5o4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July i, 
THE HOME OF BIG STRAWBERRIES. 
Thomas R. Hunt, of Lambertville, N. J., 
knows how to grow big strawberries. He 
has been growing fruit for over 40 years, 
and is still ready to admit that he doesn’t 
know it all. That ought to qualify a man 
for service in the strawberry patch. When 
I visited Mr. Hunt’s place on June 9 the 
indications were that he would pick at 
least 22,< 00 quarts of fruit on about 2]/ 2 
acres. As this fruit rarely sells below 12 
cents a quart at wholesale, and sometimes 
brings 20 cents, it will be seen that these 
are profitable acres. Some growers say 
that big berries do not pay as well as 
those of medium size, but Mr. Hunt does 
not think so. His markets—Philadelphia 
and Trenton—call for large, high-colored 
fruit, and he has studied the best methods 
of producing it. Soil, culture and special 
varieties must be considered in providing 
for a trade of this sort. A rich, strong soil 
which holds water well is necessary. The 
strawberry contains more water than 
cow’s milk, and a constant supply of water 
is as necessary for the growing straw¬ 
berry as it is for the milking cow. Mr. 
Hunt has a pump and system of irriga¬ 
tion, but has not used it for several years. 
He finds that a naturally strong soil, well 
filled with humus, will absorb water, and 
that a heavy mulch of horse manure on 
the surface will hold the moisture in the 
soil. 
I have in years past told of Mr. Hunt’s 
former methods of culture. It has prob¬ 
ably discouraged some readers to be told 
how often the soil is cultivated and hoed, 
and how much hand weeding is required. 
One thing that induced me to visit the 
farm again was the following note from 
Mr. Hunt: 
You know I have always grown my fruit 
on year-old plants, renewing the bearing 
plants each year, even though the patch re¬ 
mained in the same place, thus following 
what has heretofore been considered the 
proper method. But last year and year 
before I have been experimenting in keeping 
over and fruiting the old plants, and the 
experiment has been attended by remark¬ 
ably good results, the plants seeming to gain 
in vitality and fruiting qualities with in¬ 
creased age. This year I have a good many 
rows (an acre) of two and three-year-old plants 
which give promise of a great crop of line 
berries, much better than my year-old patch, 
and I should like you to see what, can be 
done by old plants that have already grown 
two crops. 
I want to see anything that will de¬ 
crease the labor cost of producing* a crop, 
not because I want to encourage laziness, 
but because labor is becoming harder and 
harder to obtain, and farmers must find 
some substitute. The old plants were all 
that Mr. Hunt claimed for them; large 
and healthy and covered with fine fruit. 
The crowns of these old plants were 
higher out of the ground than those of 
younger plants, but they had made an 
abundance of fruit buds and were matur¬ 
ing large fruit. The “culture,” if so it 
may be called, was about as follows: 
After fruiting the vines were mowed off 
and burned. The entire surface of the 
field is covered by a thick mulch of horse 
manure, the plants growing up through it. 
After the mowing of course the old plants 
start new leaves, and also start out run¬ 
ners. The runners are cut off as they 
come, a sickle being used for the pur¬ 
pose, so that the old plant grows up 
throwing its full strength into leaf and 
fruit buds. The mulch is not removed 
from the ground—more is added. The 
grass and weeds which grow through the 
mulch are pulled by hand and left on the. 
ground. The cost of this method is less 
than half that of setting new plants or 
“building up” the bed as advocated by 
Mr. Kevitt. No one could see these 
plants at Mr. Hunt’s place without real¬ 
izing that they are producing well. Mr. 
Hunt says that he was driven to the ex¬ 
periment one year when work pressed so 
hard that he could not care for the straw¬ 
berries in his usual way. They were, as 
he thought, neglected, the runners cut off 
and the old plants left. They did so well 
that he tried it again, and found the suc¬ 
cess was not an accident. He would give 
the three-year-old plants another fruiting 
season, but that the ground where they 
stand is needed for celery. Mr. Hunt’s 
experience with old plants is much like 
what we find in the poultry business. Most 
poultry keepers advise pullets, and would 
seldom keep a hen beyond her second 
year, yet we often find men who keep 
hens four and five years old with profit. 
We may have the soil and the culture, 
yet unless we have the right varieties we 
shrll not produce big berries. Marshall 
gives large fruit, but is not popular. Glen 
Mary and Wm. Belt and others give good 
results with some growers, but Mr. Hunt 
has produced seedlings of his own. He 
has a number of new ones growing every 
year, most of them being discarded as not 
much superior to others in cultivation. 
Three years ago Mr. Hunt introduced 
President, and a large part of his crop 
this year is of that variety. This large, 
fine-looking berry is finding its place 
wherever big, high-colored fruit is want¬ 
ed. Two new seedlings of this year’s 
lot are worth attention. No. 3 is shown 
at Fig. 213, page 503. At. Mr, Hunt’s 
place it is a strong "rower and heavy 
yielder of large handsome fruit. It has 
been tried at the Rural Grounds, and will 
be reported in due time. No. 2 is a me¬ 
dium-sized berry of fine color and flavor. 
Its most pronounced quality is the firm 
flesh and tough skin, which make it re¬ 
markably useful as a shipping berry. It 
is the firmest strawberry I have ever seen. 
_ H. W. C. 
Questions About Onion Sets. 
11. K., Benton Harbor, Mich .—At what 
time is it best to gather top sets from 
onions? Is it best to wait until the stalk 
on which they grew is perfectly dry, or to 
pick them when the onions have formed and 
just bclore the stalks die? I would also like 
to know of a good way to keep the seed so 
as to prevent the onion from sprouting. 
