sense, and my big new / 
Seed Catalog. My 600.000 customers get Seed Sense / 
regularly. Though it’s free they like it first class. It / 
hasn’t much style, but there’s Jots of seed information I He 
nnd gnrdcn hints, with n little about Ruth and John / / 
Henry and other people'* kids thrown in to muke it rend / / 
eusy. If you like my seeds and my talk you can send j f 
me a small order ($2 or over) and you'll get Seed //#. 
Sense regularly. Send inc your nnme on a postal and //& 
I’ll see that tire free magazine and catalog get off by // 
return mail.— Henry Field 
Henry Field Seed Co. y Box4026 Shenandoah, ia. 
Good Seeds 
are the foundation of a 
successful crop 
That’s why so many of the biggest 
market gardeners come to us year 
after year for their seeds. They 
can’t afford to take chances with 
seeds of unknown quality and they 
have learned to rely on 
Hid you ever hear of guaranteeing 
so fragile a tiling as the bloom of 
n rose? Wc do it. A new plant or 
your money back should any (Vm- 
ard Star Rose not bloom. Send for 
big free catalog. 
I his celluloid Star lac labels your 
growing rose and is the sign of our 
guarantee—two exclu¬ 
sive C. & J. features. 
PONARD A.ROSES 
& Jonr* Co. Bo* 4 
WfilCrovf.Pa. l!ntit. r.Tte,Preo. 
•A. Wli*ll»*f, ^ .'INt' 1 !. Pack'fd 
by nvrr HO v*ar*' ••rptri* nre. 
F.H. WOODRUFFS 
OPHCU 
>BOSC< 
If you wnnt n few seeds for your garden or 
a large quantity (or a truck farm, wo can 
supply your wants quickly and accurately 
from the large stock in our warehouse. 
OUR FREE CATALOGUE is full of 
useful information, illustration* nnd 
prices. Scud for it today—it'» yours. 
F. H. WOODRUFF & SONS 
19 Railroad Ave., Milford, Conn. 
Grown From Select Stock 
—None Better— 52 years 
selling good seeds to satisfied 
customers. Prices below all 
Prices below all 
others. Extra lot free in all 
orders I fill. Big free cata¬ 
logue has over 700 pictures of 
vegetables and flowers. Send 
your and neighbors’addresses. 
R. H. SHUMWAY, Rockford, III. 
found one sweeter and I 
ndvisu everyone to try it. It contain* about 5 per 
cent more ntignr nnd & t er cent less March than tho 
early white vnrietie*, making it better for table use. 
True Delicious Apple Trees. Wc hove n Inrge nn- 
Murtnumt C.( n.u, vnmlnrlul navi*. I-ano* fruit, b*nut]ful thirk 
md, aOkltor nfu>iiiiuiM(ul. 8w-*t, ulislitly tnorlisft with acid. 
Cornell out of ,ton»r« in Annlln c.rf,rt condition. 
Writ* for Urge frceeaUloa ofTtrm and Seed* tliat Grow. 
Sondoregger Nurseries & Sood House 
20 Court St., Beatrice, Neb. (23) 
tilizer, A fertilizer high in potash and 
phosphoric acid is best at this time, for 
if the land has been heavily manured 
previously .vu will not need ttilteh nitro¬ 
gen now. Too much nitrogen will tend 
to give too much vine and soft berries. 
Cultivation should he kept up at weekly 
intervals so as to keep the ground loose 
and mellow, nnd prevent the weeds from 
getting a start. Along about July or 
earl}’ August the plants will begin to send 
out numerous runners, and this is the 
most trying time of all, nnd will really 
decide whether you arc going to make a 
success of the patch or not, If you have 
kept the soli well hoed and cultivated 
and free from weeds till "runner time,” 
all’s well. But if the weeds are getting 
ahead of you, then you will have a big 
job on your bands. Here is where so 
many people give up in disgust. They 
start out all right and keep the beds 
clean till the time the runners get quite 
thick, and then leave the bed practically 
to take care of itself. The result is the 
runners run all over, closing up the cul¬ 
tivated space between the rows, plants 
get entirely too thick, weeds crowd in, 
and next season, when you should have a 
heavy crop of large berries, yon have a 
light crop of small berries. Yon may ask 
bow you are going to keep those young 
plants or runners from getting too thick. 
With some varieties this is quite a task, 
while other varieties grow just, about as 
we would like them. For instance, the 
Chesapeake is catalogued as a shy plant- 
maker. but with us, planted on good rich 
soil, it makes just, enough runners to 
give us a good matted row without any 
thinning, hut almost all other varieties 
must be thinned. Keep your cultivator 
going up and down the middles, pull any 
odd weeds that have crept in the row, for 
you won’t, he able to do much work now 
with the hoe. The young plants nre start¬ 
ing to root, and must not be disturbed. 
