The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-02-04
News Of the Farm
THE strawberry BED.

Early in the spring is when the new
strawberry bed should be made, and those
who contemplate having them cannot pre-
pare the ground too soon. 1t is a fact
that but few farmers, comparatively,
know how to grow strawberries. 1t was
for long time believed that it was diff
cult an dlaborious to grow them, when.
in fact, there is no crop grown in gar
den that can be produced SO easily, or
which gives such valuable results in pro-
portion to cost. They can be hand on
every farm and abundantly. Growers who
make their land produce maximum crops
have secured 1000 quarts per acre, but
5000 quarts may be considered an excel
lent yield. To give some idea of how
many quarts may be grown on small
garden patch Of 25x1O0 feet, which is less
than one-sixteenth of an acre. Consider
ing also that the quality of the berries
will be superior to any that can be pur-
chased in market (as they will be fully
ripe and not injured by transportation,
they will be worth at least 10 cents per
quart, or $50 for the crop of small patch
25x1O0 feet-smalIer than city lot. As
more berries can be grown proportion
ately on a small plot than on an acre,
there is no reason why 500 quarts should
not be picked the first bearing season
The strawberry bed, if kept clean and free
from grass and weeds, should continue
to produce crops for three successive sea-
sons or more.
Plow or spade the ground as deep as
fbar1 r.
face manure TO the depth of two or three
inches, working it well into the soil, but
before working the ground apply also, for
an acre, a mixture of 100 pounds nitrate
of soda. 100 pounds bone meal and $50
pounds muriate of potash. Let it be done
the first warm day; be sure and work the
manure and fertilizer well into the soil,
and make the soil as fine as possible.
Then leave it until April, when the ground
should be worked over again. For small
patch the labor will not be costly, and.
as the first preparation is the most i'm
portant, the work should be well done.
After the plants are set out but little
work will be entailed on the farmer. AS
there are new and better varieties intro
duced every year, get from some reliable
pistillate (male and female) plants, as
the selection of varieties depends on whe-
Their the soil is heavy or light. If for
garden make the rows three feet apart
in the row. Every fourth row should con-
sist of the staminate variety and the 9th
ers of the pistillate kind. A patch 25x1O0
feet would require about 900 plants. Use
only young plants-runners from last
springs growth-which may be known by
their roots being nearly white, those of
old plants being dark. Set them in
straight rows, pressing the earth well ar
ound the roots, using water, if necessary,
being careful not to cover the crowns of
the plants.
After the plants begin to grow use the
hoe and work between the plants we'll
hand wheel hoe may be used between the
rows, and it will work very close to the
plants without injuring them. If the
plants are Checked in the rows-that is,
placed in lines both lengthwise and cross
wise-the ordinary hoe need not be used.
as the wheel hoe will enable one to do the
work of several men and hoes. In that
manner a small patch can be hoed in 10
minutes or even in less time. Do not wait
for grass and weeds to appear, but keep
the soil loose. During the summer each
plant will throw out runners, and soon
the bed will be thickly matted. 1t will be
an advantage then to cut the stems which
connect the runners with the parent
plants Should weeds or grass appear in
the matted rows pull them out by hand.
If the matted rows are a foot wide, it will
leave but a small space between the rows
to cultivate If water can be applied on
a small patch during dry spell, it will
be beneficial. Along in the fall, just as
winter approaches. cover the rows with
fine manure, and over the manure use a
light mulch of salt hay or straw. Early
in the spring rake the bed over, so as to
remove the mulch and rake the manure
fine. leaving the mulch between the rows,
and after the plants are well up use straw
or salt hay under them, so as to leave the
berries clean. These details are not as
Iaborious as they seem for a small plot,
and if choice varieties are used the eX-
pertinent will be very satisfactory. The
instructions apply to larger areas, also
if heavy yields of choice fruit are desired.
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES.
T. B. Terry of Ohio made an interest
ing experiment with potatoes this year.
This potato he cut into "a pieces, each
piece having one-sixth of an eye. The
pieces were planted in "a hills 50 inches
apart each way. The land was clover sod,
the planting being done late, after crop
of clover had been cut, and the crop suf-
fered from lack of moisture, but by the
time the potatoes had been matured the
vines covered the ground and from an
exact square rod the yield was over five
pecks of large tubers, at the rate of 200
bushels per acre. Mr.. Terry does not re-
commend the use of one-sixth Of an eye
in planting, but he thinks that one eye
to a hill is sufficient; his experiment ought
to prove this. He says only potatoes Of
strong variety would be capable Of max
ing such a yield as his potatoe made
BUYING AND SELLING COWS.
A new method in buying and selling
COWS is proposed by the North Carolina
experiment station. II is based on the
yield OF milk and quality OF same. as de-
termined by tests. 1t is proposed to pay
for the cow at the rate Of so per gallon
Of milk given per day that is rich enough
to show 3i5 per cent OF butter fat To
this price add or subtract 81 for every one
quarter of one per cent Of fat above or
below the 81 per cent By this rule the
COW is bought entirely on her merits. It