1908. 
36 o 
GROWING FANCY STRAWBERRIES. 
Soil, Situation and Culture. 
What would be termed “fancy” strawberries in the 
market must be large in size, uniform in shape, deep 
in color from surface to center, sweet and highly 
flavored, and sufficiently solid to bear handling well; 
they must have been picked without bruising, and with 
the calyx and a portion of the stem left on, longer/ 
or shorter as the fancy of the purchaser may direct; 
perfectly clean and handled in new, clean baskets. 
1 hey should be so assorted that each crate or basket 
will contain berries of uniform size and color. The 
production of such fruit will require the most careful 
attention to soil, cultivation and varieties. 
1 he best soil is a deep sandy loam for the earlies 
and a clay loam for the late sorts. When practicable 
it is well to choose a slight southeastern slope for the 
early varieties and a northern slope for the late ones. 
I he soil should be rich in humus from stable manure, 
or clover, preferably the latter. Before setting the 
plants the land should be given an application of 
phosphate and potash. The following mixture is 
best for a sandy soil: Superphosphate 1400 pounds, 
sulphate o,f potash 600 pounds. This mixture will 
contain 15 per cent of actual potash and over 11 per 
cent phosphoric acid. Since the roots of the straw¬ 
berry do not extend far laterally, to apply this fer¬ 
tilizer to a strip 12 or 15 inches wide, embracing each 
row to be filled with plants, will be sufficient, and in 
that case 400 to 500 pounds per acre will be enough. 
After the first harvest¬ 
ing, on beginning cul¬ 
tivation again, it will 
be best to apply half 
that amount again, un¬ 
less the soil is very 
rich in clover humus. 
When the plants have 
become well rooted 
after setting, and in 
the Spring when 
growth begins, it will 
pay to apply nitrate of 
soda around the plants 
at the rate of 100 
pounds per acre; but 
in making such appli¬ 
cations great care must 
be taken not to get any 
on the plants, since its 
caustic quality will kill 
them. It should be 
kept three or four 
inches from the plant 
and worked into the 
soil. 
Potted plants, if set 
during the last half of 
August, will yield a 
third to half a crop 
next Summer. But they 
should not have been 
grown in pots so long 
as to be root-bound, 
and when removed 
from the pots the earth 
should be wet and broken up somewhat to liberate 
ihe roots, and the soil in which they are to be set 
should have been well moistened by turning a quart 
or two of water into the place of each hill long 
enough in advance of the setting to soak away to 
some extent, so that the earth will not be mud. In 
hot weather it will be necessary to shade the plants 
for two or three days, by covering them lightly with 
straw, and if very dry they should be given a second 
or third watering, breaking the crust soon afterward 
to prevent evaporation. But if the ground is not in 
prime order now it will be better in the long run to 
give it a good application of stable manure, plow it, 
top-dress it with well-rotted manure thoroughly har- 
1 owed in, and about the first of August sow it to rye 
and Hairy vetch (not Winter vetch), one bushel of 
each per acre. 1 his should be plowed in early in 
April, the ground well pulverized and rolled and the 
plants set the latter part of the month. In that case, 
of course, potted plants would not be used. The 
only use I have for potted plants is for late Summer 
or Fall setting, and even then I have no use for them 
when I raise the layers myself. It will be best to 
set the plants in rows not less than three feet apart, 
and 18 inches apart in the row, and keep all runners 
closely clipped. In Spring setting all fruiting stems 
should be pinched off as fast as the blossoms appear 
during the first Summer. 
As to the best varieties for fancy berries, no very 
positive recommendations can be made, since what 
will succeed in one locality may fail in another. I can 
only give the results of my experience for 14 years, 
in which I have made their culture a specialty, an 
THE RUR-A.Iv n ec w-yorkrr 
new land ranging from rather a light sandy loam to a 
rich clay loam, in the latitude of 90 miles south of 
Lake Erie, on the western border of Pennsylvania. 
Here my best fancy fruit was from the Marshall, 
Nic Ohmer, Brandywine and Gandy, ripening in the 
order named. 1 he Brunette is the best flavored 
berry in my field of a dozen or more varieties, but) 
while of deep color and fine, uniform shape, it is not 
extra large. I have filled a quart basket with 16 df 
the first berries of Win. Belt, but they were cox- 
combed, though' dark and solid. From the first four 
named I have filled a quart, every day in the season, 
with 18 of the largest berries closely picked; and 
when an order came from the club or a party of the 
“400 ’ for fruit with the stems two inches long I have 
filled a quart with 12 to 16 berries, but they were not 
shaken down. When 20 to 24 berries closely picked 
will round up a quart basket we have some fancy 
fruit, and will receive a fancy price. But with such 
berries there will be smaller ones, and to make the 
first and larger ones still larger the late blossoms 
should be pinched off. Some varieties set more fruit 
than they can develop to good size and should be 
thinned down at least one half. 
