The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-07-29

the plants were good, and the prepare
ton and setting careful, they will begin
growth at once, and suffer little check.
/ regard as particularly important the
removal of all but the last grown leaf
and of the flower buds, and also the
cutting of the roots to an equal length
of about four inches. The last is of
great advantage to the settlers. The
removal of the old leaves prevents any
draft upon the roots until they get hold
of the soil. The pinching out of the
flower buds is even more important, for
every berry grown on the plants the
first season is at the cost of at least a
pint the second season.
In order to get some profit out of the
land the first season, to pay for cultiva-
ton, am in the habit of growing a
crop Of early cabbages, beans, or early
sweet-corn between the strawberry
rows. Every weed should be kept out,
and the ground be kept mellow with
the hoe. The cabbages and the corn
stalks, when removed, should be cut off
beneath the surface with a sharp spade,
so as to leave no stumps or stubble.
The beans should not be picked green,
as this causes too much travel between
the rows. If all goes well, there will
be good growth of young plants be-
tween the rows. In the spring good
many of these can and should be re-
moved with transplanting trowel,
either for new planting or for sale.
The plants should not finally stand
nearer than six to eight inches apart,
with a path eighteen inches wide in
the middle, between the planted rows,
for convenience in gathering. Late in
the previous fall a thin covering of
straw (preferably cut about six inches
long, should be spread over the beds
The plants come through this cover in
the spring, and the straw keeps the
fruit from being soiled. l should have
said that, in selecting the site of a
strawberry plantation, spot should be
chosen where the snow lies well in
winter. This is very essential. AS a
rule, the valleys of brooks, otherwise
preferable, are preferable in this re-
spect also.
If strawberries must be grown in an
open field, | would advise that currants
and gooseberries be grown with them
They should be set in rows thirty feet
apart, and four or five feet asunder in
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out when the sod is first broken, should
be three years planted when the straw
berries are set. l do not find any
profit in taking more than one crop
from each setting of strawberry plants.
After picking is over | NOW the tops
and pillow the beds under, generally get
ting a good crop of English turnips from
the ground by the aid of a little super
phosphate. The next spring the land
is heavily fortified again and re-
planted to strawberries, as before. One
row in five should always be of the
Wilson, to furnish pollen for the rest.
When grown between rows of currants
or gooseberries, as above advised, / set
the row of Wilson's in the middle of
the bed, with two rows of pistillate plants
on each side, and keep the runners
clipped, so as not to allow the plants to
intermiX. 1t answers equally well,
when there are no bushes grown be-
tween, to plant bed of two rows of
Wilson, with beds of five or six rows
of a pistillate sort on each side.
The proper gathering and marketing
of strawberries is an important part of
the business. Here at Newport we
have two large factories of berry
baskets, which are sold, for the best
full quarts, at about So per thousand.
These full quarts are the most profitable,
always. They should be well heaped
in picking, so that when they reach
market they will be at least level full.
A slack filled basket is very hard to
sell, and often stays on hand until the
fruit spoils on the Dealers hands. A
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if those of full measure can be found.
A good, strong crate, holding thirty-two
quarts, is the most popular, though some
are using crate of twenty-four quarts,
as easier to handle and less likely to be
broken.
In gathering the berries it is best
to begin early in the morning, and dew,
unless very heavy, need not be regarded;
yet we must not begin picking after a
rain until the wet is well dried off. Care
should be taken that every ripe berry
is picked, but none that are not ripe.
Each berry should be picked singly
with finger and thumb, without bruis-
ing, and as carefully placed in the
basket. Where the business is carried
on on a large scale, the picker has a
belt with catch to which he Cor she)
can attach the basket, leaving both
hands free for picking. A little stand
is given to each picker, holding four
baskets, and when this is filled it is
carried to the packing-shed, where four
more empty baskets are supplied, and
ticket given for the four full ones.
Settlements are made either every Sat
urday, or at the end of the season.
The latter is the best way The per-
son who puts up the baskets in the
crates should do so carefully, and at
tend also to the addressing them and
preparing them for shipment. He, OF
field superintendent, should also see
that the pickers do their duty in prop
erly filling the baskets. To do this he
must occasionally reverse basket, as
it is brought in, into another, to see
that no tricks are played. Many other
points in the management of large
strawberry plantation will be suggested
by experience, and much of this is
recorded, from time to time, in the hor
ticultural press, of which every fruit.
grower should be student.
Barbed Wire Fence.
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