The Newtown bee., 1894-06-01
Live Farm Topics.
THE CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES.
IA PAPER READ BEFORE PoHTATUCK
 GRANGE.

 IA PAPER READ BEFORE POHTATUCK
 GRANGE.
 A few years ago a story was told of a reigning sovereign of Europe having or deTed for his table, dish of strawberries | every day in the year, task of no little magnitude years ago, but easier of solu- l tion now, for the supply of this most de- 1 licious of small fruits has been extended | over a larger portion of the year than formerly. About the beginning of the | new year the first supply makes it's ap- pearance from the the hot houses locat- l ed about New York and Boston, and sell for about $1.50 per pint. Soon after the Florida strawberries make their ap- perance in our northern cities, sent from their sunny home by fast rail and steam ship lines, the supply gradually increas- es, and prices, at first high, tend down. ward as the season advances. Savannah, Charleston and Norfolk, Va., in their turn send large consignments. The fruit industry about the two latter cities has assumed large proportions, hun- dreds of acres are devoted to the produc- tion of the strawberry alone, and large areas also to oGher fruits and vegetables. The favorable climate insuring earliness, and facilities for reaching New York, the great distributing center, quickly, make these points attractive to the fruit grower. The New York Tribune of Sat urday reports strawberries "as coming from the eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland and even as far north as Dela- ware. In consequence the supply of this delectable fruit is becoming abundant, of excellent quality and cheap" and further says ''that in two weeks the beds Irf NaU -TarSau will
 be ready for the market. Southern New York and Long Island furnish the next
 berries for market, and this brings us to
 our own season, which, in the average l year, begins about June 10 and ends the | first week in July, covering period of
 about three weeks. The season of late | years has been somewhat extended by
 supplies from northern points, the last
 berries of the season found in the New
 | fork market about July 20 coming from
 Maine.
 The strawberry thrives on most any
 kind of soil from light sandy loam to
 clay, the lighter the soil however, the earl fer crop is likely to be. The soil most p e. fered is a deep friable loam with an ad- mixture of sand, we'll drained, but reten-
 tive of moisture, and well enriched. It
 is surprising how many farmers, even ln
 Newtown, buy instead of growing their
 straw berries; if they have strawberry
 patch the chances are you will find il tucked in one corner of the vegetable
 garden struggling for existence amid the
 surrounding weeds, producing at bes
 only limited crop of fruit. The place for strawberry, bed in my opinion,is not in the vegetable garden; strawberries dc best or fresh ground. Take one corne of your lot where you had corn on soc last season, it should have been fertilizet at the time of planting the corn in antic ipation of the strawberry crop; free tn ground from stone and rubbish, blow il a good coat of manure, harrow in, afte spreading liberally wood ashes or special fertilizer containing sulphate o potash, for the strawberry plant revel in potash, and you now have the groun in best condition for setting.
 Following the matted row system, fo
 family use, make the rows, say 100 fee $ long, two or more rows four feet apar 1 with the plants two feet apart in th s row. Pinch off all blossoms as they ap c pear. The runners should be allowed t T run. Use the cultivator frequently + narrowing as the runners spread, leaV C ing path between the beds at the en d of the growing season. The bed shout = be free from weeds; cover after the frs n freeze with coarse horse manure, ( e other mulch, removing part of the sam e in the spring From this bed which ha It not fruited, you get the best of plant l, for setting a new he'd which should | done early each spring, blowing unde C the old bed after fruiting.
 l, The hill system requires plants to $ set two feet apart each way, all runner l. to be clipped and the plants to be mulel n ed at fruiting time. A bed can be ket
 two three or more years by this method d if we'll cared for, while the berries wi X grow somewhat larger and yield bount e fully. This system is favored by man. e especially when the area is limited. u The number of varieties of the stray ,1 berry increase with each succeeding yea n old favorites drop out, new claiman e come forward to take their place e Those grand old sorts, Wilson, Agricu e turst, Downing and others have not bee e excluded in value or productiveness b n the newer varieties. Still l think it n safe to say that we are holding our owl a The Bubach (pistilate) is a popular var a ety to day; medium early and produ K tive. Jersey, excellent to plant wit e the Bubach, being perfect lowered; M a ner, a good berry; Haviland for early d Candy for late, are we'll spoken of. TT e Crescent seems to be degeneratins n Sharpless; fine variety on congeni; 'f soil. It does not do we'll with me. ( It the newer varieties have not tried the
 so can not speak from experence.-[ | Z c. Peck.