The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-30
FARM AND GARDEN

VI Plo1iOiHS, DuL nave .IOuQQ mourning
that suits us quite so well as a good
dlbbte. In using this dibble we thrus
1t into the soil the full length, crowd.
ing it forward so that the top of the
! hole is about two inches wide Have
your plants with the roots we'll moist.
ened, and as you pick up a plant an6
/ spread the roots out somewhat fan
SNAPPED, and place it in the hole with
tile crown just even with the surface
NOW Shove in your d!bble about two
lncneS from the hole, giving it such a
slant that the point will be very close
10 the bottom of the hole, and crowd
IL up to the plant firmly. This gets the
SOIL IN close contact with the roots
their entire length and puts the plant
IN the best possible condition to grow
and thrive from the start.
Cultivation.
Cultivate and hoe Immediately after
pIantlng to get the surface fine and
mellow, and cultivate once week to
keep it so. If it should rain after cul-
tlNaung, cultivate again as soon as
Uhe ground is in good condition to
work, the object being to never let a
crust form, but to have the surface
always fine and loose Keep all bios
SONS picked the first season. Treat
all runners as weeds the first one or
Two hoelngs, so as to let the plant get
well established before making any
new plants. Then, when the runners
are allowed to grow, they will grow
very rapidly and will make large,
thrlrty plants. | have noticed in dig
glng plants in the summer that the
first. plant from the parent would be
much smaller and have less roots than
The second or any other one on that
runner. If the first runners are cut
OH all plants will be strong ones. The
ideal strawberry row is IS to 20 inches
WIDE, with the plants not too thick in
the row, and when you get it the
width you want it. treat all runners
as weeds again. We aim to make the
pfants grow as fast as possible the
fore part of the season, and get our
row as wide as we want it just as soon
as we possibly can.
The strawberry plant is always max
ing an effort in two directions to repro
duce itself; first, by means of the run
ners, and thus making new plants;
and, second, by means of the fruit and
seeds. By cutting off the runners the
energy of the plant which was put
into the growth of new plants, will go
to the development of strong fruit
buds. l have a single Wilson plant
with all runners kept off that could
hardly be covered with a half-buShel
measure, and a whole acre of them
that averaged quart of berries to
the plant
Winter Protection.
AS soon as the ground freezes hard
enough to drive or with a team and
wagon, cover lightly just enough to
hide the plants from sight. In the
spring, as soon as the plants start to
grow. go over the bed frequently to
see that the mulch is not on too
thick. If you find the plants getting
white and spindling. remove part,
working it between the rows, leaving
it thin enough over the row for the
plants to grow up through readily.
Second Crop.
If it is decided to grow a crop the
second year, NOW the plants off close
to the ground as soon as the fruit is
all harvested. If your strawberry bed
is so situated that you can burn it off
without danger to other crops or
buildings. loosen up the mulch and
after two or three days drying set fire
to it on the windward side so that it
will burn quickly. This destroys all
insects and fungus growths. if there
are any, and leaves the old bed in the
best condition to work out and make
into q new one. Perhaps just word
of caution would not be out of place
right here. If the weather should be
very dry just at this time there might
be some danger of injury to the plants,
but / have never seen it if the work
is done as soon as the berries are har-
vested, nor when the work of burn
ing was delayed for two or three
weeks. If we are having plenty of
rain we cultivate the bed at once after
burning, and narrow the rows down
to about eight or ten inches in width
If very dry, we leave them wider, say
twelve to fourteen inches. Keep free
from weeds the same as a new bed
In the discussion which followed rela-
tive to the burning over of the straw
berry bed, President Underwood said:
L do not think you can make any
in burning the bed off, and
l do not think you need to be afraid
of the drouth. A year ago last sum-
mer we burned a strawberry bed over
during the dryest time, following the
advice of Mr.. Danforth, of Red Wing, !
perhaps the most successful grower of
fine strawberries in the state We
first put on a quantity of straw, and
no bed could be more thoroughly
burned over than that was. There |
was not a particle of rain, nor was
there the slightest sign of anything
growing on that bed for three or four !
weeks after it was burned 1t must |
have been some time in September be- |
fore there was enough moisture in the |
air or in the ground to start the |
trawberries or anything else grow
ing That bed came on, and without !
putting on a penny's worth of care
whatever it was the best and most /
productive bed we had this year. We |
the same plan on five or six /
acres this year, and it was entirely |
1 feel certain that is the |
most economical and most successful |
way to treat an old bed.