Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-04-19
Guaiacol
Prepared BY T. 4. Slocum Co., New York
A GREAT STRAWBERRY CROP
For Eastern Maine A Word Abou
Varieties Soil and Climate

For Eastern Maine A Word About
Varieties, Soil and Climate.
The prospects for . great straw berry
crop next season 10 Eastern Maine are ex-
ceedingly good. writes E. W. Wooster, of
Hancock, to the Maine Farmer, for all con-
dltions since May till the present time
have been very favorable. Last season,
though Is could hardly be called q wet one,
yet we had frequent rains which kept the
surface of the ground well watered during
the whole summer. Where the soil was
In good condition and good cultivation
given, all varieties made supersbundahce
of plants.
When We bad about half completed the
work of covering for winter protection,
nature stepped in and finished the work by
giving Us on the last day Of November,
seversl inches of snow, which has re-
manned. and with many additions since,
and now the plants lie under three feet Of
good hard Snow. almost s. green as they
were in September.
Where strawberries are grown for fruit,
exclusively, no matter how largely. ten
varieties are enough As the pisti lates
are. rs rule. more hardy. vigorous aud
productive than the staminate, we plant
three-quarters of our ground TO the former
kind, aud .he staminstes. instead Of being
planted among the pistillates, as is gener-
ally recommended. We plant on either side,
north and south OF the plot II narrow and
on the west also II wide
We select SO As to make the fruiting
season as long as possible. naturally and
then by mulchng prolong II IS Ion. as
possible. srtincially. We select with a
due consideration for the demands on our
market, which is mostly fancy one Oar
Harbor). aud We select those varieties
that viii give Us the most fancy berries.
Beder Wood. Warneld and Hayerlsud for
early, Bubsch, Jessie and Daisy FOR me.
dunn and Sbarpiess, Burt. Parker Earle,
Edgar Queen and Eur.ks for late. We
grow many Others In u small Nay on our
test grounds; sdding some new varieties
every year and dropping Others out a.
they prove unworthy.
Ii Will be long time before We sha Il
find better berry than either the b Ihsch.
Wsrfield or Haverland. though these all
have their faults. My ideal berry would
be one with the color and nrmness Of The
Wsrrtlt. the productiv.n-ss OF the uav-
erland, the form OF the Manchester the
quality OF the Jewell, The size and habit
OF growth OF the Bubsch. the foliag. OF
the Edgar Queen and the season OF the
Parker Earle, but never expect TO md it
moist, deep loan, beautifully mixed
with mock. Is the BEST soil for straw Der
ries- We take up every year piece right
from nature. plant 1t for two years 10
early cabbage and potatoes. using only sea
dressing and commercial fertilizer, giving
IL Clean cultivation then In the fali sitter
the crop has been housed, prepare IL for
strswb berries. by laying 1t of In beds about
two rods wide, looking carefully 70 good
drainage.
All stones larger than goose egg are
removed from The surface. Iu the spriug
as soon As the ground can be worked, ~e
lay 1t OF In rows from four 10 SIX feet
apart according TO the spreading habit Of
the variety TO be planted, using . line, 50
that the rows will be perfectly straight.
We strew along the line, about foot wide,
4 good complete commercial fertilizer. one
pound 10 about ten feet, and work IL
In with hDe tooth horse cultivator.
We select the largest plants We can find
OF the previous seasons growth from beds
such as Haverland. Edgar Queen and
Wariield, we set two feet spart; while the
Bubach, Parker Earle and some others Of
compact growth. We set one foot - six
teen inches.
We keep all runners cut till August =,
and give frequent civilizations during the
whole season BY this method weeds
have no terror FOR US. and We never have
yet failed TO get all the plants We wanted,
even though our growing season is very
short, and plants Of more than five times
the value to Us than those We get from
nurserymen.
We hire the most Of our pickers by the
hour and have the berries carefully sorted
when gathered. We never have found .
picker yet that we could trust to sort
when hired by the quart. Our fruit is
gathered when possible during the nrst
and latter part of the day and we try TO
get 1t to market with very careful hand
ling