866 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 24, 
which I received one penny a basket and no one was 
more delighted over my success than a loving mother, 
long since called to her reward. To show her apprecia¬ 
tion she gave me one gold dollar bearing date of 1858, a 
cherished reward I still have in my possession. This in¬ 
stance awakened in me an enthusiasm for the straw- 
A POTTED STRAWBERRY PLANT. Fig. 370. 
berry that has never faltered. A few years later I 
persuaded my father to plant a large bed on the farm; 
the venture was very successful. I then became in¬ 
tensely interested in their cultivation, feeling sufficiently 
well acquainted with their individual characteristics to 
venture plantng a bed on my own account; this was 
in 1878. In June the same year I went to Jersey City, 
and met the late Peter Henderson, who was then strong¬ 
ly advocating the system of growing strawberries by 
the use of pots. While this method was known to 
some extent some years before, it was generally con¬ 
ceded to be of little commercial value until Mr. Hen¬ 
derson demonstrated its worth, and made the plants a 
paying factor in his line of trade. He at that time 
showed me a bed of 400 plants from which he picked 
200 quarts. He talked encouragingly about the method, 
and predicted its great future. It will be needless, how¬ 
ever, to dwell longer on past recollections, only to say 
we have seen his statement verified, and know that 
hundred of thousands of these potted plants are used 
every year. Since that time I have tried a great many 
ways of cultivating the strawberry; have used potted 
plants every year, thrashed out many of the new varie¬ 
ties, grown a great many poor beds and a few good 
ones, and going through it all I find that in each suc¬ 
ceeding year I can always profit by past mistakes. 
While it is an unmistakable fact that all small fruits 
have increased in popularity, none perhaps stands so 
high in general favor as the strawberry. It not only 
gives us a most excellent and palatable fruit, but also 
a great quantity from a comparatively small area, and 
this at a time when other fresh fruits are scarce. Its 
culture is simple and it grows freely in almost any soil 
or location, and it may be planted either in the Spring, 
Summer or Fall. It can be made to fit admirably in the 
crop rotations of the market and farm garden, and the 
skillful grower finds it a most useful crop where it can 
be thus used, enabling him by the use of potted plants 
first to grow and market a crop of early vegetables, 
with the advantage of fitting the soil in the best pos¬ 
sible condition for the strawberry. 
If the plants are to be set in the Fall, it should not be 
done if possible in this latitude before October 1. This 
of course refers to the plants from runners taken up 
from the bed in the usual way, and there is but little 
gained in time over planting the next Spring, as the 
plant must grow for one season before it can bear a 
full crop of fruit, and unless under favorable circum¬ 
stances many will fail to grow, for the reason that 
each young plant or runner is sustained in part by the 
old plant, and when detached feels the shock more 
than a potted runner or seedling plant that has been 
growing for weeks on its own account. For this rea¬ 
son, where strawberries are to be planted during the 
Summer and Fall months, I would always advise pre¬ 
paring the plants a few weeks ahead of layering them in 
pots, as they may then be set at almost any time with 
perfect safety and without loss. As there is no arbi¬ 
trary rule for the distance apart at which they should 
be planted they may be grown with various vegetable 
crops to good advantage, or they can be set one foot 
apart in rows, marked out from one to five feet apart 
according to the way they are to be cultivated. If the 
ground is limited they may be cultivated in hills and 
not allowed to make any runners at any time. This is 
a very satisfactory and attractive way of cultivating 
the strawberry, where the necessary time and attention 
can be given them, but for field culture and commercial 
use I have a preference for the matted row, and where 
large berries are desired and the fancy varieties are to 
be cultivated 1 have always succeeded best by using potted 
plants. Plants set in July or August are always classed 
as Fall planted, and they have many advantages over 
plants set at any other season. The finest and largest 
berries that it is possible to produce may be grown 
from potted plants if set in August, and I am so often 
asked about the potted strawberry plant and the best 
method of growing them that I will therefore endeavor 
to tell the story. 
PREPARATION OF THE SOIL.—In preparing the 
soil for the strawberry it is best to begin one year 
before planting, by seeding the ground to Crimson 
clover about August 1. During the Winter this should 
be broadcast with horse manure at the rate of 12 or 
15 tons to the acre. Early in the Spring the ground is 
plowed and planted with early potatoes, with an ap¬ 
plication of commercial fertilizer in the rows. The 
potatoes, if well cultivated, will yield from 50 to 60 
barrels to the acre. They should be dug early in July 
in this latitude, and the ground plowed before the weeds 
and grass have made any headway. It is best to leave 
the ground in this condition for at least two weeks be¬ 
fore planting, allowing the rains to settle the soil and 
fill all holes and cavities that may have been made at 
time of plowing, and while waiting for this condition is 
an excellent time to pot or secure the plants. 
