Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-10-14
RAISING STRAWBERRIES.

RAISING STRAWBERRIES.
How to Prepare the Ground for the Gull
tivation of This Luscious Fruit.
Nv first advice in regard to straw.
berries is to set them out Immediate ~
almost anywhere except upon land SO
recently in grass that the sod is still
undecayed. 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 serious respect.
While there is wide difference be-
tween what plants can do under I'M
favorable conditions and what they can
be made to do when their needs are
fully met, they will probably in any
event yield fair supply of delicious
fruit. Secure this as soon as possible.
At the same time remember that q
plant of a good variety is genius
capable of wonderful development
In ordinary circumstances it is like the
mute, InglOrious poets" whose en-
| lIluitdtiOHS WCAO AdIuCuGSu Nv
the poet Gray; but when its innate
powers and gifts are fully nourlshed it
expands into surprising proportions,
sends up hundreds Of flowers,
which are followed by ruby
gems of fruit whose exquisite
flavor is only surpassed by its
beauty. No such concentrated am
brosia ever graced the feasts of the
Olympian gods, for they were restricted
| to the humble Fragdrta ceSca, or Alpine
species. In discovering the New w Orld,
Columbus also discovered the true
strawberry, and died without knowl-
edge of this result of his achievement.
can imagine 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. be-
cause it bears transportation about as
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 strawberry 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 better than was
found in Eden.
Having started strawberry patch
without loss of time wherever it was
handiest, We can now give our atten-
ton to the formation OF an ideal bed.
In this instance we must shun the
shade of trees above and their
roots beneath. The land should
be open to the sky. and the
sun free to practice his alchemy on the
fruit the greater part of the day. The
most favorable soil is sandy loan.
verging toward clay, and it should
have been under cultivation sufficiently
long to destroy all roots of grass and
perennial weeds. Put on the fertilizer
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 excel
lent digestion. 1t prefers decidedly
manure from the cow stable, but that
from the horse stable answers very
well, but it is not advisable to incor-
porate it with the soil in it's raw, infer
mented state, and then to plant imme-
diately. The ground can scarcely be
too rich for Strawberries, but it can
easily be overheated and stimulated.
In 1ertilizing ever keep in mind the two
great requisites. moisture and cool
ness. Manure from the horse stable.
therefore. is about doubled in value as
WE'LL as bulk if composted with leaves,
muck or sods and allowed to decay be-
fore being used.
Next to enriching the soil the most
important step is to deepen it. If a
pillow is used, sink it to the beam, run
it twice in furrow. If lifting sub
soil-plow can follow, all the better.
Straw berry roots have been traced two
feet below the surface.
If the location of the plot does not
admit the use of pillow let the garden.
er begin 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 thor
oughiy. A small plot thus treated will
yield as much as one three or four
times as large. One of the chief adj
vantages of thus deepening the soil is
that the plants are insured against
their worst enemy : the 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
ripening prematurely into little more
than diminutive collections of seeds!
When ground has been deepened. as l
have said. the drought must be almost
unparalleled to resist the development
of the fruit. Even in the most favora-
bic seasons hard. shallow soils give but
a brief period of strawberries; the fruit
ripens all at once, and although the
first berries may be of good size the
later ones dwindle until they are scarce
ly larger than peas. Be sure to have a
deep, mellow soil beneath the plants.
Z. z. Roe, in Haper's May azine.
Building Cheap Silo.