Vol. LV. No. 2411. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 11, 1896. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
COME, LET US PLANT THE STRAWBERRY! 
AND THEN GIVE IT THE BEST CARE. 
Thus Securing Plants, Berries, Dollars — Success! 
Early springtime is the best season for planting the 
strawberry. Of the many methods which I have 
tested during 10 years copartnership with our ruddy 
little “ business friend,” 
no system pleases me so 
well, or gives such satis¬ 
factory results as that 
which I shall briefly 
describe and illustrate, 
as by it I not only ob¬ 
tain an abundance of 
fine, large berries, but 
am ever supplied with a 
generous stock of large, 
strong, well-developed 
plants for successive 
plantations. 
Deep, moist, well- 
drained, fertile soil, 
deeply plowed, thor¬ 
oughly pulverized and 
made very fine and level 
with harrow and drag, 
is a grand beginning. I 
would not, however, 
advise planting on sod, 
such ground usually 
being infested «vith the 
White Grub—a very un¬ 
desirable citizen in a 
strawberry plantation. 
I would much prefer a 
plat that has been well 
enriched and under 
clean cultivation for 
two or three seasons 
previous. 
As has already been 
intimated, I grow my 
own plants. Of course, 
the more promising of 
the new varieties are 
tested, these being pur¬ 
chased, usually, by the 
dozen or half dozen, and 
increased on my own 
grounds, or finally dis¬ 
carded, as their merits 
may warrant. But, how¬ 
ever obtained, they 
should all be carefully 
prepared beforehand so 
that no time should be 
lost when planting. In 
digging plants I shake 
the soil from the roots 
and immediately place 
them, by handfuls, be¬ 
tween the folds of a 
piece of wet carpet or 
blanket. They are then 
carried to the packing 
shed where they are 
prepared by clipping 
from them all dead 
leaves and runners, 
straightening the roots, 
shortening them to about three inches ; they are then 
tossed into a bucket of water. From this bucket, 
they are taken and packed into neat bunches of 25, 
which are set very firmly in cool, moist soil, and kept 
moist. Plants thus prepared, will keep safely many 
days, and be in the best possible condition to plant. 
A line and light hand-marker, spacing the rows at 
3% feet, should be used if we would have our planta¬ 
tion a model of neatness. A few bunches of the pre¬ 
pared plants are then pulled and placed, roots down¬ 
ward, in a bucket containing enough water to cover 
the roots only. I use a strong trowel for setting, by 
which method the roots, spread fan-shape, are in¬ 
serted into the soil full length, and in an easy, natural 
position. The soil should be pressed back very firmly 
against the roots. The plants are taken from the 
bucket only as used ; consequently the roots are in¬ 
serted dripping with water. The fine, mellow soil, 
coming in contact with them, at once adheres and 
forms a moist, pasty coating conforming perfectly to 
their shape ; thus, almost instantly, we gain the first 
stage of the plant’s establishment. I set plants from 
18 to 24 inches apart in the row, according to the 
habit of growth of the variety. To insure perfect 
pollination, every third row is planted with stami- 
nate or perfect-flowered varieties. 
As soon as planting is finished, a light cultivation is 
given with a fine, steel-toothed cultivator ; this leaves 
the soil fine and mel¬ 
low, in which condition 
it will be retentive of 
moisture which is 
essential to the prompt 
establishment of the 
plants. A careful, thor¬ 
ough cultivation every 
week from this period 
until the frosts of au¬ 
tumn, should be the 
motto. As soon as the 
plants have started 
nicely, blossoms will 
appear ; these should be 
removed at once. Run¬ 
ners will also begin to 
push out here and there, 
and should be promptly 
clipped off. By July 15, 
under this thorough 
culture, the plantation 
will consist of beauti¬ 
ful rows of great, 
stocky, robust plants, 
fairly boiling over with 
vigor and will appear 
as in Fig. 77. At that 
date, I am ready to form 
the fruiting rows for 
the next season. 
A few strong runners 
from each plant are now 
allowed to strike root, 
until a thinly set row 
from 14 to 16 inches 
wide has been formed, 
after which all runners 
are clipped and the soil 
between the rows kept 
clean and mellow with 
the cultivator, through¬ 
out the remaining 
months of the growing 
season. Should weeds 
appear among the 
plants, they must be 
promptly rooted out by 
hand. At the close of 
the growing season, 
under such thorough 
management, we have a 
plantation beautiful to 
behold—a plantation 
inhabited by multitudes 
of great, vigorous, well- 
developed, heavy- 
crowned plants, upon 
every one of which is 
stamped the promise of 
rich reward to him who 
ungrudgingly bestowed 
so many hours of patient 
labor. See Fig. 78. 
The last act of the season’s drama is the applica¬ 
tion, in November or December, of a comfortable 
winter overcoat of straw, leaves, salt hay, pine needles 
or whatever light material the grower can best obtain 
in his locality. I use straw, as it is the cheapest and 
most convenient of any material I can procure. It is 
evenly spread over the plantation to the depth of 
THE STRAWBERRY PLANTATION AT THE MIDDLE OF JULY. Fig. 77. 
THE STRAWBERRY PLANTATION AT THE END OF THE GROWING SEASON. Fig. 78. 
