UMASS/AMHERST 312066 0333 2913 0 ^S?^ -■■■■''m^ ■■•■<''.. ' •:.• ' mm^ .aoaoaooaaaoacooanaaanaaaaonaaag f January 1906 THES /, n 1 ERRY "r/ie Lord might have made a better thing than the Strawberry — but He didn't."" PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN S^:i.(-in<-iuuuti.oiiio 4,i * # Njf*^^fvltj-js,,t;''S3i^ BRINGING IN THE STKA'* \XITH WHIUH TO .MULCH IHH PLANTS ON THE FARM HOME OF "THL SlRAWliEkk'i berry. He was told that this was most improbable; and we do not see why sea- weed in the maritime provinces of Can- ada and along our own coast, which may be had in limitless quantities by those who live beside the sea, should not be used as freely as are the needles that cover the ground in the great pine forests of the South. We hope that all of our readers in the North have mulched their plants ere this, but should they have failed to do so, it is not yet too late to secure very import- ant results by mulching at once. Indeed, it is not too late to get the very best re- sults, as the season of alternate freezing and thawing is not yet here, and that it is which so severely tests the vitality of the strawberry plant. From every point of view the mulching of the strawberry bed is of first importance. It protects from freezing and thawing, it aids to retain moisture in the soil, it adds to the richness of the earth — all these are important. But to the man who has ber- ries to market the fact that the mulch has kept his fruit free from grit and sand and that they may be put before the fruit- hungry world in all their rich beauty of color, their flavor and fragrance undimin- ished by any "cleaning" process — to such a one the mulching of his strawberry bed is second only in importance to the bed itself, for upon it in large part depends the size of his profits and the measure of his success. Let the grower succeed never so well in producing a line, healthy, highly colored, richly flavored berry, if he fail to put them on the market sweet and clean, he has failed at the crucial mo- ment. Study the question of mulches and mulching, and do not fail, under any circumstance, to mulch your beds in the most approved manner, whether you have a patch in the corner of a city yard or broad acres given up to the culture and pro- duction of strawberries. ONCE in a while we are reminded that the old superstition concerning the "full of the moon" still exerts an in- fluence over certain minds. One patron writes that he would set his plants only when the moon is at the right stage; an- other urges the importance of observing the lunar phases if success is to be sure. As we set plants for six weeks continu- ously and have uniform success with them year aftet year, we agree with the scientists that the m'>on theory of plant- ing and cultivating is a bugaboo that no longer should scare folk. ■^ ^ Starting a Farm on Little Capital EVERY man possessed of ambition desires to be independent. In this age when free arable land is prac- tically a thing of the past, it is more dif- MICHAEL MAYER Covington, Ind. ficult to achieve this independence than it was a quarter of a century ago when our fathers pioneered the West. One of the most attractive features about the strawberry business is the fact that it may be begun and carried forward on a small tract of land and with very little capital. The enterprising young man who really Page 8 has made up his mind to attain industrial liberty and manage his own business, will be sure to find in almost any community land owners glad to sell him on his own terms sufficient land to start a berry farm. One instance of this kind we have very good reason to remember. Fifteen years ago a young man in an Indiana town re- solved that he would have a business of his own. He was without capital and without experience, but he was not with- out standing as a man of honor in his community, and when he reached the point where he was ready to do business he called upon an old German friend of his whose kindly face is shown herewith, who promptly sold him a tract of land on contract, the price being fixed at $100 an acre, and he started off in his career as a strawberry culturist. The land was common pasture land, without a fruit tree or bush or roof of any kind upon it. The young man, knowing nothing of the work, made a bad start. He took his plants from a neighbor's fruiting bed, mostly pistillates and badly run out. The results of that first setting were consequently very small and very discouraging. The second season was little better, for he bought his plants of a grower who doesn't believe in breeding and selection; bought them because they were cheap. Thus three years were spent in getting a start which might have been accomplished in one. For at the end of the second year he had learned where to get plants and advice of the right sott, and from that day his success was rapid and large. With his first crop of big red berries hope and ambition were revived, and he went to work with a will to make his farm the leader of its kind. A team was set to work hauling manure, plans were made for broad and graceful driveways and a pleasant lawn, and a handsome home was built, thus making the land more valuable and satifying the man from whom it was purchased that it was safe to renew notes as they matured. Within five years from the day the young man took possession of this raw land, and notwithstanding his early mis- takes, he had made his place the best and THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 most favorably known strawberry farm in the state, and was practically out of debt. He was able able to fix his own price for his product and orders for his berries flooded him by letters and by telegram, leading grocers and hotel men in the neighboring cities gladly paying him a premium for his berries — a premium which averaged five cents per quart above the market, and in one season reaching as high as eight cents. During the last five years he spent upon this farm he was unable to fill the orders that came unso- licited to him. He attributes his success largely to the fact that early in his work he adopted a label that was placed upon each box guaranteeing that the berries in each were as large and as ripe and as good at the bottom as were those at the top. An- other element in his success was the fact that his winters were spent in the study of soil, fertilizers, bacteria, insect enemies, and fungous pests, how plants feed, and every other subject relating to plant life. What he has done you may do. Today this young man is recognized as an authority in all that pertains to straw- berry culture. He believes that his great- est work is yet to be done as head in- structor of our correspondence school of strawberry culture, and his name and face appear at the head of that department in this magazine. He intends that you shall not repeat the mistakes he made at the start — which resulted entirely from lack of information. The Way to Pleasure and Profit By Harriet J. Loring ONE afternoon in June last I went out to gather the strawberries, ex- pecting to get them all picked ready to send off to market that evening, and get myself ready to receive some vis- itors whom we expected that evening. But the big red berries kept filling basket after basket, and the company found me still picking. I finished, however, and sent them off to customers, besides having more than all of us could eat over Sunday. Another day an acquaintance drove to the door, asking if she could get some strawberries. She wanted three pecks, and wanted some of them to take home with her. While she make a call on a neighbor, I picked five baskets for her to take home. It was then nearly four o'clock and I finished the rest of the order before dark, taking them to her in the evening. Wasn't it fun to hear the exclamations of delight as she turned the luscious red fellows into a broad box to stay over night! And didn't it pay for the work it had cost? Yes, that little bed of two hundred plants paid a good profit, and the work is what any enterprise needs to make it pay. The history of my little venture in strawberry culture briefly is as follows: FRUIT PACKAGES Of Every Description Leslie Boxes and Crates Hallock Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Illinois Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Boxes FOR APPLES, PEARS, MELONS, POTATOES and VEGETABLES Baskets * t xJ ^■MS CO FOR PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, TOMATOES, MELONS, and GRAPES Leslie Crate and Boxes Four-basket Crates for Peaches and Tomatoes Six-basket Crates for Peaches Special Prices to Associations and Users of Large Quantities 40-Page Catalogue FREE. Send tor it. So. Haven, Mich. The Pierce -Williams Co., Jonesboro, Ark. /= "^ Remington Typewriter WHEN THE REMINGTON TYPE- WRITER offers something new to the public the public knows, without being told, that it's something good NEW MODELS NOW READY We will be glad to have you call at any of our offices and see the new models or send for illustrated booklet de- scribing the new features L REMINGTON TYPEWRITER CO., 28 LaFayette Boulevard. Branches Everywhere. DETROIT. MICH. J' Page 9 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 In April, 1904, I set two hundred thor- oughbred Clyde strawberry plants on well-dressed ground, making it about as watch its performance in the way of crop production, learn its needs and fill the great dish generously with food supplies THE AMERICAN MANURE SPREADER AT WORK ON "THE STRAWBERRY" FARMS rich as for corn, giving them clean culture during that season and until they began to bud in the spring of 1905. Then I watched the great green fellows swell and grow till they ripened. Then the fun be- gan, coupled with the work necessary to rush them to market. That little patch of ground yielded very gratifying profits, and when people learned the quality of my berries I had more or- ders than I could fill. I did nearly all of the hand work myself, and while it is hard work it is no harder and much more healthful than other kinds of work that women do. East Otisfield. Maine. The Manure Spreader SOIL may be likened to a dish con- taining plant food, and the degree to which it is able to respond to the demands of the hungry plant is the meas- ure of its productive capacity. Every man should know his soil, just as tho successful stockman is familiar with the animals comprising his herds or flocks. Stockmen who do not understand the nature of their cows and sheep and hogs frequently waste incalculable amounts of feed. They overfeed, perhaps, or they feed that which the animal does not readily assimilate and turn into flesh or milk or muscle. So with our soils, we must study them well, and come to know their particular needs. The three principal elements of soil fertility are phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. Where one or more of these elements are lacking crops will suffer to just the degree in which they are deficient. Study your soil, for the plants — a primary step to success. Some soils that contain large quantities of fertility have it locked up so tightly in a compact mass that ii is not available for the plant's use. Nothing will more effectively open up such soil and make its stores of food available than coarse manure, liberally applied. This will furnish humus, and humus warms up the soil by opening it to the air and sun, making it friable and amenable to the action of the roots of the plants. Loose soil requires smaller quantities and does better when given the perfectly decayed manure, all ready to yield its richness upon demand to waiting vegetation. Nothing else will so quickly and so surely improve the mechanical condition of the soil as barnyard manure. This suggests the great value of this by-product of the farm. Yet because it is a by- product, the average farmer fails to realize the need of economy in its use. To get itsfullvalueitis essential that it be properly applied. And it has a cash value when so applied that has been found by some of the Experiment stations to reach as high as $3.25 a ton. But if it be im- properly applied, much of this value is lost. For instance, as the manure can be of little value to the plants until it has been dissolved by moisture and taken up by the film which surrounds the soil grains, how wasteful it must be to throw great forksful haphazard over the field, piling it up here, leaving bare spaces there. For years we scattered all manure from wagons, using a common fork. Sold On Trial— On Time— Fretdht Prepaid Will You Test an American Manure Spreader In Your Own Way — On Your Own Farm— FREE— For A Month? It's this way: the dealer and are selling" to farmers direct We have the larg-est manufacturingr is that we want tog-et intouchwith thepeople plant in the country, manufacturing Manure who actually use the Spreaders. Spreaders. We can in this way grive you more infor- We have ample capital— which enables mation about the machine and how to use it; us to sell them to American farmers on time, and enable you to get much m.ore service out We want to pay the freight on any sized of it. Spreader you may choose from our cata- We can better advise you just the size logue. direct to your depot, and have you and style of Spreader you should have for take it out and try it, as your own, in your your purpose— we can furnish the Spreader own way. and on your own farm, free, for a that you need direct from our factory, full month, to see if it is as represented by us. We make 9 styles and 5 sizes, and can We don't ask for a penny advance pay- furnish a machine that is exactly adapted to ment— nor a deposit of any kind. your requirements. When you have tested the Spreader, If We are an independent concern and do you find it as represented, you can pay us for not belong to the trust. L on time, which lets the Spreader pay for it- We invite you to w^rite us, telling us how self out of the profits it makes you. We know much land you own, and how many head of this is a liberal offer. cattle, horses, sheep and hogs you have and We realize we must have a^flOif Spreader we will tell you just the Spreader suited for In order tc sellit in this way. The American your purpose, and give you Gov't statistics Manure Spreader is not a new machine, as to the annual value of your manure crop. It has been tried and tested, and is the An American Manure Spreader is worth Standard of all Spreaders in the country more money to you, year in and year out. today. than any other implement you can own such There are more American Manure as binders, stackers, gas engine or plow, and Spreaders being sold today than of any other it will pay you bigger dividends than any kind. other implement on your farm. * * • • Write today for our free catalogue and The reason why we have stopped selling little booklet "Our New Selling-Plan." AMERICAN HARROW CO.» 4522 Hastings St., Detroit, Mich. A'OTE— 19 Branch Houses, carrying n full line of Spreaders and parts, at leading cities in different states where prompt shipment can be made. Page 10 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 Under that method it required from thirty to thirty-tive tons to cover an acre, but during the last three years we have done this woric with a large manure spreader, and we have found that the saving has been fully 50 per cent, the amount re- quired for one acre by the old way being amply sufficient for two when passed through the manure spreader. Not only does this save about $25 an acre, but the even distribution secured by the spreader gives much better results. A good substantial spreader picks and tears the heavy and compact lumps of manure into fine particles and scatters it with perfect evenness. This gives a uni- form quantity of plant food and produces a uniform stand of plants and yield of fruit. A good spreader costs anywhere from $100 to $17S, according to its capacity, but it will prove to be a valuable invest- ment to any tiller of the soil using large quantities of manure. Sometimes several berry growers will combine and install a spreader, taking it from one farm to the other until each grower has his barnyard cleaned and the manure properly distrib- uted over his field. Our spreader has been in use for three years and has han- dled about 4,000 tons of Chicago stock- yards manure, and as far as we can see is still as good as new. Many of our friends who write that their supply of manure is insufficient doubtless would find the quantity at hand quite ample if they would use the spreader in its distribution. Considering its method of handling the manure itself and its great economy of labor, the manure spreader must be recognized as one of the most important aids to successful com- mercial strawberry production. If your business is hardly large enough to justify the necessary outlay for a spreader of your ov\'n, it will pay you to hire the use of one; or, if several growers are located in the same neighborhood, all might join together in its purchase and own it in common. The point we desire to urge, and with emphasis, is the necessity of a thorough distribution of the manure if your crop is to meet your just expecta- tions and yield the largest possible profit. One Amateur's Experience By J. R. Murrie REGARDING my experience as an amateur strawberry grower, I can only say that conditions were not altogether favorable for the highest suc- cess, yet results were all that we had right to expect. We did not get possession of the farm until the latter part of March, 1904, and by the time we had sent for and received the Kellogg catalogue and had ordered the plants it was late, the plants not reaching us until May 21. There were $15 worth of them, and they arrived at a time of severe drouth, when rain had not fallen for six weeks, and the ground was dry and hard. I did not know the first thing about strawberry culture, but I followed the directions of the catalogue, and we cleared $130 from the patch, besides using all we needed for the table and for canning. This may not be a large showing, but considering all the circumstances, I am satisfied, especially as the prospects for a splendid crop next season are in the high- est degree encouraging. Gurnee, 111. A Family Strawberry Patch FEW gardens are so small that some portion of them may not with profit and untold pleasure be given up to a strawberry bed sutficient to supply the entire "home" demand; perhaps grow enough of the delicious fruit to make how much space in the family garden you will give up to the strawberry bed, and be sure to give it all you can; then spread over this a light dressing of stable or chicken manure (it will be well to mix some earth with the latter before apply- ing to the soil, as it is very heating). Then measure the length and breadth of the plot to learn how many plants will be required. If the bed be small, it will be well to set the plants but one foot apart in the row, and the rows two feet apart. The length and number of rows will de- termine just the number of plants re- quired to set the plot. Four or five rows each one hundred feet long will produce at least 500 quarts of berries if they re- ceive proper care; many of our friends are getting double this number from a patch of this size. Just figure up and see what that tiny patch has done for you, if you have done THE FAMILY GARDEN PATCH OF SAMUEL KARSHNER OF SCHOOLCRAFT, MICH. some pin money for the girls or (and this has many times been done) enough to give the boys a college education. For no other thing in horticulture can be made to yield such large returns from a small area as the strawberry. Mark that care- fully; it is a fact of large importance to the man or woman with little land at dis- posal, but who is determined to make the most of opportunities offered. Now is the time to plan the garden for 1906, and you should not fail to include in those plans a generous space for the strawberry. A very few plants, if prop- erly set in a well-planned bed and given good care, will keep a family amply sup- plied with ripe, rich fruit the year 'round. Add a little more space, and you will be surprised to know how that neglected corner will turn into a producer of money. Here are a few suggestions as to the way to go about it. First determine just Page II your part. The patch described would be less than four square rods. Five hundred quarts at ten cents a quart would be $50.00. Can you use that space to any better advantage in any other way? The principal reason why so many folks fail to grow their own supply of strawberries is that they think it requires a lot of hard work. Nothing else that will give anything like the returns straw- berries yield can be named. Then there are other things to be con- sidered than the • money side. Every member of the family finds delight in working in the strawberry patch, and it is a part of the home delightful to parents and children, and an important part of the home beautiful. It trains the boy to business habits, encourages him to under- take things "on his own hook," makes him careful as to details of expense and THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 income, careful to see that his fruit is piclced and packed so as to top the mar- ket; it brings him into business contact with the world, teaching him those les- sons of social and commercial equity that build up character and manhood. And the girls — the well-ordered straw- berry patch is just the place for them to develop a love for womanly independ- ence and a way to attain it. Many of our members who have made the most notable successes are refined and cultured women whose strawberry beds are the delight of their eyes and the admiration of their neighbors. You can't afford to be without your own strawberry patch, if you have only a back yard in the city to make it in. The Strawberry will tell you what to do and when to do it to make a big success of the home strawberry garden if you will try it. Each issue of the magazine will contain just the practical instruction needed for the month's work following its receipt. Let us hear from you, and let us help you. The Strawberry's mis- sion is just that, and if its teachings shall be the means of stimulating interest in the home garden and of helping you to win success in the strawberry patch, it will have accomplished its purpose and served the world a good turn. Success and Failure and Some Fig- ures Showing "Why THE good book tells us, "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty" (Proverbs 11-24), and nowhere else is this experience and philosophy of life more frequently or clearly exemplified than in the strawberry field. We have in mind two friends of ours whose meth- ods and whose results are so diametrically opposed; one standing for "that which scattereth and yet increaseth," the other so given to that order of withholding that "tendeth to poverty," that we shall use their experiences to illustrate some im- portant lessons in our chosen field. In each case the strawberry beds cover four acres in extent — an area none too large for one intelligent, practical man to care for through the season. Friend Simpson (that is not his name, but it will serve the purpose of this ar- ticle) we have known for the past sixteen years, and we never yet have known him to fail to produce a good big crop of strawberries, no matter what the season. Some years were better than others, of course, for all the forces of nature con- spire, some seasons, it appears, to retard and defeat, while in other seasons they combine to aid us in our work; but never a failure, or even a partial failure — always a fair return for time and labor and money that Simpson expended. We have taken one of his more modest sea- Some Thoroug'.ibreus in Minnesota "Good Enough" Is not Good Enough when it Comes to Strawberry Plants Only the BEST '*'" P^^ Thoroughbred Pedigree Plants That is why you should plant the KELLOGG strain of THEY ARE THE BEST liei-ause thoy are Kflectod from Mother planks tliat hnvr- won the world's greatest fruitint; record. lie<-jiuse they have been scientifically sprayed . which insures you against destructive insects or fungous spores. Because they are carefully mulched before freezine, insurini^a well -calloused root and perfectly dor- mant plant. Every one of them will grow if prop- erly set out. Iterause they will produce more berries from one acre than two acres will gi*ow from the "'other kind." You cannot afford to give up your valuable land and put a lot of liard work on poorly de- veloped plants just because they are cheap. The cheapest plants are those which have a perfectbalancc in fruit and foliage— the kind that produce the big pay ill j< crops. If you want this kind of plants send your order at once to R. M. Kellogg Co., Three Rivers, Michigan The Patch and the Coop Naturally Go Together sons for a basis of comparison here, and the following table of receipts and ex- penditures are fairly representative of what we may call his "off" years. EXPENDITURES Value of land, $100 an acre, 8400; interest at 6 per cent 8 24 Manuring the land ___ 60 Plowing, harrowing and rolling 13 High-grade plants, 7,000 to acre, 28,000 at $i per M _ 112 Setting plants 20 One good man's wages for six months, stead- ily in the field, at gl.50 a day... 216 Mulching 40 Parting mulch from over plants in spring... 3 Cost of 1200 crates and boxes 198 Cost of picking 240 Cost of foreman over pickers, 50 days at $2 a day... ICO Cost of packing 1,000 crates at 5 cents each... 50 Cost of labels 6 Cost of pickers' tickets 2 $1,082 RECEIPTS Sale of 250 24-quart crates of fancy select berries per acre, or 1,(XX) from th«» four acres, at $3 per crate, less express and commission— 60 cents a crate -net $2,400 Sale of fifty crates to the acre of seconds, or 200 crates at $1.75 less express and com- mission—33 cents a crate net 280 Total receipts $2,680 Total expenditures 1,082 Net returns from four acres. ..$1 598 It will be observed that the net re- turns here given are $399.50 an acre. Counting what Simpson used in his own household and those his generous hand disposed to friends and visitors, it is not too much to say a sufficient quantity of berries was produced to bring the net up to $410 an acre, while in his better years we have known him to net as high as $600 to the acre. You also will observe that while every detail of good cultural methods is practiced, there is no extrav- agance. Simpson manures rather heav- ily every year, the result being that his land always is in tip-top shape and fully prepared to grow big red fancy berries to the full capacity of the strong and vigor- ous plants to sustain them. Simpson's methods in other words, while conserva- tive, are really ideal, and we could not do a better service to our readers than to urge them to follow them in their own work. Indeed it may be said that it is the mission of this journal to teach straw- berry growers just how to put into actual practice the cultural methods of this most successful grower. And the real test of Mr. Simpson's success, from the commercial point of view, lies in the fact that his uniformly clean and finely flavored berries, as well as the fact that he can be depended upon each season to supply the reasonable demands of his customers, have resulted in building up a trade peculiarly his own. Not only is it out of the question for a rival to take away that trade, but his pa- trons are glad to pay him a generous pre- mium, and the commission men bid above the market every season in order to get his berries to handle. These circum- stances are most suggestive, and we trust will be fully considered by our readers Page 12 A KALANAZOO DIRECT TO YOU WHY not Sfi7'e money in your stove and range buying? Why not p(^t a really sood stove or range while you are about it? Here's a Kalamazoo Royal Steel Rantre — one of the many of the Kalamazoo-direct-to-you family. It is puaranteed. under a S20,000 bank bond to be stricily high ^radc in every respect. The body is made of Wcllsville blue polished steel— ihe hiyhesi grade sieel procurable. Not an ounce of scrap iron enters into it. The tops and centers are cut and braced in such a manner that we guarantee them against warp- ing ioi Jive years. The lininps ar e heavy and the flues and all oth- er parts where it is necessary are lined withi^tww- ine asbestos, held between two sheets of steul. The oven is square and large, with a bottom that <-(i««('^ warp or "^buckle." The oven venti- lation is perfect, making it a quick and even baker. The oven is equipped with patented oven ther- mometer which gives perfect control of the oven's temperature and makes good baking and roasting an eisy matter. It saves time, trouble, and fuel, aud is guaranteed not to get out of order. The hot water reservoir is large; is lined with white enamel and is easily re- moved for cleaning. The fire bos is equipped with either a duplex or a dock ash grate as dusired. and either hard or soft coal or coke or wood may be used for fuel. It is handsomely finished, all the orna- mental parts being heavily nickeled. «\Ve do all our own nickel-plating, and do it rii.'liL The riveting, the mounting, the finishing, are aW done by hantl, by expert workmen, aiid we guarantee that there is not a better designed, a better made, a better finished, or a more dura- ble stove or range in the wurld. than is the KultllttUZOO Please Remember: We are actual manufacturers, not mail order dealers. We have more than 50,000 customers- all satisfied. You run no risk, as we give you a 360 days approval test. We pay the freight. We make you actual factory prices. We sell you a stove or range not ex= celled by any in the world. gaa/Z/y is our first consideration, and our 32 years experience in building and seUing stoves and ranges has taught us h^nu to make a rantre which we can put in comparison with any other in the world. ^ Quality should also be yottr first consideration. You cannot afford to buy a poor range at any price, especially— a«^/(f7f'ji'/;t.' point— When you can buy this high grade Kalamazoo — or any other of the Kalamazoo line of ranges, cook stoves, base burners and heating stoves of all kinds — at a price tower than your dealer Pa vs for stoves and raufres not the equal of the Kala- mazoo. Please read that again. You pet a Kalamazoo, freight prepaid. on a 3(j0 days approval test, guaranteed under a 920.000 bank bond, with privi- lej^e of returning to us at any time within 3i)0 days, if it shows any faults or defects — and all at a /(MJ^/r/V.r than your dealer pays for many stoves and ranges not nearly so good. Here's the secret: We are manufacturers — actual manu- facturers and we sell to you direct from our factory at I rnoest lactory prices, saving you l'.I dealers', jobbers', agents', and middlemen's prohts and commissions. We have more than 50,000 customers in all parts of the Lnited Slates. Their letters show tliat they have saved from $5 to 840 by buying a Kalamazoo direct from our factory. We will be glad to send you the names of our customers in your vicinity. Let them tell you what they think. The Kalamazoo line is co mp/ete^emhrscing ranges, cook stoves, base burners and heaters for fuel of all sorts, all of late design, handsome pattern and beautiful finish. Send for our catalogue. You will find in it the stove or range exactly suited to your purpose, and you will be able to purchase it at a money-saving price. Don't you think it a proposition worth looking into? Let us send you our free catalogue and price list. You'll be interested and pleased. Ask for Catalogue No. 348. Kalamazoo Stove Co., Mfrs., Kalamazoo, Mich. ARE TWO AND THREE INCHES LONG— BURBANK'S PHENOMENAL BERRIES One will Fill a Cup. Dwarfs The leviathan of the berry world is the latest California wonder, Burbank's Phenomenal Berry. Mr. Burbank has said : "It is larger than the largest berry ever grown." To those who know the conservative nature of the man his statements as to size and quality are the best guarantee that could be given. It is a cross between the California Dewberry and Cuthbert Raspberry. In color and flavor the new fruit closely resembles — some say "excels" /*'* thG Best Berry in the world — LUTHER BURBANK. — its rich-hued raspberry parent. Its liquid juiciness when pressed by the tongue surpasses the full-npe dew- Giant Dewberry in Size and How to Get Hardy Roots. berry in delicate consistency. And most marvelous of all, to this toothsome fruit has been imparted a firmness which holds it in shipping conditions for days, making it one of the most practical berries for home or distant markets. GROW IN HUGE CLUSTERS The vines are inclined to trail. When properly supported, the berries are quickly and easily gathered. They grow in immense clusters of from five to ten huge berries, a sight to delight and amaze. No berry is so economi- cal to pick. We have grown a limited number of roots in our experiment gardens on Puget Sound, and can supply in quantities of one to one dozen. LILLY'S KITCHEN-GARDEN COLLECTION OF BERRY BUSHES Roots of 12 Standard Berries: I Logan Berry, 3 Raspberries, 2 Blackcaps, 2 Currants, 3 Black- berries. 