Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-08-27
Raising Strawberries.
Harpers Mayszina

My first advice in regard to Strawber-
! rles Is TO set them out immediately al
most anywhere except upon land so re-
/ Gently in grass that the sod Is still unde-
! decayed. This course is better than not
to have the fruit at all, or to wait for it.
A year without Strawberries is lost wear
IN one respect. While there Is a wide
difference between what plants can do
under uufavorable conditions and what
| they can be made to do when their needs
are fully met, they will probably in an
event yield a fair supply of delicious
| fruit. Secure this as soon as possible.
At the same time remember that a plant
of good variety is a genius capable of
wonderful development In ordinary
circumstances it is like the mute inclor-
lous poets" whose enforced limitations
were lamented by the poet Gray; but
when Its innate powers and gifts are fully
! nourlshed 1t expands into surprising pro
portions, sends up hundreds of flowers.
which are followed by the ruby gems of
fruit whose exquisite flavor is only sur
passed by its beauty. No such concen-
trated ambrosia ever graced the feasts of
the Olympian gods, for they were restrict
ed to the humble Fragaria vesca, or Alpine
species. In discovering the New World,
berry, and died without knowledge of his
achievement.
can immHgine the expression on the
faces of those who buy the ''sour, crude.
half-rlpe Wilson's" against which the
poet Bryant inveighed SO justly, The
market is flooded with this fruit. because
1t bears transportation about as we'll as
would marbles. Yes, they are Strawberries;
choke-Pears and Seckels belong to the
same species. There is truth enough in
my eXaggeration to warrant the assertion
that II we would enjoy the possible straw
berry we must raise ii ourselves. and pick
1t when fully matured ready for the
table and not for market. Then any
mans garden can furnish something bet
ter than was found in Eden
Having started Il strawberry patch with
out loss of time whatever it is handiest
we can now give our attention to the for
nation of an ideal bed. In this instance
we may shun the shade of trees above and
their roots beneath. The land should be
open to the sky, and the sun free to prac-
tice his alchemy on the fruit the greater
part of the day. The most favorable soil
Is sandy loan, verging toward clay, and
1t should have been under cultivation suf
hclently long TO destroy all roots of grass
and perennial weeds. Put on the fertiliZ-
er with free hand. If it is barn-yard
manure, the rate of sixty tons to the acre
is not in excess. A strawberry plant has
large appetite and excellent digestion
1t prefers decidedly manure from the COW
stable, but that from the horse stable
answers very well, but it is not advisable
to incorporate it wi.h the soil in its raw
unfertilized state, and then to plant i'm
mediatoly. The ground can scarcely be
too rich for Strawberries, but it can easily
be owe heated and stimulated. In ferti-
lizing eyer keep in mind the two great
requisites, moisture and GOODNESS. Manure
from the horse stable, therefore, is about
doubled in value as well as bulk if com
posted with leaves, muck, or sods, and
allowed to decay before being used.
Next to enriching the soil the most i'm
portant step is to deepen it, If plough
is used sink it to the beam. run it twice
in a furrow. If a lifting sub-son pIow
can follow, all the better. Strawberry
roots have been traced two feet below the
surface.
If the location of the plot does not
admit the use of plough, let the garden
er bkgin at one side and trench the area
to at least the depth of eighteen inches,
IdAIIlP pains To nix Ine surface, SuDSOu
and fertilizer evenly and thoroughly. A
small plot thus treated will yield as much
as one three or four times as large. One
of the chief advantages of thus deepen
ing the soil is that the plants are insured
against their worst enemy - drought.
How often | have seen beds in early
June languishing for moisture, the fruit
trusses lying on the ground, fainting
under the burden and the berries ripen
prematurely into little more than diminu-
tive collections of seeds When ground
mas been deepened as l have said, the
drought must be almost Unparalleled to
resist the development of the fruit Even
in the most favorable seasons, hard, shall
low soils give but brief period of straw
berries; the fruit ripens all at once, and
although the first berries may be made
of good size, the latter ones dwindle un-
til they are scarcely larger than peas. Be
sure to have deep, mellow soil beneath
the plants.