The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-12-06
THE BULLETIN.
Publication ONCE, bulletin Building,
Washington Avenue.
THE FARM.
THE WINTER CARE OF STRAW.
BERRIES.

From The New 20 Tribute Nov.2pl
Inc strawberry, once confined to ia,
limits Of the kitchen garden frugal anC
unity husbandman, has Of late year,
taken new departure" and now /,
classed among the important field crops
OF many sections Of the country. Iii.
spoken and written about in the same way
as cabbages, potatoes, or turnips. Oi
course the culture Of the strawberry is no,
quite as general as the crops named, but in
a wide district Of New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland and Virginia hundreds of acres
are exclusively devoted to its culture, and
the success or failure has n very marked
effect on the years labor of the farmer in
these districts. Not many years ago n
man that was cultivating ~ acres of straw
berries would be known and talked of all
over the state ms a wonder and curiosity,
but now hundreds Of growers, who have
three, four and five times as many acres
devoted TO strawberry culture, ore hardly
known outside Of their own township or
county. Large fields of strawberries have
become so common of late years that they
have ceased to be novelties or rather horti-
cultural curiositcs. Each year less surpr,s,
u expressed now in hearing Of or seeing a
5c-lcre lot of strawberries than there would
| have been n score of years ago in hearing of
| hvc acres. A much more economical meth
cd of cultivation has become general among
strawberry growers than was formerly
practiced Kitchen garden methods were
carried on in field culture for some time,
but they gave way 10 better methods by
which horse-labor was substituted TO a
| great extent in place Of hand-labor, re-
ducing the expense, and by this means in
creaslng the profits. Leaving space be-
tween the rows Of from three to four feet
soon became the rule among the more in
Intelligent growers. and this was followed
! by the system known as clean culture, or
what might be called constant culture
This, like many other extreme measures,
| led to very discouraging results in many
instances that came under my observation
amounting to the loss of from one third to
one-half of the crop. Some growers, not
content with the frequent disturbance
ofthe surface-soil, by hJrse tools. from the
plants were set out IN the spring until late
in the fall, would again begin cultivaiing
in the spring, until the plants were in
blossom. This, of course, would disturb
and displace the surface roots Of the
plants, on which the fruit was dependent.
The inevitable consequence of such a
method Of culture would be a very small
crop Of small b9rries. This, in many
cases, brought about reaction. and O rush |
for the other extreme, with the cry that !
"no culture and weeds was better plan |
than thorough culture
Men with habits of close observation |
soon found that to produce the largest |
yield Of berries, the clean culture was all |
important the first year, but ne Guilt |
vation or disturbing Of the surface-soi! be- |
tween the row should be given in the !
Spring of the second year, or not until the |
crop was gathered. Then was the time to |
make preparation for q crop of fruit for |
the following year, by thorough surface |
disturbance, removing all weeds and |
grass at the same time.
Strawberry. growers are frequently sur. !
prised and disappointed TO find in the !
Spring Of the year, when the frost leaves |
the ground, that the stools are badly in
jured from the effects Of alternate freez-
ing and thawing.
The worst effect from this cause is like !
ly to happen from short warm spells in |
February or March, just enough - thaw !
an inch or two of the surface. The ex-
psnsion caused by this surface thawing
will sever the roots, leaving the stools on
the surface without hold or support, and, |
ms mattor of course, such stools will pro. !
duce little or no fruit. On clay ground |
even thorough drainage does not always |
remedy this, especially If the frost or cold |
weather sets in soon after heavy rain |
storm, while the ground is wet. |
One of the important matters then /
10 be attended 10 by Acknowledgements |
at this season of the year is 10 make /
such preparations as to prevent the posi- |
bility of the frequent alternate freezing !
and thawing. In sections of country |
where snow falls early in December and |
remains Oh the ground ir body until the |
Spring fairly opens, there is no danger to |
be apprehended from surface thawing. |
But in New-Jerscy Delaware, Maryland,
or Virginia, the covering Of snow cannot |
be relied upon, and artificial means must |
be resorted to for protecting the vines.
The best possible way 10 do this is TO |
mulch the beds with salt, hay, wheat, or
cessible then leaves gathered from the
woods will do instead. When
leaves are used, then
sprinkling of soil will be necessary to pre-
vent the leaves from blowing about. The
mulching material may be put on the beds
at any time from now until the middle of
December or even later. Ii should be
spread evenly, and in quantity just enough
to cover the vines. There is nothing
gained by putting oh very heavy mulch.
In garden culture light coating of horse
manure will answer an excellent purpose,
acting as q mulch and fertilizer at the
same time. The manure is not practical
in field culture, from the fact that the |
mulch is just as important in the spring as
in the winter.
In March or April men 90 over the bede |
with wooden rakes, carefully drawing this !
hay or straw off from the vines toward the |
spaces between the rows, and settling the |
hay under the leaves, to be left there un-
til the berries are gathered. This summer
mulch, in the first place, keeps the ground
moist and surface loose, preventing to
some extent the growth o: weeks, while at
the same time, the berries are kept clean
and free from fine sand, which is very
serious matter with strawDerry-growers
who cultivate their berries oil sandy
ground, without mulching. In fact, on
light sandy oil, summer mulching is ten
times as important as winter mulching.