Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-25
The Premier Strawberry.

Known both as Howard. II. the orig
| inal and correct name. and as Premier,
this comparatively new strawberry va
Qualities, forced itself into leading
| position in American strawberry grow
ing. It is an excellent variety for the
home garden. The flowers are per-
fect--that is. are able to set berries
without cross pollination with other
varieties. This Is an important fea-
ture from the home garden viewpoint
for Ii means that the Premier may be
planted by itself in isolated gardens
and give satisfaction. The plants are
strong growers and productive and, un-
like many others. maintain fruit size
pretty we'll through the entire picking
season. There is not a flush of large
berries followed by small Gull fruit
The fruits are attractively shaped and
colored to the center: the flavor Is
According to DR.. George Dalrow
small fruit specialist Of the Depart
ment of Agriculture. Premier or Howard
II. as it should properly be named, is
we'll adapted to this vicinity and merits
first consideration when purchasing
strawberry plants for the garden.
1rape fFuning.
No other fruit plant responds more
favorably than the grape TO pruning
Without this treatment. the we'll nou-
rished grape vine soon becomes a tam
gled network of living and dead canes.
Total fruit production is usually greater
In unpruned vines but the clusters are
small. uneven in shape and difficult to
spray and harvest Furthermore. the
st 1@n Goat &c Law s,,,
pruned vines, incident to overproduc-
ton.
Grape pruning is relatively simple in
vines growing on trellises and relatively
difficult for vines on arbors and the
like. In commercial culture and in
large gardens. grapes are generally
grown on two-wire fence or trellis.
Each plant is trained in q definite man.
ner. The four-arm kniffen system, in
which two upper and two lower canes
or arms. as they are often termed. are
led off horizontally from a single up
right trunk. is in common use. The
main upright trunk is maintained over
a period of years but the side. canes
are renewed each year. utilizing the
previous seasons growth. 1t is. of
course. not always possible to find
canes exactly where they are needed
out tAac SeIleEdl pan can De quite easily
followed. Generally speaking, vigor-
Gus we'll fed vine pruned to the Kniffen
system can support 40 to so buds. which
means four canes shortened to 1912
buds each. Much work has been done
in recent years on the relation of di-
ameter of canes and the number of
buds retained to fruitfulneSS. Medium
thick canes have been found more
productive than very slender or very
thick ones. The region of largest sized
clusters has been found between the
fifth and eighth buds from the base
of the cane.
In pruning grapes trained on over
head trellises and arbors, one should
follow roughly the plan of limiting the
number of buds per plant. The length
OF the side canes may be materially re-
duced, saving more but shorter side
arms. Very often arbors are developed
with shade quite as important a con-
sideration as fruit production. In this
case large number of buds may be
left per plant but some pruning will
prove necessary in promoting strong
growth.
Young vines from the nursery con-
sist principally OF root system and the
tops should be pruned back severely to
two or three buds. Under favorable