1 L'Jcrelia Dewberry, each one properly labeled, no two sam- variety. By express at your expense $1.00. prepaid $1.25. You can include one of the Phenomenal Bt-rries at 25c when order- ing this collection. Plant Lilly's Seeds Excels Raspberry in Taste. The conditions under which these roots were grown insure that they are hardier and more robust than can be obtained from southern nurseries. Use coupon in ordering. Price (pre- paid) per root 35c; per doz. roots $3. Order Now — The Supply is Limited. FIIlant growers ami dealers on the Paeilic Coast. Page 13 Selling Hides to Butchers Poor Economy MANY a man has a cow hide or a horse hide which he sells for almost noth- incr. THIS IS POOR ECONOMY. Let him send the hide to us, place with us the same money he spends in purchasing an ordinary cloth overcoat or robe to last one and perhaps tv\o seasons, and we will manufacture for him a FUR COAT OR ROBE which we guarantee will not wet through, will last many years, and for durability and warmth cannot be equalled. Do not think it is necessary to send us black hides; an even-colored red makes a fine robe; a horse hide makes a light robe — any color looks well. In fact you will scarcely recognize your red, brown, gray, spotted, white and brindle hides after they have been through our process and the hair thoroughly washed and scoured firight. Don't sell your hides to the butcher; you are practically giving away a coat, robe or handsome floor rug. We will Tan and Manufacture Your Hides and Skins into Any- thing Desired When You Furnish the Hide '\U"E can tirn and manufacture a rol.o lik.- tliis IVoui a cow hide or a horse hide »» and niakr. FRKE a pair of Jlittens from the triniminea, Tho robe will be soft and pliable, as warm as a Buffal.i robe and lighter in weiKht: lined with the best green plush lining and heavy irreen fell border. PRICES 40 lb. Hide and under $7.00 70 lb. Hide and over Calf, Goat, Dog, Colt Skins, etc., are tanned by us and made into Floor Rugs with felt lin- ing and fancy border at prices according to size of skins and linings de- sired. We make Mittens and Gloves from small skins at very reasonable prices and do all varieties of Mounting and Taxi- dermy work. 40 lb. Hide to 70 lb. $7.50 $8.00 We furnish the Skins, Manufacture to Measure, and Sell by Catalog Galloway Coats, Robes Mittens, Gloves FUR LINED COATS and OTHER FURS OUR Customers are Farmers, Physicians, Auto- mobilists and others of this class who desire fit, warmth, appearance and durability. Our fur coats and robes are not made from pieces, but cut to your measure out of whole hides. To Our Readers and Patrons: We are intimately acquainted with the National Fur and Tanning Co. ; its manage- ment, the quality of its own goods and the character of the work it turns out for others. We can most highlv recommend its product and the honesty of its management. THE KELLOGG PUBLISHING CO. WRITE FOR OUR FORTY PAGE CATALOG The National Fur & Tanning Company Three Rivers, Michigan. ®iir (Buarantec: We guarantee that the hides we tan and the garments we make, either from the hides you furnish us or from our own, will be soft and pliable and will never get hard; will be moth proof, water proof and more nearly cold proof than any other goods upon the market. When You Furnish the Hide "ll^E can tan nnd mannfiictnre for yon a coat * » like this from two small hides or from one lariri- hide, lined with the best padded and ijnilt<(l satin body linintr; Lnsterino or "Iron Cloth' ■ sli-.-ve lining, edyes of ooatbonnd with Mohair Braid; black Ebony Olives and Mohair i^'ord Olive Fasteuinns; leather shields at arm hoh'S and patent Wind Protectors at wnist. PRICES Ladies' or Gents' Long Coat • $11. 00 Ladies" or Gents' Short Coat - 9.50 Children's (Boy or Girl) - 9.00 Page 14 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 who are seeking for a business that they may depend upon at all times to yield them a livino; and perhaps something more. It is not a pleasant thing to do to turn from the contemplation of such a case to that of our friend Bunker, who, instead of following the intensive methods of Simpson, has a hit-or-miss plan of his own, with results very like those de- scribed in the story of the Irishman's flea — only Bunker never has the pleasure of seeing anything in the way of profits. But the lesson is an important one, and should serve a good purpose. Bunker doesn't keep any books, and so we have found it difficult to get a clear statement of receipts and expenditures from him, such as Simpson was able to give us without a moment's hesitation; but after questioning Bunker and getting a few ac- tual figures as to what he had done, and some of his reasons for not doing others, we have cast up the following table, which is a fairly faithful e.xhibit of his re- ceipts and expenditures: EXPENDITUHES Value of land, SlOO an acre, $-100; interest at 6 percent $ 24 Manuring, none; wanted to hold down ex- penses Plo\\ing and harrowing (no rolling was done) (J 7,000 plants taken from an old bed; digging cost about 50 cents per ^I 14 Setting plants on the "live-i>r-die'' plan 10 One man's wages on half-time,,. 108 -Mulching; thought it cost too much., Cost of crates and boxes SO Cost of picking.., , 120 Cost of foreman; thought it a useless ex- pense Cost of packing; let the picker.s' work stand Cost of labels; never used labels; money spent tor nothing ,.. Cost of pickers' tickets 1 $ 303 RECEIPTS Sale of 500 crates second-grade berries {of course he had no fancys) at SI. 50 a crate, less express and commission, 30 cents a crate 600 Expenditures 3«3 Net returns from four acres 3 ^" But even that table doesn't tell all of the story of failure and loss. Bunker's splendid land, one of nature's rarest gifts to man, steadily is "running out" of plant food and each season the weed crop takes a larger share of it. So that his cap- ital is becoming impaired. Another thing the table does not show is the dreadful condition of his fields at picking time as a result of ha\ing no foreman. Compared with Simpson's splendid crop Bunker's is pitifully meagre; but even that is not garnered, for the pickers, working in the field with no watchful eye over them, gather only what they choose, eat the best themselves and trample bushels into the ground that might have added somewhat to Bunker's limited yield. Consider this contrast. Land equally as good at the beginning of their respective enterprises; every opportunity Bunker's that had invited Simpson into the field. The bright warm sun that painted the rosy cheek and distilled the sweet flavors of the strawberry shone alike on both; the "gentle dews of heaven fell alike" upon these fields, so unlike in appearance and so different in results. Simpson, with ample time at his disposal, having a good man at the cultural end and a foreman over pickers who sees to it that everything is right in that department, is free to look after his customers and to see that no- thing leaves the packing house that is not worthy of the label he has made of such high value in the markets. Poor Bunker, here, there, everywhere, in his nervous haste, rushing about like a hen without a head, really sees nothing and has no idea of what actually is going on, reaches the end of the season worn out and utterly discouraged, his "net" returns really rep- resenting a loss. You will observe that Bunker "saved" at a great many points. But it was the saving that 'tendeth to poverty." Simp- son paid with generous conservatism for those things he knew were necessary for the success of his work — it was the "scat- tering that increaseth." Bunker kept his eye forever on the expense account; Simpson was looking for results, was working for results, and he accomplished results. These are in truth typical cases. We can show you many Bunkers who might be transformed into Simpsons would they but stop and consider a few simple facts, study their own situation, and seek to perfect themselves in their arwurAcTURca at THE MICHIGAN BASKET FACTORY OFa 3i :^i EF ST. JOSEPH. MICH. SEND FDR IlLUSTRATED PRICE. LIST. HEADQUARTERS FOR Berry Boxes PEACH AND GRAPE BASKETS Established in 18 6 9 Experience Counts To obtain highest prices for your fruii5 ship i/i our packages Illustrated Price List Free Wells-Higman Co., sljosech, mich. THE AMERICAN HEN OUTWEIGHS THEM ALL. STATISTICS PROVE IT. Get a Buckeye on FORTY DAYS TRIAL. As low as $5. or 200 egg size. $J.2.7S, or RENT oneat $1 per month. Lft rent p.ay for it, ice paijitic/ /rciijlit. or \my purls and jilans an4 build one. They are self regulating. Guaranteed liest, work and material, and to hatch every hatchiilile egg. A town lot is large enough for the business, but a farm is better. Every- thing the poultryman needs of BlsI Quality and at Lowest Prices. A 6 ft. by 3 ft. Iron Roof Colony House, complete, for $5.75. Foods with no Grit in Ihem. A 25c pSLCkage Buckeye Chick Starter will save you dollars. Catalogue Free. BUCKEYE INCUBATOR CO.. Box 41. SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. Water In Your Country Home. You mav have a City Water Supply in your home if vou have A KEWANEE PNEUMATIC TANK In your cellar i>r buried in tlio cround. Water from ymir well or ci.stern delivered to all parts t't" tlie bousf. tijirri or ^rouniis by air pressure. Will' last a lifetime. No water bills to ytiiy. Uivesspleudid tire protection. Fresb. bealtbful water atall seasons. Xo frceziugorleakini^. Kspeciallj- valuuble for irrigating: strawberry beds, and for wateriii;; grardens, la-n-ns, etc. Theabove illustralinn shows the homo of Mr. E. T. Crawford, Anmista, Ohio. Hewrltes: "I have a 'Ke- wanee* T\'at«?r system which is equal to any city water works." Thiii Tni>t.v" dues such g" eratr — why it it- so ec<>- nomii'al. ir's sold on 40, eonruadays tiial.freitrht prepaid. W'-ite tu us. M. M. Johnson Co.. I'lajCcnler, Nob. We Pay the Freight. with an every-bearing strawberry at his beautiful home on the banks of the Miss- issippi, Monarch Fruit Farm, where also is located an extensive experiment station of the Illinois State Horticultural Society. In reply to an inquiry sent him by the editor of The Strawberry, Mr. Riehl writes as follows concerning this experi- ment: "In reply to your kind favor just at hand, will say that the Pan-American strawberry is the only one yet tested in my experiment station which is truly ever- bearing, there having been several varie- ties sent me for which that characteristic was claimed. The Pan-American plant is a vigorous grower, yet if not disbudded it will make few, if any, runners, though large stools are formed, which admits of propagation by division. Through the growing season plants are seldom, if ever, seen without blossoms and fruit in all stages of development. The fruit is medium to large, bright red in color, moderately firm, quality fair." Mr. Riehl is known for his conserva- tism in reporting upon his experiments, and this fact gives added interest to his statements. The ideal ever-bearing va- riety evidently has not yet appeared, as those which show a tendency to grow throughout an extended season have de- Page 18 fects of the nature observed by Mr. Riehl. However, there is always a possibility 0' greatly extending the season of a goo variety through breeding and selection, and this possibility opens the way to in- teresting, and perhap, very successful, ex- perimentation along these lines. LITTLE ADS. FOR OUR FOLKS AN ADVERTISING EXCHANGE FOR ALL Strawljeny Growers in which they may make kno\vn their wants. If ynn have anythiuirt« buy. si^ll or exchange, need a job or are lookini; for help in your strawberry work, here is the place to make it known. Count name, post office, initials, words or numbers each as one word, and remit a snm equal to 2 cents for each word for each inser- tion . No order will be accepted for less than 25 cents and cash mnst accompany each order. Advertisements must contain address, otherwise we cannot forward replies from this office. Remit by post office or express money orders. 1I"^ANTED— Man thorouL'hly posted on strawberry cult- '» ure, to mana-ie my fiirni in Chippewa County, Wis. 'iood lotr residence, plenty of room for sneh a man to de- velop "sidelines" for his own profit. Strawberries thrive here and. as thev mature late, command hiuhest prices in the Chicasro markets. Great chance for a bright, enter- prising' man. Address W. D. H. . care The Str-awben-y . WANTED— Man who has some knowledge of strawberr." production, but is not afraid to turn his hand to any other sort of work on my Nebraska farm. Will give snch a man work for the entire year. Address W. R. A., caro The Strawberry. PRINTING FOR STRAWBERRY GROWERS— Letter heads, envelopes, cards, labels. First-class work at low prices. The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Michiirau. '■pRYthr- Ki'UoLrirmaUeablo-iron, one-piece Dibble, ifyou V would turnplant-settinu Into a delight. Pays foritself inonehalf-dav's work. Write the K elloge Co. for their little folder on "How iVe Knep Down the Weeds." 'Twill help you in y^mr work. R. M. Kellogg Co., Box 775 Throe Rivers, Michigan. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL S^^ STRAWBERRY CUUURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION THIS Correspondence School is for you, as we take it for granted that you already are a subscriber to this magazine or at once will ha\e your name placed on its lists. It is for you in the sense that all its members have a right to come to it for counsel and assistance, fully assured of a cordial welcome and the very best we have to give. Here we shall hope to meet on the basis of frank and free discussion every friend of the strawbern,' and all who are interested in its production. We wish that you shall be free to come here with your problems and let us help you solve them. Don't hesitate to ask questions — the more questions the better. And if you are in special need of help and feel that a crisis is imminent, we shall be glad to answer your inquiries by mail or by tele- graph. For the former send a stamp to pay postage; for the latter, a sufficient sum to cover cost of message. We shall have a special department for the answer of "hurry-up" questions, and it will cost you nothing for our services. Keep a file of this magazine; we do not intend to answer the same questions twice, but shall refer the questioner to such-and-such a page in such-and such an issue of The Strawberry, should he ask a question which once has been an- swered in these pages. In sending in your questions make a paragraph of each one of them so that we readily may catch every point you wish covered; and see that your questions are clear and explicit. Now let us all get together and see how great and valuable we can make this schlool of strawberry culture — the first and on y one of its kind in the world. That it shall be interesting and helpful is our determination. May we not have your cooperation.? ^ ^. G. E. , Marshburg, Pa. Please advise me how to mate Warfield, Enormous and Sample. I have them now and also have Dornan, Glen Mary, Wolverton and Splendid. 2. Do you use both horse and cow manure? 1. Warfield has a long blossoming season and should be mated on one side with an extra-early bisexual, such as August Luther, Excelsior or Texas, and you may use Splendid or Wolverton on the other side. One row of bisexuals and three of pistillates will give good results. Splendia will make a very good mate for Enormous, and still better results will be secured by using Dornan in connection with Splendid, set in the same way as recommended above for Warfield. Sam- ple and Dornan v\'ill go nicely together, but the Pride of Michigan will cause your Samples to give even better results because of its strong pollenizing power. 2. Horse and cow manure mixed in equal quantities make an ideal fertilizer for strawberries. For varieties that build up a scant foliage with large quantities of berries we prefer to use horse manure alone, as it is richer in nitrogen. J. E. P., Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. Have just purchased eight acres of rich land, where wild strawberries grow most luxuriantly on hill, valley and prairies. Now which will give me the best results as a commercial proposition? Strawberries thrive on either high or low land, but as you have all kinds to select from, we should prefer the hills to evade the danger of frost. If, howexer, you must irrigate, the valley will serve you better. R. B. C, Barlinville, Ohio. I have a sorghum mill handy where I can get plenty of cane pomace. Would like to know whether this would be suitable for mulching? 2. Is oat straw as good as wheat straw for mulching^ 1. We are slow to recommend any- thing until we have tried it on our own grounds. Many inquiries similar to your own led us last year to experiment with the cane pomace. It gave such excellent results as a mulch that this year we have engaged the entire output from a large mill, hauling the pomace a distance of four miles. We like this material because it contains no weed seeds and aids greatly to retain moisture in the soil. 2. Either wheat or oat straw makes a fine mulching, but with plenty of both to choose from we should prefer the wheat straw because it is more easily spread apart in the spring directly over the rows, thus allowing the plants to come up with- out obstruction. The oat straw mats to- gether and is more difficult to separate. G. G. S., Perry, Okla. You have given me so much information about strawberries that I thought possibly you might know where I could get desired information about water- melons. We do not grow watermelons, but re- fer you to Bulletin 86 of the New Hamp- shire station (Durham, N. H.), and also Page 19 lo Bidletin 38 of the Georgia station (Athens, Ga.) on this subject. Send a 2 cent stamp to each state station. Also ask the Department of Agriculture at Washington for its publications on the watermelon. No stamp is required for publications from the department. Mrs. F. H. M. , Gainesville, Iowa. I have a sod that has laid nine years; the men have hauled manure on it, and they intend to plow it this fall. I would like your advice: will this be good ground in which to set strawberries asxt spring? I also have a piece of ground where a pig pen has stood for the last four years. That also will be plowed this fall. I ask your advice as to which of these pieces will be the better to use for my plants. Either of these plots will be ideal for strawberries, inasmuch as you are plowing them this fall. Old sod land frequently is infested with white grubs, which feed on the roots of grasses and strawberry plants. Turning the sod under exposes the grubs and all other insects to the freezing and thawing; also to birds and other feeders upon insects. This does away with all danger from these pests. J. O. S., Dana, Ind. Enclosed please find $1 for The Strawberry. I am anxious to seethe first number of the paper. I wish to ask you in regard to putting strawy manure on straw- berries in the fall. I have been hauling some and putting it between the rows and intend to shake the straw out and put it on the rows later. Would I better do this now (October 28) or wait and put it on with a manure spreader? Coarse stable manure makes an ideal mulching for strawberries, but we would not cover the plants until light freezing. Put the strawy parts directly over the plants and the decayed matter between the rows. Of course stable manure is liable to contain weed seeds, but these will cause you no troi'ble if in early spring, as soon as danger from frost is past, you will rake the coarsest parts close to the plants and cultivate the bare space between the rows. The mulch will be so thick as to discourage seed germination, while the cultivator will pre- vent the weeds from growing there. At the same time the cultivator will create a dust mulch that will hold about 50 per cent more moisture in the soil than would be the case if the surface were left undis- turbed. Another point in favor of culti- vation is that it mixes the decayed por- THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 tions of the manure with the soil so that the moisture may dissolve it into available form for plants to feed upon at the very moment they need it most. A word of caution: don't cultivate while plants are in bloom unless soil is moist enough to prevent dust from flying. Cultivate after each picking. The straw, which has been raked close to the plant, holds moisture there and also affords a clean place for the berries to ripen on. In this way cul- tivation may proceed during fruiting time without soiling the berries. In our own experimental beds we have been able, by following these methods, to increase size and yield by more than 20 per cent. The manure spreader is one of the most val- uable tools on the farm, but we do not advise its use on the strawberry beds, as it does not put the manure in the right place. In preparing soil for plants the manure spreader is ideal. W. A. J., Peoria, 111. I wish to set my straw- lierries on clayey new ground. How can I best prepare it? 2. I will set two rows 100 feet long. How many plants will it require? 1. We take it that your ground is virgin soil. This being true, it will be unnecessary to use fertilizers, as there should be plenty of plant food to pro- duce a big crop of berries. It should be broken up the fall preceding the setting of the plants. 2. Set your plants two feet apart in the row, which will, of course, require 100 plants for the two rows. H. A. B., Spokane, Wash. I am opening up a new place and want to put in one-half acre of strawberries. What variety would you advise me to set? You should set plants to represent each season in order to have a continuous sup- ply of fruit. For instance. Climax, Au- gust Luther, Senator Dunlap, Pride of Michigan and Sample would be a selec- tion that would take you through the entire season from very early to the end. Other varieties representing the same seasons will do equally as well. C. L. M., Winchester, Ind. I have on hand quite a supply of chicken droppings, also some well-rotted stable manure, in which there is no weed seed. When, if at all, would you advise putting it on my plants? 2. Would you advise scattering it over the plants or between the rows? 3. What is the best way to handle Gandy to get largest re- sults? 1. We would mix the chicken drop- pings with four or five times the quantity of stable manure, and put it on in the fall just before mulching. If put on too early in autumn it will stimulate too much vegetative growth, encouraging foliage rather than fruit buds. In your locality plants start making fruit buds in September. 2. Scatter the manuie lightly between the rows. 1 The Gandy plant has a tendency to expend its energies in developing foliage. To check this tendency you should discontinue cultivation early in the fall, going deep enough at the last cultivation to cut some of the roots. Do not work among them later than the mid- dle cf August, except to keep down the weeds. In preparing soil for the Gandy use no nitrogenous manures. Avoid us- ing the chicken droppings on the Gandy. They should be grown in narrow matted rows, but do not allow plants to crowd each other in the row. The first bloom of Gandy does not supply enough pollen to impregnate the stigmas. Therefore you should have another bisexual, strong in pollen; set every third row. In this way you can greatly extend the fruiting season and increase the yield of the Gandy. Where these methods are closely followed, the Gandy is a leader and money maker because of its lateness as well as ts prolificacy. A. L. E. , Smithtown Branch, N. Y. Have I made a mistake? I have kept all blossoms and runners off my spring-set plants. Now is it too late (August 14, 1905) to allow one to start from each side of the mother plant? You have made no serious mistake. In fact, you have greatly strengthened the mother plants by relieving them of the burden of runner-production. Now they are strong and vigorous and it is not too late for them to send out runners, and the young plants will have ample time to build up fruit buds. To assist them to root rapidly throw a little dirt with the hoe on the runner just back of the node. grubs will be eradicated. We have ex- perimented with all kinds of sod in the ways suggested and found them very effective. J. H. F., Hudson, 111. The leaves of my plants look dry and curl up, and upon exam- ining them I find the leaf drawn together w ith a web, and on opening up the leaf find a little worm on the inside. I burned over a part of my bed after picking, and that part no longer appears to be affected. What is the trouble and what the remedy? Your plants are infested with the leaf roller. The eggs are deposited on the foliage by a little brown miller and after the roller hatches it weaves a web which draws the leaf together for its protection. As soon as this is done it starts feeding upon the tissue of the leaf. This is a very common insect enemy of the straw- berry, but seldom does a great deal of damage. Parasitic insects — the lady bug and the spider — feed upon the larvse of the leaf roller, thus preventing rapid mul- tiplication. The burning over of the bed after fruiting is one of the best and cheapest methods of destroying them. Seeds, Plants, Roses, Bulbs.Vines.ShrubS, Fruit and OrnamentalTrees The beet by 6'2 years test. l.aJO acres. 40 In hardy roKes. none better (crown, 44 greenhouses of Pulm(». Ferns, Flcuf>. Uer- anluniB. Everbloomlne Ronea : and other things too numerous to mention. SeedB, Plaiils, Roses, Etc , by mail postpaid, safe arrival and satisfaction ! suaranteed, larger by express or freight. You will be inter- ested in our extraordinary cheap offers of over hjiK ft hundred choice collections in - HeedM, Plants, Roses. Trees, Etc Elegant 1 68-p8«e Cali.loiiue FKBI-^ Seiid tor it today aid see whut values we give for a little money, iuK STOKKS & HARKISON CO., BOX 359 PAINESVILLE, OHIO. J, B. H,, Union City, Pa, The field I intend to set to strawberries next year was manured heavily last spring and planted to potatoes. In digging the potatoes I find a great many white grubs, and the potatoes were badly eaten. Now will these grubs be in the ground next spring? This is the best piece of ground I have for strawberries, and could use it for this purpose if I can get rid of the grubs in any way. If the soil is left undisturbed, grubs un- doubtedly will be present in the soil next spring, but if the soil be broken up and the furrows left loose and open, it will expose the larvse to severe freezing and thawing, which is fatal to them. This also aids in getting rid of the parents of the grub, which are the May and June beetles. Chickens, turkeys and hogs will leave corn for white grubs and will work hard all day in the hunt for them. If you are so situated that you can follow these methods you need have no fear but the Page 20 Trees, Plants & Seeds yU^ THAT GROW /V$>oV Best quality. Good t'V-'''>>>:.0>** <;^ver.v pbeap lie: peach 40 ; allj^^^J^* ^^Freijjht paid tested budded; Con- >^«^ <^ cord Grapes^^K* ^ on trei'S. Cata- , lojjue, English or , Gernian, free. Write for it tudav. Ajidress U«e. 11 y^ef^J>X GEFMAN NURSERIES Box 101 Beatrice, 2Ieb, f:^ IGENT5 PiNEj :0f M ^Al SAMPLE' IN ONE lAT*-'"' «R1TE FOR TOOLS ■'^RITE OUR ""^A.i^O, No, 2 3d Ave. "*%..»i £^^e« =Let us Act as Your Factory= THAT'S OUR BUSINESS We make nothing of our own for sale, Jlan- ufacture exclusively for others anything in metal. We refer you to the publishers of this iiiagazinc. Kalamazoo Novelty Co., rAuJUr«icK, Mention "The Strawberry" when w ritinft. THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 The Dest preventive is early spraying with Paris green. The mixture should consist of seven ounces of Paris green, dissolved in four pounds of unslaked lime and fifty gallons of water. When used in con- nection with Bordeaux mixture use only two pounds of luislaked lime, because the Bordeaux mixture is partly composed of lime. W L. S., Randall, N. Y. Please tell me if I should cut off all runners from the mother plants, or -should I leave them on until spring? I have been told to cut them all off, but thought it best to write you in order to be sure. If your object is to grow the plants in the hill system, it will be correct practice to cut the runners off; but you would get better results if you allow each mother plant to make from four to six runners, which would make a double hedgerow. You are wise to get information of this kind from a reliable source. To attempt to follow the advice of those lacking ex- perience means almost inevitable failure. S. V. C, Ida Grove, Iowa. 1. Is there a pistillate variety of strawberries that will pro- duce as much fruit as Senator Dunlap, and will it grow as large a plant as the Senitor Dunlap.' 2. Does the Bubach grow as strong as the Senator Dunlap.' 1. Haverland, Sample, Warfield, Cres- cent and Downing's Bride will produce as many berries as the Senator Dunlap. The Crescent, Warfield and Downing's Bride produce a foliage similar to the Dunlap, while Haverland and Sample grow closer to the ground. 2. The Bubach is a strong grower with a large waxy leaf, but throws up short fruit and leaf stems. It is a won- derful producer and very popular in all markets. The balance between fruit and foliage is good. J. S., Wathena, Kas. 1. How is clover sod for strawberry plants.' Will they thrive on it? This is the only way we have to enrich the soil. My soil is excellent for potatoes and corn. I have plowed up my old patch and sowed it to cowpeas. Expect to put it into strawberries again next spring. Would you fertilize this patch now or wait until spring? 2. Will Senator Dunlap properly mate with Sample? 3. What proportion of bisexual varieties should I set to poUenat. pistillates? 