The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1938-03-17


he Of great value to every strawberry
grower in the district
Culture
rverv wear I have quite a lot of
.,,estions to answer relative to the
wanting. care and fertilizing OF
.travberries. In fact I have to an
,ver the same questions so many
times that must confess I am get
ting uuite q little tired of 1t. But as
Il goes with my business I will con-
time to do so as best I can, only I
think / can save q lot Of time by
nutting it in print. I trust any one
interested in growing strawberries
viii save q copy for future refer
ence.
In the beginning I wish to say
that growing strawberries is an
sxacine lob. I mean by that it re-
nuires farmers first attention. It
seems to be pretty much a speciality
and requires undivided attention,
for the simple reason that If any
one Of a number of important oper-
alton is sighted a crop may be dam
AGED or even lost. I might also add
that to be q successful strawberry
grower one must grow up with the
business. The best can do for any
one is to start them out with good
plants and best wishes and the fol-
lowing Instructions:
soil-The best soil for Wray Red
strawberries Is a sandy loan that
viii sub good and just heavy enough
not to blow. The best yields and
quality are obtained on sandy soils
as on heavy ash many plants fail
to set fruit and those that do are
too dark In color. An alfalfa field
following crop of spuds is good
ground provided not too many weeds
have gone to seed. A fall lettuce
field makes q good strawberry patch
the following spring. My pet way OF
getting good strawberry ground
where it Is available is to crown the
third cutting Of alfalfa and let it
lay until bone dry. Then in the
fall before the water goes off disc
the sod thoroughly and the tops will
all greak up so the field can be
dtched off for water. Wet the
field up good while there are still
some warm days in the fall and by
spring practically all the alfalfa
crowns and roots will be rotted.
In no case use any fertilizer, eth
er barnyard or commercial on the
ground or on the plants before they
are dug as it burns the plants and
apoor stand will be the result.
Planting Distance 1t takes 100
to 300 plants to set an acre. Early
planting is very important. April 1
70 Is Is the ideal time. Make the
rows three feet apart and set the
plants 2 feet to 80 inches apart in
the row. Needless to say strawberry
ground should be leveled nicely and
the top smooth for marking. I use
marker made of two-by-fours with
nVe runners which I pull walking
BACKWARDS in line with two stakes
70 get the rows straight and at the
same time check with one runner
iouoWlng the last mark. Then I
olIcn OIL with horse power on the
marks with shovels not too big,
.ut Dig enough for the water to
!ouow easily. Then run the wa
.1 through all the bitches to settle
.ne ground a little and sub out
sso OF three inches where I set the
pAnts IN the bank or two inches
Osck from the edge of the ditch. I
se' WITH short handle hoe as soon
= tne ground gets dried out so it
sns Sticky, by two planters crawl
a,s on their knees and one to drop
s uv walks backwards and drops for
n Planters. AS soon as the two
t - are set the water is again run
~ sne ditch until the ground has
suobed across.
:, itisatlon-Don't be in a hurry
~ start cultivating-wait till the
-eeas get at least an inch high. All
nave to do is run the water an
~ " so every 4 or S days down
~. oltches and keep the plants
az" w.. wnen the weeds get to both
in.a cultivate and crowd the dirt
49, o .ne ditch. I use IN in. shovels
ra, ea 20 not throw the dirt on the
sSss plants and I use a z inch
We ei oenlnd on a one-horse Guilt
.S 1or q ditch to irrigate in. Now
d;.s, oerr'es should be hoed and the
~ s'n next to them finished leveled
~. out not kneaded deep enough or
~ ss enough to loosen up the plants
49, nus Will cause them to die. The
49,, tWo months is one cycle after
ha osner OF irrigation, cultivatine and
clsan Keep steady moisture and
''ean Of weeds.
,oh "unners-In August there is a
mai " setting runners. When the
fo,,r 1ty OF plants have three or
~ . runners with two or three sets
"'em they should be spread out