1188 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
June 26 was one of those rare June 
days that Lowell sings about. Heaven 
tried the earth and surely found it in 
tune. Most of our June days this year 
have been more or less raw—here was one 
both rare and well done. I put in most 
of my work on the strawberries. One 
of the boys drove the lawn mower. Our 
horses have faded away with the coming 
of the car, and now we have only Tom 
and Broker, the big grays, and little 
Brownie, the sorrel mare. So Brownie 
has to do her turn on the lawn mower, 
and she doesn’t like it. As she tugs away 
at the big machine you can imagine her 
saying: “To think of me at such menial 
occupation ! My father trotted a mile in 
less than 2:15. My mother carried the 
blood of Hambletonian in her veins. Now 
Comes this nasty gasoline dissolving all 
that pedigree and performance and send¬ 
ing me to this!” 
It doesn’t seem to do her any good to 
notice Mother on the back steps hulling 
strawberries for canning, or my daughter 
sweeping the porch, or the little girls wip¬ 
ing dishes. Brownie claims a royal pedi¬ 
gree, and in her philosophy kings and 
queens should be exempt from manual 
labor. In my judgment that is one great 
reason why the world has not progressed 
faster. Had kings and queens been 
kicked out of this divine right to shirk 
and loaf, there were now no need of laws 
to handle “reds” and mighty little need of 
|>oorhouses, cither. But your born aris¬ 
tocrats do not want to believe it, and will 
not believe it, and the whitewashed aris¬ 
tocrats are like them. They might sweat 
over a game of tennis, but never at. pro¬ 
ductive labor. Like Brownie, they want 
to leave such sweating to Tom and 
Broker, though they are quite willing to 
eat the food which such toilers produce. 
If I had my way, I would harness them 
right to the job and make them do it. 
« * * * * 
Our strawberry crop is nearly a failure 
this year. We started a year ago with 
good plants and certainly gave them good 
care. The soil turned out to be unsuited. 
I think it is too alkaline from wood 
ashes. Then at one side are three big 
crab apple trees. They are strong and fine 
this season, but the roots run in under the 
berry plants, and have evidently robbed 
them, while the tops have given too much 
Shade. Then when we built our garage 
we had to locate it right in the heart of 
the strawberry field. There was no other 
suitable place. Then came the hal’d Win¬ 
ter. A sheet of ice formed over the plants 
and remained there for nearly 10 weeks. 
I hardly expected to see a single live plant 
in the Spring. Some of them actually 
came through, but they were weaker than 
a woodchuck just out of his hole. Almost 
every running plant was killed. We nursed 
the parent plants along, and they are now 
vigorous, but the crop of berries is short. 
We may get a crate today for canning 
when we should have five or six. No use 
grieving about it. Such mishaps are. part 
#f the game. The problem now is to 
know what to do for next season. 
* * * * * 
First, we have a new bed started. We 
found enough runners to cover a small 
space in the old garden. This was heav¬ 
ily manured and plowed early. It was 
harrowed and raked as fine as we could 
make it. Then the plants were dug out 
of the old bed (each with a little dirt 
around the roots) and planted two feet 
apart in rows three feet apart. That 
gives six square feet for each plant. Then 
midwav between these S-ft. rows we 
planted potatoes. We used certified Maine 
seed of Cobbler, and the plants are cer¬ 
tainly shod with speed. Today the best 
of these plants are 30 inches high, with 
bloom just starting. Just as soon as 
these tubers are of fair size they will be 
dug. The vines will be put around apple 
trees, and a potted or strong layer straw¬ 
berry plant put in each hill. That will 
leave the bed with plants 2x1% ft. all 
over. They will be trained in hills with 
the extra runners potted or handled as 
layer plants for late Summer planting. J 
The patch has already been hoed three 
times, and will probably be worked at 
least four times more. I can assure you 
that aristocratic strawberry plants must 
have sweat as well as blood in them. 
What varieties? 
All Marshall, except one short row of 
wild plants which we dug here and there 
in our old fields. 
What are they pood for? 
I do not know yet. We often try these 
wild plants. Under culture they greatly 
increase in size, and are very strong and 
vigorous. The berries increase in size 
and are usually of beautiful flavor. Some 
years ago we obtained in this way a berry 
that I thought better than Marshall in 
some respects. By accident it was dug 
up and destroyed. It is interesting to 
watch these wild things take on the hab¬ 
its of civilization ; as interesting as study¬ 
ing the effects of a wild race of men to 
rise into civilization. 
But why Marshall? Where are better 
varieties 1 
I know it; but we started with that 
variety, and think we are slowly improv¬ 
ing it. The variety is a poor yielder and 
a poor plant-maker, but at their best the 
berries are as near perfection as you can 
get in the strawberry. It has size, color, 
flavor and good texture. As a commer¬ 
cial berry I cannot recommend it except 
for a fancy trade. 
Why not? . 
