April 18 
298 
A CROP OF STRAWBERRIES, 
A Report from Pennsylvania. 
For strawberries I have been, plowing ground in 
the Spring as soon as possible and as deep as it has 
ever been plowed before, or a little deeper, but I am 
of the opinion that in most cases it would be better 
to plow in the Fall. This 1 expect to try by another 
year. I i)repare ground with a Clark double-action 
Cutaway harrow, smoothing harrow and plank diag, 
go over it until I think it is as good as it can be made. 
I then set stakes across field in rows four feet apart. 
A good boy will do this very rapidly. I use a Planet 
Jr. hand cultivator with center shovel to make mark 
to plant by, and can mark the rows as fast as I can 
walk and get them as near straight as it is possible 
to have them. One man makes holes for two planters 
with a narrow shovel or tool used in tile draining. 1 
find this much better than a garden spade, as it makes 
a hole about the right size. I then have plants taken 
up from rows grown expressly for planting, and all 
old leaves and runners trimmed off. If the weathei 
is dry we damp roots, and are very careful not to 
have them exposed long to sun and wind. Straighten 
out roots fan-shaped on convex side of hole, press 
loose fine damp ground down in bottom of hole with 
fingers, making sure the bottom of hole is solid. Fill 
in up to crown of plant, always pressing ground down 
as you fill in. By planting in this way I am always 
sure of almost a perfect stand, even if we have two 
or three w^eks of most trying weather. Before weeds 
get .started I go through them with a Planet Jr. har¬ 
row-tooth cultivator, and now, having a good stand, 
is the time to make your crop, for it takes less work 
to go ove’’ them once every week than to clean them 
out once every three weeks. After August 1 we do 
not go over them so often, but try to keep all weeds 
out of them until the ground freezes, for the greatest 
trouble is with the weeds that get in the rows in the 
Fall and not those that start in the Spring, but it 
sometimes happens in excessively wet 
seasons on our clay ground we cannot 
always get work done as we wish. I 
grow Bubach and Haverland for main 
crop. The Bubach sells for 50 cents per 
32-quart crate more than Haverland. 
The trade wants two grades. I sell di¬ 
rect to grocerymen and to no others. 1 
grow a few Gandy for late, and this is 
one of the very best sellers, but a shy 
bearer. I try some of the new berries 
every year, but the only one I have 
found for some time of any promise is 
the Sample. This is a question every 
one must decide for himself, and my 
method of planting may not be the best 
fur all parts. I picked from 11-5 acre 
last year, first crop, 321 bushels. There 
are 44 rows in this plot; three rows 
Marshall picked very few berries, killed 
with late frost. What a pity the blos¬ 
som of this berry is so tender; a most 
remarkable berry in every other way. 
Three rows of Woolverton killed some 
with frost and rotted badly at time of ripening; five 
of Gandy wmre not heavy yielders; two of Wm. Belt, 
the remainder were Haverland and Bubach. I might 
add that a good part of the strawberries in this im¬ 
mediate neighborhood last season were a very light 
crop by reason of late frost and excessively wet 
weather at time of ripening. w. A. fkked. 
Beaver Co,, Pa. 
In the Hudson River Valley. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
we would pick about 3,500 quarts of No. 1 and 500 
quarts of No. 2 fruit. My entire cost to get an acre 
ready for picking the first year was $113.25. Just as 
soon as the crop is gathered I would spray the plants 
with the Bordeaux Mixture (this would cost $6), 
would then plow between the rows with a half mold- 
board plow going right close to the plants, and at 
once follow with cultivator to pulverize the soil. This 
would cost $5. I would then apply broadcast on the 
plants 1,000 pounds of unleached wood ashes or its 
equivalent, at a cost of $9.50, then clean out between 
the plants in the matted rows, which would cost 
$4.50. Afterwards we will need to use the cultivator 
four times until the ending of the growing season. In 
order to keep all runners from taking root in the 
alleys between the plants 90 per cent of these can be 
destroyed in this way. This will cost $6. A few run¬ 
ners will need to be removed by hand, and no doubt 
some of them placed in the matted row where the old 
plants will fail occasionally from one cause or an¬ 
other. This labor will cost $3. About September 15 
the matted rows will have to be cleaned out again at 
a cost of $4, this ends the cultivation for the year. As 
soon as the ground is frozen we will need six large 
team loads of manure for Winter protection; this 
with cost of spreading on the plants will cost $14.25. 