1. Clover sod is excellent for straw- berry plants, provided it is broken up in the fall. It is one of the most valuable of the leguminous crops and furnishes an abundanceof humusand nitrogen. Humus increases bacteria and nitrogen stimulates a strong vegetative growth in plants. One of our finest fields of plants this year is growing on clover-sod land. You have Spray to Some Purpose With the outfit here shown. Nothing to equal it for any sort of row spraying. Note that each one of the four rows Is covered with three spray nozzles— fine spray from above and both sides forced under heavy pressure to every part of the plant. Sure death to every sort of pest. IT'S THE AUTOMATIC Wallace Row Sprayer which costs nothing for power. Power gen- mLa crated while driving through wheel gearing. ' ' Pressure strong and constant. IVIade for any width track. Nozzles are adjustable In all direc- tions. Sprayeralsocanbeusedfororchard work i\- also make Standard and Duplex two-horse spray- ers and the best gasoline engine outfit on the market. Fine catalogue^ just outy gives alt particulars. FREE. Write for it. WALLACE MACHINERY CO., Champaign, Illinois. TREES, PLANTS, ETC. Weliave an unusually line stock of Oiiu W-ar Old ami .tuiK- Hud Peach Trees. One and Two Year Old Apple, Pear, Cherry, and PImu Trees. Grape Vine, Sbrubhery, P>oses, Etc. Also all kinds of Small Fruit Plants. Strawberry lilants by the million. Send for catalogue and price list before you buy for our low delivered prices. CHATTANOOGA NVRSKRIU'i, CHATTANOOGA, TKNX. followed the proper course in turning un- der your bed of old plants and sowing it to cowpeas. It should be in ideal con- dition for plants the coming spring. If you use manure for fertilizer apply it this winter, but commercial fertilizer, if needed at all, should be applied in the spring and thoroughly incorporated with the soil be- fore the plants are set. 2. Dunlap and Sample are not of the same season, but if you will set one row o. Dunlaps to three of Sample, following with a bisexual of later season — such as Pride of Michigan, Aroma, or Brandy- wine — the Dunlap will furnish pollen for Sample's early bloom, while the late bi- sextial will supply pollen for Sample's late bloom. This places Sample between a mid-season and a late bisexual, which is the ideal way to set any pistillate. This also answers your third question. C. M. K., Burnett, Calif. I woidd like some Information on a point that has been a source of annoyance to me. I am raising Brandy- wine berries under irrigation on strong sediment soil which is composed of very fine particles of sand (not gritty) and clay, and when wet by irrigation or heavy rains It cakes. We get thrifty plants and a large yield of fruit, but the berries lack color and are deficient In keeping qualities. Are there any cultural methods I can adopt that will remedy these defects? The reason your soil runs together and becomes too compact is due to insuffi- cient humus. A liberal dressing of stable manure well worked into the soil will do much to relieve this condition. Thobet Page 21 ter method is to grow some leguminous crop (cowpeas, soy beans or clover) the season before setting to strawberries. One reason why your berries are deficient in keeping quality is the lack of potassium in the soil; another is excessive irrigation. Potassium in the soil will add color to the fruit and fortify its keeping powers. Use a commercial fertilizer rich in potassium. \V. McK., McKownvllle, N. Y., August 10, 1905. I want to set a half-acre in straw- berries next spring. The soil is sand loam and I have been growing potatoes and vege- tables on it. It has been manured every year. I will plow it this fall and give it a coat of manure this winter and replow it in the spring. What do you think of this for strawberries? There is nothing better than sandy loam for strawberries. The growing of pota- toes and vegetables in previous years, with frequent applications of manure, has put it in perfect tilth. Fall plowing is just the thing. Five pecks of rye to the acre sown in the fall to act as a cover crop and to take up manure leachings will still further improve the soil. W. B., RIverton, Wash. 1. Is there any ad- vantage In buyingplstlllatevarieties when you can get bisexuals that promise great yields and large berries? 2. In picking how are berries sorted? 1. As a rule the pistillate is more pro- lific than the bisexual, provided the pistil- lates are properly mated. The pistillate THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 supplies no pollen, therefore will not weaken through pollen exhaustion. The greater percentage of growers use both pistillate an J bisexual plants, and we con- sider this by all means the better way. 2. You should have pickers' stands or carriers large enough to hold four quart boxes. Sorting is done by the pickers in the field; they place fancy ber- ries in separate boxes from the second grades. This avoids rehandling at the packing house. B. VV., Red Cliff, Iowa. 1. Last year I set 100 strawberry plants — can't give you the name, but they came from Osage, Iowa — in good rich soil and kept off the runners. They grew to be extra large plants and were loaded with blooms this season. But when fruiting time came there were no berries worth mentioning. \\'hat is the trouble.' 2. I have only a small place — about 30x40 feet — and want a nice bed for home use. Tl-.e land is low black loam. Will this be good for strawberries? 1. You have set a pistillate variety which is devoid of pollen, a frequent oc- currence when plants are purchased from those who fail to advise their patrons. You should have placed your pistillate variety beside bisexual plan's. The re- sults then undoubtedly would have been satisfactory'. 2. Your little plot, if set to well- developed and properly mated plants, will produce all the berries a large family pos- sibly can consume. As your soil lies low, we advise you to make a slight ridge and set the plants on top of this ridge, as is doneiwith sweet potatoes. This affords drainage, and is a slight protection against frost. G. S. W. , Duluth, Minn. 1. For twenty- five years I have been in the railway mail service, giving my brawn and brains for others. Have always lived in the city and have raised a family of eight. I now have bought ten acres of fine land just three miles from a good little city of 4,000 souls, and am now going to try to make a home for the dear little woman who has stuck to me through thick and thin for forty-three years, and I want you help me get started on the right track. What, in your estimation, would be the best berry for me to start with? 2. About how many plants would you advise me to set out the first year? 3. How often should I renew my beds; or in other words, how long will they continue to be profitable? First let us congratulate you upon your determination to get a productive home — a home that sustains itself, or does even better than that. No other line cf work offers a more promising opening in this direction than does strawberry growing. We wish you great success! 2. We invariably advise beginners to start with small acreage, and suggest that you put out the first year not more than two acres. Your 19-year-old son could take care of this acreage with very little help. As you gain in experience and develop a market you may increase your acreage year by yea;. 3. A new bed should be set every year. By following this plan yo-u will have a new bed coming into bearing every year and production is therefore contin- uous. Two years is as long as plants will fruit profitably. After the second crop has been picked burn over the bed and turn under, and plant this ground to some other crop. Such a rotation aids in keeping your place free from injurious pests. W. H. S. , East Pepperill, Mass. 1. I would like to know how much the plants would cost to set out two acres? 2. I have a corn- field and a pasture. Which one would you set to strawberry plants? 3. What can I do with the land this fall to put it in best condi- tion for berries? 4. Could you give ap- proximately what it would cost to take care of the two acres from the time the plants are set until they are covered for winter? 5. This soil is good vegetable and corn land. Will it be good for berries? 1. You should count upon 7,000 plants to the acre; the price depends upon the varieties selected. 2-3. Our first choice would be the corn land, assuming it to be in a fertile state. However, the pasture land will give good results if it is broken up in the fall. A light dressing of manure on either piece, well worked into the soil in the spring before plants are set, will improve both the mechanical and chemical condi- tions of the soil and aid much in produc- ing a big crop or fancy berries. 4. The cost will depend upon the amount of labor expended and upon the one doing the work. The kinds of tools used also has much to do with the cost. Every dollar's worth of intelligent work put upon the strawberry bed will prove a big paying investment. We estimate that one man can give first-class care to four acres of strawberries. 5. Any soil that will produce good vegetables and other crops will give equally good results in strawberries. IVo. It Donble Wheel Hoc Combined I Wheel : Planet Jr. Tools 'are known and used the world over, bt cause ihey make Planting, Hoeing ar Cultivating easy ; rob the work of its back breaking drudgery, and make it interestiny. rapid and profitable. There is a Planet Jr. tor every need. Our new I'Wb catalotiue describes and illustrates Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Harrows, Riding Cultivators (one and two-row.) Sugar Beet and Or- chard Cuhivators, etc. — forty-five tools in all. No. 4 Planet Jr. is the most popular combined tool made. It combines in one implement, a perfect seeder and a splendid wheel hoe, weeder, cultivator and plow. Seed can be sown in continuous rows or in hills 4. 6, 8, 12 or 24 inches apart. It is easily changed from Drill to Wheel Hue, and is useful every day of the season and at every stage of the garden work. With this implement the farmer or gardener can do all the work in his small crops in the best man- ner at double quick speed. No 12 Double Wheel Hop will enable you to hoe every day two acres of onions or any similar crop and du il lasierainl betCLTlhan three nifii witli hand lioes. It runs eitht'r astndj or bciween tlie rows, kills all weeds and it-avt-s the soil in splendid t-oaditiun. It is also usenil for opening and closing furrows. OUR 1 906 CATALOGUE shows many yrardeu scenes at home and abroad that will iuteiest you. Beeuruandgetit. We mail it free on request, s. I. ALIEN & CO., Box 1106-O, Piiiladelphia Pa. 32 YEARvS CELLING DIRECT We are the largest manufacturers of veJiicles and harness in the world sell- ing to consumers exclusively. We Have No Agents but ship anywhere for e amination and approv guaranteeing safe deli ery. You are out noth- ing if not satisfied as to * style, quality and price. We make 200 No. 628 LeatherTopRutrgywitiiLeailier styles of vehicles and Covered Bow; and H inch rubber tires. 65 StvlcS of harnCSS. Price complete $68. As good as sells for 825 more. Our large Hatalogne is FREE, Send for it. ElKhart Carriage (Sh Harness Mf^. Co.. E-lKhart, Indiana. No. 327, canopy Top Surrey, Price-.omiilete $73. As ^ood as sells for S'^ri ninre. 20th Century Combination A wagon box. stork rat k and hay lad- ders combined." Can haul loose hay or straw, all kinds of live stock ear _\ corn, threshed wheat or oats, apples, J.-^^ potatoes, etc. Good for every use on the ^^^T farm withiuit removal of parts. All Ghanfief Made Instantly. Catalog Fr^e MODEI^ M'r»G. CO., Box 52 t Mtincie* Ind Page 22 Greening's Trees are Steam Dug Not Broken or Bruised Large Healthy Bunches of Roots Digging Trees by Steam Po\ver. Northern Grown Trees that are are hardy and will stand very severe tests, smooth, thrifty and straight. We guarantee superior quality and true to name or no pay. We want good, honest Agents and will pay Cash Weekly Have over 500 agents; want 1,000 We grow trees by the million GREENINGS PRIZE BLOCK OF WHOLE ROOTED APPLE jDliy irUIll Lilt ^ilt When you order Greening's Trees you get well developed stock, free from disease, ready to grow and make money for you. Nurseries SEVEN HUNDRED ACRES The Greening Nursery Company MONROE, MICHIGAN Page 23 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan. ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 47 Plymouth Place, Chicago, 111. Subscription Price One Dollar a Year Applieation made for Ptitry at the postoffice at Three Rivers, Mieh., as second-class matter. JANUARY, 1906 OUR colored cover is a photo-illus- tration of a strawberry farm very familiar to us, and though the engravers have not done justice to the subject and the close observer will note some de- fects, the fine thoroughbred plants in the foreground, the beautiful background of noble trees, with the simple cottage and its pretty domestic scene — the house- wife taking the morning's mail from the hand of the rural mail carrier — all con- spire to make a taking and effective pic- ture of the country home set among the most beautiful of nature's decorations. It is our aim to present only actual pho- tographic reproductions in The Straw- berry, thus encouraging the reader to do what others have shown it to be easy to accomplish if one has the intention and the will to do it. ■^ ^ READERS are directly interested in the advertisements appearing in a journal to which they subscribe and to know of the attitude of its pub- lishers concerning the character of the matter admitted to its advertising col- umns. In this initial issue of The Straw- berry we desire to make our position clear on this point. Many good journals guarantee their subscribers against loss should the latter be led to patronize a swindling concern through an advertisement appearing in the coluinns of those journals. That is tiie proper thing to do, but we purpose going further and guarantee our readers against introduction through our pages to any- thing that falls short of the highest stand- ards of business integrity, insisting that whatever appears in its columns shall rep- resent something of positive advantage to the reader, considered either from the material or moral viewpoint. No liquor advertisement, no "patent" medicine advertising, will be admitted. We do not mean by this to intimate that there are no worthy remedies among the so- called patent articles, but we are unable to discriminate between them, and so ex- clude them altogether. So with stock- jobbing and gambling devices, mining schemes and "opportunities in oil," "get- rich-quick schemes " or any other thing concerning which there is the shadow of a doubt — none may have access to our readers through these pages. What we do purpose, however, is to carry such lines of advertising as shall win for us the confidence of every reader and make mutually helpful friends of ad- vertiser and readei. To paraphrase the famous motto of the late Charles A. Dana, we want our readers to feel that If you see it in The Strawberry, it's all right!" And so, when we publish the merits of our advertising friends to our subscriber friends we wish it understood that it is in the natuie of a personal intro- duction, and that we stand sponsor for the good faith of each. DECENTLY we purchased one of the Kala- **■ mazoo Stove Co's. (Kalamazoo, Mich.) ranges and one of theii base burners — the Royal range and the Radiant heater. We unhesitat- ingly pronounce them the best of their kind we have tried in a quarter of a century of experience with ranges and heaters and in the consumption of antracite coal in both. For economy of con- sumption and effectiveness in radiation, for ease in management and quickness of response to proper manipulation, we never have seen their equal; and they are as handsome and durable as they are effecti\e. And to say one word more, we estimate that in the purchase of these two do- mestic necessities we have saved at least $25 be- cause we bought them direct from the manu- facturer. The methods of the Kalamazoo Stove Co. are as fine as their manufactured pro- ducts— all are first-class and thoroughly up to date. Strawberry folks ought to know this company. 'X'HERE is another Kalamazoo institution ^ whose ad\'ertisement appears in The Straw- berry, with which we have done a large amount of business — the Kalamazoo Novelty Co., and we can say to anybody having anything to man- ufacture in the wav of iron or steel or brass from a hatchet to a steam engine, that this company will give your order the best of attention and care. Just try them and see, if you are in quest of a factory to manufacture anything in metal. ANOTHER advertiser whose goods we can recommend without hesitation because of actual experience with them is the Elkhart Car- riage and Harness Co., of Elkhart, Ind., one of whose graceful and well-built surreys has been in service on the farm long enough to test its qualities thoroughly. The Elkhart Co. also is a "direct to consumer" manufacturer, u'ith the result that the middlemen's profits go the pur- chaser. You can't make a mistake if you deal with them. Ask for their catalogue of carriages and harnesses, and discover what a splendid con- cern it is with which to do business. And don't fail to mention that you saw it in The Strawberry A ND there is the Aspinwall Manufacturing •'*■ Co., of Jackson, Mich., who have used a scene on the farm-home of The Strawberry to illustrate their excellent sprayer in the handsome full-page advertisement that adorns our second cover page. That picture tells the story and shows to what good use we are putting the As- pinwall spraying machine. It also tells volumes as Page 24 to our opinion of the Aspinuall goods, for we make it a rule to use only those farm accessor- ies that serve their purpose well. It is a pleas- ure to introduce our patrons to the Aspinwall people, who always do business on the basis of the '(Square deal." "TpHEN there is the American Harrow Co., of ^ Detroit, whose 150-bushel manure spreader has done such great service in our interest for the last three years — and still appears to be as good as the day it went into commission. In this day of farm economics there are few things that serve a larger purpose than the manure spreader; and we can heartily recommend the American as a result of actual and large exper- ience. Write for their catalogue and see how many ways they have under which they will sell you a spreader on easy terms — so easy that you would scarcely feel the paying for it. ONE of our neighbors, Frank R. Fisher of Moorepark, IVIich., for some months has been introducing a harrow that does wonders in the way of preparing the soil for garden and farm crops. It is the Naylor Combination Harrow, and it is well worth your while to look into its merits. It is a combination of spike and spring teeth, the latter controlled by two levers so as to raise or lower them at will. You will see by the advertisement how the farmers who have had a chance to see it work are buying it. Send for a circular to the address given in the advertise- ment and we are sure you will be interested in this implement. CPEAKING of sprayers, the Wallace Ma- ^ chinery Co., of Champaign, 111., are mak- ing a machine that just now is attracting the at- tention of fruit men everywhere, and we shall make a thorough test of it during the coming season. The Wallace Co. is one of the old re- liables, and anything that it puts out may be counted on to do good work. Write today for a catalogue, mentioning The Strawberry, and study the question of spraying machines during these long winter evenings. CTARK BROS., the famous nurserymen of '^ Louisiana, Mo., were the first to respond to our announcement regarding The Strawberry, and there came from them a prompt request for the back cover page. You will observe how at- tractively they have filled it with interestir.gand suggestive facts concerning their immense busi- ness— one of the largest of its kind in the world. Quality and size go together here, for the Stark Bros, look after their patrons' welfare with an interest and loyal zeal that has been one of the principal factors in their tremendous success. IV^ ICHIGAN also has a big nursery, and it is ^'^ run by big men who do tilings in a big way. Over at Monroe one of the institutions of which the townsfolk are particularly proud is the Greening Bros', nurseries. Trees are grown there by the million on 700 acres of as fine land for the purpose as may be found anywhere. Every order of nursery stock is included in their catalogue, and If you are in the market for goods in their line, send for a copy of it and you will find much to interest you therein. ■pARM folk will find few later-day labor-savers ■^ more effective than the combination wagon- box, that you can transform in a twinkling from a corn-carrier into a hay rack, and from a hay rack into a moving sheep, swine or cattle wagon Indeed, these are only a hint of the capacity of the Twentieth Century Wagon-box to suit itself instantly to the necessities of its owner. No lifting of a heavy box is necessary at all. What this means to the man on the farm nobody else can appreciate quite so thoroughly as the man who is performing th.it back-lireaking feat every few days or hours, as the case may be. The Twentieth Century is made and sold direct to the consumer bv the Model Maiinfacturiiig Co., Muncie, Ind. Write for a catalogue. Doitnow. ■'.-"Crf'v^.v >=:X '\0-. i,-Jxr .V Big Money in Strawberries We Teach You How to Grow Them Do you know, dear reader, that raising strawberries for market is an exceedingly profitable business: Well, it is, if you know how to do it right. And it is not only a big money maker, but is a very pleasant and healthful pursuit as well, as many of our pupils can testify. But you must thoroughly understand how to go about it. ^'ou can't succeed in getting all there is in it of health, enjoyment and good hard dollars without proper training. And to get that practical training and preparation that will make • uccess absolutely certain, you must put yourself in touch with those who are equipped by experience to help you. Isn"t that true.' 'T'HE Kellogg Corresponden'ce School of Strawberry Culture teaches you the way and tells you how to a;ro\v big crops of fancy berries and how to pick and pack them for top prices. We show you how to get more select berries from one acre than two will produce of the "other kind" under the old heads. We make every detail of the work plain and tell you just when and how to do everything to get the very best results. We show you how to lower the Whml We Did for One Pupil East Jalfrey, N. H., Nov. B, 'O.'i. R. M. Kellogg Co. In the spring of li)04 I ordered 1,000 of your Tlior- ouslibred Pedigree Plants, set them on one-eighth aere of good soil and liandled tliem aeeordingto vour instmrtions, ] pieked ijff the buds the first y. iir and wfiut do you tliink I got in return? I pieked and sol'i !I00 qiiiirts of niee, ).ig ripe berries, sold them for l."> to IS eenls p<-r quart, iiiuk wide and open one. No grower is too large and none too small to be benefited by our teachings. The better you understand your business the more money you can make and with less work. Now, if you want to know all about our methods, send us your name and address and $1.00, and you will be enrolled as a full member of the great Correspondence School. And "The Strawberry", our inter- estingand valuable publication, n-ill come to you each month full of instruction and Yotlrs tmlv ISRAEL VALW.W. ,,_, „ 1 he strawberry will contain no puzzles, no visionary stories, no imaginary theories; nothing but strictly business instruction, common sense and actual experience from the world's greatest eNperts. It is the only journal in the world devoted evclusively to the interests of strawberry producers expense of production and increase vour '"'•'? "i' *^i'';,-„*''i'' ''* '"/' 5''"'' h^9° ?'"."'* '^■'.V'Z!""- tell you just what to do in your strawberry ^ ' -I pieked and hlled standard quart baskets with fifteen ■' ' ^ " ly ,, receipts. berries and ean funii.sh proof if anyone doubts my word, field at that particular time, and will keep . . I shall want 10.000 of yonr Pedigree plants for ne.\t . . . ^ We explain in a practical way how spring; can l get them i Yourstmlv. you from making expensive mistakes. large families ivith small gardens can grow an abundance of choice berries for home use and make money , too. We prepare the young man for a good paying position. There is a great call for foremen on berry farms. The demand is far in excess of the .supply. We fit you for that work. Our course of instruction trains the young woman for an idea out-of-door occupation in which she can make much more thai an independent living. The first person to join this school was a young woman ul.o has won splendid success as a strawberry culturist in Minnesota. And among our hundreds of pupils are many women who are enthusiasts in the business. Miss S. M. Pollard, of Woodside, Minn., sends us a clip- ping from a local newspaper and says that it was through our instruction that her success as referred to therein was made. She says that the 1905 crop was her first attempt at raising straw berries, yet from about eight rods of plants, she had sold on July l''th, 400 quarts and had about 300 more to gather. The newspaper clipping follows: * * "The largest and nicest strawbeiries we have had the pleasure of seeing this year were bronijht to our office by Miss S. M. Pollard, of Woodside. 'The size of the berries is phenomenal, some of them measuring five and one-half inches in circumference, while the flavor is sweeter and it is more juicy than the western and southern berrj-. ' ' No Other out-of-door employment offers larger opportunity to the enterprising than does strawberrj' culture, and the field is a Don't delay, but write us today. Address R. M. Kellogg Publishing Company, iisponageAve., Three Rivers, Mich. ■->^- n -5?: SlARKBRO;&NMg§^s@ CAPITAL STOCK $1,000,000— ALL PAID UP General Offices, Nurseries, Packing Houses and Shipping Station LOUISIANA, MO. r»T?AivrrMT7c j Starkdale, Mo. BRANCHES I j^Q^j^p^j.^^ 111. Oldest Nurseries in the West Established 1825 Portland, N. Y. Dansville, N. Y. Fayetteville, Ark. Atlantic, Iowa Largest Nurseries in the World 4675 Acres WE PAY FREIGHT on $5 orders (one- fourth cash to be sent with order) at prices quoted in our Wholesale Price List, to any R. R. Station in ARKANSAS KANSAS ILLINOIS MISSOURI INDIANA NEBRASKA IOWA OHIO On Orders Amounting to $7.50 or more, if one- fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight to any R. R. Station in ALABAMA DELAWARE CONNECTICUT INDIAN TER. GEORGIA MARYLAND LOUISIANA MISSISSIPPI MINNESOTA N. CAROLINA NEW YORK S. CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA TENNESSEE VIRGINIA TEXAS DIS. COLUMBIA KENTUCKY MICHIGAN NEW JERSEY OKLAHOMA RHODE ISLAND WISCONSIN W. VIRGINIA On Orders Amounting to $10 or more, if one- fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight to any R. R. Station in ARIZONA COLORADO IDAHO MONTANA NEVADA OREGON UTAH VERMONT WYOMING CALIFORNIA FLORIDA MAINE MASSACHU'TS N. HAMPSHIRE NEW MEXICO NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA WASHINGTON We make no charge for Box- ing and Packing. We Do NOT pay freight on orders amounting to less than specified, nor un- less one-fourth cash is received with order, nor on shipments by express. GRAPE VINES— In order to carry out our policy of furnishing only the BEST, we maintain a nursery at Portland, N. Y., in the heart of the famous Fredonia— Chautauqua Grape Belt, which produces the finest vines grown in the U. S. We are head- quarters for all the leading Commercial sorts. WARNING— We are sole owners of the names Black Ben, Champion, Delicious, King David and other leading commercial apples. Gold plum, Stark- Star grape, etc., all of which are our Trade-Marks, duly registered in the U. S. Patent Office under the new law approved Feb. 20, 1905. Planters are w^arned against infringers offering trees under these names or trees claimed to be "just the same." We offer the GENUINE at prices as low as GOOD trees can be produced. Wise buyers will take no chances. I STARK TREES SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL— BECAUSE, three generations of Stark Nursery- men have made the production of the BEST trees their life study, their life work; BECAUSE, Stark Trees are produced under an exact science from the time the seed are selected until the tree is delivered carefully packed for transportation; BECAUSE, in selecting buds and scions only healthy, vigorous, highly prolific trees of the best strains are used as parentage; BECAUSE, a tree grown with all conditions favorable has high vitality and will withstand climatic rigors and unfavorable soil even better than the stunted weakling propagated in just such un- congenial surroundings; BECAUSE, having eight nur- series in five states, each sort is grown under the most favor- able conditions of soil and cli- mate, resulting in hardy, healthy, thrifty trees that LIVE and BEAR; BECAUSE, we are constantly on the watch, not only for valuable new varieties of fruits, but for the best strains as they are developed. As soon as an improved strain is found it is propagated and the inferior discarded; 4 BECAUSE, only THE BEST roots, scions, soil, location, labor, cultivation, pruning, digging, storing and packing enter into the production and handling of Stark Trees. We ask for your orders BECAUSE, Stark Trees have given satisfaction in every state and territory for 80 years, w^ith the result that Stark Nurseries have constantly grown (the only true test of merit) until they are now the LARGEST IN THE WORLD. We are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow." APPLE SEEDLINGS— We offer for the coming season's trade several million that, owing to favor- able season, are EXTRA FINE. They are Iowa grown from Vermont seed and our o\vn experience has demonstrated that they are superior to all others we have used. Also a fine lot of Catalpa, Black Locust, Mahaleb Cherry, French and Japan Pear Seedlings, Plum Stocks, etc., Vermont Apple Seed. CTRDK^ FRUIT BOOK "WORLD'S fair FRUITS" shows in natural colors and accurately j^l M^ describes 216 varieties of fruit. Send 50 cts. and we w^ill send the book post-paid and a REBATE ^M* TICKET permitting its return within 60 days when the 50 cts. will be refunded. Or the Rebate Ticket is good for $1 part payment on a $10 order for nursery stock. Send for Wholesale Price List. Order Sheets, Descriptive Circulars, Half-tone Views, etc.