The sun., 1919-08-24

quality until recently have been soft
and consequently poor shippers. As
result berries of high quality are
kept out Of the market. Thus the pub
lie living in the cities, and for the
most part in the towns, has never ex-
perienced the pleasure Of eating a real
luscious strawberry.
With the idea In mind of combining
quality with the ability to stand ship
ment the propagation Of the Judith
strawberry was begun some twelve
years ago.
Thirty odd varieties of the best
known Strawberries were selected and
the plants thoroughly mixed. They
were then compactly planted so as to
better allow OF cross fertilization-the
latest blossoms of the earliest and the
earliest blossoms of the latest varie-
ties could we'll fertilize one another.
AS fast as the berries ripened the
finest specimens were selected, making
three groups-early, medium and late
The berries were then crushed and al
lowed to stand until fermentation had
taken place, so as to soften the pulp
and make separation from the seeds
easy. The fermented mass was then
poured into a fine sieve and the pulp
pressed through the wire mesh while
running water passed through the
sieve from the tap. The mass was
then turned into deep bowls and, the
pulp being lighter than the seeds,
floated and SO was easily poured off.
After several rinsings the seeds be-
came perfectly clean and were then
poured out into blotting paper to dry.
The seed bed, consisting of rather
light sandy loan and practically free
from weed seeds but not enriched, was
made as smooth and level as possible.
The seed, now thoroughly dry, was
scattered thinly and evenly by sitting
through coarse sieve, and was then
raked lightly in. The bed was then
rolled with a heavy roller and covered
with clean straw to keep the surface
moist until the seed terminated, which
was in about six weeks. Then the bed
was uncovered and kept free from
weeds and watered when necessary.
When the plants got three or four
leaves and were two to three inches
tall they were dug up and the tips
Of the roots cut off. They were then
set out in rows, one foot, apart, and
the plants three to four inches apart
in the row.
The tiny runners were shipped of
as they appeared and when the plants
began to crowd they were then again
dug up with a ball OF earth attached
and set out in rows two feet apart and
plants one foot apart in the row.
Late in the fall they were again
taken up with a spade and set out
four feet apart in rows and the rows
four feet apart. They were then COW
cred one to two inches deep with straw
mulch, just as soon as the ground be-
gan to freeze.
In the spring they were uncovered
and the ground thoroughly cultivated
up to the time when they began to put
out their fruit stems. Then the mulch
was spread around the plants to keep
the fruit clean and the ground moist.
The first season none of the fruit
was picked, so that one could judge
of the productiveness of the plant
the length of the fruiting season.
whether all OF cluster ripened at
once or one at a time-whether the
first to open was the largest. or what
is called the king berry, and the rest
small, or whether they were all uni
formly large, and whether the berries
were meaty enough to dry on the vine
or watery, so as to rot when ripe
AS the plants began to develop note
was made of the size, shape and color
of the leaves and their freedom from
disease, also whether the plant was
low and spreading or tall and upright
Note was also made when the stems
appeared as to whether they were
long and stout so as to carry the big
clusters of berries and whether they
remained covered by the foliage so a;
to protect the blossoms from frost.
Symbols were used to designate the
special features which are common tC
all: For foliage, X. Xxx, xxx; fol
size and VigOr Of blossoms. B anC