The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-10-30
Renew your Strawberry Beds.

A portion OF every nome garden
should be devoted to the growing Of
awberries. By planting the old
bed, a continuous supply of fresh
fruit may be had from early in the
spring until late into the summer.
They are very easy to grow and do
we'll on practically every kind of soil
and in all climates.
From now until the last of October
is the best time for planting. The
strawberry plant delights in a cool
season and if set during the fall will
become we'll established by spring ev-
cry summer. Many failures in plant
ing are due to the fact that the plants
are put out too late in the season.
In selecting plants for the new bed,
only the strongest and best of the
present years runners should be
used. To distinguish new plants from
the old, the roots are always white
in color while those of old plants are
always black. 1t is desirable, previ-
Gus to planting, to remove all the
younger leaves, allowing only few
of the older ones to remain, which
will greatly lessen evaporation. Also,
the ends of the roots should be shear
ed in to about one-third to one-half
if they are very long. While plant
ing, carry the plants in pail of
water.
There are many methods of plant
ing. A common mistake of amateurs
is to scoop out a shallow hole and
thrust the plant in it, leaving the
| roots a crumpled mass with their tips
near the surface where they quickly
dry out. To avoid this, make deep
hole with a spade or long-pointed
trowel. insert the roots and spread
them out fanshape, allowing them to
hang down full length. In this way,
every part of the root system will be
in contact with the soil and kept con-
stantly moist. Be careful not to set
the plants too high or too low. If the
crown or heart is below the surface,
after the soil settles it is smothered;
if much above, the roots are dried
out. The aim should be to put the
crown just at the surface.
In the spring, runners will begin
to form. There are various methods
of training these runners all of which
have strenuous advocates. However,
for the home grower, the hill system
is undoubtedly the most satisfactory.
The plants are placed fourteen to
eighteen inches apart in the row and
all runners kept removed except
few, trained with the row, to pro-
duce new plants. There will not be
quite so much fruit produced as with
some of the matted row systems, but
it will be much larger and of superior
quality. The first season all the
fruiting stems are pinched off as they
appear so that the entire strength of
the plant will be directed to the de-
| velopment of the crown and foliage
parts. By the end of the season, the
plants should have thick broad
crowns, each holding the rudiments
of several stalks of berries and con-
tanning plant food to aid in the pro-
duction of a maximum crop the Sec
| ond season from planting.
A strawberry bed may bear from
three to five crops if given extra good
care, but it is better to allow the
| plants to fruit only twice. AS the
bed gets older, the plants become
weakened and often diseased. For the
highest grade berries, the plants
should be allowed to fruit only once
and new bed set annually.
In planting strawberries, there are
g large number of varieties from
which we may choose, yet only COM
| parative few are especially adapted
to Southern conditions. The Excel
sior as an early berry; the Lady
Thompson and klondyke as medium
| berries, and the Grandy and Aroma
as late varieties are among the best
for the Southern home grower. These
will give a succession of choice fruit.
Clemson College Bulletin