Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-02
Raising Strawberries.
HarDers MAGAZINE


| My first advice in regard to strawber-
! rleS Is to set them out imm ediateIy al
Ost 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 a lost year
in one respect. While there is 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 genius capable of
wonderful development. In ordinary
circumstances it is like the ''mute inglor-
ious poets" whose enforced limitations
were lamented by the poet Gray; but
when its innate powers and gifts are fully
nourished it 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,
Columbus also discovered the true straw
berry, and died without knowledge of his
achievement.
can immagine the expression on the
faces of those who buy the 'sour, crude,
half-ripe Wilson's" against which the
poet Bryant inveighed so Justly, The
market is flooded with this fruit, because
1t bears transportation about IS well 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 if we would enjoy the possible straw
berry we must raise it ourselves, and pick
it 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 a 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-
fciently long to destroy all roots of grass
and perennial weeds. Put on the fertiliz-
er with a free hand. If it is barn-yard
manure, the rate of sixty tons to the acre
is not in excess. A strawberry plant has
a 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 wi5h the soil in its raw,
unfertilized state, and then to plant i'm
mediately. The ground can scarcely be
too rich for Strawberries, but it can easily
be verheated and stimulated. In ferti-
LIKING ever keep in mind the two great
requisites, moisture and GOODNESS. Manure
from the horse stable, therefore, is about
doubled in value as we'll 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 furrow. If lifting sub-soil pillow
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 a plough, let the garden
er bkgin at one side and trench the area
to at least the depth of eighteen inches,
taking pains to mix the surface, subsoil
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 I 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 I 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 a 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 I'M
til they are scarcely larger than peas. Be
sure to have a deep, mellow soil beneath |
the plants.
Planting Trees.
Fruit Recorder.
For years we have noticed that apple /
L. H. ol],..