— FREE. WE PAY CASH Weekly and want MORE Home and Traveling Salesmen. Address, STARK BRO'S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO. . Desk 1 1 , Louisiana. MO. '■^iriS^>^i^-f^^t'where, especially those engaged in its commercial production, should unite in an effort to secure such attention at the hands of the authorities at Washington. Jug-Handied Reform Ideas WE have it on the authority of the Washington correspondents that a strong lobby of commission men representing the large trade centers, is now at Washington demanding the abolition of the private-car lines because — these car lines are wrong in principle and a private monopoly of gigantic and unholy power.? Not at all! These commission men are compelled through the operation of the private-car lines to buy from the strawberry and other fruit growers at the shipping points, instead, as formerly, of merely handling consignments and re- ceiving their 2-per-cent commission whether the grower got a penny or not. They prefer to return to the old way and compel the shipper to take all the risk — and are asking the government to help them out. It is hardly necessary to point out the one-sidedness of this proposition. Just in so far as the private-car lines have re- lieved the grower of bearing all the risk of sending his produce to a stranger hundreds of miles away over whom he could have no control, they have served a good pur- pose— perhaps the only good thing that may be said of an institution so inherently a monoply. And when the commission men seek to destroy this monopoly in or- der that a certain degree of monopolistic Page 26 power may be restored to them, they de- serve nothing but defeat. Good citizenship considers the general welfare. If the general welfare demands the abolishment of the private-car lines, and this journal believes it does, all intei- ests should ally themselves together to abolish those lines, not because they de- stroy a monopoly some happen to enjoy; not because they give the shipper a chance and compel the commission man to work a little harder to make a fixing; but be- cause it is right — and right never did harm to any honest man. ^ -^ Strawberry Growers Organize COOPERATION is a principle that it is well to put into actual practice as generally as is possible, and it is with pleasure we note that strawberry growers are discovering it to be to their advantage to organize for cooperative ef- fort and mutual benefit. One such or- ganization we know of in Tennessee is getting ready for the season of 1906 with large prospects of success, and it ought to set other folks to thinking. In a note to The Strawberry its secretary and treas- urer, A. W Freeman, writes as follows concerning it: "We are known as the Nashville Strawberry association, organized last August for the mutual benefit of the growers, and we hope that we may real- ize more uniform prices for our berries. Our object is to sell direct to those who buy in carload lots — to sell by wire to their representatives f. o. b. Nashville. We shall endeavor to give an honest pack and full quarts of clean, ripe berries. We confidently expect to have in our as- sociation by next berry season 25,000 crates of twenty-four quarts of Gandys and Michel's Early to market." White's Creek, nine miles from Nashville, is the seat of this important enterprise. It will be observed that there are two elements in the plan of this association — to help themselves and e: ch other, and to market good berries, htnestly packed. Our Tennessee friends may not lay too much stress upon the latter; indeed, they may be very sure that if the berries are good and packed "on honor", they will find more business awaiting them at top prices than they can handle. The market with too many first-class strawberries, put up by those known to act "on the square", never has existed in the United States. The Castleberry (Ala.) Fruit Growers' Association began shipping cooperatively in 1902 with but thirty-two acres in the association. Reports show that the total net returns from that year's crop were $13,342.40, or an average net return per acre of $416.95. The highest net re- turns per acre were $533.13, while the lowest net return to any individual mem- ber of the association was $300.58 an acre. Suggestions for February Work FEBRUARY weather usually is too severe in the Northern states to ad- mit of any outside work, but this does not mean that the strawberry grower is to remain in idleness. This season of cold and quiet is the very time of the year in which to prepare for the inevitable rush and bustle of fruiting time, which will be with us much sooner than now we think it will as we look out over the broad fields of snow-covered vines. Every strawberr)' grower should have some CUT l-AT WORK AT THE CRATE BENCH place about the farm where an old stove may be set up and a comfortable work- shop improvised, and here, while the northerly blasts sweep and Jack Frost engraves his fantastic pictures in white upon the landscape, the man of fore- thought and enterprise may do a lot of things that will make his summer work lighter and pleasanter, to say nothing of increased profits and the economy result- ing from this preparation. For instance, there are the crates and boxes to be made. The first thing to do in this work is to make a crate-form like that shown in Cut No. 2. Full instruc- tions appear under the cut. Observe the man at work making crates at his bench. You will see that the form holds the crate in place as he makes them up, leav- ing his hands free to work with hammer and nails. One man can make 150 of these crates in a day. There are also the quart boxes to be made up and placed in the crates, bottom side up, so as to prevent any dust or dirt from settling into them. When the quarts are all placed in this manner they may be stacked on top of each other in small space, in readiness for packing time. The stapling machine shown in Cut No. 7 is one of the most economical devices ever made, and effectively solves the box- making problem. Then there are the neat and helpful head stakes showing thedifFerent varieties, as indicated in Cut No. 8. These stakes should be nicely painted, which adds not only to their appearance, but to their keeping qualities as well. The stakes shown in the cut serve a double purpose — they indicate the \arieties and they show the proper method to set plants to mate them properly so as to secure perfect pol- lenation. You will observe that the first stake to the left represents Excelsior, then two Warfiekls, and third. Senator Danlap, which is followed by Warfield. Excel- sior, which is an extra-early bisexual, will furnish pollen for Warfield's first bloom, while the Dunlap, a later bisexual, supplies the later bloom of the \VarfieId, which is a pistillate. This is what we call congenial mating. All pistillates should be mated by two bisexuals, one a little earlier and one somewhat later than itself. In making these variety stakes we find that a good material to use is two-inch strips, one-half inch thick and about two feet long. This allows them to be driven into the ground a distance of from six to eight inches, and still leave the names of the varieties exposed ro full view. One who has not seen these neatly painted and lettered stakes may not realize how much they add to the appearance of the place. Straight marking stakes, placed at in- tervals across the fields in order that the grower may ha\'e something to assist in keeping the rows from going awry, are another valuable aid. No matter how beautiful the plants may be, unless they are in straight rows the field will present a disappointing appearance. An example of straight rows with neatly lettered head stakes is shown in Cut No. 3. It also indicates how properly to mate Gandy. Then there is the marker, so import- ant at setting time as an aid to straight rows, and it does the work so quickly that it is quite impossible to do without one of them. Cut No. 6 shows one wheel of the marking device on the farm home of The Strawberry. Three or four of these wheels may be attached to a frame. The number used will depend, of course, up- on the number of rows you wish to mark out at a time. You will find suggestions under Cut No. 6 that will make this work easy. Another convenience for the strawberrj' grower is the packer's table. This should CUT 2 CRATE FORM T^AKE a plank two inches thick, sixteen to twenty inches wide, and two feet long. Nail a six-inch board to the back of this, then put on one-inch strips to form the slots, as shown in the picture, and the job is done. These slots hold the ends and center pieces of crates in their places while the sides are being nailed on. One end of crate is shown in slot. be made about as tall as an ordinary table, the length to be determined by the size of the packing shed and the amount of busi- ness to be done. The top should be sand papered and polished quite smoothly, so if berries fall upon it there will be less danger of bruising them. Pickers' stands or carriers are a neces- sity upon the well-managed strawberry farm, ^'ou will find under Cut No. 5 CUT 3-AN IDEAL STRAWBERRY FIELD, SHOWING VARIETY HEAD STAKES Page 27 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 full instructions for making an inexpen- sive stand, and under Cut No. 4 instruc- tions for making a more substantial carrier. Then there are the smaller, but no less important, conveniences that ought to re- cur 4--A SUBSTANTIAL CARRIER 'THE cut herewith shows a simple, strong and con- venient carrier. We prefer this four-box carrier to the six-box form because they are more quicltly filled and thus the berries are the sooner taken in out of the sun. ceive your attention at this time. You ought to have a neat and attractive label, for you should build up a trade pecul- iarly your own, and a label is a great aid in that direction. Letter heads, envelopes, pickers' tally tickets, punches — these are essentials to economy of time and large success in conducting a strawberry farm. Then the cultivators, tools and all the farm implements should now be receiving your attention. During the winter days that are fine that pile of manure which was left in the barnyard last fall should be hauled out to the patch and spread at the earliest pos- sible moment. And if you haven't mulched yet, cover your plants now, both CUT 5 -AN INEXPENSIVE CARRIER "TO make this carrier, or pickers' stand, take a board one-half inch thick, ten inches wide and fifteen inches long. This will form the bottom. Common lath nailed to each side and ends will serve nicely to hold the quart boxes in place. Now take two-inch strips one-half inch thick and five inches long for the legs. A piece of common barrel hoop or basket handle will give good service as a handle. for protection from freezing and thawing and in order that your ripening berries may have a sweet clean floor upon which to mature. Your customers will appreci- ate the cleanliness of your fruit more than any other one thing about them. And finally, now is the time to study your catalogues and determine what you will do when it comes time to set your plants. If you know what varieties you prefer, and desire to secure just the right ones, you will make a serious mistake if you do not get in your order for plants at once. No matter how fine condition your land is in, or how favorable the sea- son, if you don't have plants at setting time, and good plants at that, you will find all your work of little avail. More folks fail at this very point than at any other. Good plants of desirable varieties lie at the very foundation of successful strawberry production. COMMERCIAL strawberry growers who make large shipments of the fruit to distant markets are watching with keen interest the probable action of Con- gress upon private-car line and general railway-rate regulation. Congressman Shartel of Missouri, in a recent interview, indicated that he had been studying the question from the strawberry man's point Z^.-.^-' CUT 6— A SIMPLE MARKING DEVICE T^AKE a wheel sixteen iuches in diameter and tack two cleats on the rim directly opposite each other. Every time these cleats come in contact with the surface of the ground they make a dent in the soil. Vt'here a sixtcen-inch wheel is used these dints will come every twenty-four inches in the track made by the wheels. This simple device is a great help in getting your plants set exactly the same distance apart in the row. A glance at the above cut will show that the wheel is set in a frame with hinge. This frame is bolted to a two-inch board, which should be seven feet long; one wheel frame bolted to each end and one directly in the center mark three rows 3 1-2 feet apart at a lime. The hinge is to allow the wheel to adjust itself to any unevenness of the ground, and thus make a continuous mark to follow in setting. The best way to draw this is by means of shafts, and a man will draw it straighter than can be done with a horse. of view. He said: "We are most de- cidedly in favor of the regulation of private-car lines. Down about Neosha in my state we have one of the greatest strawberry districts in the country. Last season we sent out no less than 150 car loads, and on one occasion sent a solid train load. The best rate we could get from the private-car lines was $90 per car to the nearest market, the charge inade for icing. We discovered it cost the company just .$25 for that ice, and yet we had no way to reach it and force a reasonable charge." Since those words were spoken President Roosevelt's annual Piie 28 message has dealt this monopoly a telling blow, and the whole subject has come before the public in a way likely to force congressional action. Making Fertilizer "Without Cost ONE way of making valuable fertili- zer without cost is suggested by a New Hampshire preacher, an itin- erant Methodist, whose travels over that portion of the earth bounded by his con- CUT 7 -MAKING BOXES WITH THE STAPLER ference limits has taught him a thing or two worth knowing. He tells in Farm and Home how, when he moved to his present abode, "the sink drain ran out on the garden to the west of the house, and in warm days the odor could be readily distinguished from attar of roses. "I had a tile drain laid from the sink spout to the barn cellar and last spring, when ready to plant garden, I had a one- horse farm cart si.x times full of well rotted leaves, meadow hay, vegetable tops, weeds which had not gone to seed, etc., which I had made in that barn cel- lar by allowing the sink water to drain on it and the chamber slops to be turned on the pile each day. "I made no special effort to see how CUT 8-.-HEAD STAKES Indicating way to mate plants to insure pollenation THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY i906 much I could make, but kept putting ref- use on as it trot soaked. I applied it to garden and I ha\ e had no reason to find any fault with the quality of it as a fertil- izer. I kept the weeds out and gave it clean cultureand have the satisfaction, not only of abundant crops of e\erything, but also the reputation of the best garden in town. Nothing will more quickly add that all- important factor, humus, to the soil, than decaying vegetable matter, and when to that is added the refuse waters of the house and the kitchen slops, an ideal fer- tilizer is created. We pass this sugges- tion along to strawberry growers who may have access to great quantities of autumn leaves and other matter which, instead of being burned, should be turned into fertility and food and cash. Spring Setting in the South SOUTHERN growers who insist that success with strawberries in their latitude can be had only by setting their plants in the fall should learn a les- son from J. E. Miles of Friendswood, Tex., whose experience as a money maker with strawberry plants certainly gives him a right to be heard. Mr. Miles buys his plants in the North because they are dormant when dug and shipped, sets them in April and says that "nearly everyone of them will grow and by July 15 will have run to- gether." He keeps the runners off from that date until early in August, when he lets them make some good strong plants on each side of the row, and after a good rain in August or September, sets out two-thirds of an acre more, and if any die keeps filling in until he has a perfect stand. He cultivates from April to No- vember with a fourteen-tooth adjustable harrow and mulches them with prairie grass or rice straw, placing no mulching over the plants, except in extremely cold weather, but spreading it thmly between the rows. For fertilizer Mr. Miles uses about thirty two-horse wagon loads of manure to the acre the fall previous to setting out the plants, and raises some kind of winter garden crop in order to get the manure well mixed with the soil. He finds this the most satisfactory of all fertilizers. Mr. Miles appears to have made Ex- celsiors and Lady Thompsons his favor- ites. He says he thins the former to eight inches apart; the latter to from four- teen to sixteen inches apart. We shall let Mr. Miles tell the balance of the story in his own words: 'I had ripe berries to sell by the quart from January 4 until Februar>' 20, when I sold my first crate at Galveston for $4.20 net. The highest price I received that year was March 2, two crates to Colorado Sprincrs, $12.53 net. (Berries sold for $15.00.) April 14 we had a hail storm almost ruining one crop of late berries, but one-half acre of Excelsior made me over $240 before that date. Total for year from two acres, 170 1-2 crates; average per 24-quart crate, $2.42; net returns, $412.94. In 1903 I sent four quarts to Thom- aston November 20, began to sell by the crate December 10, shipped every few days until February 14, and from 1 1-4 acres of mostly new Excelsior plants set out in October I had checks for $156.06, having sold thirty-eight 24-quart crates averaging $4.10 per crate. The next shipment was six weeks later on ac- count of a severe freeze and continued shipping until May 8. Total crates from two acres, 136; average, 2.84 2-3. Cash received, $387.14. My 1904 crop first berries were sold December 24 at 40 cents a quart net. During January I sold ten crates and thirteen boxes, averaging $7.42 per crate. One crate I sent to Chicago. Check re- turned $7.74; one crate to Dallas, Tex., $7.75; one crate Dallas, $8.40; one crate to Omaha, Neb., $9.95 (this sold for $12.00 in Omaha.) Total berries sold in 1904 from two acres, 173 crates, six boxes, averaging $3.23 per crate; returns $571.77. In 1905 one acre of my berries was a new variety and was worthless. One acre of Excelsior ripened late on account of freezes. The first crate sold March 27. Total for year seventy-six crates, averaging $2.52. Checks received for $191.41. I had ripe berries as early as October 15 one year; other years about November 15, and by covering the Ex- celsior berries as I have spoken of before I always have ripe berries in the patch all the time in the winter. T have a few special grocery men I supply with my berries and the remain- der I consign myself to reliable commis- Evergreens that are hardy in your soil and climate. You can have a perfect wind-break, grove, hedge or screen of hardy evergreens at a very low cost; also forest trees, etc., all nursery grown. I ofifer 50 GREAT BARGAIN LOTS AT $1 TO $10 PER 100 freight prepaid to your station. My catalog tella my own experience in planting a five-acre grove on the bleak prairies of Minnesota, that is now worth $5,000. Don't miss this chance — send for my free catalogue and bargain sheet today. D. HILL, Evergreen Specialist, DUNDEE, ILL. The Basket with the Rim That is the distinguishing feature of the Wax Lined Paper Berry Basket the height of Clean, Odorless, Taint- less, Pure and Perfect Basket Perfection If you are a Berry Grower you want our Basket and %ve want your name. MULLEN BROS. PAPER CO. Senil lor Free sample anil catalog ol this 20lh Century Basket. ''*P'- ^* ST. JOSEPH, MICH. Special Fertilizers for Strawberries peaches and other fruits. To give color, flavor and substance to the fleshy parts of the fruits requires a good supply of soluble plant food, especially potash. Quality is wUiit counts in fruit, not quaiititv ■ WE MAKE SPECIAL BRANDS FOR THE DIFFERENT FRUITS W'e sell goods direct to the consumer at wholesale prices where we ha\e no agents. For further information address THE BUFFALO FERTILIZER COMPANY BUFFALO, N.Y. Page 29 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 sion houses; for I know better where my fruit will carry than any one else does. We are extremely careful about picking, sorting and packing, all berries being turned out on table and carefully in- spected; and we think it pays." Of course it pays; pays big for the present, but bigger still in the building up of confidence in your product. In fact, every extra touch given the strawberry, from planting until they are sold to the consumer, pays, and in more ways than one. <^ ^ The Family Strawberry Bed ARE you preparing to set out a fine and thrifty lot of strawberry plants this spring as a part of your family garden? You can't afford to neglect it, and now is the time to make prepara- tions. We know of nothing else that more surely brings the several members of a family into a common interest in the garden than the strawberry bed; for the man or woman, boy or girl who doesn't like big juicy strawberries is so rare a specimen of humanity that you can mark down zero as the number of that kind. Every consideration of pleasure, com- fort and economy urges the family straw- berry bed. In the first place, you get your berries just when you want them, and who can prescribe a more inviting dish to set before a guest who has "just dropped in" than luscious, red strawber- ries, submerged in cream! And the visi- tor not only will enjoy the feast, but will take positive delight in helping to pick the great fresh, cool fellows which actu- ally appear to want to be eaten, so elo- quently do they invite you to enjoy their richness. Then the pleasure you have taken in such an incident, as well as in the thought that the feast was largely the work of your hand, while the cost — well, the cost has been amply repaid in the sat- isfaction you have received. We think more than repaid, for does not the straw- berry culturist find health and pleasure in the very work itself.'' The strawberry patch becomes the rallying point for the boys and girls of the family, and if they be given general charge of the bed and encouraged to make it do its best, there can be no bet- ter home influence; nothing else will serve a larger purpose in keeping them interested in the home and its affairs. Let the young folk have the surplus, and it will encourage them to go on and de- velop the business into something of real importance in their lives. If you reside in the city, you will find respite from its noise and bustle in your garden. If you reside in the country, you will find it impossible to depend upon the markets for your supplies of straw- berries, and oftimes must go hungry for the fruit above all others you like the best. And whether you reside in town or country, if you have an abundant sup- ply of berries you may enjoy them to the full as you take them from the vines, and you may be sure of an ample supply of them at canning and preserving time. And it will surprise you to learn how many quarts of these delicious berries may be grown on a few square rods of ground. AMERICANS who have gone to Cuba to make their homes on that delightful "Pearl of Antilles," confidently expect to develop a large strawberry in- terest on the island when the new line of railway now being constructed out to the very tip of the Florida keys shall be com- pleted. This line will shorten the run by boat from Havana to Florida down to something like the distance between South Haven, Mich., and Chicago, and fast trains will carry the fruit to New York where there always is a strong win- ter market for these berries. Strawberries and Chickens WHAT may I do to employ my time throughout the year?" is an inquiry that frequently comes to us. We answer, raise poultry and lots of it. You will find it makes an ideal combination. One day last summer we visited a nine-acre farm a few miles from a Wisconsin village. The owner had combined fruit-growing with poultry, and had become well versed in both. His little farm was paying him something like $2,000 a year net. He had bought it on contract a few years before, had paid out for it, and was as independent as a man can be in this world. When we left the train at his station there he was with great baskets of fruit and eggs and some of the finest poultry imaginable. All these were going into Milwaukee, some twenty-five miles distant, where he had built up a fine trade for all his products. This farmer finds berries and poultry an ideal combination. He markets eggs, poultry and fruit all at one trip during the summer months, and in the winter time gets big prices for eggs and broilers while his plants lie sleeping beneath their winter mulch. Then he finds that the large amount of manure produced by his fowls is a great saving to him, supplying as it does that element so costly in purchased fertilizers, the nitrates. They also discourage insect pests. One other point about this particular man and his place — he is a believer in thoroughbreds and doesn't allow a "scrub" fowl or plant to get near his place. His poultry stock is of the finest strains, and he has so many calls for eggs for breeding purposes that he finds it difficult to respond to them all at certain seasons of the year. Still another point — he uses the latest and best makes of in- cubators and brooders and finds his suc- cess quadrupled by this method. In a word, his farm is run on the same busi- ness principles that obtain in a great fac- tory. He buys the best of everything, works only with the best of conveniences, and sells only high-grade products. Combined with pluck and energy these will win success every time. Can you do better than follow the ex- ample of this Wisconsin farmer? Ill itusry Ti^e Incubator Man's crowning Fn^fPfls. Teara of experfenfe ^^^^^^^ back ot OLDTKUSTY. Three treasons of ?atl>tactinn to thousand-' of users. Don't expei iment with untrif d, new models. Buy OLD TRUsTY made of Redwood ami ropper, with di'-u^ile ivalls.case within case, rnpid circulaLioQ of warm water. even diatrlbution oi" heat to all pai ts or the egt^ chamuer— the INCUBATOR U THAT RUNS ITSELF and pays for itself. 2nf*5 gain in oil paring over la t year. 35% more economical than any other machine. Good lia'.rhes the lirFt time and every time. OLDTRUSTf must please y'.u,oryour money back. Sold on 40, 60 and 90 day practical test, with lenponsiblw f» year puaran tee, buck of you. when sale is made. Johnson says lo fell you his ne'w Incubator Book is better than ever. 31-0 iliustra^ tlons tliat wiilreddtn the blood and quicken the pulse of chicken raisers everywhere. Over luOpagres of advice, su^rprestions, plans, tables, records, etc., all written by John- eon hinist-lf. fmra the staml point of the thing's he knows ahout poultry by experience. A bookyuuueed. WurthSLOO. Fice lor the asUiog. Just write today to M. M. JOHNSON CO., Clay Center, Nebraska. Tho MoClan(»h»nro,,Eoer»"i«, Or*. Bnil^fl Angles. CuL, i-bclllo Co&et SeiWui: A(^eD(a. THE AMERICAN HEN OUTWEIGHS THEM ALL. STATISTICS PROVE IT. Get a Buckeye on FORTY DAYS TRIAL. As low as $5, or 200 efrs size, $12.75, or RENT oneat $1 permonth. Let rent pay fur it, ire j^at/ing freiyht. or huy ports and jtla us arid huHd one. They are self regulating. Guaranteed best work and material, and to hatch every hatchable egg. A town lot is lar;re enough for the business, but a farm is better. Every- thing the poultryman needs of BlsI Quality and at Lowest Prices. A 6 ft. by 3 ft. Iron Roof Colony House, complete, for $5.75. Foods with no Grit in them. A 25c pa.ckage Buckeye Chick Starter will save you dollars. Catalogue Free. BUCKEYE INCUBATOR CO.. Box 49. SPRINGFIELD. OHIO. Page 30 Starting a Farm Without a Dollar FRED NEWTON SlARl'INGa strawberry farm with- out a dollar of capital as I did, and having won sufficient success to jus- tify my faith in the strawberry as a basis for successful business enterprise, I feel a peculiar interest in The Strawberry mag- azine and what it stands for, and wish to add a contribution of good cheer to its splendid teachings. What I shall say here is not for the purpose of personal publicity, but in the hope that my exper- ience may encourage some honest, but faint-hearted man, out of work, out of money, perhaps, and seeking for a means of livelihood, to turn to the business that requires so little capital and so little time lo secure desired results — strawberry pro- duction for market. One advantage I possessed at the be- ginning of my career as a strawberry man was my knowledge of and experi- ence in carpentering. For sixteen years I had been engaged in that work, and it is a good thing to know how to handle a hammer, saw and plane when you go out to start a home in the wilderness. But though I was a good carpenter, and was employed a large share of the time; and although my good wife was a tailoress and earned many a dollar at her trade that helped us out of the tight places, yet it appeared that every dollar we earned was taken up in the purchase of the necessar- ies of life, and I saw no chance of getting ahead in the city. So I came out to Holland, about ten miles from Toledo, Ohio, and bought sixty acres of wild land, all but one acre covered with scrub-oak and underbrush. This was bought on a contract, without paying one dollar down. I moved out to By Fred Newton the land in 1901, and "batched it" until I had built a house and barn; and these I built on borrowed money, for all I had li\- way of capital was a reputation for honesty. But I was bound to have a home of my own — a productive home, rather than one that took every dollar my wife and 1 could raise just to keep going. On the first spot of cleared ground — and it was a ver>' small patch — 1 set out as many strawberry plants as it would stand, and although I was an amateur, I succeeded so well that I now have two and a half acres in berries, and am get- ting ten more in readiness for plants to be set next spring. I also have fifteen acres in orchard, composed of apples, peaches, plums and cherries, and I now have made sufficient payments on my land to put everything on the safe side of the ledger. That is not all. My work in clearing up and planting out the land has doubled MOTHER EARTH may offer her choicest cradle, the sun may lavish his brightest rays, the gentle showers flood down upon the balmiest winds of spring to nour- ish the infant plant; yet if this child of the First Great Cause has been touched by the blighting breath of decay, or is the offspring of perverted parentage, all the kindly care of loving Nature, aided by the hand of man, only emphasizes more strongly that 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' " its value, and the scrub land of five years ago is today worth $80 an acre. Of course I have worked hard, and I have had to do some close planning to bring about these results, but that is what makes the work really interesting. Then too, I have not forgotten that beauty has a value all its own, even if it may not be expressed in dollars and cents. My buildings though not elaborate, are well-planned and situated among nicely designed driveways, greensward and flower beds. And neither my wife or myself would entertain for a moment the proposition to go back to city life. Who can measure the advantages of country life, with its simplicity, its econ- omy, and its wide opportunities for the development of self-reliance and inde- pendence, not to mention a competence? Here we have our own cows, chickens and pigs, and vegetables and fruits in abundance. And we have built up an independent trade so great that I ne\er have been able to supply the demand for Page 31 my fancy strawberries. Even with the ten acres I expect I shall have to disappoint some of the people who would like to be- come my customers. The fact that 1 was in debt never caused me to forget that the strawberry requires large quantities of manure, and every season my beds have been gener- ously supplied. I also have cultivated intensively, and have produced high-grade berries. In packing I always have aimed to make the box first-class from top to bottom, with the result that my custom- ers stay with me and my trade is perma- nent. Next season I shall get out an at- tractive label so as to acquaint dealers with my berries, and when my whole field is in bearing expect to do a large and satisfactory business. Of the general question of the availa- bility of strawberry production to the man of limited means, I am convinced that nothing else offers so large an op- portunity in this direction. There is no other line from which one may get sj large returns from so limited an invest- ment of capital in so short a time. If one engages in tree-fruit culture, he must wait for years before getting back a dol- lar. But with the strawberry your plants set out one spring yield you a generous return the next, if you have followed proper cultural methods. It is a busi- ness, too, into which the inexperienced may venture, for one may begin on so small a scale as not to feel it, and then as his experience increases he may add to his area, confident that by so doing he will add largely to his income. There is another feature that is not al- ways recognized, and that is the small area upon which one may earn his living with strawberries. When I was a young man I lived on a farm in Michigan — spent my entire boyhood and youth there. The man who made $50 an acre a year was considered a good farmer. In those days it was not so important, perhaps, for land was not so high as it is now. But compare that with what one acre of strawberries will earn. Instances where an acre has produced quite $1,000 are numerous, while it is a common thing for THE HOME OF MR. NEWTON THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 A KALAHAZOO DIRECT TO YOU WHY not save money in your stove and range buying? Why not get 2. x^zW-S sood stove or range while you are about it? Here's a Kalamazoo Royal Steel Range — one of the many of the Kalamazoo-direct-to-you family. It is guaranteed, under a S20.000 bank bond to be strictly high grade in every respect. The body is made of Wellsville blue polished steel— the highest grade steel procurable. Not an ounce of scrap iron enters into it. The tops and centers are cut and braced in such a manner that we guarantee them against warp- ing iQtJiz'eyears. The linings are heavy and the flues and all oth- er parts where it is necessary are lined with^£«K- ine asbestos, held between two sheets of stetl. The oven is square and large, with a bottom that <"rt«nf/' warp or "buckle." The oven venti- lation is ter/eci, making it a quick and even baker. Quality IS our £rst consideration, and our 32 years experience in building and selling stoves and ranges has taught us hinv to make a range which we can put in comparison with any other in the world. Quality should also be your first consideration. You cannot attord to buy a poor ranee at any price, especially— a«t//;L/-(:'j//;t' point— When