Ans.— In answer to H. K.’s question, 
the best time to gather top onion sets is 
when the little onions are well formed, or 
j ust when the main stalks begin to lose 
their color, turning to a light green. It is 
an indication that the parent plant has per¬ 
formed its work in reproducing itself in 
the tops. The tops should then be cut, 
leaving about four inches of the stalk on, 
and dried in the sun for a few days, or 
until the main stalk is dry; then stored 
away in flats four inches deep, having 
skitted bottoms to allow the air to circu¬ 
late freely. If the sets are kept cool and 
dry even at the freezing point no trouble 
will be experienced in keeping. An occa¬ 
sional turning during the Winter will go 
far towards preventing sprouting. 
JOHN JEANNIN JR. 
An Orchard Problem. 
E. B. H., Montevideo, Va .—Will The 
It. N.-Y. please give an opinion on the fol¬ 
lowing orchard proposition? Three years 
ago I went into a piece of timber land, cut 
off the timber, burned the brush, cultivated 
the land up both ways, dug the holes and 
planfed 700 Stayman apple trees. The next 
year dug around trbes square of about four 
feet; last year did nothing to them. This 
year I find plenty of bushes and sprouts; 
am now mulching the trees with this brush. 
As the brush is in full leaf, it makes a 
dense covering around the trees. I do not 
put the brush up against the trees, but make 
a ring 10 feet in diameter around the tree 
and two feet thick. The trees have done 
fairly well so far. With the mulch treat¬ 
ment will they not make an orchard? Would 
it not be better to pursue this plan rather 
than try to' crop a piece of hillside land 
that is stony? The land is fairly good and 
would grow' the trees if not robbed by culti¬ 
vation. 
Ans.— We shall be glad to have the ex¬ 
perience of those who have tried this plan. 
We have one block of about 100 apple 
trees planted under even rougher condi¬ 
tions. The land has not even been 
cleaned. The apple trees are growing 
right among White birches and brier 
bushes. We gave each, tree a light mulch 
of manure and a small quantity of lime, 
and the growth has been satisfactory. We 
hope, eventually to work up the land so 
as to seed something that will serve as 
mulch. We think you will be able to 
grow an orchard of fair-sized trees pro¬ 
ducing beautiful fruit, but we should use 
lime and small quantities of potash and 
fine ground bone. 
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‘•Blizzard" 
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Papec Machine Co., Box 10, Lima, N. Y. 
A low wagon 
at a low price. 
Handy for 
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Will carry a 
load any¬ 
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Low Down Wagons 
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Steel Wheels 
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• width of tire. Hubs to lit any axle. 
For catalogue and prices, write to 
EmpIreMfg.Co., Box 70 H Quincy, III. 
WAGON SENSE 
Don’t break your back and kill your 
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For comfort’s sake get an 
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LOOMIS MACHINE CO., TIFFIH, OHIO. 
FRUIT TREES 
A full list of all kinds. Small Fruits. Strawberry 
Plants a Specialty. Ornamental Stock. California 
Privet and Fancy Stock. We will send a fully illus¬ 
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JOS. H. BLACK, SON & CO., Hightstown, N. J. 
Potted Strawberry Plants 
List Free. T. C. KEVITT, Athenia, New Jersey. 
CUTTERS ana BLOWERS 
Billiton the right principle. 
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ENS[ 
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TREES 
SHRUBS 
ROSES 
The largest and most com¬ 
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including all desirable nov¬ 
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St. Louis. 102 prizes New York 
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ELLWANGER & BARRY 
Mount Hope Nurseries 
Drawer 1044-- I, Rochester, N,Y» 
Established 181+0. 
Iff FRUIT BOOK 
shows in NATURAL COLORS and 
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PEACH, APPLE, PEAR, PLUM. 
Buds ready July 1st. Send for list to-day. 
Harrisons Nurseries, Box 29, Berlin, Md. 
CELERY AND CABBAGE PLANTS $1 per 
1,000. CRIMSON CLOVER SEED, $4 a bushel. List 
free. SLAYMAKER & SON, Dover, Delaware. 
CELERY and CABBAGE PUNTS 
FOR SALE — Leading varieties, carefully packed 
with moss in baskets, f. o. b. here. Write for prices. 
Cash with order. Plants ready about June 15. 
WOODLAND FARM, Canastota, Madison Co., N.Y. 
VEGETABLE PLANTS 
FIVE MILLIONS CELERY! White Plume, 
Giant Pascal, and ether varieties, 1,000, $1.00; 10,000 
$8.50; transplanted, 1,000, $2. Cabbage and Tomatoes, 
same prices. LUDVIG MOSBAEK, Onarga, Ill. 
|p I and Cabbage Plants. Very 
EL Eb EL irc ■ Strong. The plants have an 
average of four square inches of space each over the 
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Giant Pascal, Winter Queen, Golden Self Blanching, 
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O A I Crimson Clover Seed, 
fl Ia. <1^ M La EL $4.50 per bushel; Cow 
Peas, $1.75 bushel. J. E. HOLLAND, Milford, Del. 
DWYER’S POT-GROWN STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
Strong, healthy plants from selected stock of choicest fruiting varieties, sure to give satisfaction and 
Prrtrli ■r'xx a Full in (Qfifi Some of the finest berry patches in America owe success to 
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5 
TREES 
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HHNRY A. DBBEBi 714 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Fenna* 
CRIMSON CLOVER 
