The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-11-01
SMALL FRUIT CULTURE.
BY G. V. Gregory.

home is luxury that Is Wltnln the
reach of every farmer Grown on a
larger scale the small fruits are
among the most profitable crops that
the farm will produce.
The best liked and most widely dis
tributed small fruit is the stra wberry
The best soil for the stra wberry bed
is sandy loan wberries do bet
ter on light Soils and the berries are
larger and of better quality. If you
have no light soil that can be used
for the stra wberry bed you can greatly
improve heavy soil by mannring ii
well OF course 1t must be well
drained, in order that 1t may warm
up quickly in the spring instead OF
remaining soggy for several weeks and
then baking hard, as undrained soils
are so liable to do.
Deep blowing. with thorough disk
ing and narrowing. Is necessary in or
der to get the land into the best con
dition. Stray berries should follow
some cultivated crop which has been
kept free from weeds. 1t will then
be easier to prepare the seed bed. and
the patch will be freer from weeds and
insects Strawberries are particular
in their soil requirements, and little
care in preparation will add greatly
to the size of the crop. Too little at
tention is given to this most important
requisite. Many persons do not seen
to be aware that the stra wberry Is al
all particular about the soil in which
it is put AS consequence they pre-
pare their beds without any reference
to this essential factor in the success
Of their enterprise and, Of course, are
doomed to disappointment in the out
come.
Varieties of Strawberries.
Varieties of stra wberries are divided
into two general types-the perfect and
the imperfect lowered. The imperfect
contain only the female organs or PTS
ills, while the perfect sorts contain
both stamens and piStils. The imper
feet varieties can produce no fruit un
less fortified with the pollen from the
flower of perfect variety 1t is very
important that attention be paid tc
this point In planting. Many OF the
imperfect sorts possess points or supe
riority over the perfect varieties. They
can be successfully grown by planting
every fifth row to perfect fowered
variety. This row will furnish poller
for the two rows on either side or 1t
In setting out bed In this way care
must be taken to see that the two va
rieties come into bloom at the same
time.
Perfect and imperfect varieties can
not be told apart except when IL
bloom Then the absence OF the row
of pistils around the petals marks the
imperfect sorts. Lists Of varieties OF
strawberries always specify whether
they are perfect or imperfect rell
able nurseryman can be depended upor
to give you what you ask for. A list
of the varieties best adapted to your
locality can be obtained from your ex
pertinent station.
The strawberry is propagated almost
entirely by runners. At each joint III
the runner a new plant appears and
takes root Only plants less than ;
year old should be selected for plant
ing. The crown should not be toe
large and the roots thick and long
The presence Of large woody roots
and a heavy crown indicates that the
plant is an old one. If there are many
leaves 1t is we'll to pinch off one OF
two of the largest to correspond to
the injury to the root system.
Planting Strawberries.
Spring planting is the most reliable