you can buy this high grade Kalamazoo — or any other of the Kalamazoo line of ranges, cook stoves, base burners and heating stoves of ,,-, ,-. ,j . . B all kinds — at a trice lower than your dealer fays and _fuel. and is guaranteed not to get out of /or stoves and ranges not the equal 0/ the Kala- mazoo. Please read that again. The oven is equipped with patented oven ther- mometer which gives perfect control of the oven's temperature and makes good baking and roasting ao easy matter. It sav-.s time, trouble. order. The hot water reservoir is large; is lined with white enamel and is easily re- moved for cleaning. The fire bos is equipped with either a duplex or a dock ash grate as desired, and either hard or soft coal or coke or wood may be used for fuel. It is handsomely finished, all the orna- mental parts being heavily nickeled. *We do all our own nickel-plating, and do it right. The riveting, the mounting, the finishing, are all done by hand, by expert workmen, and we guarantee that there is not a better designed, a better made, a better finished, or a more dura- ble stove or range in the worM, thao is the Kalamazoo } Plea sc Remember: We are actual manufacturers, not mail order dealers. We have more than 50,000 customers — all satisfied. You run no risk, as we give you a 360 days approval test. We pay the freight. We make you actual factory prices. We sell you a stove or range not ex= celled by any in the world. r \ 1 You pet a Kalamazoo, freishi prepaid. on a 3uO days approval test, guaranteed under a $20,000 bank bond, with privi- Ii-tie of returning to us at any time within 3(j0 days, if it shows any faults or defects — and all at a /iMj/r/ctf than your dealer pays for many stoves and raDc^s not nearly so good. Here's the secret: We are manufacturers — actual manu- facturers and we sell to you direct Jrom our factory aX It'zt'est taciory prices, saving you all dealers', jobbers', agents*, and middlemen's prohts and commissions. We have more than 50,000 customers in all parts of the United States. Their letters show that they have saved from S5 to S40 by buying a Kalamazoo direct from our factory. We will be glad to send you the names of our customers in your vicinity. Let thc-vt tell you what ilicy think. The Kahraazoo line is complete — embracing rant-'es, cook stoves, base burners and heaters for fuel of all sorts, all of late design, handsome pattern and beautiful finish. Send for our catalogue. You will find in it the stove or range exactly suited to your purpose, and you will be able to purchase it at a money-saving price. Don't you think it a proposition worth looking into? Let us lend you our free catalogue and price list. You'll be interested and pleased. Ask for Catalogue No. 348 . Kalamazoo Stove Co., Mfrs., Kalamazoo, Mich. men to take off anywhere from $500 to $700 worth of berries from an acre of ground. Even the amateur can make several hundred dollars from an acre of strawberries, and if he has been careful to pack his fruit according to approved form, will find no difficulty in building up a business for himself that is sure to grow with the years, if he is faithful to his work and takes pride in his vocation. Holland, Ohio. TT is doubtful if in the history of horti- ^ cultural journalism a new publication has received more flattering reception than that which has been accorded The Strawberry by the public. The way sub- scriptions have poured in from all the states of the Union and from Canada and Mexico is matter of just pride and en- courages its publishers to believe that the place it is to fill in the li\es and interests of strawberry folk everywhere will be a large and important one. Not only have the subscriptions come to us in an unpre- cedented way, but accompanying many of them are letters of cheer and good" fellowship even more inspiring than the cash testimonial to their good faith and sincere interest. To our friends every- where, both subscribers and advertisers, we take this earliest opportunity to ac- knowledge our indebtedness and to ex- press the deep gratitude and satisfaction we feel in consequence of their manifold and substantial manifestations of approval and appreciation. My First Attempt at Growing Straw- berries By O. J. Wigen IN the spring of 1903 I bought seven hundred strawberry plants and set them out in a way I thought was o k, but in the fall I had only twenty-four plants alive out of the seven hundred. That set me thinking. The conclusion was that I myself was to blame and I de- cided to rectify it, and so set to work studying, "Great Crops of Strawberries and How to Grow Them." With this book as my only guide I started plowing one and one-fifth acres of land in the fall of 1903 and in the spring of 1904 put on twenty-five loads of ma- nure, plowed it under, harrowed the ground four times and flooded it twice. May 3 (having received 8,500 thorough- bred pedigree plants), I started planting in rows thirty inches apart and put the plants thirty inches apart in the rows. Three days after I began cultivating with a Planet Jr. twelve-tooth harrow and pul- verizer and contin.^ed cultivating every eight or ten days all summer, up to the Page 32 first part of October, besides cultivatino; after each rain. During the summer I also sprayed fi\e times — three times with Bourdeaux and twice with Bourdeaux and Paris green mixed, but my spraying was partly a fail- ure, as I first started spraying to cure when I should have started spraying to prevent. For cultivating between the plants I used a home-made three-pronged fork or cultivator made from three pieces of heavy telegraph wire about ten inches long and a piece of wood about four feet long for a handle. F"latten one end of the handle so it is about 2 1-2 or 3 in- ches wide and about 1 1-4 inches thick, drive the short bents of the wires in to the flat part of the handle so the longest bents come flush with the end of the handle, fasten the wires about one inch or inch and a quarter from each other and having the prongs about 2 or 2 and one- half inches long and your tool is ready for use I like this tool for working between the plants better than the hoe. Late in the fall just before mulching, I spread ten loads of manure between the rows and on April 5 of the spring of 1905 uncovered the plants by raking the mulching apart directly over the plants. Three days after I started cultivating, turning the mulching from the next row into the one cultivated, and so on, then THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 sprayed with Bourdeaux. During the first rain following I put on forty pounds of nitrate of soda to an acre, distributing it along the rows, taking care to put it on the upper side of the plants on ground slopings. Repeated this May 10 and on June 10 picked my first three crates of big, red delicious strawberries, — and from then up to July 19 shipped 650 24- quart crates of strawberries from the orig- inal 8,500 plants covering about 1 1-5 acres of ground, and netting an average of about two dollars per crate f. o. b. at my ranch, Wilkes, H. C, besides which we consumed and gave away a great many berries. Creston, British Columbia. High Value of Farm Manure MANY strawberry growers fail to appreciate the extraordinary value of farm manure, and frequently overlook this most important element in their work as horticulturists. The founda- tional manure, the fertilizer that lasts and aids in making the mineral elements of the soil available, is that made by live- stock on the farm; and the man who lets this precious element go to waste is quite as foolish as the man who would throw gold dollars into a bottomless pit. Aye, more, for life would go on and mankind be just as happy and prosperous if e\'ery dollar of gold were in some bottomless pit; but if we fail to conser\e the soil that grows the world's food supplies, famine, suffering and ultimate extinction must be the lot of the race. Writing on this subject Prof. Harry Snyder of the Minnesota Experiment Sta- tion says: "For the permanent fertility of soil there is no fertilizer more valuable than farm manure. Its effects are often felt for ten, and on some soils even twenty years. At the Rothamsted Experiment station grain was raised on one plot for twenty years, receiving each year an ap- plication of farm manure. Its use was then discontinued for twenty years and at the end of this time the plot produced much larger crops than an adjoining plot which had never received any manure. Farm manure has such a lasting effect upon fertility because it assists in making the mineral plant food of the soil avail- able for crop production. When manure decays it unites with the inacti\'e mineral elements of the soil and produces com- pounds known as humates, which grad- ually become available as plant food. Hence it is that manure is valuable not only for the elements of fertility which it contains — but more especially because of its making the inert plant food of the soil more active and available for crop pro- duction purposes." Don't let a forkfull of this richness get away from your berry patch, if you seek large and permanent success. Save all you can of that made on \our own place and engage every pound of it available elsewhere. Good plants, good cultiva- tion and plenty of barnyard manure form a trinity of horticultural fundamentals that spell success in every language, in every clime and in every season. IJ O W is that boy of yours coming on? ^ *■ Is he interested in life.-" Interested in doing something for himself and earn- ing his livelihood, or his way through the university.'' Have you ever talked straw- berries to him as a certain and practicable method of accomplishing really import- ant results.'' Never a better opening for a boy who wants to get ahead than that offered by the strawberry patch, and it makes very little difference whether you live in a country town or on a farm or in a big city. He can raise strawberries at a profit anywhere if he will take hold of the work and push it. Talk with him about it anyway, and encourage him to undertake C. W. GURNEY A large assortment of strictly h ome-grown stock. Wholesale and retail NURERYMAN Yankton," S. P. SEND FOR CATALOGUE A beautiful colored plate of our New Eaton Red Raspberry and our strawlu'rry catalitg of valu- aljle inlormatii*!! almut varieties with instructions for bet^ioners. Free to all, THE FLAN58URGH & POTTER CO., Leslie, Michigan. Mention "The Strawlterry" "when writing. £ARFFS LUSCIOUS NEW FRUITS Money making varieties for every fruit grower. They are free from disease, sturdy, strong growers. Thousands of our customers are makinj; big profits buying our plants. Everyone true to name. No disappointment. Any intelligent planter can make $300 Profit per Acre I grow millions of plants. My experience covers over 14 y(_-ars of practical experience raising nursery stock of leading varieties and I speak with assurance. Mv handsome NKW Catalog overflows with practical information valuable to every fruitgrower. Send for it before you buy. It tells all about my high grade stock of fruit and ornamental trees, farm and garden seeds: and general nursery stock. Write today. W. N. SCARFF, New Carlisle, Ohio. Spray to Some Purpose With the outfit here shown. Notliing to equal it for any sort of row spraying. Note that each one of the four rows is covered with three spray nozzles — fine spray from above and both sides forced under heavy pressure to every part of the plant. Sure death to every sort of pest. (% IT'S THE AUTOMATIC Wallace Row Sprayer which costs nothing for power. Power gen- erated while driving through wheel gearing. Pressure strong and constant. Made for any width track. Nozzles are adjustable in all direc- tions. Sprayer also can be used for orchard work We also make Standard and Duplex two-horse spray- ers and the best gasoline engine outfit on the market. Fine catalogue^ just oat, gives all particulars. FREE. Write for it. WALLACE MACHINERY CO,, Champaign, Illinois. TREES, PLANTS, ETC. Wc-have an iinusu.-iUy fine stuck of Oni- Year Old and .lune Hud Petieh Tri-ua. One and Two Year Old Apple, Pear, Cherry, ancl Plum Trees. Grape Vine, Shruhbery, Roses, Etc. Also all kinds of Small Fruit Plants. Strawberry plants by the million. Send for catalogue and priee list before you buy for our w delivered i)rices. <-HATTAN<><)«A NrRSERIKS, CH.VTTANOOCiA. TESN. P»gf 33 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 it. It may make a big difference in his fut- ure— may make him a thrifty, prosperous citizen with high ideals, when, if left to his own devices, with no occupation to steady him and give him poise, his life might prove something far different and less satisfactory to himself and to the world. ^ <^ STRAWBERRY folk ought to be the most active in the institutes and horticultural associations, yet we find a singular degree of reticence on their part in this direction. It is seldom that the institute program has a word to say on the subject of strawberries, and the work of the horticultural societies in nearly every state is devoted to the discussion of the apple, the peach, pear and grape. As a matter of fact and cold figures the strawberry is second only to the apple in its commercial value, and it is true that more people are interested in the straw- berry than in the apple. We ought to be proud of our vocation, interested in its advance and reasonably insistent upon its receiving the attention it deserves. And no one may measure the good it will do him to hear and participate in discussions relative to strawberry production in its various branches. As to Planting Various Varieties RESULTS in the strawberry patch depend more largely than we are apt to think upon the way in which the plants are set out. The na- ture of the several varieties of plants dif- fer materially, and one will thrive under conditions which would be almost fatal to another. For instance, varieties that make a heavy, dense foliage should be grown in single-hedge rows, while those having but a medium foliage are better grown in the double-hedge row. The reason for this is obvioiis if we con- sider the necessity of ample sunlight for the denser growth and the requirements of a proper degree of shade for varieties not so protected by their foliage. The width of the rows will be deter- mined by the system followed in this re- gard. If you grow your plants in hills for market purposes, we advise that the rows be placed only three feet apart, with the plants set twenty feet apart in the rows. If grown for home use only, and the space at your command is limited, place the rows about two feet apart and set the plants fifteen inches apart in the row. Keep all runners off, and, if good cultural methods are followed, by fall the hills will almost come together. When plants are grown in single or double hedge rows for market, make rows three and a half feet apart and set the plants two feet apart in the row, but where berries are grown by either of these methods for family use, the rows can be made two and a half feet apart, as the cultivation generally is done with hand tools. Where the narrow-matted row system is followed, the rows should be placed four feet apart. This will allow plenty of room for the plants to spread without interfering with cultural methods. Do not allow the plants to set closer than six or eight inches apart under this system, for to set them closer would result in re- ducing the size of the fruit. We do not advise the narrow-matted row for all var- ieties. Some kinds do better under this system than any other — the Gandy and Aroma, for instance, appear to yield heav- ier in the narrow-matted row than they do in either the single or double hedge system. In the matter of plant setting, as in every other branch of strawberry production, the grower himself must study his varieties and the conditions un- der which they do the best if he would win largest success. "CAILURE of the Armour Car lines ■'■ to furnish cars at the right moment to the strawberry growers along the Atlantic Coast Line railway has cost the Armours quite a pretty penny. The fact that the company has paid $80,000 in The Ryan Clasp and Hinge For Berry Crates OVERCOMES ALL THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE OLD STYLE FASTENERS PRONOUNCED BY ALL USERS TO BE THE MOST PRACTI- CAL AND SATISFACTORY FASTENER ON THE MAR K E T Easy to Operate Saves Time and Labor in Applying Not Affected by Rust Ryan Fastener No. 3 The Ryan Hinge Simple and Strong Speedily Attached Works Easily Under All Conditions The Most Satisfactnry Lid Hinge On the Market The Ryan Hinge WRITE FUR CIRCULAR OF OUR COMPLETE LINE, SAMPLES AND PRICES— WE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY AUNUFACTURED ONLY BY M. C. RYAN COMPANY PHOENIX, N. Y. Page J4 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 damages to the strawberry men who suf- fered through its dereliction, and at last reports had something liice $50,000 still to pay, suggests how important that in- dustry has grown to be in that section. The same report from which this inform- ation is quoted also says that the Armours have received the exclusive contract for transporting tiie strawberr\' crop of 1906 from that territory, upon promise to furnish at least 1,800 refrigerator cars without delay during the strawberry season. Imagine what it must involve to handle so many berries in one brief season. Words About the Strawberry THE kind words which have come to us in a flood since the initial issue of The Strawberry began reaching our friends are more gratifying than we can find woids to express. That the field and the mission of the magazine is so generally recognized, and that the maga- zine itself is so appreciated by those best fitted to judge is matter of great pleasure to its publishers. We are taking the lib- erty to publish herewith extracts from letters received which are only typical of hundreds to the same effect. It shall be the highest wish of The Strawberry to measure up to the good opinions and cor- dial good wishes of those who have so kindly announced themselves as its friends and supporters. Such cooperation is an element in success of incalculable value. Here are some of the kind words we have received: Edwin C. Powell, Editor Farm and Home Springfield, Mass., January 9, 1906. — Copy of The Strawberry duly received and I have read it with much interest. It is a very inter- esting and valuable publication, and I trust will meet with success, as there is certainly a good field for it. Stark Bro's. Nurseries & Orchards Co. Louisiana, Mo., January 12, 1906. — The first issue of The Strawberry duly received and the writer takes the liberty of express- ing his admiration for the publication. If is certainly beautifully gotten up — good paper, good printing, good advertisements, and best of all, first-class reading matter for strawberry growers. We congratulate you most heartily. H. A. Bereman, Agricultural Editor The Farmers Voice Chicago, January 6, 1906. — I have just seen The Strawberry, and while it was fore-ordained, I want to hand you herewith my congratula- tions on its beauty, its keeping qualities and the general flavor. Long may it thrive! Kewanee Water Supply Co. Kewanee, III., January 6, 1906. — We wish to congratulate you on the first issue of The Strawberry. We refer especially to the arrange- ment of reading matter, the style of type, the quality of paper, and the general get-up of the magazine. We wish you a successful New Year. M. J. Wragg Nursery Compan> Des Moines, Iowa, January 13, 1906. — I am just in receipt of the first issue of The Straw- berry which comes to my desk today. It cer- tainly is a beautifully illustrated magazine, and is chuck full of information pertaining to the growing and handling of the c^rawberry. It is worth many times what it costs to the practical strawberry grower, :ind we see no reason why it should not become popular at once among that craft. T. T. Bacheller, Editor Agricultural Experiments Minneapolis, Minn., January 11, 1906. — Vol. I — No. 1, The Strawlierry at hand. It is o K, and will be noticed in our next issue. E. F. Corbin, Adv. Mgr. Farmers Tribune Sioux City, la., January 9, 1906. — Volume one, number one of The Strawberry has just reached our desk. We congratulate you on the splendid appearance of this initial number and wish you every success in the venture. Leslie Jeffries, Red Hill Farm Bridgeport, Pa., Jan. 5, 1906. — I enclose one dollar ($1.00) for which please send me your magazine for one year. I think this is a great idea and is just the thing I have been looking for for some time. In all my experience of agricultural and farm papers I find that they have little to say on this subject. W. J. Stewart Moline, III., January 11, 1906.— The first number of The Strawberry at hand. I am well pleased with it and anticipate much pleasure and profit from reading and studying it during the coming year. One thing I like about it is that it is practical. Theories are all right, but are not of much benefit to the race until worked out in practice. A. J. Anderson, Valley View Farm Parker, S. D., Jan. 11, 1906.— I am in re- ceipt of No. I, Vol. I, of The Strawberry. I thank you for sending it to me as it is a publi- cation I have been looking for. I enclose $1.00 for one year's subscription. I am interested in growing strawberries in a small way; I picked 4,000 quarts from one and one half acres last year. J. Wragg & Sons Company Waukee, Iowa, January 13, 1906. — We have recei\ ed your paper and we must say that we are well pleased with it and bespeak for you a great future in the line you have taken up; and if this first number is an indication of what you will give your readers, they will surely be well pleased. Recruiting the Farms FOR years the country boys have been deserting the farms for the village, the town boys have been winning success in the cities, and the city boys have been making their mark in the me- tropolis. The process, however, threat- ens to leave the farm without its work- men. As the urban population which must be fed from the farms increases, the tillers of the soil become fewer in number and poorer in quality. Those who re- main to care for the crops have one fault which the city dweller is quick to notice. The worker somehow does not put the spirit into his tasks that the eight-hour- day man in town exhibits. The city boy grows up in an atmosphere of hustle. With his ability to make every moment count, the city-bred man may get out of a farm immeasurably more than the aver- age farm resident. Agricultural schools and a business instinct and training are not bad substitutes for farm breeding; and it will not be surprising if the next few years witness an exodus of city-bred workmen, filled with spirit and speed, to Page 35 FRUITMEN SHOULD KEEP BEES There will be a nice income to you from a few hives of bees, and your Plants will Bear Better Fruit bearing depends upon the fcrtUizatien of the flowers. Why not male? fertilization certain and at the same time add to your inconio by keeping bees/ Bees are not expensive and can bo made extremely profitable. Do you want to knowhowf Our print, matter will start you rieht. Many interestiuij: booklets free. "The A BC of Bee Culture" the best text-book for bee keepers ever written, Asith over 500 lartre larye padres , beautifully illustrated, for only $1.00. Send for free booklet. The A. I. Root Co., MEDINA, OHIO DEWBERRIES After Strawberries, the best paying crop the small fruit grower can raise Write about Plants and Culture to T. H. Smallwood,'\J\^Fort Scott, Kas. Berry- Quarts, $3 per 1.000 Rdclf f*tC Hallock'sCtips, Hallock'B Boies, UaoIWlO Crates, Etc., In stock. Send for List. W. D. Soper, Jackson, Midi. THIIN MODEL WATCH Solid Gold doulilo huntinu; filled case fitted vriXh full EVIXGTON JEWELED MOVEMENT. Botli i^a O^ tfuarauteed for twenty years . . . y us for 30 years Tlie Evinu'ton movement is stem wind and st.'ius.-t. nickel finished, finely balan<-ed and perfectly adjusted, and is fltt^'d with rubies set in raised golden set- tings. It has dust band, patnitregulatflr, enameled dial, fancy hour, minute and se.oud liands. and eacli movement is accuratelv reLMiIat*-d before being shipped and is guar- aranteedby uKfor 20 years. Give naui*". jmst olllce and n-arf-st express offlce and siM of wat«-h want.-d (Ladies' or Men's) and watch will be shipp'xi with privilege efadvan<-e examination. Compare it witli tbo a!.<.v.- d.-s.-ription and if you like it. pay express ji'-iit $0.35 andexpr.-ss charges. With each watch we ■o-ml our binding written griiarnntee for SO years. K.-f.-rence: Pirnt National Bank of Chicago. Capital and surplus $13,000,000. BACH & CO., 8th Floor \%'olff Bide, CWieaco. When AVritinc Mention The Strawberry THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 the districts which produce the original matter for all the breakfast foods. — Book- lover's Magazine. This is no dream of future possibilities; it is already realized in practical life, as strawberry growers all over the country can testify. Some of the most successful growers in the country are city-bred men and women, who, applying to their new vocation the wit and wisdom of city ex- perience, are building up independent and productive homes — some in the city sub- urbs, some far removed from the city's jarring noise and strife. Some Cultural Suggestions THE successful strawberry grower is the man who knows his plants and comprehends their needs. In ad- dition to any general rules governing the methods employed in setting, fertilizing, cultivating, mulching, etc., you must con- sider the infinite variations of soil and climatic conditions, and the variations also of the plants themselves. As the stock- man knows his herd and the individual peculiarities of its different members — somewhat in the same way must the hor- ticulturist study his fields and note the characteristics of foliage and fruitage of his various plants, and feed them and care for them according to their nature and their needs. Suppose, for instance, that you observe a heavy growth of foliage; so heavy that you are confident the fruiting power of the plants will be lessened in consequence of their expenditure of energy in making foliage. Now if you ha\e been cultivat- ing a great deal, you may be sure that that is one of the causes of your extra- luxuriant foliage, and the thing to do is to stop cultivating early, doing so much only as is required to keep the weeds well in hand or break up the surface crust. Exactly the reverse methods would be followed if you found the foliage develop- ment deficient — for you must not forget that the life and vigor of the plant and the output of berries depend very largely up- on an abundant foliage — a properly bal- anced foliage. It is in the observance of these varying conditions that success lies — it is the man who notes the minute de- tails of his business that is sure to make the largest success, and in no other occu- pation is this more true than in our own. Then cultivation must alv\ays be done with an eye ever watchful of the fertility content of the soil. What does cultiva- tion do in this regard.'' It makes plant food available. You know the old say- ing that "You can't eat your cake and have it, too." So is it impossible to feed the fertility to the plants and still keep it in the soil; in other words, cultivation of the soil exhausts plant fertility rapidly in the ratio in which it is fed to the plants. Therefore, be wise in practicing cultiva- tion, and do not make more plant food I^ Lou Dillon Tandem Garden Cultivator Suits the practical gardener because it cultivates either between or astride the rows, and he goes along at an easy, continuous walk. One simple movement without the use of wrench or tool of any kind makes it possible to always furrow the soil atjust the desired depth. You must not put this cultivator on a par with the common hit and miss gardizia cultivator. It works so easily and accurately that it is the greatest help to amateur gardeners, women, truck farmers, and, in fact, anyone who wants to save time and do good accurate work. Ttie Lou Dillon cultivator works as easily as a lawn mower. It is in fact, the only garden cultivator that is practical for a woman or child, as it is the only one made that they can push. We %viU take the cultivator back and give back your money if it don't do >our work better and in less time than any garden cultivator you ever used. Write for free descriptive catalogue and prices. Schaible Manufacturino Co*, Albion, Mictiigan. T»A* ^ ■ » #»■ "^^ grow our HARDY "BLIZZARD BELT" EVERGREENS bv the million. I yftg f I 1/p They are healthy, well rooted, vip:orj>us^. To prove It, we o"ffer 12 choice spruces and pines 2 years old, entirely free to property owners reading- 1 this advertisement. Mailing' expense 5c, which send or I not as you please. A postal will bring' them. Our CATA- f LOGUE, containinK" 42 colored plates of our HARDY I "BLIZZARD BELT" Fruits, Evergreens, Ornnmentals, etc., with amine of valuable infnrniaticn fi>r fruit prowers, tree fur the asking. Write to-day. This offer may be withdrawn hiter un. THE GARDNER NURSERY COMPANY, BOX 802, OSAGE, IOWA I Evergreens Free 32 YEARvS vSELLING DIRECT We are the largest manufacturers of vehicles and harness in the world sell- ing to consumers exclusively. We Have No Agent but ship anywhere for amination and approv; guaranteeing safe de ery. You are out noth- ing if not satisfied as to style, quality and price. 'We make 200 Ho. 628. Leather Top Eujiry >^WhLSher J^y'^s of vehicles and Covered Bows and ^i inch rubber tires. 65 Styles of harness. Price complete $68. As good as Our laree Oataloinic is sells for 825 mor^. pjEj; sendforlt. Elkhart Carriage CBb Harness Mfg. No. 327. Canopy Top Surrey. Price complete $73. As good as sells for $2.t more. Co.. E,lKhart, Indiana. available than the plants may properly consume, while at the same time you must not fail to feed them an ample sup- ply to build up strong foliage and fruit- ing power. Cultivation must be differentiated, also, to meet the varying conditions of moisture. A wet season aids plant growth, if it be not too wet. A wet season also is pro- ductive ot heavy weed growth, and, when the soil is heavy, will have a caked sur- face if cultivation does not follow each rain. Consequently, a wet season will require that the grower be in the field with the cultivator before the weeds can start or the surface bake, and he will thus aid to retain the moisture in tiie soil by creating a dust mulch that effectually prevents evaporation by capillary attrac- tion. However, be careful never to cul- tivate when the ground is wet. The study of these points and others having to do with the growing of straw- berries will be a va'uable occupation for the mind between now and time for act- ive work in the Held. They all bear di- rectly upon your business, and if thor- oughly understood and practiced, will have important bearing upon your success. Page 36 =Let us Act as Your Factory=' THAT'S OUR BUSINESS We make iiotLing of our own for sale. INIan- iilacture exclusively for others anything in metal. We refer you to the publishers of this magazine. Kalamazoo Novelty Co.,2Kr/^?zK'ci LITTLE ADS. FOR OUR FOLKS AN ADVERTISING EXCHANGE FOR ALL -^*- Strawberr>' Gruwers in which they may make knoAvn their wants . If you have anything to buy, sell or exchange, need a job or are lookint; for help In your strawberry work, bore is the place to make it known. Count name, post office, initials, words or numbers each as one word, and remit a sum equal to 2 cents for each word for each iusei-- tion. No order ^\'ill be accepted for less than 25 cents and cash must accompany each order. Advertisements must contain address, otherwise we cannot forward replies from this office. Remit by post ofllce or express money orders. I^OR SALK — "Pan American" and "Autumn" Straw- berry Plants thiit will bear front August until Novem- ber. Send for eirrular. Samuel Cooper, Delevan, N. Y. PRINTING FOR STRA^VBKRRY GROWKRS— Letter heads, envelopes, cards, labels. First-class work at low prices. The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Michigan. ^I^RY the Kelloiig malleable-iron, one-piece Dibble, if you I- would turnplant-settini; into a delight. Pays for itself in one half-day's work. Write the K ellogg Co", for tlu'ir little folder on ' 'How We Keep Down the Weeds." 