Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-03-25
HOMEGROWN Strawberries
A Bed of This Fruit Need Not Be Large;
Yield Is Good From Well Tended Plants
By w. H. Younemon

Contrary to the usual idea OF
the size of a strawberry bed neces-
sary for a supply for home use. the
most productive beds are usually
quite small. While the old rule of
a quart of fruit from a plant may
be somewhat of an exaggeration
it helps to estimate the number OF
plants needed. One local garden
er carpeted a rose bed with straw
berry plants and found that they
provided a considerable quantity
of choice fruits.
This is an important point
namely, that q few plants well
taken care of may make a real
contribution to the table. Fortu-
nately most nurseries sell plants
in multiples of rs which makes
ordering easy. Moreover. If the
bed will accommodate 100 plants
Is each of four varieties should
provide for q long harvesting
season.
Strawberries will thrive in a
wide range of soils, but can not
be expected to produce satisfac-
torily in coarse gravelly soils nor
in heavy clay. Any soil that will
grow vegetables or flowers should
be satisfactory. The strawberry
does not thrive or produce in
shade but needs sunlight for at
least half of the day-morning
sunlight is best. The soil should
be we'll enriched with compost or,
If obtainable, well-rotted manure.
The roots of the strawberry plant
do not penetrate deeply into the
soil so the humus materials should
be in the upper 8 inches of the
soil. One of the most productive
rows seen was planted on a bed
filled with compost and covered
with an inch of top soil.
Strawberry plants need to be
set out early in the spring in order
to become well established and
build up strength for next sea-
son fruiting. Most gardeners re-
move the blossoms the first season
to insure good growth. The num-
Der of leaves (healthy) in Septem-
Der is a good index of the fruiting
potential for the next spring
The small bed should be fortified
once month the first season and
kept we'll mulched to prevent
weeds and to keep the soil cool
and moist. Compost, grass clip
pings, sawdust or other available
materials make a satisfactory
mulch.
The new plants should be
spaced at least a foot apart in
rows 3 feet apart. although the
hill" system usually takes the
form of three rows a foot apart
with 2-foot workway between
the 3-row bed. With the hill
system all runners are removed
thus the plants remain a foot
apart. This is a highly produc-
tive method of culture but most
gardeners do not seem to favor it,
perhaps because they do not wish
20 remove the runners.
Strawberry beds are usually dis
Icarded and spaded under after
two crops because weeds and grass
have made them unproductive. BY
using the hill system the beds
should remain productive for 3 to
IS years. Moreover, Dr.. George M.
barrow, strawberry specialist at
the Beltsville Plant Industry Sta
ton, has shown that the best pro-
duction comes when the plants
are kept to slightly more than one
per square foot of bed.
Successful strawberry culture
begins with buying disease free
plants of adapted varieties. Most
plants are obtained from special
lists, firms who grow plants for the
market. They are equipped to