POTTING THE PLANTS.—I have found that about 
the only objection to using potted plants is the price 
they will cost to buy, or the expense of potting them 
ourselves. Here is an obstacle easily remedied. To 
begin with, every market gardener, or, in fact, anyone 
TIIE MATTED ROW READY. Fig. 371. 
wdio is thinking of engaging in the growing of straw¬ 
berries, should have at least 5,000 two-inch pots. These 
can be had at a trifling cost, and will last for years. 
When the knack of potting the plants is once acquired 
it will be readily understood that the only difference in 
the expense of the potted system and the usual way 
of setting them is the difference in time it will take 
in digging and trimming the plants as compared to 
potting them. When a lot of plants are wanted for the 
new bed, all that is necessary to do is to fill these small 
pots with soil, the same as where the plants are grow¬ 
ing. Plunge or plant them just to the surface level, place 
rooted runners in the pots as other plants are potted, 
leaving the runner attached to the old plant, and the 
unrooted runner may be placed on the soil in the little 
pot, laying a small stone or clod on it to keep it in 
place. The young runners so treated will make nice 
plants in two or three weeks. When the little pots are 
well filled with roots they are taken up and placed close 
together in a frame where they can be watered freely. 
After remaining in the frame for a few days they are 
in good condition to be planted where they are to fruit. 
It should be remembered, however, that if the plants 
are left in the pots too long they will become pot- 
bound. They are then not so good as if set about the 
time the pot is well filled with the young roots. This 
condition of the plants will not affect them in the 
frame as quickly as if left attached to the old plant in 
the bed. 
SETTING THE PLANTS.—When the plants are in 
the proper condition for planting, Fig. 370, the ground 
should be harrowed several times and made perfectly 
level by using a leveling board, for no soil is ever too 
firm for the roots of the strawberry to penetrate if 
moist and cool below the surface. The plants may be 
set either by line or the rows can be marked out the 
desired width. After the plants have been thoroughly 
watered, they are knocked out of tile pots, carried to 
the field and placed on the row about the distance they 
are to be planted. A skillful workman can set the 
plants as fast as they can be brought to him, and with 
little or no risk; the plants will scarcely cease growing. 
METHOD OF CULTURE.—The distance at which 
strawberries arc planted will depend on how they ate 
to be cultivated. If they are to be kept in hills and 
labor by horse-power employed, the rows should be 
three feet apart and the plants set one foot from each 
other in the rows, and all runners cut off as soon as 
formed, so that the whole force of the roots is thrown 
into the one plant. They should also be cultivated once 
a week; if this treatment is kept up till the end of the 
growing season the plants will be very large, developing 
large crowns, in which the blossom buds are formed 
for the next year’s fruiting. They will then remain 
dormant in our climate during Winter, and the follow¬ 
ing June will produce a fine lot of large and beautiful 
berries. It is quite often remarked that a full crop can 
be looked for in 10 months from time of planting. This 
statement may be misleading unless fully understood; it 
is true, however, to a limited extent. Each individual 
plant will produce a full crop, but the ground which the 
plants will occupy will not yield a profitable crop, but if 
the plants were set one foot apart, covering the entire 
bed, and cultivated as above described, we should then 
look for a full and bountiful crop. This would require 
more plants, and the initial planting would be expen¬ 
sive. About the best and decidedly the most economical 
method of growing from pots is to place the rows five 
feet apart, and set the plants 18 inches in the rows. 
About Augut 15 sow two rows of spinach or lettuce 
in between the rows of strawberries. These will occupy 
a space of one foot, and will leave ample room for 
cultivation. By the end of October these will be out 
of the way, and usually sell well at this season of the 
year. Fig. 372 will show a bed of plants grown in 
this way after taking two crops of vegetables from 
the ground the first year. The following June, after 
the plants have fruited, they should be allowed to form 
the matted row by giving thorough cultivation. Instead 
of very close cultivation and pushing the unrooted 
runners around in windrows as is usually done, allow 
them to take root naturally. Select the largest and 
finest of these young plants and layer them in pots for 
planting your bed early in August. Pinch off the tip 
of the young runner and confine all the growth to I he 
plant you have potted. At each hoeing cut off all 
runners from the mother plant until the pots are re¬ 
moved. Then allow them to make runners at will, 
chopping them quite freely in places where they appear 
to be thick. Space them gradually in this way, and at 
the end of the growing season we have matted rows 
three or four feet wide, and the plants will be large' - 
and stronger than those set in April, and with a much 
better developed crown. If not allowed to grow too 
thickly they will produce a larger and more profitable 
crop than if cultivated by any other method. Fig. 371 
will show a bed 15 months old, cultivated by this 
method, after taking from the ground two crops of 
vegetables and one of strawberries. T. M. white. 
STARTING TIIE POTTED PLANTS. Fig. 372. 
R. N.-Y.—In the next issue Mr. White will continue 
these strawberry notes, giving in detail the results of 
his experience with manures and fertilizers, best 
methods for Winter protection of the plants and 
other essentials in the production of a first-class crop 
of strawberries. 
