494 
THE RURAI> N EJ W-Y OKXK I-i 
April 13, 
STRAWBERRY GROWING IN THE CORN 
BELT. 
An Illinois Fruit Farm. 
Part I. 
The General Business. —The growing of 
small fruit, and especially of strawberries, 
is a most fascinating pursuit. While it is 
true that the vagaries of the weather, the 
ravages of insects, and various other things 
make it somewhat of a gamble, the careful 
man who has learned his business usually 
finds enough of both pleasure and profit 
to keep him reasonably satisfied. But just 
forget the fabulous returns your have read 
about. Of course some men have made ex¬ 
traordinary profits, under certain favorable 
circumstances; but this is something which 
happens in every line of business. The 
average person, under average conditions, 
meets with only average success. Set your 
mark high—there is no harm in that. It 
is always best to strive for the highest suc¬ 
cess, even though we do not attain it. 
Location is an important factor in suc¬ 
cessful strawberry culture. Remember that 
the strawberry is a very delicate fruit, and 
the nearer you can come to having a home 
market for your entire product the better. 
If it is necessary to ship a part of your 
crop any considerable distance, then great 
care should be exercised in selecting varie¬ 
ties that have firmness as one of their 
leading characteristics. Remember, also, 
that promptness in gathering the fruit is 
absolutely necessarj and a location must 
be secured where it is possible to get pick¬ 
ers. About 10 pici rs to the acre will be 
sufficient, provided they can be depended 
upon to come regularly every day. With 
good “ripening wenther” we like to go 
over the vines every day; though when it 
is cool and cloudy every other day will 
answer. It is necessary to pick most va¬ 
rieties as soon as they are well turned—- 
red on the upper side and pink on the 
under. Especial care is required ill this 
matter when they are to be shipped. Every¬ 
one understands, of course, that strawber¬ 
ries, like nearly all fruit crops, do best 
on well drained soil. If natural drainage 
is not good, then the land should be thor¬ 
oughly tiled. Gently rolling land is usually 
best, and some varieties will not do well 
on any other kind. High fertility is essen¬ 
tial, though be careful that there is not an 
excess of nitrogen. This will result in an 
excess of leaf growth, and the berries are 
apt to be soft. 
What Varieties? —The question that the 
would-be strawberry grower is likely to re¬ 
gard as most important, and the one he is 
apt to ask first, is “What is the best va¬ 
riety to grow?” Well, this is an import¬ 
ant question; but it is one which cannot 
be answered alike to every questioner. 
Latitude, the kind of soil, market condi¬ 
tions and facilities, all have to do in de¬ 
ciding this matter of varieties. Here in 
the Middle West we find that most of the 
varieties that do well in the East, especially 
on the sandy soil of New Jersey and Dela¬ 
ware. are practically worthless. In some 
cases the yield is too light, and in others 
the berries lack flavor. We have tried 
dozens of varieties that were pronounced 
good in other parts of the country, only to 
cast them aside as unprofitable. We do 
not doubt that growers in other parts of 
the country have the same experience. 
There are plenty of varieties that are 
adapted to our soil and climate, however, 
though it is also true that you can count 
on the fingers of one hand those that are 
really money-makers. Warfield, Senator 
Dunlap, Brandywine, Sample, Aroma and 
Gandy are all reliable, and respond nobly 
to good treatment. St. Louis and Early 
Ozark are on trial as extra earlies, and 
both appear promising, though the past two 
seasons were so bad that no accurate opin¬ 
ion could be formed of their real value. 
It is true, however, that owing to the 
danger of late frosts, no variety counted 
extra early would be deemed profitable, 
and it would be poor policy to plant 
largely of any of them. Senator Dunlap 
is our lending berry ; and as it comes just 
a few days later than even the best of the 
earlies, and is so much better in flavor 
than any of them, it really serves the pur¬ 
pose of both early and mid-season. We 
plant more largely of it than of any other. 
It is excellent both for the retail trade and 
for canning and preserving purposes. 
Avoiding Hand Work. —When we com¬ 
menced raising strawberries about 12 years 
ago w'e were impressed with the vast 
amount of hand work necessary in putting 
out and caring for the plants. Our con¬ 
stant endeavor during these years has been 
to simplify the work and to displace man 
power as much as possible by horse power. 
As we are obliged to ship a large part of 
our product, and thus give up a portion of 
tine consumer’s dollar to the express com¬ 
panies and middlemen, we found it neces¬ 
sary to cheapen the cost of production 
whenever and wherever we could. Hand 
labor is expensive, and so we have intro¬ 
duced horse implements as much as pos¬ 
sible. As soon in the Spring as the soil 
is dry enough to work well, we plow 
moderately deep, go over the ground twice 
with a spike-tooth harrow, double disk it, 
then twice again with harrow, and last 
smooth it off with a plank drag. Some¬ 
times the ground has been in oats the pre¬ 
vious year, sometimes in corn—usually the 
latter. Before plowing, stalks and other 
litter are raked and burned. We have seen 
to it that the ground has been enriched and 
provided with humus in the several years 
that it has been devoted to other crops, 
though should we think it was lacking in 
this respect we would give it a dressing of 
stable manure during the Winter. 