As noted in the beginning of this story, the removing 
of some of this manure. Spring plowing and cultivat¬ 
ing will cost $7.50. I would spray again with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture about the middle of April at a cost of 
$6. The weeding of rows about May 1 and mulching 
with grass just before fruit begins to ripen costs 
$9.50. For the third j’-ear’s fruit, all of this must be 
gone over again, the only difference being in the cul¬ 
tivation just after the second crop is harvested. We 
have then fruited our plants for two years, they have 
seen their best days, and are declining. We must, as 
far as possible, replace them with new plants. Bet 
us cut down our matted row of 20 or 22 inches equally 
on both sides to six or eight inches in width, and with 
BRIEF TALKS ABOUT FERTILIZERS. 
Fertilizer for “Clark” Grass. 
What kind of fertilizers does Mr. Clark use when he 
seeds down, and how much per acre? How much for 
second crop and later crops? I understand he fertilizes 
for every crop he takes off. 
Bloomfield, Conn. 
Mr. Clark uses the fertilizers made by the Rogers 
& Hubbard Co. At first he used a mixture about like 
the following, 400 pounds nitrate of soda, 400 pounds 
ground bone, 800 pounds acid phosphate and 400 mu¬ 
riate of potash. Two years ago he tried a mixture 
consisting of one-third each nitrate of soda, ground 
bone and muriate of potash. The average yearly 
dressing is 800 pounds per acre—about 600 in the 
Spring and 200 in the Fall. This is heavy fertilizing 
compared with what many farmers use but it brings 
the crop: 
Nitro- 
Phos. 
Pot- 
gen. 
,. 106 
aicid. 
ash. 
,. 20 
i67 
333 
.. 26 
5 
30 
A PROMISING RUSSIAN APPLE. Fig. 106. 
the new plants that will soon appear form a new 
growth on either side of this narrow old row. This 
can be readily done if we begin operations just as 
soon as the last fruit is gathered from the second 
crop, and a fine fruiting row will be established for 
the third year; then all should be turned under, when 
you will have your ground in a high state of fertility 
for almost any crop. On exactly three-quarters of an 
acre of an old strawberry bed, turned under in this 
wqv tbp W'riter made a net nrofit of $239 from a crop 
666 pounds nitrate of soda- 
666 pounds ground bone—.. ZO 
666 pounds muriate of potash. 
One ton mixed hay. 
You will see from the above figures what a drain of 
nitrogen there is from the soil when five tons of hay 
are cut from one acre. Most of the nitrogen in the 
soil at the opening of Spring is in the organic form 
and not quickly available. That is one reason why 
the nitrates give such remarkable results when ap¬ 
plied early in the season. A mixture for “seeding 
down” usually contains not far from three per cent 
of nitrogen and a high per cent of potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid. The “top-dressers” to be used in Spring 
run from five to eight per cent of nitrogen, with most 
of it in the form of nitrates. 
A Perplexing Fertilizing Problem. 
Fertilizer dealers have what they call a( potato and corn 
fertilizer with exactly the same guaranteed analysis. I 
cannot understand why one should be for potatoes more 
than the other. Their prices do not altogether correspond 
with the guaranteed analysis. Can one fertilizer be worlli 
more than another with the same analysis? n. p. n. 
Fallsington, Pa. 
The theory upon which a potato fertilizer is made 
is quite different from that of a corn 
mixture. The feeding habits of the two . 
crops are quite different. The potato 
must make its growth above ground 
very rapidly in the early part of the sea¬ 
son—while the weather is comparative¬ 
ly cool. We are speaking of light soils 
and the early planted crop, for most of 
the potato fertilizers are sold to farmers 
who work such soils. Corn is planted 
later, usually on a sod or with some 
manure. It grows slowly at first but 
makes rapid growth in hot weather just 
when the soil is likely to contain most 
soluble nitrogen. Thus it will be seen 
that the potato crop requires more ni¬ 
trogen than the corn, and should also 
have a good share of that nitrogen in 
the form of a nitrate. Thus good potato 
fertilizers always contain considerable 
nitrate of soda, while it is seldom that 
this soluble form of nitrogen pays when 
used on corn. A potato fertilizer may 
have same “analysis” as another mixture 
intended for corn and still be much better and worth 
more. For example, suppose each contain three per 
cent of nitrogen, or 60 pounds to the ton. The potato 
fertilizer may derive its nitrogen from 200 pounds ni¬ 
trate of soda, 200 pounds dried blood and 200 pounds 
fine ground bone. The corn mixture may have all of 
its 60 pounds of nitrogen in the form of tankage or 
dried fish. Anyone w'ho has studied the fertilizer 
question will see that one mixture is far better than 
the other for potatoes, and also that it costs more. 
