Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-03

The strawberry bed on the average
country place usually is sad looking
affair after the end of the berry season.
choked out with grass and the ground
is covered with a solid mat of runners
and young plants If the varieties hap
pen to be free growers. 1t Is also like
ly the leaves, or most Of them. will be
rusty, instead of bright green in color.
Strawberry beds require care and at
tention after the bearing season the
same as before. The first thing to do
with such a bed as is described above is
to go over it with a scythe or mower
and clip of weeds grass and rusty
leaves. Nov close enough to get all of
this material, but not close enough to
cut or injure the crowns of the plants.
Some growers follow the practice Of
throwing a light mulch over the beds.
and at a time when q brisk wind is
blowing burn them over, but this can
not be recommended as a general thing.
However. In the case of large paintings
that have become badly overgrown and
matted it Is well to pillow out the rows,
tearing out fully half of the plants and
re-establishing rather narrow rows.
Follow the blowing with harrow.
Needless to say by this time the straw
berry bed will seem to have disap-
peared. A good rain will renew 1t, how
ever; the leaves will come out bright
and green, and many new runners will
start These runners will make plants
that will bear next year. OF course,
after awhile the strawberry bed gets so
old that 1t Is wise to plow it entirely
under and start a new bed: but 1t is re-
markable how much may be done to
renovate the ordinary bed two or three
years old simply by moving, blowing
out extra plants and narrowing.
Weeds are deadly enemies Of the
strawberry and for this reason it Is
good plan to have the land, previous to
setting out the strawberry plants, In
some crop that requires clean cultiva-
ton. This will give location practi-
caliy free from weeds. If the planting
is to be in the fall, 1t Is good practice
to grow a crop of potatoes on the
ground. though tomatoes. beans or any
other crop requiring clean cultivation
Is to be in spring. the ground should
be plowed the preceding fall and al
lowed to remain fallow during the
winter.
Young strawberry plants should have
as long season as possible to grow
from the time of planting up to the
cessation of growth in the fall. AL
though it is rather late and some diff
Guilty may be found in obtaining them,
make SUFFICIENT growth to become es-
tablished before frost stops their
growth, and such plants should bear
profusely next spring. and for at least
three years thereafter.
According to the department of agri-
culture of France, in a recent bulletin.
toad during its life is worth 50 to
the farm. A lizard is worth 50. swal-
low $50, a titniouse IS, robin 81
SIG, and a fern owl $50. That Is, the
good these birds and reptiles do In de-
stroying insects, slugs, etc, is worth
these various amounts to the products
of the farm.
Bees cows. hogs and poultry will har
vest cheap raw materials on the farm and
convert such materials into high priced
products. Doesn't good business judg-
ment dictate that every farmer should
convert as much as possible of the
cheap raw material of his farm into
such money products?
Even a short-lived field of alfalfa,
than any other hay crop. either for this
section or for the forage producing re-
gions of the country. The average an
nual yield OF a good field of alfalfa is
around four tons per acre, many fields
running as high as five or six tons per
acre. and alfalfa hay has about the
same feeding value as wheat bran. Out
side of little extra cost of seed the
expense Of starting a field of alfalfa
need not be much beyond that of seed
ing a field of ordinary clover and tim
othy in the fall. On a well managed
farm 1t would be a simple matter to
leave out the timothy in seeding wheat
this fall. and then seed to alfalfa next
fall after the land has been well pre-