Planting Machines. —We first began set¬ 
ting plants with a spade. Then we tried 
the dibble, but didn’t like it. and went back 
to the spade. This is still our favorite 
method when setting by hand. But in set¬ 
ting from six to 10 acres it is necessary 
to employ more or less inexperienced help 
each season, and we found it difficult to get 
them to do the work with the exactness 
that we desired. Besides, it was rather 
slow, and therefore expensive. So we be¬ 
gan to investigate the merits of the trans¬ 
planting machine. We selected one that we 
thought promised good results, and ordered 
it on trial, with the understanding that if 
it did not do the work in setting straw¬ 
berry plants to suit us, it could be re¬ 
turned. W’e did not return it. We found 
it necessary to order a larger plow and 
with a wider heel than the one sent with 
the machine. Then with a strong, steady 
team and two good boys to do the drop- 
ing, we got along splendidly. We found it 
necessary to follow after the machine and 
tramp the dirt around the plants in order 
to secure the desired firmness, but that is 
quickly and easily done. Last year we 
ran over them with a corrugated roller as 
soon as set, and had it been earlier fn the 
season we think this would have been suf¬ 
ficient. But owing to heavy and contin¬ 
uous rains in April we were late in getting 
our fields set, and there were no indica¬ 
tions of rain to come soon, so we thought 
best to tramp the plants as usual. We 
usually take up plants in the forenoon and 
set them in the afternoon, thus using the 
same force for both jobs. About two acres 
is usually our day’s work by this method. 
With a full supply of plants ready to com¬ 
mence setting in the morning, two men 
and two boys can set four, possibly five, 
acres in a day. This would not include the 
tramping, as the second man would be busy 
getting the plants ready for the droppers. 
Boys become very expert at this work, and 
we have freqquently seen rows 150 yards 
long with but two or three plants missing. 
After the machine work Is done, a man and 
a boy go over the beds with a spade and a 
basket of plants and fill in the vacant 
spaces. The question will be asked, no 
doubt, whether the machine work is as good 
as hand work. If the droppers learn their 
part of the work and are conscientious 
about doing it properly, and the driver 
keeps his team moving slowly and steadily, 
the setting will be better than that done 
by the average man with a spade or dibble. 
The boys can gauge the depth to a nicety, 
and if the roots are properly pruned, the 
plants will go in with the roots straight 
down. The covering plates bring the dirt 
up nicely, and of course the gush of water 
on the roots helps the plants to make a 
start. The amount of water can be regu¬ 
lated to suit conditions, and it is the com¬ 
ing of the water that guides the droppers 
in spacing the plants. 
Cultivating and Cutting. —We com¬ 
mence cultivating immediately after set¬ 
ting, and the cultivator is at once followed 
by the weeder. We are careful not to dis¬ 
turb the plants, and the weeder teeth are 
set so as barely to break the surface of the 
ground. After the plants are thoroughly 
established, the teeth are allowed to go 
deeper. Frequent use of the cultivator and 
weeder keeps down grass and weeds and 
holds the moisture in the soil. When the 
plants begin to bloom we cut off the 
blossom stems with spuds. We cannot do 
the work quite as early as we could if done 
by hand, but it saves many a backache, 
and we find it answers the purpose all 
right. 
Work with Hoes. —Now the man with 
the hoe gets busy, and here is where he 
cannot be dispensed with. In order to get 
runner plants started early, and our rows 
built up in time so the new plants will be 
developed by the time growth stops, we do 
the “tipping” with hoes. In this way we 
get the plants properly spaced, also, as care 
must be exercised not to get them set too 
close together. We usually form a row 
three plants in width. The first runners 
are set in a straight line with the mother 
plants. Then runners are trained out on 
each side and tipped about eight inches 
from the middle row. We might be said, 
then, to have three single hedgerows eight 
inches apart. As soon as the rows are 
complete we begin to cut off all surplus 
runners. Wide spuds, made from old hoes 
with the shanks straightened, are used un¬ 
til the runners commence to multiply 
rapidly, which occurs through August and 
September. 
Horse Power. —Then we begin to use 
horse power. Two light, rolling cutters 
are fastened to the gangs of a two-horse 
cultivator and set just wide enough apart 
to take m the width of the row. They 
can be controlled with the feet, so as to 
run closer to or farther away from the 
plants. Most of the runners on each side 
of the row are thus clipped off, and if 
the work is done before they have rooted, 
they will give no more trouble. Others 
will soon appear, and must be disposed of 
in the same manner. As soon as the run¬ 
ner plants are well rooted, the rolling cut¬ 
ters can be set closer together and run 
between the center and outside rows. This 
must not be done until the plants in the 
outside rows are able to support them¬ 
selves independently of the mother plants 
that are in the middle row. Herein lies 
the advantage of gettings the rows com¬ 
pleted as early as possible. By not setting 
the original mother plants too wide apart, 
this work can be hastened. Sometimes it 
is necessary to “comb out” the runners, 
in order that the cutters may do a clean 
job. This is accomplished by walking along 
the side of a row and drawing a wide wood 
rake from the center to the outside. Of 
course this cannot be done until all plants 
ai;e well rooted, so they can stand the 
pull. This throws the runners at right 
angles to the row, and the cutters make a 
clean sweep of them. We also make fre¬ 
quent use of the weeder after the rows are 
complete and the runner cords have been 
cut. Cultivator and weeder at this time 
make further use of the hoe unnecessary. 
We use a riding cultivator most of the time. 
It is easy on both man and horses. The 
32-tooth and the regular one-horse cultiva¬ 
tor do good work. The latter implement, 
fitted with a sweep and two side hoe steels, 
does splendid work in shallow cultivation. 
One can run, almost touching the plants, 
and not injure them. For good clean work 
close up to the rows this implement can be 
recommended. 
Macon Co., Ill. J. c. nicholls. 
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