This shows the importance of knowing what the ni¬ 
trogen in our fertilizers comes from. 
An acre of strawberries planted, cultivated and 
cared for in the way I described on page 141 should 
produce the first year 4,000 quarts of No. 1 fruit and 
500 quarts of No. 2. This is a conservative average— 
anything less I should consider a partial failure, I 
have picked from one acre 6,000 quarts. The variety 
used was the Cumberland Triumph, and they did not 
have all the advantages recommended in my former 
article. This entire crop was sold in our local mar¬ 
ket at 10 and 12 cents a quart. I remember one day 
that we picked and sold 700 quarts from this acre. 
I have had similar experiences other years with such 
varieties as Bubach, Glen Mary. Lovett and other pro¬ 
lific yielders. Exceptionally large and fine-flavored 
berries like Marshall, Wm. Belt, Gandy, Sharpless, 
Gibson and Nick Ohmer will not produce as many 
quarts, but the price will be better, therefore results 
about the same. You must deduct two cents per quart 
for picking and baskets. The reader who follows this 
story from the beginning can see what is left for 
profit the first year. I always expect an acre of 
strawberries to give a net average of $200 a year, for 
three years; this acre of strawberries will be at its 
best the second year and should produce 5,500 quarts 
of No. 1 and 600 quarts of No. 2 fruit. The third year 
of Beauty of Hebron potatoes. t. j. dwyek. 
Orange Co., N. W__ 
PROMISING RUSSIAN VARIETY OF APPLE 
In the last importation of Russian apples, made by 
the Iowa Experiment Station, the Kievskoe is one of 
the most promising. It has fruited several seasons, 
and last year bore a large crop. It is a Winter va¬ 
riety, and promises to be a good keeper. The fruit 
had to be gathered before mature on the station 
grounds, and we have been unable to give it a fair 
test. In size it is large, oblong conical in form, and 
solid green in color. The stem is rather thick and 
short, the cavity narrow and deep, and the basin nar¬ 
row and of medium depth. It is of average quality, 
rather firm flesh, and on account of its size, attractive. 
Its productiveness and hardiness may prove it to be a 
valuable acquisition, although further tests will be 
necessary to determine that it is really more valuable 
than varieties we already have. However, there is no 
doubt that it is far superior to dozens of Russian va¬ 
rieties that have been widely distributed. The size 
and form of the variety is well brought out in the 
illustration. Fig. 106. n. c. price. 
Iowa Experiment Station. 
A Mixture for Asparagus. 
What other material should be combined with nitrate of 
soda for use in sowing broadcast upon a small new as¬ 
paragus bed (this is its second Spring)? In what propor¬ 
tions and how great a quantity should be used for it? 
The bed is about 40 x 25 feet. c. D. 
New York. 
You can use one part by weight of nitrate of soda, 
five of Icainit and three of acid phosphate. Forty 
pounds of that mixture will be a large dressing for 
that space. The best time to fertilize asparagus is 
not in the Spring as you would fertilize potatoes or 
garden truck which grows from seeds, but after the 
“grass” has been cut. The shoots of asparagus, which 
we eat, grow from the roots which are developed dur¬ 
ing the previous season. 
DISEASED BEEF.—Violators of the pure food laws In 
England are severely handled, as may be seen by the 
following from The Mark Lane Express: 
“George Hunt, farmer, of Coote, Devizes, Wilts, was 
summoned at the Guild Hall on Thursday for sending 
the carcass of a diseased cow to the Central London 
Market, intending it for sale as human food. A line of 
£100 and four guineas costs was imposed.” 
It was stated that he had been convicted twice previ¬ 
ously of similar offenses. A line of $500 is not too much, 
and will doubtless impress upon him the unpopularity of 
such methods. Scarcely less objectionable is the practice 
of some in this country who haul behind the barn ani¬ 
mals that have died of disease, chop them in pieces and 
let the hens work at them. Eggs and flesh produced 
under such conditions are unwholesome. The place for 
animals that have died of disease is under ground. 