If the reader has read my articles published last 
year, I need only remind him of the necessity of 
frequent, clean cultivation, and when the ground is 
first frozen, mulching with clean straw sufficiently to 
cover the plants and earth out of sight. When vege¬ 
tation begins to grow, in the Spring, open the mulch 
over the plant just enough to let it through, leaving 
noon and night, has generally sufficed to keep them 
free from soreness; still, during the constant use of 
the riding cultivator in our cornfields, the necks 
sometimes get sore, caused by the weight and the 
moving of the collar across the neck at each step of 
the horse. We are all inclined to use collars too large 
for the horse. Much pains should be taken in the first 
fitting of the collar, and if it is thoroughly soaked 
and placed on the horse while still wet it will usually 
shape itself to the shoulders. Another thing we try 
to avoid a too low draft. The way double harnesses 
are usually made all the weight comes on the horses’ 
necks and there is a constant tendency to lower the 
draft even until it comes nearly to the point of the 
shoulder. This should be overcome, as far as possible. 
The draft should be high enough to insure an even 
bearing the entire length of the shoulder, and neither 
should the girth be buckled tight enough to cause any 
draft on the top of the neck. In fact, a girth is un¬ 
necessary, and need never be used except where the 
traces are attached to the load above a right angle to 
the horse’s shoulders. Steel collars are in use near 
us, and I am going to try a pair this Spring. I think 
the principle is right, and they strike me as being very 
convenient b. walker mciceen. 
Maine. 
STRAWBERRY ALFONSO XIII, NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 151. SEE RURALISMS, PAGE 362. 
the straw close around the plant to save moisture 
and protect berries from the sand. Then, just as soon 
as the picking is done, cut the tops off, shake up the 
straw and when a brisk breeze arises fire the straw 
on the windward side. When burned over run a 
small plow within four or five inches of the plants, 
turning the furrow-slice away from the plants and 
not more than four inches deep. Into this furrow 
well-rotted stable manure may be placed if necessary 
and the soil cultivated back upon it. Thus treated, 
this field may be profitably fruited three years, though 
the berries will be larger the first and second year. 
Lawrence Co., Pa. i. a. thayer. 
HORSE’S NECK IN SPRING AND SUMMER. 
You certainly touch a very important feature of 
farm practice in your note on the weak point in farm 
teams. I wish you, and many others, might contin¬ 
ually sound the note of warning against the closely 
padded, ill-fitting, soft collar with all it means in 
suffering and in shortening the life of the horse. 
Men are not, as a rule, barbarous, but by indiffer¬ 
ence and carelessness they often become so, and the 
horse, the most useful animal upon the American 
farm to-day, comes in for more than his full share of 
abuse. This abuse may come sometimes through mis¬ 
taken kindness, but’generally it comes through care¬ 
lessness, or indifference to suffering on the part of 
animals. Years ago I' gave up the hot, sticky pad, 
and have used only the close-fitting, hard-leather col¬ 
lar, which we have endeavored to keep clean. This 
clean collar, with a good washing of the shoulders 
TARRED CORN IN THE PLANTER. 
A Connecticut Plan. 
I saw on page 288 of your last issue an inquiry, 
“Can I plant corn that has been tarred, with the corn 
planter?” I say, yes, 
but I don’t believe the 
answer under the in¬ 
quiry is one that, if 
tried once, will be 
tried again. I have 
planted corn nearly 
every year for 40 years 
or more, and always 
by hand up to 12 or 15 
years ago. At that 
time a neighbor who 
owned an Eclipse corn 
planter, died. I bought 
the planter, and tried 
planting tarred corn 
as directed on page 
288. The cups in the 
revolving cylinder soon 
filled up with the ashes 
or plaster or whatever 
we used to dry out the 
corn, and it was a con¬ 
stant circus to keep 
the cups clean. A 
neighbor borrowed my 
planter one Spring and 
when he returned it I 
noticed tarred corn in 
the bottom of the feed 
box. I asked how it 
worked with tarred 
corn and he said he 
never had any trouble, 
and told me how he 
did it. With a few 
improvements we plant corn tarred as black as ink 
with gas tar. Shell your seed corn three weeks be¬ 
fore you need it to plant. Run it through a win¬ 
nowing machine twice or three times; get out all the 
cob tips, dust and dirt of every description. I use a 
half barrel, put half a bushel into it, take an old 
broom handle, cut it off long enough to use both 
hands on it while stirring, flatten out the end with a 
jack knife into a paddle for six or eight inches; dip 
the paddle end four or five inches into the gas tar 
and stir. I usually set my tar in the sun an hour or 
so before using. Being lazy I sit on a box and draw 
the half barrel between my knees and sit and stir until 
the corn is black. Don’t put on too much tar; one dip 
of the paddle is usually enough, but the stirring is 
what does the business, distributing the tar evenly all 
over the corn. Then sweep up a little corner some¬ 
where in some of your buildings, pour the tarred corn 
down and spread it a couple of inches deep, and every 
two or three days shovel it over and let the air though 
it, and it will soon dry as hard as varnish; then you 
can plant without trouble. newton osborn. 
Connecticut. 
The practice of giving a gratuity to a buyer for 
large stores for purposes of securing contracts has 
become so vexatious to trade that such an act has 
been declared a crime by section 384R of the New 
York Penal Code. A further blow was given this 
tipping practice by the Appellate Division in a recent 
decision which in effect declares that the purchaser in 
a contract accompanied by a gift to purchaser’s buy- 
ing agent may be repudiated. The seller of the goods 
cannot recover for balance due. 