Along about the last, of August or early in 
I September these rows should be about 2 
ft. in width and plants should stand about 
5 or 6 in. apart, and when looking down 
the rows from one end of the path or 
field one should see straight, solid rows, 
with about 2 ft. of cultivated space be¬ 
tween them. Where you find the plants 
getting too thick they must be nulled up 
by hand and treated as weeds. It is quite 
IlL'EarliestTomatoSSF" 
To Introduce our hardy Norlhorn Crown S«md«, will 
phikJ tho following lo plttx. for 10c : .Inliii Boer Tomato, 
1200 io l Bcumi, Hurt, Carrot, Cucumber, Lctnioo, Onion, 
Pm t*8tiip, Kmlixh and Rllporb A.’-fura. l)Un Bill for 10c. 
with every ot d"r. Money* hark if not satisfied. Big 
catalog of Seed Bargains free. Send today* 
J.YV..?r\G SKKIMO., HI a. K, It A NIHHJ’ll, W Ifi, 
Seed Service of an Unusual Kind 
Eliminating undesirable varieties nnd confining 
Dur recommendations only to the best stroma of the 
most highbred varieties of vi gctablcB utul flowers. 
"YOUR GARDEN YEAR” is the title uf our 
nnlalog »o plain and dimly understood that, it will 
meet your approval at onee. It tells you about such 
new novelties as Golden Twelve Rowed Evergreen 
Sweet Corn, Bromfirid'n Early Wonder Beet, the 
finest quality Pole Bean yet discovered, a new Silver 
Rosts Aster, Double Cosmos, a new Poppy from 
Europe, marvelous Pink Petunia* and many more 
interesting and delightfully new Flowers and Vege¬ 
tables. Send for n copy today. Mailed free. 
Edward T. Bromficld Seed Co., Garden City, N.Y. 
f f«T|\ « « m ASK FOB FltT'-K BOOK 
HHR A M fRii tm B i: w 
llvUni'l Grown whom ft originated under 
supervision It. I> ftnirhcx, original 
<Jlscove"ev ami distributor, We are determined (iigltr 
you (he beM -red available, lUiqiirettonably genuine, nt 
prices you fit ii pnv Vi ill will grow lluhamir you get tho 
bonk and nnr suveiat low pliers; tcanspnrtarfiui c epnld. 
Ask — AI.AItAMA ill CAM CUJVKK ABMU I A.TI'lV INC 
* •’There'* a KcasiHi.' 1 Hex Old, Ncwbcrn, Ala. 
till ham 
l 1 Qei 
FOR tf you wnnt good looking home 
,r> ■ i/Miar grounds, PRACTICAL I.ANDftCA I K 
YUUK HUMt liAHDKMXU will tell you howto 
rRClIlNIl's oiu Hiu them Heavily lilun.. itifl up*., 
unuunws ,.|.,ih, ja.iifi, postpaid, o .mirks 
fST’IOE : Com plot* guide to trulls, flowerr. vegetables, 
trees, shrubs, ete , with full chapter mi the Ito-e Garden, 
rtkt pps.. imper. *1.10; clolh, W.flfi. potlpuid. Beadle stamp 
for Cntiling No. (I. defertnlng 7IMI Garden, Fruit mid Farm 
Hooks. V. T. I»K l.A At ll(£ Cl.. Ini', *Ua West S/th 
Street, New Yolk, N. V. 
Your name on n postal tvIHJ bring the story of how 
we Imva developed a strain of Number Nines hard 
to beat. Hied and selected continuously for It 
years. If you grow potatoes you should send your 
name today, RILEY BROS . Siimiyside Faun, Sennett, N.Y 
|U Guaranteed true to name 
It's a satisfaction to know you’re 
wflk not sowing Rad Clover —Scott’s 
W/M Mammoth is carefully selected 
K-j end thurouAhly cleaned —it 
goes farther—saves weed tosses— 
increases yields. May we quote 
^ prices and send Scott's Field Seed 
Book ? 11 tells” I low to know good seed.” 
O. M. SCOTT & SONS CO. 
22 Fifth St., Marysville, Ohio 
SWEET POTATO SEED AND PLANTS 
Cabbage pistils. Htrawhcirv, I lark berry and Riupbor 
ry plant*. Rnl I’ll Vet. Hhn , '*rb roots. i'aluluguo free* 
M N. BORGO H»r n>3 Vineland, n. j. 
DfIT ATflCC—f’-enutv. Hlt-ii, Carman, Cobbler Coin.Ohio, 
rU I A I U CO Gmill. It io tb r.ti I eeii Ml Kiilehrh I("*e, Kiih 
set,81xw'k»,Hw!ftMire Worulei'iOIhei h.C W.r0R0,fi»li»rt,N.T, 
Tllii-ti Jiled C'ltatnp* Free. 
A I,II HUM. I MIAS, Kltlirm. 
Best Seed Potatoes 
ENSILAGE SEED CORN 
Attock Farina* Strain Asitaragus Sect! 
Personally selected from largest, growing stalks "illV. 
*4 pound. ATI-OOK FARMS, Bound Brook N. J. 
Lycoming County, Penn's, Crown, Bigeest, 
Emped. Biggest Fodder, Earliest and Best 
Ensilage. Corn for North of 40° 41’. .More and 
better quality silage from each acre. Sam¬ 
ple sent on request. Germination 1X1%. Bu. 
at) lbs., shelled and graded. $3.00. 
CHAAPEL’S SEED STORE 
Dept. D. WILLIAMSPORT, PA. 
O.A.TS-"Burt’s Heavyweight” 
Test IIS lbs. nor hit. Also Early inn no»N. (let our low prior, 
sample and catalogue. Til 1(0. Ill’ll I A SONS, Hslrose, (Hilo 
Washington Asparagus Roots 
Y3 per 100; $0-000. fill per AL CIA. F WmCUR. Cxmrd, Mitt. 
