The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1914-04-15

upon these spring set plants keep all
blossoms picked off until July. Bios
SONS will be formed freely and runner
plants which have not yet taken root
will have many blossoms, but it only
weakens the plants to let them bear
fruit until the parent plants are we'll
established
"But while picking the blossoms is
one of the important cultural require
ments of the fall strawberry it is not
the only one. A richer soil is needed
than with ordinary kinds. l.. j.
Farmer, who has probably had long
and extensive experience with COM
mercial plantation of fall bearing
strawberries, says in his book on
strawberry growing that fall straw
berries because of bearing heavy
crops the same year when set out re-
quire even richer, stronger soil for
best results than do the common
kinds.
Not only must the soil be strong
and rich naturally, or made so previ-
Gus to setting the plants, but plenty
of strong high grade fertilizer must
be applied after the plants are set
out, during the growing season. We
have beon IN the habit of scattering a
II quart pailful over each row 100
feet long, using fertilizer analyses
not less than four per cent nitrogen,
| 10 per cent phosphoric acid, and 10
per cent potash.
" 'One must be careful in using
such high grade fertilizer and SO
much of it, that it dOes~not get on
| the leaves or too near the plant.
| About three inches from the plants is
| near enough. 1t is worse to burn
the plants with too much fertilizer
than it is to withhold some. Dry
seasons are more dangerous in which
| to use it than are wet ones, but never
apply after a rain or when the plants
are wet lest the fertilizer scatter and
| fall on the foliage. Ii fertilizer in
| this quantity is put on once month
| for two or three months and then a
rest taken until the plants seem ex-
| hausted by the large crops in the fall,
and then another application made,
| the best results will be obtained.
q" THE cultivator and hoe must be
used as soon as the plants are set out
as possible, and the operation kept
up at intervals until growth stops in
the fall. Some varieties do best when
kept in hills, and these can be set
quite closely, say on foot by three
feet. Varieties that bear on the
young runners as we'll as the parent
plant should be set the usual distance
that common strawberries are set when
grown by the matted row method.
think they should never be set less
than Is inches in the row, and the
rows made not less than four feet
apart.
" IF the plans have been set in
April or early May they will blossom
some time in May, and these blossoms
should be removed. After this it
will be three or four weeks before the
blossoms appear to any extent, be-
cause the energy of the plant has
been used to make itself better estab-
lished instead of running to blossoms
and fruit. After time, new bios
SONS will appear and these should be
removed. The plants will now con-
tinue to bloom until the hardest
freezing weather and the blossoms
should be cut away and removed
every week or 10 days up to within
three weeks of the time we want them
to begin ripening fruit. About Aug
ust LIST is the proper time to stop
cutting off the blossoms; then we
may expect ripe fruit on some vari-
cites about August Goth and others
September LIST, depending on the sea-
son.
g The yield of fall strawberries is
determined by the conditions, the
same as all other kinds of strawber-
ries. They seem to be able to stand