'Twill help you in yonr work. R. M. Kellogg Co., Box 775, Three Rivers, Michigan. Where the Strawberry Comes From MOST popular of all the fruits, the strawberry has a history of large interes. although its earlier rec- ords are veiled in uncertainty. Botani- cally a member of the great rose family, it is of the order Fragaria, a Latin word from which we derive the English "fragrant," or a plant with sweet odors. The Fragaria family is divided into five species, namely, Fragaria vesca, or Al- pine", F. Flatior, or "Hautbois"; F. In- dica, or "Indian"; F. Chiloensis, or "Chilian"; F. Virginiana, or "Virginian." The Hautbois and Alpine varieties are little known in this country except among amateurs. 1'hey are never grown for commercial purposes here. In Europe, however, they are prized highly as dessert fruits. They are found to some extent in the more northern latitudes of North America, and in some of the states west of the Rocky Mountains. The seeds are on the surface of the fruit, and never de- pressed or sunken within a cavity. The Virginian strawberrj' is the most common species found in our country, and prevails quite extensively in all sec- tions east of the Rocky Mountains. It is the most fragrant strawberry known, and is celebrated for its highly aromatic perfume, while the fruit is rich, sweet, and firm. The seeds in this species are deeply imbedded in a cavity or pit. 1 he South American species is widely distributed throughout the west coast of America, from as far north as Alaska, to Chile and other countries of South Amer- ica. The seeds are imbedded, but not so deeply as those of the Virginian, and the fruit is larger and sweeter than that of any other species. Many varieties of it have been grown in this country, but in recent years, have become so mixed and improved by cultivation and by crossing with the F. Virginiana that it would now be a difficult matter to find either species in its typical form. F. Indica is a native of northern India. It has a yellow bloom and does verj' well in window baskets, but the fruit is dry and tasteless. Historians do not agree upon many points concerning the strawberr)', but from an interesting paper recently read by Prof. George A. Cole of the Arkansas Experiment Station we are indebted for the facts which appear below. Prof. Cole calls attention to the fact that the improved varieties of today are the de- scendants of Virginiana and Chiloensis forbears, the latter being the favorite stock of the European gardeners. The varieties evoluted from this species are not so hardy as from the Virginiana. 1 he mild climate of France and England and the intensive culture practiced by the gardeners of those countries, causes the Chiloensis and its varieties to respond bountifully. It is asserted by a well- known writer on horticulture that ninety- nine-hundredths of all the strawberries of commerce are from the two species, the Virginiana and the Chiloensis. It is said that the law of race extends to strawberry plants. As in the most re- fined and cultivated peoples there is a strain of the old native stock, which ever remains a source of weakness or strength, so the new varieties indicate in the ordi- nary rough and timible of field culture, as practiced in this locality, whether they have derived their life from the hardy F. Virginiana or the tender and fastidious F. Chiloensis. A variety from the former adapts itself to conditions extremely var- Taking Their Winter Sleep By Ralph Schepers NEATH a blanket of mulch and a snowy white spread. The plants are asleep in the strawberry bed; The mother plants dormant, the chil- dren a-doze All safe and secure in the well matted rows. While the plants are thus sleeping, the owners may dream, Of coming big berries, of sugar 'and cream: Of reward for all toil in the fruit they will yield; For no labor is lost in the strawberry field. Holland, Mich. led; while a variety from the latter needs all the care of an expert gardener to make it remunerative. The capacity of the Virginiana straw- berry for improvement is shown by the pro- duction of the older but excellent varie- ties, such as Hovey's Seedling, \Vilson's Seedling, Charles Downing and Sharpless. In our own time Michel's Early, the Crescent and Lady Thompson exemplify its usefulness as a stock from which to evolve commercial varieties. Prof. Cole sa\s that historically the fragaria vesca or "Alpine" strawberry is the first on record. It is the strawberry of the ancients. I am not sure but that Adam's fall was caused by this straw- berry rather than an apple. It is the "Alpine" that Virgil kriew when he wrote the following lines: "Ye boys that gather flowers and strawberries, Lo hid within the grass an adder lies." This species grows wild throughout northern and central Europe. In Amer- ica it is found in all the mountain re- gions from the northern Atlantic to the Pacific. The "wood strawberrj'" of England is a variety of the "Alpine," the only dif- P»«e 37 ference being in the shape of the fruit. The "wood" is round, while the "Al- pine" is conical. One of the earliest pastimes of the English people was to go "a-strawberry- ing. In the "Fairie Queen" we find these lines- "One day as they all three altogether went To the green wood to gather strawberries, There chanst to them a dangerous accident. " Shakespeare alludes to the strawberry in the play of "Henry V." An earlier bishop of Ely says: "The straw- berry grows underneath the nettle, and wholesome berries thrive and ripen best neighbored by fruit of baser quality." The Alpine and the wood strawberries tend to reproduce themselves with such unvarying exactness that they remain about what they were centuries ago. Cultivation does not change them. In connection with the white and red wood strawberries and Alpine straw- berries, the Elatior or "Hautbois" is men- tioned in the year 1623. This latter species is native of Germany and does not differ materially from the "Alpine in its tenacity to hold on to its "old self." It, like the others mentioned, is incapa- ble of being improved by the best culti- vation, nor do the seedlings from it vary from the parent. Cross-fertilization would doubtless effect a change and thereby give us a hardy if not a prolific variety. The horticulturist is at the end of his row to improve a species when it fails to vary from the original. It is his province to assist nature in causing the "fittest to survive." From reliable records we find that the English and French gardeners cultivated the strawberry as far back as the fifteenth century. As there were plenty of wild strawberries of good size, and of the very finest flavor, along the Atlantic slope, it was not necessary for the early settlers to cultivate them. But as towns and cities grew up these furnished a market for more than nature unassisted could supplw Hence the farseeing gardener transplanted the wild Virginiana into his grounds. As close cultivation made larger berries, and as larger berries commanded higher prices, it was a short step of reason to demand the best and biggest berry. The busi- ness of raising strawberries for the market first started with the gardeners around New York, Washington, Norfolk, Rich- mond and other coast cities and towns of the eastern states. The cities of New York and Washing- ton demanded berries before they ripened in their own gardens, hence the business of raising the berry farther south became more remunerative about Norfolk and Portsmouth than farther north. It was THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 at these places that the garden-patch grew into one, two and three acre patches, and finally into hundred-acre fields of strawberries. Here the berry raiser worked out the modern methods used in field culture and shipping. The food office of the strawberry is to supply its beneficial vegetable acid to the system, diluted and flavored as it is by the water and sugar and the delicate fruit aroma, the combination of which, in the case of the strawberry, has attamed so de- lightful a degree of perfection, and eaten from the plant, or served with sugar and cream, is an Arcadian dainty, leaving nothing to be wished for, making it prob- ably the most wholesome of all fruits. Potash in Strawberry Production ONE of the errors found in every section of the country is that pot- ash is a plant food which, if fed alone to strawberries, will be all-sufficient. Writing on that subject George Wright says: It is a very important thing to re- member that however efficient and valu- able potash may be as a plant food, it cannot fulfill the conditions of a complete fertilizer — it is not a complete plant food any more than oats would be a complete food for the horse. It is but an element of food, and its real value will be largely measured by the content of phosphoric acid and the nitrogen in the soil, either naturally or artificially applied, in order to meet ali the needs of the plant. One of the crops which usually re- sponds liberally to the use of potash, in connection with the other elements, is the strawberry. This is a crop which can be successfully grown on almost any soil if proper attention is given to the matter of proper fertilization. Correct methods in this direction are even more important than that of soil selection. It can be truly said that no crop will continue to produce a profitable yield of berries un- less they be judiciously and liberally fer- tilized. Besides improving the yield of fruit, such fertilization also materially im- proves the quality of the berry, both as to flavor and firmness, the latter being a matter of considerable commercial impor- tance. A satisfactory strawberry fertilizer should contain about the following pro- portion of ingredients: Nitrogen 3 per cent Potash 10 per cent Phosphoric Acid 7 per cent If the berries are to be produced upon soils quite sandy, it may even be better to increase the potash to 12 per cent. Such a mixture should be applied at the rate of about 500 pounds per acre, and thor- oughly worked into the soil. If the lo- cation is one in which heavy winter and spring rains may be expected, it is well to apply only a portion — say 150 pounds — of the nitrate of soda to the berries at first, the balance to be applied somewhat later. The fertilizer should not be sown directly on the plants while in an active growing state, as the leaves will be injured by such treatment, but the material may be distributed around the plants in such a way as not to come into direct contact with the plants themselves. The amount of ingredients named may seem large, but the strawberry, small as the plant is, is a strong feeder, as will be seen from the following table showing the ingredients removed from an acre by an average crop of strawberries: In 1 acre In 7 tons strawber's manure Nitrogen . . . 74 lbs. 77 lbs. Phos. Acid . . 28 lbs. 57 lbs. Potash . . . 125 lbs. 74 lbs. From the above it will be seen that it would require about twelve tons of barnyard manure to return to the soil the ingredi- ents of a single crop of strawberries, and even then there would be a considerable excess of nitrogen, which would have the tendency to produce a very heavy growth of foliage at the expense of fruit. Such an unbalanced material as stable manure alone cannot be recommended for this crop. The stable manure in moderate amounts, balanced up by the use of pot- ash, would be fairly good practice. If the nitrogen be obtained from the stable manure, then there will be suffici- ent in the latter too, but the potash will be deficient, and this can be supplied either from the sulphate or muriate of potash. .^ .^ ONE young Iowa farmer has at last got his eyes open to a very impor- tant thing. He writes Fartri, Stock and Home, of Minneapolis, about it, saying: 'T have been in the habit of scanning my farm paper much as I do my daily, pick- ing out the funny or light reading, and those things that seemed unusual or sen- sational in growth or yield of farm pro- Strawberries IF YOU believe the plants you plant cut any figure in the results; if you think think the best is none too good for you, and cheap- est in the end, and if you want to be sureof getting the variety you buy, in a condition to make the most for you, I ask you to investigate THE PLANTS I GROW I don't claim to sell you plants cheaper than anybody else. I am not competing with the man whose stock has nothing but cheapness to recommend it, and it is not to your interest to buy that kind. My claim is that I am producing the best, strongest, most vigorous and most prolific plants that can be grown in a favored strawberry climate and that I am selling them at a reasonable price. ONE HUNDRED VARIETIES About every kind that has ever proved its right to be grown in any locality. Oi course I especially recommend the well known varie- ties that are standard everywhere, among them being Virginia, Chesa- peake. Cardinal, Commonwealth, Norlh Shore, Oaks Early, New York. Glen Mary, Stephen's Champion, etc. But select your own varieties and I will send plants to please you. MY 60- PAGE CATALOGUE Is free and gives all particulars. Also lists leading varieties in Cab- bage, Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Field Corn, etc. Tested novelties and Standard Garden, Field and Agricultural Implements. Don't fail to write for a copy. W. F.ALLEN, "1^' SALISBURY, Md. Page 38 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 ducts, or tilings that pleased without be- ing instructive. But 1 see now that I have gone wrong. I am a week study- ing a number of the paper where I used to finish it in an hour. I read it now in installments; some articles two or three times over, and think about what I read, and I am surprised at what I get com- pared with what I did before, and I am already beginning to think that the paper is better worth $10 a year than 50 cents. I have learned how to read this paper, and the paper taught me to do it, and for that one thing it has done a good deal for me. Notes on Everbearing Plants By Samuel Cooper I\V.'\S interested in the report of Mr. Riehl in The Strawberry about the Pan-American strawberry, as it is the first I ever succeeded in developing the fall-bearing habit in. I do not like the term everbearing, as it conveys the idea that they can be fruited all summer suc- cessfully, which is not exactly true. They will, however, bear some the whole season, but the berries will be small after the spring crop is taken off, as you know the roots become woody and die. It is too much of a strain on the plants in their weakened condition. The best way is to set as early as pos- sible in the spring, dividing the old plants so as to have some roots on each plant, setting them about one foot apart in the row, rows thirty inches apart. Most of these old plants will send out new roots from the crown above the old roots which will not die in August (that is the new roots) as is the case with strawberries raised in the usual way. Keep all fruit stems picked off up to July 15 to 20, also all runners if any appear, as no straw- berry plant will do its best producing fruit and runners at the same time. What some people consider a defect in the Pan-American in not producing run- ners freely, 1 regard as a great advan- tage, as I want them to throw all their energies to making fruit, and I prefer the old plants divided in the spring to new layer plants on account of the root system mentioned above. Handled this way they will begin to bear about August 15 or 20 and will continue to blossom and fruit until frozen hard. I find them more profitable than spring varieties and a great treat at that time of the year. Delevan, N. Y. Earle. Our correspondent makes men- tion of the new roots forming just above the old ones. This is true of any vari- ety, if the crowns are covered lightly with fine soil. In preparing an old bed for its second crop, always rake over the crown so as to encourage the new root system. We agree with our correspondent that the title "double-cropper" is more nearly correct than that of ever-bearing. One principal objection to the double- cropper varieties is their tendency to give so large a share of their energies to the production of fruit buds that the foliage and runners generally are weakened. If we can get a variety so full of vitality that it will build up two sets of buds without drawing so heavily upon its vege- tative parts, the double-cropper varieties Mr. Cooper's plan of dividing an old plant doubtless is all right in the case of the Pan-American, but would not be a good one to follow with many other vari- eties. The Pan-American makes a large number of crowns, and they are so ar- ranged that it is possible to divide the plants. The same is true of the Parker FFBMf* K" STRONGEST r MLr§%MmL made, buu- _^"— ^^^" Btnini; chick- cn-tiffht. Sold to the Farmer at Whole- sale Prlres. Fnlly warranted. CatalnpfreO COILED SEKINO FENCE CO., Box IG'J, Winchester. Xndiajuu will fill an important place in the straw- berry world. — F. E. B. Proper Pollenation Points HERE comes an inquiry from Illi- nois too late to get into the Cor- respondence School. Mrs. J. W. D., of Sullivan, 111., writes: "Will you please tell me through the February Strawberry what other three plants I should set with the Warfield, Senator Dunlap and Candy for best results.?" Answering this inquiry we would say that in setting Warfields one should first set one row of extra-early bisexual, like Climax, August Luther or Excelsior, then three rows of Warfield; these should be followed by some bisexual variety of mid-season, like Senator Dunlap, Splen- did or Parsons' Beauty. The Gandy may be set between a medium-late and an extra-late bisexual, both of which should be strong in pollen. For instance. 30 Days To Try Why Easy Terms To Buy We Will Let You Use an American Manure Spreader Free It's just like this. You need an American Manure Spreader. It will double the value of every bit of manure you put on your land. It will pulverize and break it up, so it will mix with the soil easily. And it will distribute evenly, so every square foot of land will get its share. The other reasons you will find out yourself just as soon as you try the Spreader. And we will let you try it for 30 days at our expense. We send you the Spreader and prepay the freight. You use it a month. Before the 30 days are up. you will wonder how you ever got on without it. The Spreader will practically earn its own cost before you send us a cent. We give you a liberal allowance of time in which to pny for it. And if you shouldn't find it exactly as represented, you send it back at our expense, and the trial costs you not a sliilling. We can afford to make you this off?r because we know that our American Spread- ers are well made, on correct principles, and tiiat they will stand the Test. They represent twenty-five years study and experience. Their good points are the result of our knowledge of field needs. We have developed them along practical lines. American Spreaders are carefully and sensibly constructed, and they show it. We own and operale the largest M anure Spreader plant in tha World. We turn out more machines every year than any other American Harrow Co., *528 Hastings St manufacturer. Our ample capital enables us to sell our .Spreaders on long time. We sell direct to you because we want to keep in close touch with users of our Spreaders. This way we get a chance to tell you how to use them to best advantage and why our way will give best results We will tell you all about Manure Spreaders, and how to spread manure, so that you will be able to select a size best suited to your needs— and you have our 5 sizes and 9 styles to select from. When yuu buy from us you get just the kind you should have to do your work best. We don't belong to any trust. We are an independent concern. Write today for our FREE catalog. Tell us how much land you own. how many horses you keep and how many head of cattle, sheep and hogs you have, and we will give you the Government statistics as to the annual value of your manure crop. We will also send you a little booklet telling all about "Our New Selling Plan." It will interest you and save you money. Ask at once. You will be glad if youdo. WHAT MR. HILL SAYS: Kan-ticoke. Pa.. Dee. 12. 1905 American Hakkow Co.. Detroit. Mich. Dear Sirs:— KiK-Iosed you wdl nna notes, duly Bigned, for (^pren.ler. . •• . I am verv pleaded with' the construction or the Americna 'Si'reoiler, ail it-* parts peem to (>6 made for long wervioo. The work it performs in three m'nutes is beitel tlian I h.ive heen able to do with the fork in 25 toSOmmtites and I antiei- Eiite i'9 results to bo far ahead of anjtiiine I liave ad in the past. e"peeially on the hay-fields, as It rinpsthflmannre into Biich small particles as ii-t tosmother theemiillest tuf t of Kr.xss, Yoor coor- te >iis treatment and prompt shinnu-nt of miu-hine leaves nothin« to bo desired and I hnve no hesita- tion in sayinq I inn n iv. II sntisHed eustomcr. WlXO-Uil. J. HILL. Naniicoke. Pa. Detroit, Mich. ^^ heu Writius Advertiser Please Meutiou The strawberry P»«e 39 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 one row of Pride of Michigan or Bis- marck, then three of Gandy, followed by Aroma. In considering Gandy it must be re- membered that while it is a bisexual, its first bloom is almost without pollen, the principal part of the bloom containing only a few anthers, and these do not sup- ply a large amount of strong pollen. The Senator Dunlap is an extra-strong poUenizer, and will not require any other variety for the purpose of pollenation. We are glad to have you ask this ques- tion, as proper mating of varieties can hardly be discussed too often, and it is one of the very important features of the work of successful strawberry production. The Strawberry as an Advertising Medium FOR a magazine just launched upon its career, the amount of advertising carried by The Strawberry in its in- itial issue has received favorable comment from many sources. But quantity is not its only attraction. The quality of the advertising in its pages is so high as to call for especial notice, and here is an ex- tract from one of the letters we have re- ceived on the subject: Petoskey, Mich., Jan. 16, '06. We are just in receipt of Tlie Strawberry for January, and are simply delighted with its ap- pearance . . . We wish to commend the position you take in regard to advertisements. Of all the journals or publications we have seen, yours stands at the head in respect to the class of its advertisements. We took note of this be- fore we read your announcement setting forth your attitude in this matter. May you ever maintain this high standard! Both Mrs. E. and myself appreciate this cleanliness of your adver- tising department more fully than words can ex- press. God bless The Strawberry! M. N. Edgerton. Nor is it only the reader who is pleased with our advertising. From one of our heaviest advertisers we are in receipt of the following letter — from one whose business is right here in Three Rivers and who saw for himself that all our claims as to circulation were more than fulfilled: The National Fur & Tanning Co. Three Rivers, Mich., Jan. 16, '06. We are much gratified with the results that are flowing from our advertisement in the January Strawberry. Although it is just two weeks since you began mailing out the issue, we are receiv- ing many letters each day from readers of The Strawberry, and they come from all over the country. You may run our full page ad. in the February number, as we are convinced that your circulation is 100 per cent good. Please accept our th.inks also for your courtesy in permitting us to verify your circulation claims by actually visiting your mechanical department and witness- ing the huge edition in process of making. We cheerfully endorse your claims to 30,000 circu- lation, as we know the actual number of copies printed was in excess of that number. National Fur & Tanning Co. And from another advertiser comes a letter expressing the same sort of gratifi- cation over results secured through ad- vertising in The Strawberry: The National Tool Co. Three Rivers, Mich., Jan. 19, '06. It affords us much pleasure — and unsolic- ited by you — to say that of all the publications we have used during the past year, The Straw- berry has brought us more inquiries from our little seventeen line ad in your first issue of thirty-two thousand (32,000), than we have re- ceived fromold publicationswith 250,000 circula- tion. And we are especially struck by the high character of the people from whom this business received through The Strawberry comes. We want to congratulate you on the beauty of your publication, and believe you are covering a field that will appreciate your efforts, and your future to us seems unlimited. Please continue our ad. Wishing you great prosperity, we beg to re- main, Very respectfully. The National Tool Co. "YY/HEN sending in your subscriptions »» to The Strawberry be sure that you send full address correctly and plainly written. One of our Texas friends, in his haste to get his name upon The Strawberry lists, put a dollar bill inside a perfectly plain envelope, and sent it along without signing. All we had to indicate that it came from any particular place was the postoffice; who it came from was shrouded in impenetrable mystery. Don't let this occur in your case. It is bad for the sender, but especially bad for us; for we surely shall be blamed for it if you fail to get the magazine. An Indiana friend sends us his name and address all right, but fails to enclose the dollar. This also is bad all round. Be careful; see that the name, the address and the dollar, all are in the envelope before you seal it. Then if Uncle Sam's postoffice depart- ment makes due delivery, The Straw- berry will be responsible for your failure to get the magazine. And don't forget to tell your friends all about these im- portant points. 20th Century Combination A wagon box. stock rack and liay lad- , — — ilers combined. Can liaul loose hay ; or straw, all kinds of live stock ear ": : <• corn, threshed wheat or oats, apples, 'f'->^-^ potatoes, etc. Good for every use on the .¥^^ farm without removal of "parts. All ^r:"j Changei Made Instantly. Catalog Free 1^ MODEI« M'F'G. CO., Box S3 , Muncie. Ind IS HARD, ROUND AND SWEET— Lilly's Glory Cabbage VV/E perfected this variety on our own "^ experimental grounds on Puget I Sound, and it has proved a wonderful success, pronounced without a doubt the best cabbage in this re- gion, famous as the best cabbage country on this continent. We supply seedsmen all over the U. S. with cabbage seeds, and this is the best va- riety there is grown. It is as hard as the Danish Ball Head, and has an e\en more perfect round- ness. It matures in mid-season, earlier th.iii any other hard, round cabbage. In quality it proves most excellent, tender and crisp. This cabbage is destined to be the most popular variety of any. For market purposes it is unexcelled. It is a ready seller and it is so good that a profitable trade can be built up for it. We ^ advise all our customers to try this cabbage. Sold only in sealed packages. Price: packet, lOc; ounce, 35c; pound, $3.50 Write for new 1906 catalogue of Lilly's Puget Sound Seeds. Use coupon. \!m CUT OUT and mail to . fi*^ ff££VCo» SEATTLE, WASH. ! Enclosed is $ in (money order, 1 draft, 2c stamps) tor which please send me I packet ounces lbs. I Lilly Glory Cabbage Seed Charges prepaid. Name — Address.. P&£e 40 A Woman's Success With Strawberries By Miss S . M . Pollard SOME of my work as a strawberry grower last season was wise, some otherwise, although in most things I followed your directions; but for days and weeks, when they were grown, I re- pented on hands and knees that I had not followed them in all. The ground was well manured in the fall and plowed about six inches deep the next spring. Then it was harrowed thoroughly and smoothed with a plank float. Next I marked out the rows, just twenty inches each way, and set out the plants. I soon started my Planet Jr. cultivator which I used every few days during the summer, thus keeping out all the weeds. In the fall, when the ground was frozen suffi- ciently hard to support a wagon, I covereJ the plants about six inches deep with straw and this was not removed until the middle of the following May, the spring being so late it could not safely have been sooner removed. I started the cultivator again and kept that going as before till the plants literally shut me out from between the rows. Then I realized for the first time what a mistake I had made in not giving them more room. I never had seen tame strawberries growing and, as a neighbor, a poor tumble-down fellow, always says. If you would succeed you must put in your judgment," I found I had not put in quite enough judgment, and when they began to bud and blossom I saw that I was up against" a serious proposition. They were a sight to behold, buds and blossoms everywhere, all through and be- tween the rows, so that one could not step without crushing them. Friends called to see and give advice who never had raised a berry, but were chock full of knowledge about caring for the plants. They told me that I must "pinch off" one-half or two-thirds of the blossoms or the plants would die; that they would never amount to an\'thing, for no plant could e\ er produce such an amount and live. While I could only agree with them, I did not have the heart to remove one of those pretty flowers, and inasmuch as I had got them for the purpose of experi- menting, they must work out their own salvation — live or die. But they did not die; they kept right on growing; and when ripe, many of them measured five and a half to six inches in circumference. Such a time as we had to pick them! VVe had to move the berries aside to get a place to put our feet, and then stand astride of the rows, our skirts brushing over the blossoms. This I saw would not do, so I rose to the occasion and donned a pair of bib overalls to the mer- riment of my city company, as I came from my room with hand aloft crying "venia necessitati datur;" but I found my- self dressed much better suited for the work. We sold from a plot two rods wide by four rods long a little more than forty dollars' worth — besides what we put up for home consumption, and quite a lot which we gave to our less fortunate friends. And the end was not yet. But my companion having just finished a nine months' term of school, wanted a rest MISS S. M. POLLARD and the time to attend the fair at Port- land, Ore., before beginning her next term, so I called a halt and mowed the vines, more than satisfied with my first at- tempt at raising strawberries. In this one year I have learned that strawberry growing is a woman's work, and anyone that can successfully raise to- matoes or cabbage can do as well with strawberries. She may in this way se- cure a goodly supply of pin money and escape the humiliation of asking "hubby' for every cent. It is a business that never will be overdone; the field is wide, the demand growing. It is a business that must be learned and attended to like any other, but with a little experience, combined with natural qualifications, such as energy, common sense and persever- ance, one is sure to succeed. The cost of plants and other expenses for home use is not worth speaking about, and those who wish to make a business of raising for market will find the cost for fertilizers, tools, boxes and crates so small compared to the profits that they will cut no figure. I sold all my berries by the crate (twenty-four quarts) at ten and twelve and a half cents per quart, when I might have gotten fifteen and eighteen cents just as well, had I wished to sell by the box. I could not begin to supply the de- mand in a little town of from three to four hundred people. I would no more than get in sight when friends would come to my carriage to see if I had ber- ries and ask if they were for them or when I would bring their crate! Orders came for my berries from Crookston, a city twenty-five miles