Quality Crops for the Home 
IN THE BERRY PATCH—STRAWBERRY CULTIVATION FROM 
INITIAL SOIL TREATMENT TO WINTER MULCH—WHAT ARE 
THE BETTER VARIETIES? 
BY D. R. Edson 
O F the various small fruits which may be grown in the home 
garden, none are more highly prized than strawberries. 
Properly cared for, a very small patch will yield enough berries 
to supply the family table through the season, which, with mod¬ 
ern varieties, should extend over some six weeks in early sum¬ 
mer, with a very worth-while fall crop from the autumn-fruiting 
varieties. 
Strawberries are comparatively free from injury by insects 01 
disease. But two very common causes of failure are late frosts 
and early drouth. These must be kept in mind and guarded 
against as much as possible while planning and caring for the 
beds. Any average good garden soil, provided it is well drained, 
will grow good berries; but if it is likely to dry out quickly when 
the spring rains stop, provision should be made for supplying 
water if one would be sure of results. Uood culture and middl¬ 
ing will help, but the only absolute safeguard is a system of 
irrigation, such as that described in last month's House and 
Garden. The trifling expense involved in installing such a sys¬ 
tem over the berry patch will be more than repaid on the first 
crop. If there is any choice as to location, put your strawberry 
plants where they will not be too much protected. A warm shel¬ 
tered pocket, lying to the sun, will bi mg the blossoms out too 
quickly in the spring, so that, while you may stand a chance of 
getting some earlier berries, you also take a big risk of losing all 
the first setting by having the blossoms 
nipped by a late frost. Late sorts, planted 
on a northern slope, will considerably 
lengthen the season. Removing the win¬ 
ter mulch too early in the spring also 
induces premature flowering, and conse¬ 
quent risk of losing the first part of the 
crop. 
There is no better time than the pres¬ 
ent for planting. If pot-grown plants are 
used a full crop of the best berries may 
be gathered next season. 1 hese cost 
slightly more than “runners, but are 
well worth the difference; 150 pot-grown 
plants costing $3 to $5 will just about 
fill a bed of the size described above 
when set in rows 2 feet apart, 15 inches 
apart in the rows. 
The plants may be set out any time 
up to the first of September; but, as a 
rule, the sooner after the middle of July 
or the first of August, according to lo¬ 
cality (the farther north the earlier), the 
better. The plants are usually ready to be shipped about August 
first. 
The fine varieties are many. Michael’s Early is a standard early 
sort, but it is small and the quality is not of the finest. Early 
Ozark, a new sort, is almost if not quite as early, and very large 
and fine flavored. For mid-season the old favorite, Glen Mary 
and Bubach are hard to beat; they are both very healthy, strong 
growers, with extra large fruit of the finest quality. Fendall is 
a new mid-season sort with an exceptionally long fruiting season, 
which makes it especially desirable for the home garden. For the 
latest berries, Commonwealth is very fine, and Sample and Lester 
Lovett are old favorites. These by no means cover the whole list, 
but unless you have had experience to show you just what va¬ 
rieties give you the best results, Early Ozark, Glen Mary and 
Commonwealth will give you a satisfactory succession of berries 
over a long season. 
The most important part of the job is the preparation of the 
bed. Strawberries are heavy feeders, and next season’s crop 
will depend almost entirely upon the growth the plants make this 
fall before freezing weather. If manure is available, spread on 
a good dressing of it; if not, try to select for the strawberry bed a 
part of the garden which was heavily manured in the spring or 
last season, or where grass or some other green crop has been 
growing the previous season. In addition to this a good dressing 
of high-grade garden fertilizer, and ashes if you have them, 
should be worked into the soil with a rake after the ground is 
plowed or forked. If you have the various ingredients for mix¬ 
ing your own fertilizers on hand, a mixture of nitrate of soda, 
tankage, acid phosphate and muriate of potash, in the proportions 
of one, two, three, and two parts respectively, will be right. Pre¬ 
pare the soil until the surface is as fine as an ash heap. 
When you do get ready to plant, go 
over the surface again and set the plants 
on a fresh surface, so that the dry top 
soil will not fall into the hole. Put them 
in as firmly as possible, after first accu¬ 
rately marking out the rows both ways, 
if there are several, to facilitate after cul¬ 
ture until they get too large. Make the 
holes to receive the roots large enough so 
that they may be spread out in a natural 
position. Set them well down to the 
“crown,” but not over it. When the 
plants arrive the roots should still be 
fresh and moist. If they seem dried out, 
place them in a shallow pan of water. 
Should the roots be so long or ragged 
as to be inconvenient to handle, trim 
them back. The large outside leaves, 
especially if they seem inclined to wilt, 
should also be removed. Have the roots 
wet, or very moist, when planting, and if 
the soil is very dry, watering in the holes 
just before setting the plants will help. 
The plants may be grown either in “hills," a single plant by 
itself, or in rows, in which the plants are set out singly, but the 
runners are allowed to fall on either side of the main row, until 
there is a solid strip of vines, a foot or more, according to the 
method of cultivation to be used. By the former method, plants 
are set out every year, or every two years at the most, the object 
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