It does not give enough fruit. It re¬ 
quires petting and expensive handling, 
and does not. yield enough crates to the 
acre to pay at ordinary prices. This year 
you would need to get at least 35 cents 
a quart to make Marshall pay. For gar¬ 
den or home culture it is the leader, so 
far as we have tried, though I know peo¬ 
ple who say they have a better one. 
Why have you given up commercial 
strawberry growingf 
Labor. At one time we had several 
acres of berries. At that time we paid 
$1 or a little more for 10 hours’ work. 
A vast amount of hand labor is required 
to handle berries as we do it. There 
never was great profit in it, even with 
cheap labor. Now we must pay $3.50 
to $5 for a nine-hour day. and I quickly 
found that strawberries will not pay a 
profit at any such price. There is too 
much gamble about the crop. And again, 
the world needs food more than luxuries— 
dinner rather than dessert. So we put 
our labor into sweet corn, tomatoes, 
squash and similar food, and make berries 
a side line. 
Ts that what farmers are doing gener¬ 
ally ? 
T think so; either doing it of their own 
thinking or being driven to it. The big 
economic forces started into life by the 
war cannot be changed or diverted. 
Sooner or later they will be at the door 
of every home—at the gate of every farm. 
Those of us who live in the country must 
adapt our work to the job and make each 
dollar’s worth of work most productive. 
We have got to grow the crops best suited 
to our land and our labor. We cannot 
hope to keep on just as we are and de¬ 
pend on changes in the market to carry 
us through. 
Shall you try to carry the old straw¬ 
berry bed over? 
Yes. It costs so much to start a bed 
in this way that we must fruit it several 
years in order to get our money back. 
Arc the plants in hills? 
In hills. The Marshall is not a success 
when grown in any other way. 
What is a strawberry hill? 
A single good plant started in Spring 
or in late Summer and confined to the 
original plant or a little group of plants 
around it. A matted row or bed is where 
we let. the runners grow, and root unre¬ 
stricted. Some varieties are far more 
prolific with runners than others. It 
would hardly pay to attempt to keep such 
in hills. 
How do you do it? 
We plant strong runners in Spring. 
These runners, of course, are from the 
previous year’s growth. They are well 
fed and kept clean by cultivation or hoe¬ 
ing. The runners usually start about 
July 1. We take the first four and root 
them around the original plant, five or six 
inches out. from it. Then every other 
runner starting from that plant, is nipped 
off at once or rooted in the soil or in a 
little pot for transplanting. At the end 
of the season the “hill” is to consist of 
the original plant nad the four runners 
from it all growing closely together. 
Ts it much work? 
It is because these runners must be 
nipped off by hand. I have had cases 
where we cut off 40 runners from a hill. 
In a good many cases we have made 25 
potted or layer plants from one hill, and 
the next season picked a ouart of berries 
from it. That is not common, and must 
not be taken for a standard. 
Which system gives the, greater yield? 
With most varieties I think the matied- 
row plan. Under that plan the runners 
are permitted to fill the row, but kept 
out of the middles. The hill system is 
best, for such varieties as Marshall or 
Chesapeake. You get larger and finer 
berries when grown in bills, but you must 
keep the runners cut. 
But what after the first season’s pick¬ 
ing? 
July 10, .1<»20 
Our plan ig to start as soon as picking 
is ovet* and mow off the entire growth 
with a scythe or sickle. Lot this growth 
wilt and then burn it. Either rake it up 
or let a fire run over the patch. The ob¬ 
ject of this burning is to destroy insects 
or diseases which might be on the stems 
and leaves. Then we go in with sharp 
hoes and chop out the weeds and grass, 
leaving the plants with the tops cut off. 
What happens then? 
A new and stronger top comes out and 
runners start promptly. By cutting off 
the top you have a chance to hoe or culti¬ 
vate close tip to the crown of the plant 
and do a far better job. 
But does not this cutting hurt the 
plant? 
No. It helps it. It seems much the 
same as pruning a healthy tree. Nature 
starts in at once to repair the damage by 
sending out a new top and also sending 
out now runners. It is a sort of stimu¬ 
lation for the plant. 
I want to get runners this year. In 
that case do I cut the top? 
Yes. You will get more runners by do¬ 
ing so, provided your plant is healthy and 
well fed. 
But when is the best time to fertilize 
the strawberry? 
When you set out the plant and also 
in late Summer or early Fall. You want 
a large plant that will grow off from the 
start. Then you must remember that 
the fruits buds are produced usually i 
late Summer. They are not made, as 
some suppose, in Spring. The plant must 
go into Winter quarters with its fruit 
buds well started. Almost all you can 
hope to do in Spring is to give size or 
quality to the fruit buds already made. 
Phosphorus has most to do with the mak¬ 
ing of these fruit buds, and, therefore, 
some phosphate used in July or August, 
with a small amount of nitrogen, is good 
fertilizing for next year’s crop. You 
should always start your plants on rich 
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