Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-08-04
An Experiment with Strawberries,

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In the spring of 1869 we set out
patch of Strawberries, perhaps an eight
Of an acre, with two varieties, Hovey'
Seeding and Brighton Pine. The lane
was we'll dressed with horse manure, a
the rate of twenty cords to the acre, and
the plants set in rows of four feet apart
and six inches apart in the row. The
season was favorable for their growth
and they made too many runners, and So
the plants were rather too thick in the
beds the next season for the best success.
In the fall we covered the bed with ever
green boughs, such as we always use
when we can get them, in preference to
anything else, The second year, after
we bad taken off large crop of fruit,
and just as the severe drouth set in, we
had all the leaves moved and raked off.
Our order was not to leave whole leaf
on the bed After this was done, the
walks, some fifteen inches wide, were cut
out and turned under with a spade, and
the beds weeded, and then left to take
care of themselves. We were away dur
ing the month of August, and supposed,
on account of the severity of the drouth.
the plants would perish, but on our re-
turn in September, found them green
and fourishing. In the fall they were
weeded and covered again with boughs,
and the last spring they came out look
ing splendidly, while many of my neigh
bors nearly failed with the plants they
had set the spring before. They con-
tinued to look we'll, and gave very
large yield of fruit, affording a bushel
and half in single day. All who
saw them, and knew the facts, were as
tonished at the result. They are to be
treated in somewhat similar manner
again, except that some manure is to be
dug in where the paths were this season,
and the plants he allowed to run over
those spaces, and new paths or walks cat
out where the beds now are, or were.
This work we do just as soon as our crop
is all off. During all this time, this bed
has had no extra care, it being treated
as feld-crop, and it has cost but little
to produce the fruit My plan, there
fore, has been that practised at Belmont,
to plough the vines under after they had
given one crop. One of the strongest
reasons urged in favor of this plan is that
the ground becomes very full of weeds,
is left year after year. We have found
no difficulty in this respect. Of course,
they need to be weeded, and so do most
other crops. If my plan will prove as
successful in all cases as it has with me,
surely it should be extensively adopted
by those who own but small patch of
ground. 1t is urged by some that this
crop exhausts the elements of the soil
necessary to its best success, and so needs
to be changed to other locations This
is true in measure, but this objection
can be overcome TO great degree, by
supplying that nutriment that the plants
need. Ashes, bone dust, superphosphate,
guano, or, better than all, except the
ashes, well-rooted horse-manure, will do
the business. Where one has plenty of
land, and can change about this crop
from field to field, it may be as we'll to do
so, though we know that our friends at
Concord have had the highest success
with Strawberries by the acre, where they
have adopted the plan of moving off the
tops as we have done. After all we are
obliged TO confess that it is contraryro
long established theory that plants of
any kind do well where all the leaves
have been taken off, and we have fire.
quently said that we might as we'll ex-
pect an animal to live and flourish after
his lungs have been removed but facts
are stubburn things, andwe give our ex-
perience.