The Glenwood post., 1916-05-20
SAVING STRAWBERRIES
BY BATTLING THE WORMS
essay, what do you know about angle


wormsf"
The speaker was J. Z. Thompson,
Union Colony pioneer, veteran lumber
and implement dealer Of early days in
Greeley. he was sitting in the little,
music shop on the rear of his lot in
Coronado Court when 1 happened past.
I told him that I knew that they
were good to go fishing with, and that
I could take shovel and dig in my
garden till within two minutes my
flock of baby chicks would crawl al.
over me in their eagerness to get ae the
wrHggfing dainties. beyond that,
wasn't especially well-informed. Than
he opened up with story of fish
worms, strawberries and salt that
thought good enough to pass on.
"Forty-five years ago." said Mr..
Thompson, "when the colonists came
to Greeley there wasn't an angleworm
in this whole country. Not in the gar
dens, nor about the stable lots, nor
even along the riverbanks. The boys
who went fishing in those days used to
wish for nest of the good old anglo
worms that they dug out in the moist,
shady spots behind the barn back home.
had fine garden in those days, hers
on my home lot, which at that time
reached clear to Tenth street and
Ninth avenue. 1 remember that for
years we raised the finest strawberries
on earth here in Greeley. 1 had
strawberry bed right on the corner
where the Craig bookstore now stands.
1t bore fine for several years. I re-
member one year 1 picked $50 quarts
from space 80 by rs feet, and sold
them all for so cents quart! I never
have seen such berries in late years.
Then, one summer the berries began to
die. I'D come home from the office
at noon and find here and there hill
that had wilted. Within a day or two
the plant would turn brown and shrivel
up. pulled some of them up, and
found the roots cut off about an inch
under ground. Then 1 got spade and
dug down. Angleworms! A perfect
nest of them l went down to see Max
Clark Max was raising berries, too,
and he was having the same trouble.
We commenced to dig and found more
angleworms.
81 don't know what made me thiak
of trying salt. 1 guess it was because
I had tried everything else and got
nowhere. But one day 1 sprinkled dry
salt on little spot in my garden where
the worms were unusually plentiful,
just made the ground a little gray with
the salt. Next day there wasn't
worm to be found in the soil so treated,
and I went after them on a larger
scale. Some places where got the salt
little too thick it killed the plants,
and one day salted part of my
lawn when the dew was on. I knew
better the next day because wherever
the salt had got wet on the leaves,
they turned brown and the grass died
out. But got rid of the worms, and
it was five years before / was troubled
with them again.
"I notice that the alfalfa fields near
here are badly infested with cutworms.
L believe the same treatment, with salt,
would get rid Of them. I'd like to see
some farmer try it. Only, he. doesn It
want to SOW it too thick, nor when the
leaves are wet with dew or rain. Take
a dry day for it and try just little
patch at first. Pm sure it will work.
have tried salt as fertilizer in my
garden frequently, and find it increases
the yield as we'll as rids the soil of
worms.
"Here's another salty wrinkle: Try
putting up alfalfa with salt. I used
to salt my hay when had a farm. L
used to stack my alfalfa just as soon
after cutting as it had wilted little,
never waiting for it to cure. When I
had layer the thickness Of forkful
of hay all over the stack I'd SOW a
good thick coating of salt, enough to
make the hay look gray. Then I'd put
on another layer of hay, then a layer
of salt again, till the top was reached.
I never had that green hay heat or
turn brown on me- It came out Of the
stack just as solid and rs bright gresn
ss the day it was cut. Such hay as
that today would be worth . dollar q
ton more thans the prevailing market
price. &c. h. Wolfe in Greeley Trib-
une. 9AaiU iiull III ri ~
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