Cañon City record., 1908-03-19

The horticultural department of the
Colorado Agricultural college has re-
Gently received many calls for infor-
nation concerning the growing of
Strawberries. which it IL hoped may
be met with the following account:
This is one of the few fruits
which can be grown successfully in
practically all except the unirrigated
portion of the state. l. e., the matter
of high altitude does not prevent the
culture of the fruit at least for home
consumption, for they can develop
their fruit in very short season and
the entire plant is easily protected in
the winter.
However. the directions hero given
apply only to attitudes below 1000 feet
and will have to be modified for high
er localities. This, however. 10 mere
ly a matter of common sense.
Where one has the opportunity to
choose, and the willingness to wait
he can better select his conditions
two seasons before setting the bed
The program then would be to plant
a leguminous crop, preferably an an
nual. as field peas. COW peas. etc. This
he should plow under in the fall, and
during the following season grow
upon the land any cultivated crop
which does not produce fruit, e. g..
potatoes, beets. fodder, corn. Tin rows)
etc. In this way the excess Of nitro
gen stored up by the legumes may be
reduced and the fiber becomes better
incorporated In the soil in the form
of humus. Also, the manure can well
be introduced for this crop. AS q
variation from this plan an old alfalfa
field may be chosen to precede the
cultivated crop. but the difficulty Of
killing out this plant even by thorough
cultivation is wen known.
Ordinarily the grower will wish to
set his plants at once upon such land
as is available, although he is likely
to have better success by following the
above preparatory plan. The. ques-
ton he will ask is. what is the ideal
location, and how far may one depart
from such an ideal? The .stersottDsd
answer is rich. sandy loan. but moi
too sandy, with a rather heavier sub
soil, and very moderate eastern OF
southern slope. Fortunately, however
the strawberry is rather cosmopoli-
tan, and varieties may be found which
will give fair returns even in heavy
soil. Generally, however. such soils
are to be avoided. Sandy soils pro
duce earlier at the expense Of produc-
tiveness A too open subsoil means q
lack of water holding capacity; never
theless, the other extreme must be
avoided, that is, free water must not
stand in the subsoil. II this tendency
exists, drainage must be provided.
During the fall or winter manure
should be applied as heavily as fif-
teen or twenty tons to the acre. This
:. should be spread as evenly as possi-
BILE, preferably with manure spread
er. The question of commercial fer
tilizers is a negligible one In this
state. There is no doubt but that the
yield is somewhat increased, but 1t is
extremely doubtful whether the in
crease in yield will pay the actual cost
of the fertilizer. (. 0. b. the farm, plus
the cost of the application. 1t is fur
ther extremely doubtful whether the
same result may not be secured by
cultural methods and careful use OF
manure.
The manure above mentioned should
be plowed in and its thorough incor-
poration secured preferably by cross
plowing. Following this should come
a strenuous narrowing. The soil can
scarcely be put in too fine filth. and
to this end, the finishing touches may
well be given with a "planker" or lev
eler of some description.
/ The plants should be set as early
as possible after water becomes avail
able On the eastern slope this Will
be between the last of March and the
first of May.
/ The rows may run north and south