away, and other towns where they had heard of my strawberries, long after I had mowed the vines. The majority of the straw- berries used in the valley of the Red river come from Hood River, Ore., two thousand or more miles away; and by the time they have jolted over the road in a hot car for three or four days, they stand no show with fresh berries right from the plants at home. My success has determined me to plant one-half acre in the spring of 1906, and I shall continue to increase the bed so long as I can get help to pick them. Woodside, Minn. MAINE strawberry folk do things in a way that makes for success. Ad- vices from Appleton in that state are to the effect that in the season of 1905 Jo- seoh G. Wentworth on three-fourths of an acre raised 5,000 baskets for which he received $500; picking the berries cost him $75. Frank Kenney grew 2,775 baskets on half an acre, and sold his pro- duct for $340. Cyrus Perry sold 4,500 baskets, receiving $470 for them, all from three-fourths of an acre. These are only a few instances of what was done in that neighborhood; other growers did equally as well. Which only goes to prove the contention of The Straw- berry that there is nothing that offers larger opportunity to the man with small acreage or limited means or both than strawberry production. REMEMBER that the birds are your friends. When their generous way of helping themselves to your good things makes you impatient and you go to get your gun, stop and recall the service they perform for the world in checking the de- structive insect pests in fruit-garden and orchard. According to Prof. H. P. At- water, quails are of great advantage to the farmer, as are also some other birds. In THB STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 the stomach of a quail were counted 101 potato beetles, and in that of another quail 500 chinch bugs. In a yellow-bill cuckoo were found forty-three caterpil- lars, and in another cuckoo 217 web worms. A robin had eaten 175 caterpil- lars. The stomach of four chickadees contained 1,028 canker worm eggs. Four others contained 600 eggs and 105 ma- ture insects. Believes in the Pedigree Idea PROF. S. W. FLETCHER, chief in horticulture at the Michigan Agricultural College, delivered an address before the Michigan State Horti- cultural Society on the value of pedigree in nursery stock in which he said a word that ought to be pondered alike by those who grow plants for the use of others and those who buy the plants for fruiting purposes. In part he said: "A pedigree plant is one whose par- entage and ancestry are known. As ap- plied to fruit trees the word is commonly considered to mean a tree which was propagated from a bearing tree having an exceptionally good record for producing large crops of choice fruit. The pedi- gree idea rests upon the most important principle of plant breeding — that of se- lection. If the farmer finds that it pays to select the best ears of corn for seed, if the florist finds that it pays to take cut- tings from the plants that bloom most abundantly, if the gardener finds that it pays to save seed from his best melons — then there should be something in the pedigree idea when applied to nursery stock. ... I believe that there is just as much in it as there is when ap- plied to the propagation of garden vege- tables, florist plants or field crops; but since the generations are farther apart, the results are slower to appear. "If all other plants are being improved by selection, and the improvements are handed down to their offspring, why not the fruit growers' plants.'' Some people argue that the cases are different; that there can be no improvement by selection of plants that are propagated not by seed, but merely by dividing up the old plant. How, then, does the florist get better car- nations, chrysanthemums, roses, by merely taking cuttings from his best plants.? It is unfortunate that we have so little con- clusive evidence on this subject, as re- gards fruit trees, resulting from careful experiments, and that most of our con- clusions must be based only on general observation. I am quite satisfied that several, perhaps many, generations of trees propagated from the nursery row may intervene from the original bearing parent without seriously reducing the fruit-bearing value of the nursery stock — but I am also satisfied that it is usually safer and always better to go to bearing trees for buds, if not every year, then at least every two or three years. The ex- pediency of this practice is an entirely different matter; such trees may cost more, but they ought to be worth more. "There have been grievous frauds committed in the name of pedigree stock. Much of the stock sent out as such has been no better than ordinary stock; in fact, has been ordinary stock. This has tended to bring the practice and the name into disrepute. But the principle is true, however imperfectly applied. T he be- ginning and the end of the improvement of our fruits is through selection — to which some people have chosen to apply the term 'pedigree.' In my opinion the word is a great misnomer. It can never be used in plant breeding with anything like the same degree of definiteness as it can in animal breeding. Selected stock' expresses the idea and describes the prac- tice much better than pedigree.' Most every successful nurseryman does more or less selection, although but few of them use the word pedigree to describe it. I should like to .see this society put on record in some definite way as favor- ing and encouraging the greatest of all the principles of plant breeding as applied to the propagation of plants — the selection of the best to be the parents of another generation " Reports on Variety Tests By Edwin H. Riehl T AST month we referred to the work being done by Mr. Riehl on his place at North Alton, 111 , known by horticulturists everywhere as Monach Fruit Farm. This farm has been made an experi- ment station of the Illinois State Horticultural So- ciety because of Mr, Riehl's preeminent ability and known thoroughness, and reports of his variety tests always are read with interest by fruit growers every- where.—Editor Strawberry. MARK HANNA has made a fine showing so far, somewhat re- sembling Sample and Haverland in its general characteristics. It is rather fair in quality, but its large size and re- markable productiveness places it easily among the most profitable. Winchell's Beauty — From Indiana, (imperfect, or pistillate). Both plant and fruit as handsome a variety as ever was produced. Large, very productive, early, very good. Florally — From Georgia; perhaps the best variety that ever came to us from the South. Plant robust, productive, very large, firm, very good. Crimson Cluster — Is the most promis- ing late variety ever fruited here. May be briefly described as a very much im- proved Gandy. Nola (Imp.) — Has every desirable point that a market variety could have. Rip Van Winkle (Imp.) — This var- iety is a curiosity because of its tremen- dous production of large perfect fruit, not of best quality. Mrs. Fisher — Ranks high as a mid- season to late variety. Berries are a little Page 42 irregular in shape and rather light in color. In every other respect it is fine. Ben Davis — Very large, productive, firm, best possible quality, promising. Ernie — Is a good grower, fruit large, uniform shape, dark red, glossy, firm, productive, good quality, very promising. North Alton, 111. WANTED-IOOO OF THE STRAWEERRY GROWERS TO TEST DOERR'S YELLOW DENT CORN In 1006. OritrinntedV.yns in lOO'J. Stands ■\vithont a succ'essfnl rival in the corn bolt to- day. We start you ^vith four pounds seed, de- livri-rd at v-mrdoor by U. S. mail for $1.00. iMion-li to grow JJ5 to 40 bushels. W]i\- iiiit t'-stiti Wo are in earnest in tlio mat- ter," iiiid L:ive yon the HarvelBank as refer- ence as to tiuQ price is a dollar a year but if you will writefor free sample copy and mention this paper, you will reeeive a proposition whereby you ■' one year WITHOUT COST. Everyone t trees or a garden, should read ST UOSBPH. MISSOURjI Everv issue i^ hnndsoniely illustrated and from 3-2 to 04 pages a inuiitU a-e lilled with interesting matter pei- tainincr to fruit-growing and garden- inir. The fii-st four issues of 1906 will be ndsMiiie sjiecial numbers devoted to ihi- Ii. ill. wing subjects:— Januaiy, The Il'.iii'iiltural Societies; February. Siicivinj,^; March. Gardening; April. Small Fruits. Any one of these num- bers will be wort h a dollar to you. We publish the "Brother Jonathan Series" TKADKM\RK of fruit b-.oks. Send your name and Bro. Joxathas learn how to secure these books free. Fruit-GrowerQ. 167 S. 7th. St. Joseph. Mo. HEADQUARTERS FOR Berry Boxes PEACH AND GRAPE BASKETS ALSO MELON BASKETS Established in 18 6 9 Experience Counts To obtain highest prices for your fruits ship in our packages Illustrated Price List Free Wells-Higman Co., st. joseph, mich Tree Protectors 75 cents per 100. $5.00 per 1,000, A.S valuable in sumuier against sun-scald, lint winds, etc., as lliey are in winter against cold and rabbits. Recommended by all le.-iding Orchardistsand Hor- ticultural societies. 8end for samples and testimonials. I>o not wait until rabbits and mice ruin your trees. Write us today. Wholesale Narsery Caialogai now ready. Send for copy. Agents wanted everywhere. HART PIONEER NURSERIES, Box 103. Fort Scott, Kan. Peach Trees fine, stocky, hardy, grown on the bank of Luke Erie: two miles from any peach orehard. ■ f lee of borers and all di-eases. Large stoekof Apple. I*each, Peur. l'!uii». Cherry, Etc. Ileiidquurtert for OBNA- MKM'Al. TREKS, Shrubs. KoReR, Plant-. Vines. Bulbs, Seed«. Over 40 seres or -^-T^.- ."■-' -.- Hardy Rose*, none better Itrown. 44 greenhouses of ETepbloonilne Rowes. Palms. Fernn. Fleu«, Weranlums. Ete. Mail sizepost- pnid. Hafe arrival uiiil BUtlsfuctlun tfuarnnteed. larger by eipress or freight. IHrect deal will Insure y»'u tho best and siivo you money. Try It. \ aluablel6b-page catalogue free. Correspondence eolicited. 52 years. ^'\hE STOBRS & HARRISON CO., Box 260 GAINESVILLE, OHIO Mention "The Strawberry" when writing THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 and just before a rain. This will dissolve the soda and make it immediately avail- able. The best time to apply it is in the spring, just after you have parted the mulch from over the rows, and do not use more than fifty pounds to the acre. Re- peat this just before the buds open. 3. The number of boxes and crates required will depend somewhat upon the condition of the plants in your half-acre. You say the plants are very thrifty, and we should think it unsafe to order fewer than 150 twenty-four quart crates and boxes to match them. Never have crates and boxes returned. Use only fresh, clean and neat boxes and crates. These aid greatly in the market. J. L. S. , Nelson, B. C. I have acquired a very desirable piece of land and am at present clearing about ten acres of small trees and brush. The land has considerable slope to the lake and a southern exposure, consequently the sun strikes it at nearly right angles, caus- ing it to mature crops from two to three weeks earlier than does land on the opposite side of the lake. What varieties of strawber- ries would you advise me to set for market purposes? 2. This land is virgin soil; am now pulling the stumps; getting it ready for the plants. Would you recommend nitrate of soda as a dressing after plants are put in and started growing? 1. As your land has a southern expos- ure, allowing the sun to shine upon it all day, we would recommend early varieties for the larger part, of which there are many excellent varieties, such as Excel- sior, August Luther, Climax, Texas and Warfield. Following these would come Parsons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap, Pride of Michigan and Sample. 2. Virgin soil of the kind you describe should contain sufficient nitrogeiious plant food to develop an abundance of vegeta- tative growth without the assistance of any stimulant, and that is the function of the nitrates. H. E. C, Harrisbiirg, Pa. I intend to resign my position with a large furnace company and engage in fruit culture. I have 200 acres of fine limestone land, rollingand well drained, nine miles from this city, and can ship to both Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Desire to start strawberry growing on a small scale, increas- ing as fast as the profits justify. Please give me your opinion as to the best varieties to set. Your land certainly is well situated for a fruit farm, both as to market location and quality of soil. If you follow proper methods we predict that strawberries will become the leading product of the place, because the demand for fancy strawberries is unlimited and from no other line of horticulture can you realize such large returns in so short a time. We enjoy nothing more than to aid a beginner to start right and then watch him grow! As to varieties, we can give you no bet- ter advice than to suggest that you set one or two varieties representing each season — extra early, early, medium and late. Then at fruiting time you may watch each variety closely and thus discover the best varieties for your particular soil and market. C. E. F. , Newcastle, Calif. Will you please advise me concerning the weight of strawberry plants? Strawberry plants weigh from twenty- five to thirty-five pounds per thousand plants, packed ready for shipment. Ex- press companies quote a special rate on strawberry plants of 20 per cent under regular merchandise. Mrs. G. C. J., Detroit, Mich. I have pinched all the bud blossoms from my plants, also all the runners but two on each side of the mother plant. Now those runners have made new plants. Should I cut this runner wire to pre- vent weakening of the mother plant, which I want to bear next year? Could they not be severed and set out in a new bed next spring? You have greatly increased the fruiting power of your plants by removing the first buds and allowing few runners to set. It will not be necessary to cut the runner wire that connects the young plant to its mother, as they cease to draw nourish- ment from the mother after they get their own roots established in the soil. Nature has provided a way for lessening the strain on the mother plant by drying up the runner wire. They should not be re- moved at all, but left where they are, and they will produce fruit the same as does the mother plant. They are also the ones you will leave in order to get a sec- ond crop from this patch. E. W. McF., West Salem, Ohio. I have about one acre of strawberry plants that were set out last September by the former owner of the place. Many of them failed to grow. May the remainder be successfully transplanted to another part of the field, and if so, when will be the best time to do the work — fall or spring? 2. Would a top-dressing of barn- yard manure put on late in the fall be of bene- fit to the plants? Your experience with fall-set plants only confirms our oft-expressed views as to the season for plant-setting. In the fall the plants are building up their fruit- bud system, and this is the very moment of their lives when they should remain un- disturbed. To disturb them then gives them a serious setback if it does not ac- PulveriiinS Harrow ""^ ^Glod Cf usher and leveler. SENT ON TRIAL. To be returned at my expense if not satisfactory. The best pulverizer— cheapest - __jSa Riding Harrow on earth. The ^^ ^ZP^ Acme crushes, cuts, pul- '=»-=*=*^^e7'*'^'sS3 verLzes, turns and levels all soilb for all purposes. Made entirely of cast r" steel and wrought iron ^_- — indestructible. • Catiiog and booklet, ■^"Aivldeal Harrow" by „ ^^^vj-r— _^~-— ^ _i — HenrvStewart sent free. Ideliver'ro b at NewYork.Chicaso, Columbus, Louisville, KansasCity, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland, etc, DUANE H. NASH, Sole Manufactuper, Millington, New Jersey. BDAiirH HOUSES- 1 low. Washington SI., CHICAGO. Z40-244 71h Ave. S., MINNEAPOLIS. 1316 W. Slh SI., rNsSS2fT"vr^O.' ..e lOth S^^^ISVIL^LE.^- --- ^ *• -" -- "^ ' """^ Planet Jr. Garden Tool QuaUty. Half a million users regard the Planet Jr. line as the most practical, durable and dependable garden tools made. They stand the test of time, because ' "quality" is the Planet J r. watchword. They wear well and give perfect satisfaction wherever used. Planet Jr. No. 17 is a particul:irly valuable tool. It is the best of our single wheel hoes, carefully tested by practical men and the lati'st approved pattern, with the greatest variety of tools we hMve e^■er otlered. Frame is strong and convenient, having a quick change device which permits tools to be changed without removing nuts. Planet Jr. Harrow, Cultivator and Pulverirer is a great favorite with strawberry growers, market gardeners and farmers, because the twelve chisel shaped teeth do such thorough, tine, close work without throwing earth on small phmts. The pulverizer used with the lever wheel enables the operator to set the tool exactly to any desired depth. The Planet Jr. line includes Seeders, Wheel Hoes. Horse Hoes, Harrows. Ridiaff Cultiva- tors, (one or two row), Beet and Orchard Cultivators, etc., 45 in all. ^ Farmers as well as gardeners need our l^CW) book, which fully illustrates the machines at worK boih at home and abroad. Mailed free, S. L. Allen & Company, PhUadelpbla. Pa. ^f'f^^ PAfte 4S THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 tually kill them. If the remaining plants are thrifty they may be transplanted in the spring; but do not move the mother plants. 2. Yes. A top-dressing of barnyard manure put on late in the fall will be of much benefit to your plants. Be sure that it be not applied until after growth has ceased for the season. Then the soil grains will absorb the leachings for the plant's use at fruiting time, and they will develop a fine foliage and the size of the fruit will be increased. E. D. K., Mt. Vernon, Ind. I have about one acre of ground I intend to put into straw- berries. It has been in clover sod for two years. Shall I break this ground up and sow to some leguminous crop and wait another year before setting out plants, or will it be all right to set them next spring? This is fresh ground, lies high and is well drained. The crop of clover you have plowed under will furnish an abundance of humus, and as clover is one of the very best of the legumes it will be unnecessary to grow any other before setting plants. Indeed, with a light dressing of manure, applied before setting out the plants, the soil should be in ideal condition for them, and ought to make a fine crop. Your soil being high and well drained will make it possible for you to grow the very earliest varieties without danger from frost. C. F. P., Tecumseh, Mich. Am badly both- ered with ground moles, which are burrowing my plants in all directions. Kindly advise me what to do. As a rule ground moles do more good than harm. They are heavy feeders on the white grub and similar insects which would do much more damage than the moles if not destroyed. Of course, if the mole goes directly under a freshly set plant, in a dry season, the soil v\'ill dry out and the plant will die. There are numerous traps to be had at low prices that are excellent for catching moles. This is the best and most effective way of getting rid of these little plowmen. C. D., Detroit, Mich. Please tell me if it will do to sow oats in my strawberry patch, be- tween rows, about September 1, to act as a winter mulch. We have experimented by sowing oats between the rows, but found that the oats drew too heavily upon the moisture, checking growth to such an extent as to somewhat lessen the strawberry crop. The result of our experiments were more satisfactory with Gandy than with any other variety, the reason being that the Gandy makes too much foliage at the ex- pense of fruit unless checked in some such way. By so checking its tendency to excessive foliage we were able to turn its energies to fruit-bud production. But with varieties making scant foliage the oats proved decidedly detrimental. Mrs. M. H. R. , Brookville, Ohio. Will old sawdust do for a winter protection of straw- berries? Straw is very scarce here. Would sugar-cane pomace be better than the saw- dust? Sawdust never should be used as a mulching, as it has a tendency to sour the ground. It also lies so close to the soil that it keeps the sun's rays from penetrat- ing and thus keeps the ground too cold. Cold soil discourages activity in the bac- teria of the soil, as they require a temper- ature of from 45 to 90 degrees if best re- sults are to be secured. The cane pom- ace, on the other hand, will make an ideal mulch, as it contains no weed seed. J. A. S., Poquonock, Conn. I notice that the foliage of my Warfield plants curls up at the edges. Please tell me what causes this, and if it will do any injury. Your plants are affected with mildew This is a funguous growth which is most troublesome in damp and "muggy" weather. Mildew easily is controlled by the application of Bordeaux mixture or liver of sulphur. These are only pre- ventives, however, and should be applied at the first sight of the fungi and repeated every ten days until the mildew has been checked. It is hardly probable that this will cause you trouble next spring, as the new foliage may be entirely free from it. B. F. N., Puget Sound. Which is the best strawberry to be grown on Puget Sound in soft loam with about half clay in it? 2. Which strawberry produces largest amount of berries in the East? 3. Do you think the Haverland will do well in Puget Sound? 4. Which is the best canning strawberry? Most of the standard varieties do well in the Puget Sound country, but Brandy- wine appears to be a general favorite there. 2. It is difficult to name any certain variety as the most prolific berry in the East, but it would be hard to excel Cres- cent, Senator Dunlap, Parson's Beauty, Haverland, Sample or Pride of Michigan. 3. Reports from the Haverland indi- cate that it succeeds very finely in your country. 4. There are many good canning va- rieties. Warfield and Brandywine are leaders in this respect. WP* So wo can guaran- tee them. A" 'he varieties known as "best" are from our nurseries. Itand^ome illustrated cata- logue on request. TBK OI.O KKI.IABI.E ..GENTRAt NURSERIES.. J. WRAGO & SONS CO., WAUKEE, IOWA. 'pie ^aylor fjarrow TWO TOOLS IN ONE 'T'HE best harrow on earth because it puts the soil in ideal condition at less cost * than any other. Once o,er the ground with the Naylor Combination will prepare the soil in much better condition than twice working with any other, and it is easily drawn by two horses. •If The spring teeth dig deep do\\n, thoroughly mixing the soil; the spike teeth pulverize and level the soil, and leave it a perfect seed bed. Each harrow has eighteen spring teeth and forty-two spike teeth. Two levers enable the operator to adjust the teeth to any desired position. Just the thing for orchards and berry farms. In the fall of 1905 the Naylor Harrow was severely tested on 23 of the best farms in St. Joseph county. Mich., and 22 of these farm* ers purchased them "-a record unequalled by any other harrow Don't buy a harrow until you know all about The Naylor Combination. Write me today and I will tell you all about it FRANK R. FISHER, Box 5, MOOREPARK, MICH. Page 46 w Xtt Water Supply for country Homes and Small Fruit Irrigation IF you live in the country there is a way for you to enjoy all the comforts and conveniences of a city water supply, without a penny for water lax. It is accomplished by the Kewanee System. With the Kewanee System you get even more than city service, because, in addition to every benefit the latter affords, you may have - - Soft water in your bathroom and laundry. + * * * The old-fashioned gravity system meant pumping water up in order to get it down again. Now, to give the necessary pressure for fire protection and service, the ele- vated tank must be located on top of a tall tower. This is expensive, unsightly and unsafe. The water freezes in winter, becomes warm and stagnant in summer, and re- pairs are a big item of expense. The attic tank doesn't give sufficient pressure for fire protection. Its weight is apt to crack the plastering, and when it leaks las it is pretty sure to do' your house is flooded. Just one such expensive accident may cost you many times the price of a Kewanee Outfit. - Which cannot flood the house because the tank is resting on solid ground, where it can do no damage. The installation of a Kewanee Pneumatic Tank and Outfit in the cellar 'OT in the ground) means - Plenty of pure, fresh water, - Cool water in the summer, - No freezing water in winter, - Absolute protection from fire, - Decrease in insurance rates, - A plant that will last a lifetime, - No expensive repairs, - - It solves the country water problem completely. The Kewanee System will take care of all your needs,- for home, garden, lawn, stables, poultry houses, etc. + * ♦ * It ought to make strong appeal to the man with strawberry beds. You know it is important that strawberries have water at just the right time. You may want to sprinkle or you may want to lay an open hose at the head of the row. Take your choice; a Kewanee System enables you to do either. What's true of strawberries is true of flower beds, rose bushes, garden vege- tables. You can't carry water and reach all these with a sprinkling pot. With a Kewanee Outfit, you just pull the hose out to the highest point you want to irrigate and turn on the water. It will do the rest. Mr. I. Newton Swift, Ypsilanii, Mich., is one of thousands who are using Kewanee outfits for general purposes. A late letter tells of the service I:e is get- ting from it. "A year ago I had your Kewanee Water Supply System installed on my farm of 240 acres. The tank is in the cellar of the house and supplies water for 75 cows and young stock, a dozen horses, 60 hogs and 500 chickens. It affords excellent fire protection for all the buildings, with an average water pressure of 40 to 50 pounds. It gives me pleasure to recommend this system, because it is bound lo give complete satisfaction." Here are also letters from other users which speak for themselves: — H. I. Spafford, North Bennington, Vt. "It works perfectly satisfactory. It does all you claim for it and more too. It furnishes plenty of water to bath room, hot water boiler, lavatories, kitchen sink, and outside sill cock for watering lawn and for fire protection." E. T. Crawford, Augusta, O. "Equal to any city water works." Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, New York. "Perfectly delighted." U. R. Fishel, Hope, Ind. "My Kewanee System is giving splendid results." * » * * Our Kewanee Outfits are complete. Not an engine only; which in itself cannot give you a water supply, nor a tank only, which is useless unless you have some form of pumping power - But we furnish the whole thing, a complete system, of water supply. Our engineering department is prepared to solve your water problem,- no matter how difficult that problem may now appear. Kewanee Outfits are made in sizes, suited to the smallest cottage or largest building, - or group of buildings. We guarantee every Kewanee Outfit to g'wc perfect service. Send for catalogue No. 15 giving names of users In your state free if you mention this paper. KEWANEE WATER SUPPLY CO. Drawer R. KEWANEE, ILLINOIS Page 47 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan. ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 47 Plymouth Place, Chicago, 111. Subscription Price One Dollar a Year Application made for entry at the postoflice at Three Rivers, Mich., as second-class matter. FEBRUARY, 1906 T^HE subject of our cover illustration *■ this month is the farm-garden straw- berry bed of Henry L. Gill of School- craft, Mich. Last summer Mr. Gill vis- ited the farm home of The Strawberry and told of his fine success with thorough- bred plants, and ended by asking us to send our artist over and get a view of what he considered the "finest patch in the country." The invitation was ac- cepted, and we have had the photograph- er's work put into colors in a way which we are sure will please both Mr. Gill and our strawbeny growing friends every- where. As an object lesson of family- garden success it would be hard to find a better. A GAIN we present to our readers a •'* list of advertisers whom it is a matter of pleasure and pride to count as our pa- trons. The lines they represent are those directly interesting to most of our readers, and the quality of goods manu- factured by them are second to none in the world. More than that, their meth- ods of doing business are based upon the strictest lines of honor and integrity. As we said in the preceding issue of this magazine, we wish this introduction to be in the nature of a personal presentation of friends for whom we stand sponsor, con- fident that whatever business may follow will be mutually satisfactory and profit- able NOWADAYS anyone who has a patch of ground for grouing vegetables can enjoy all the delights and profits of gardening vvitliout the hard work that made this pursuit drudgery before the invention of Planet Jr. garden tools. Tliese famous implements, now known and used the world over, have worked a revolution in the methods of the farm and truck gardener. Their use has resulted in an immense saving of time, labor and money, because with Planet Jr. tools one man can easily do the work of three to six men in the old way, and do it better, too. The Planet Jr. line is made by S. L. Allen & Co., in good old Philadelphia, famed for its many sub- stantial and reliable manufacturers. If you are interested in gardening, be sure to write S. L. Allen & Co., Box 1106D, Philadelphia, for their splendid new 1906 catalogue, which is full of beautiful half-tone cuts of characteristic scenes in farm and garden life. This valuable and interesting book will be sent you free for the asking. ANOTHER implement that has found uni- versal favor in all lands where it has been seen is the Acme pulverizing harrow, clod crusher and leveler, made by Duane H. Nash, of Millington, N. J. This is an invention of such extraordinary value as commands the inter- est and practical investigation of every soil tiller. It thoroughly mixes the soil, it brings to the surface any clods in the earth and crushes them to fineness, putting the soil in ideal condition for the most intensive cultivation. It is made entirely of cast steel and wrought iron and is practically indestructible. We know from ex- perience its great value to the man who grows crops, and we urge our friends to send for the booklet put out by Mr. Nash on "An Ideal Harrow" and read up more fully on the subject. AMONG those who are contributing to the success of the poultry folk in this country few enjoy greater popularity than M. M. John- son of Clay Center, Neb., whose splendid "Old Trusty" incubators and brooders are known throughout the length and breadth of the land. The particular object of this mention is to call our readers' attention to the very large and fine annual catalogue just issued by Mr. Johnson. It is a veritable picture book and will prove of interest and value to every member of the fam- ily. If you are interested in poultry, send for a copy of the book, mentioning The Strawberry. THE Buckeye Incubator Co. is another friend of the poultryman that has proved its right to the kindly consideration of all who have used its products. One thing about the Buck- eye is its offer to send an incubator to you on forty days' trial, thus giving you a chance to test the machine fully before making an invest- ment in one. This shows the company's con- fidence in its own manufactures and in the good faith of the public. The Buckeye Co. will send you a fine catalogue without costing you a cent beyond a postal card. Address the Buckeye Incubator Co., Box 49, Springfield, Ohio. ■^^^HAT strawberry grower is unfamiliar with " that suggestive phrase, "The basket with the rim"? If there be one who does not know of this basket he should lose no time in getting acquainted w ith it and with the Mullen Bros. Paper Co. , who manufacture it. Everybody who has packed strawberries for market knows how greatly the appearance and strength of the box aid in making the fruit attractive to the pur- chasers. The box with the rim is handsome, durable, convenient and sanitary. Write to Mullen Bros'. Paper Co., Department B., St. Joseph, Mich., and get a catalogue and sample box. Both will be sent to you without cost. ■^UTHO ever tires of the evergreens with their " perennial summertime look, their pungent and health-giving odors and their unique and beautiful landscape effects! None who com- prehend the nature and loveliness of these grace- ful trees but will turn to them when he sets out to adorn his home grounds, and if our friends are looking for such trees, either for their beauty or their great practical value as windbreak or hedge or forest grove, we recommend to them without hesitation the products of D. Hill of Dundee, 111., the evergreen specialist, whose years of study and practical experience have made him famous in his line. TREE-FRUIT folk always are interested in anythingthat will protect their orchards from animal, insect and other enemies of the trees, and the Hart Pioneer Nurseries of Fort Scott, Page 48 Kan., is putting out a protector that really pro- tects. If you will notice the advertisement of that company which appears in this issue you will see just how it works. Rabbits, mice and borers, hot winds and sunscald find in these protectors a perfect foil, and judging from the flattering testimonials of orchard ists who have used these protectors in great numbers, he is taking a great risk that he might insure against at trifling expense who fails to give the trees in his orchard the protection these unique and sim- ple devices afford. STRAWBERRY growers are particularly in- terested in the fertilizer question, especially those w ho find it difficult to secure sufficient quantities of barnyard manure to bring up to and keep their soil in a high state of fertility. We are glad in this connection to call attention to the Buffalo Fertilizer Co., of Buffalo, N. Y., whose fertilizers, especially made to suit the needs of the strawberry, are of the highest or- der of purity and strength. In Michigan, where he is personally known for his devotion to high agricultural ideals by every farmer in it, the fact that Colon C. Lillie isthe representative of this company is of itself sufficient reason for giving to the house and its goods unreserved confidence. EVERYBODY knows Roland Morrill, the famous peach man of Michigan and Texas, and everybody ought to know the splendid spray- ing outfits put out by the company of which he is the senior member. We refer to the Morrill & Morley company of Benton Harbor, Mich., whose spraying machines have won such high praise from the practical orchard men and small fruit growers of the country. Mr. Morrill, himself a fruit grower of international fame, is an advocate of the spray pump as a means of saving the business of the fruitman, and in his practice and study has aided in working out an ideal machine for the work. The well-known "Eclipse" spraying oiufit is the product of that company. Write them today and get a copy of their free catalogue. HORTICULTURAL journals that stand for the practical man in his work are not over-numerous in the world, and it is with par- ticular pleasure that we call the attention of our readers to a most worthy contemporary, The Fruit Grower of St. Joseph, Mo. This publi- cation has w on a place in the affections and con- fidence of its readers that must be a matter of pride to its publishers. It covers its field with a fidelity and intelligence that merits cordial support, and it will pay our friends to read the advertisement of this monthly magazine, which appears in this issue. ONE of the institutions which the publishers of The Strawberry have opportunity to know well because of its propinquity, is the National Tool Co., No. 2 Third Ave., Three Rivers, Mich. This company is putting out every day large numbers of a combination tool that is attracting general attention, so hanlv and imiversal is it in its usefulness. Besides being a hammer and a hatchet, it possesses ten more distinct uses, and will come into service in house, barn or field many times each day. W^ELLS-HIGMAN CO., of St. Joseph, ^ Mich., whose house for nearly forty years has supplied strawberry, peach and grape baskets to the fruitmen of the country, have an estab- lished reputation in this regard second to none. And they add to age and experience that spirit of progress which keeps their product up to the latest and best in their lines. This company is- sues an illustrated price list which strawberry folk and others ought to have if they would be fully posted as to the box situation. Now is the time to be preparing for the big crops that are sure to come this year, and one of the things you should do is to %vrite the Wells-Higman Co. for their price list and see how well they are able to fit you out with everything in the box line. >f-ri; •'_ Big Money in Strawberries We Teach You How to Grow Them Do you know, dear reader, that raisino; strawberries for market is an exceedingly profitable business? Well, it is, if you know how to do it right. And it is not only a h r money maker, but is a very pleasant and healthful pursuit as well, as many of our pupils can testify. But you must thoroughly understand how to go about it. You can't succeed in getting all there is in it of health, enjoyment and good hard dollars without proper training. And to get that practical training and preparation that will make success absolutely certain, you must put yourself in touch with those who are equipped by experience to help you. Isn't that true.f' 'T'HE Kellogg Correspondence School of Strawberry Culture teaches you the way and tells you how to grow big crops of fancy berries and how to pick and pack them for top prices. We show you how to get more select berries from one acre than two will produce of the "other kind" under the old heads. We make every detail of the work plain and tell you just when and how to do everything to get the very best results. We show you how to lower the What We Did for One Pupil wide and open one. No grower is too large and none too small to be benefited by our teachings. The better you understand your business the more money you can make and with less work. Now, if you want to know all about our methods, send us East Jaffrej-, N. H., Nov. 6. '0.'). , M. KELLonn Co. In till- MiniiiL- of 1»04 I ordered 1,000 of vour Thor. L'hlinii I'l-iiiLni'i- I'hiiits, set them on one-eighth aere of ■ id soil iiii'l iKindltd tiiem aeeordint; to your instmetions . J picked oir tlie l>udb tlie tirst year and what do you tliink I cot in return/ I picked and' sold 900 quarts of nice, bitr ripe berries, sold them for lb to 18 cents per quart, niak- expense of production and increase your inu'inalljl.'iii; thatis just what 1. 000 plants didfor me. •^ I picked and filled standard quart baskets with fifteen receipts. berries and can furnish proof if anyone doubts my word. . . I shall want 10.000 of vour Pedigree plants for next We explam in a practical way how spring; can I get them; ' Yours truly. , r •!• • . ,, . ISRAEL VALWAT. large families with small gardens can grow an abundance of choice berries for home use and make money, too. We prepare the young man for a good paying position. There is a great call for foremen on berry farms. The demand is far in excess of the supply. We fit you for that work. Our course of instruction trains the young woman for an ideal out-of-door occupation in which she can make much more than an independent living. The first person to join this school was a young woman who has won splendid success as a strawberry culturist in Minnesota. And among our hundreds of pupils are many women who are enthusiasts in the business. Miss S. M. Pollard, of Woodside, Minn., sends us a clip- ping from a local newspaper and says that it was through our instruction that her success as referred to therein was made. She says that the 1905 crop was her first attempt at raising straw- berries, yet from about eight rods of plants, she had sold en July 19th, 400 quarts and had about 300 more to gather. The newspaper clipping follows: ' 'The largest and nicest strawberries we have had the pleasure of seeing this year were brought to our office by Miss S. M. Pollard, of Woodside. The size of the berries is phenomenal, some of them measuring five and onohalf inches in circumference, while the flavor is sweeter and it is more juicy than the western and sontheni berrj. ' ' No other out-of-door employment offers larger opportunity to the enterprising than does strawberry culture, and the field is a your name and address and $1.00, and you w ill be enrolled as a full member of the great Correspondence School. And "The Strawberry", our inter- estingand valuable publication, will come to you each month full of instruction and tell you just w hat to do in your strawberry field at that particular time, and will keep you from making expensive mistakes. "The Strawberry" will contain no puzzles, no visionary stories, no imaginary theories; nothing but strictly business instruction, common sense and actual experience from the world's greatest experts. It is the only journal in the world devoted evclusively to the interests of strawberry producers The Strawberry Bed Interests the Entire Family Don't delay, but write us today. Address R. M. Kellogg Publishing Company, iis Pomge Ave.. Three Rivers, Mich. >^5 iVisf>^i^» ..n -f:.^^Np-'*^v\fe<*»f*5f?' ivs^^Mm^^: SIARKBROSNMgg^i^e CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 .000,000— ALL PAID UP General Offices, Nurseries, Packing Houses and Shipping Station LOUISIANA, MO. m? AMrwT^Q i Starkdale, Mo. BRANCHES ^ Rockport, 111. Oldest Nurseries in the West Established 1825 Portland, N. Y. Dansville, N. Y. Fayetteville, Ark. Atlantic, low^a Largest Nurseries in the World 4675 Acres WE PAY FREIGHT on $5 orders (one- fourth cash to be sent with order) at prices quoted in our Wholesale Price List, to any R. R. Station in ARKANSAS KANSAS ILLINOIS MISSOURI INDIANA NEBRASKA IOWA OHIO On Orders Amounting to $7.50 or more, if one- fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight to any R. R. Station ALABAMA DELAWARE CONNECTICUT INDIAN TER. GEORGIA MARYLAND LOUISIANA MISSISSIPPI MINNESOTA N. CAROLINA NEW YORK S. CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA TENNESSEE VIRGINIA TEXAS On Orders Amounting to $10 or fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we w^ill prepay freight to any R. R. Station in in DIS. COLUMBIA KENTUCKY MICHIGAN NEW JERSEY OKLAHOMA RHODE ISLAND WISCONSIN W. VIRGINIA more, if one- ARIZONA COLORADO IDAHO MONTANA NEVADA OREGON UTAH VERMONT WYOMING CALIFORNIA FLORIDA MAINE MASSACHU'TS N. HAMPSHIRE NEW MEXICO NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA WASHINGTON We make no charge for Box- ing and Packing. We Do NOT pay freight on orders amounting to less than specified, nor un- less one-fourth cash is received vi'ith order, nor on shipments by express. GRAPE VINES— In order to carry out our policy of furnishing only the BEST, we maintain a nursery at Portland, N. Y., in the heart of the famous Fredonia— Chautauqua Grape Belt, which produces the finest vines grow^n in the U. S. We are head- quarters for all the leading Commercial sorts. WARNING— We are sole owners of the names Black Ben, Champion, Delicious, King David and other leading commercial apples, Gold plum, Stark- Star grape, etc., all of which are our Trade-Marks, duly registered in the U. S. Patent Office under the new law approved Feb. 20, 1905. Planters are warned against infringers offering trees under these names or trees claimed to be "just the same." We offer the GENUINE at prices as low as GOOD trees can be produced. Wise buyers will take no chances. STARK TREES SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL— BECAUSE, three generations of Stark Nursery- men have made the production of the BEST trees their life study, their life work; BECAUSE, Stark Trees are produced under an exact science from the time the seed are selected until the tree is delivered carefully packed for transportation; BECAUSE, in selecting buds and scions only healthy, vigorous, highly prolific trees of the best strains are used as parentage; BECAUSE, a tree grown with all conditions favorable has high vitality and will withstand climatic rigors and unfavorable soil even better than the stunted weakling propagated in just such un- congenial surroundings; BECAUSE, having eight nur- series in five states, each sort is grown under the most favor- able conditions of soil and cli- mate, resulting in hardy, healthy, thrifty trees that LIVE and BEAR; BECAUSE, we are constantly on the w^atch, not only for valuable new varieties of fruits, but for the best strains as they are developed. As soon as an improved strain is found it is propagated and the inferior discarded; BECAUSE, only THE BEST roots, scions, soil, location, labor, cultivation, pruning, digging, storing and packing enter into the production and handling of Stark Trees. We ask for your orders BECAUSE, Stark Trees have given satisfaction in every state and territory for 80 years, with the result that Stark Nurseries have constantly grown (the only true test of merit) until they are now the LARGEST IN THE WORLD. We are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow." I APPLE SEEDLINGS— We offer for the coming season's trade several million that, ow^ing to favor- able season, are EXTRA FINE. They are Iowa grown from Vermont seed and our own experience has demonstrated that they are superior to all others we have used. Also a fine lot of Catalpa, Black Locust, Mahaleb Cherry, French and Japan Pear Seedlings, Plum Stocks, etc., Vermont Apple Seed. fjl" TIC K^ FRUIT BOOK "WORLD'S FAIR FRUITS" shows in natural colors and accurately describes 216 varieties of fruit. Send 50 cts. and we will send the book post-paid and a REBATE TICKET permitting its return within 60 days when the 50 cts. will be refunded. Or the Rebate Ticket is good for $1 part payment on a $10 order for nursery stock. Send for Wholesale Price List, Order Sheets, Descriptive Circulars, Half-tone Views, etc.— FREE. WE PAY CASH Weekly and want MORE Home and Traveling Salesmen. Address, STARK BRO'S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO. . Desk 1 1 , Louisiana. MO. c/ March 1906 THES ERRY ''^The Lord might have made a better thing than the Strawberry — but He didn't.'' PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN I, I w Mi Water Supply for country Homes and Small Fruit Irrigation IF you live in the country there is a way for you to enjoy all the comforts and conveniences of a city water supplyy without a penny for water tax. It is accoinplished by the Kewanee System. With the Kewanee System you get even more than city service, because, in addition to every benefit the latter aPFords, you may have— - Soft water in your bathroom and laundry. * * * * The old-fashioned gravity system meant pumping water up in order to get it down again. Now, to give the necessary pressure for fire protection and service, the ele- vated tank must be located on top of a tall tower. This is expensive, unsightly and unsafe. The water freezes in winter, becomes warm and stagnant in summer, and re- pairs are a big item of expense. The attic tank doesn't give sufficient pressure for fire protection. Its weight is apt to crack the plastering, and when it leaks las it is pretty sure to do' your house is flooded. Just one such expensive accident may cost you many times the price of a Kewanee Ou'.I^it. - Which cannof flood the house because the tank is resting on so/id grounj, where it can do no damage. The installation of a Kewanee Pneumatic Tank and Outfit in the celUr > or in the ground i means - Plenty of pure, fresh water, - Cool water in the summer, - No freezing water in winter, - Absolute protection from fire» - Decrease In insurance rates, - A plant that will last a lifetime, - No expensive repairs, It solves the country water problem completely. The Kewanee System will take care of all your needs,- for home, garden, lawn, stables, poultry houses, etc. It ought to make strong appeal to the man with strawberry beds. You know il is important that strawberries have water at Just the right lime. You may want (o sprinkle or you may want to lay an open hose at the head of the row. Take your choice; a Kewanee System enables you to do either. What's true of strawberries is true of flower beds, rose bushes, garden vege- tables. You can't carry water and reach all these with a sprinkling pot. With a Kewanee Outht, you just pull the hose out to the highest point you want to irrigate and turn on the water. It will do the rest. Mr. I. Newton Swift, Ypsilanii, Mich., is one of thousands who are using Kewanee outfits for general purposes. A late letter tells of the service he is get- ting from it. "A year ago I had your Kewanee Water Supply System installed on my farm of 240 acres. The tank is in the cellar of the house and supplies water for 75 cows and young stock, a dozen horses, 60 hogs and 500 chickens. It affords excellent fire protection for all the buildings, with an average water pressure of 40 to 50 pounds. It gives me pleasure to recommend this system, because it is bound to give complete satisfaction." Here are also letters from other users which speak for themselves: — H. I. SpafTord, North Bennington, Vt. "It works perfectly satisfactory. It does all you claim for it and more too. It furnishes plenty of water to bath room, hot water boiler, lavatories, kitchen sink, and outside sill cock for watering lawn and for fire protection." E. T. Crawford, Augusta, O. "Equal to any city water works." Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, New York. "Perfectly delighted." U. R. Fishel, Hope, Ind. "My Kewanee System is giving splendid results." * * ♦ ^ Our Kewanee Outfits are complete. Not an engine only; which in itself cannot give you a water supply, nor a tank only, which is useless unless you have some form of pumping power - But we furnish the whole thing, a complete 5vs(^m, of water supply. Our engineering department is prepared to solve your water problem,- no matter how difficult that problem may now appear. Kewanee Outfits are made in sizes, suited to the smallest cottage or largest building, — or group of buildings. We guarantee every Kewanee Outfit to give perfect service. Send for catalogue No. 15 giving names of users in your state free if you mention this paper. KEWANEE WATER SUPPLY CO. Drawer R. KEWANEE, ILLINOIS THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 3 Three Rivers, Mich., March, 1906 $L00 a Year WITH the opening of the Southern shipping sea- son but a few weeks away, the strawberry grow- ers who have thus far neglected to arrange for the marketing of their crops or to provide some plan for their economical and profitable handling should be up and doing. Whether you are engaged in growing the fruit on an extensive commercial scale, or simply grow a limited quan- tity for market, th s applies with equal force, for all, both great and small, desire to make a success of any enterprise in which they are engaged. Success in the strawberry business lies not alone in good soil, good plants, good cultivation, clean picking, honest packing. All these are elements of in- estimable import- ance. But if you have had or done all these, yet fail to market your prod- uct wisely and well, the business; as a business, is a a failure. Success at this point pre- supposes a know- ledgeof markets and market conditions. Of course, if your product is limited and you have a lo- cal market amply large to consume it, the problem is a very twin double-hedge row on m. n simple one. But in the nature of the case, these instances, considering the great number of persons interested and the vastness of the total out- put, must be rare. The man with a small output and a local market, with good .berries, attractively packed on the lines of a "square deal," has sold his crop when he has accomplished these points. But to the great commercial growers, who carry on extensive enterprises, every year becoming larger and more complex in their relations to the world of commerce, problems of an entirely different order call for solution, and to these are the suggestions that follow more particularly addressed. California orange growers, driven, some years ago, to organ- ize for mutual defense against extortionate freight rates on the one hand and dishonest practices on the part of commission men on the other, found that in organization alone could they defy and ultimately defeat these powerful combinations which were driving them on to the rocks of ruin. From their experiences we may learn some valuable lessons. The first work of the new organization was to study the situation, discover the weak spots in its own armor and prepare to meet conditions as they were. One of the first discoveries was this — and let us ever have it before us: The thing that had made many of the prac- tices of the dishonest commission men possible was the indiffer- ent quality of much of the fruit that was sent East from Cali- fornia. Smith and Jones and Brown might pick the best of oranges only, and pack them to the queen's taste, but if some of Bunker's weazened or rotting oranges went into the same car, the entire consign- ment suffered a loss. Therefore, said the leaders of the or- ganization, the first thing for us to do is to standardize our products, grade them rigidly and put each grade by itself and make it light its own battles and command its own price. This was done and in such a way that every box shipped out under the seal of that organization was accepted with- out question and received the mar- ket price. Of course, such an or- ganization as this carried weight in dealing with transportation companies, and al- though we cannot say that perfection even has been approxi- mated in this direction, and probably never shall be, so long as unrestrained monopoly and unjust discriminations are permitted in transportation, the improvement even here was considerable under the operation of this organization. The necessity of such an organization is even more pro- nounced in the case of strawberry growers, for they must ship their product on the instant, and it is all important that it be shipped to a waiting and hungry market rather than a glutted one. Last season there were whole train loads of berries dumped out upon the ground at Wilmington, N. C, because of the failure of the iced-car lines to furnish cars in sufficient number to han- dle the crop. Fortunately, in this instance, there was an or- ganization, and the car company was under a contract of such a EDGERTON'S FARM, PETOSKEY, MICH. (See Mr. Edgenon's Article on Next Page) OOPVRiaHT. loos. BY '^Hl KKLLOOa ruaLiaHIN4 oo. THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 nature that it was compelled to pay for the lost fruit. But that did not save the fruit, which was bad for the consumer, and the same circumstance might arise in a great number of cases where the transportation company could not be held. And too, that represents but one element in the case. Suppose the car company had been prepared to transport every crate of berries offered it; if they had been taicen to glutted markets, where prices were de- moralized, the car company would have escaped, but the growers could not have done so, and would have been compelled to pocket their losses. And this is the danger that threatens every strawberry growing district where there is no central organization whose business it is to see that the markets are properly supplied — neither under-supplied or over-supplied — but so supplied that while its reasonable wants are satisfied, there shall be no surplusage to throw away or demoralize prices. The latter too often happens under our present unscien- tific and uneconomic methods of handling. It is wholly unnecessary. A local organ- ization, each grower being a member with equal voice in its direction, and having a secretary or general manager who, on the one hand, has the courage to make each member do his full duty in contributing only marketable berries, graded uniformly to a certain standard; and possessed of a thorough knowledge of markets, on the other — such an organization with such a manager would add inestimably to the profits of every grower belonging to it and would contribute greatly to the general success of the business everywhere. Now such an organization is within reach of every community where straw- berry growing is done on a commercial scale, and the individual members of it are willing to work cooperatively together. And now is the time for growers to get together and organize for the season of 1906. It is not a new idea, it is not an untried method, it is no experiment. It has been done, it is being done, and it may be done, and with large success, in your own community. If there is no organ- ization in your community, we hope that you, as a reader of The Strawberry and interested in its work of advancing the strawberry ihdustry in all ways and every- where, will at once call a meeting of your neighbors who are in the business and take steps to effect an organization along the lines suggested here. HUNDREDS of letters have come to The Strawberry of a congratula- tory nature. Some of them we have quoted from in another place in this issue. The object of this paragraph is to say to our friends that there is a way they may make their good wishes felt, not only m our own behalf, but in the interest of their friends, and that is by calling to the attention of their neighbors the value of this magazine to everybody interested, largely or moderately, in the production of strawberries. Send us in the names of your friends whom you think would like to have the magazine and, if you have opportunity, show them copies of it. Just consider yourself a committee of one to extend the circulation of The Straw- berry in your neighborhood. Advantages of Double Hedge-Row By M. N. Edgerton OF the several different systems of strawberry culture tried by us the double-hedge row has proved to be the most satisfactory. For years we were experimenting with different plans but not until recently did we hit on the right thing. Our first berries were grown on the thinly matted row plan, the rows being four feet apart and the young plants layered until the row was filled out. Eighteen inches were reserved for a path and no plant in the row was set closer to its neighbor than six inches. The objec- tion to this system was that the plants were too crowded, to do their best, and there was difficulty in maintaining the de- sired surface mulch. Next we tried the diagonal-hedge row, the plants being set in rows three and one- half feet apart. This we found to be an improvement over the other, yet it came short of our ideal. The single-hedge row, with rows three feet apart, admitted of working the entire surface of the bed with horse-drawn tools. But there was this objection: the rows were too far apart. All the ground could not be occupied with the feeding roots from the strawberry plants, and at two feet apart the rows would have been too close. The path would not be wide enough at picking time. With the double-hedge row we have an average distance between rows of twenty-four inches, and yet between the rows which make the paths of the pick- ers, there is a distance of thirty-four inches from center to center of the row of plants. This leaves the other rows sixteen inches apart. By having an ex- tension on the horse cultivator to which is attached a knife-like arrangement, one wide and one narrow row may be worked at each passage. In picking, the picker usually goes up and back in the same path, taking one of the double rows each way. This system of culture reduces to a minimum the labor required to keep a bed clean, as well as that required to clean out a bed after fruiting, The photo-engraving on the preceding page shows one of our beds grown upon the double-hedge row plan. We set the plants three feet apart in the row, which admits of our cultivating both ways over the field until the plants are layered. We P*«e 50 aim to space the plants in the rows at from eight to ten inches apart. Petoskey, Mich. We heartily indorse Mr. Edgerton's method of growing strawberries. His plan is what we call twin double-hedge. To grow plants in this system, first make two marks sixteen inches apart for the twin rows and set the plants twenty-four inches apart in each of these marks, and make the twin rows three feet apart. This three-foot space is for cultivation and also furnishes a path for pickers at fruiting time. Any good blacksmith can arrange an attachment on the side of your cultivator to reach over between the twin rows for the purpose of breaking up the crusi so as to hold moisture and lessen the work of hoeing. — Editor Strawberry. ^ -^ Reasons for My Faith By Mrs. Emma Flora FOR fifteen years I have been in the strawberry business, but no previ- ous year ever gave me such abund- ant returns as last. Until 1894 I had been getting my plants from friends and neighbors. But in that season I made up my mind I was going to try some thoroughbreds, and secured 1500 plants that spring. They set nearly half an acre. It was a hard spring as to weather; our neighbors lost all their berries through heavy late frosts. But my plants bore profusely and netted me $150. Not only so, but I had the satisfaction of having the best and most beautiful berries ever seen here; people came from long distances to see my berries and de- clared they never saw such plants and such clusters of strawberries. Certainly I never did myself — and I am counting on doing even better next year. I wish I had a photograph of that patch; but that is out of the question now. Next spring, when I get my new plants set out and they get to growing, I shall have a photograph of both the new and the old taken so that you may see how very fine it is. Do you wonder that I am committed to the pedigree idea.' Bowling Green, Ohio. ONE ffiend fears that if too much en- couragement is given to people to engage in strawberry growing it will hurt the business, saying that there are always a number of persons engaging.in that line in his neighborhood who continue in it just long enough to demoralize prices and then quit the business. Doubtless true; we observe the same phenomenon in ah sorts of vocations. But that is the fault of the men, not the business. And our interest and yours is in the one who does stick it out and compels success, who overcomes all difficulties and in whose lexicon "there's no such word as fail ! How to Prune and Set Strawberry Plants PLANT-SETTING time has come in the South, and only a few weeics more will elapse before we of the North will be in the fields engaged in this most important work — important that it be perfectly done if we are to secure the big results that are possible in straw- berry production. The purpose of this article is to give our readers the plainest possible instruction as to the way in which to take care of their plants after receiving them from the nursery, and the illustrations herewith, showing how to to prune the plants, the position in which to hold the plant while setting; also the way the plant should appear after being set will aid very much in this direction. The first thing to do upon receipt of your plants is to sort them over, putting the bunches of each variety in a place by themselves, seeing to it that before open- ing the bunches you have them so identi- fied and arranged that there may be no possibility of mixing the varieties. Every bunch of plants should contain a label, giving the name of the variety, also tell- ing whether it is pistillate or bisexual. N ow if your ground is not ready for the plants, heel them in. First dig a V-shaped trench, open the bunches and spread them out in the trench as shown in Cut 6, be- ing sure to put each variety to itself and put up a stake bear- ing the name of that particular variety. Then there will be no difficulty in getting the variety you wish to plant first. As fast as the plants are placed in the trench, the dirt should be drawn up over the CUT 3— PLANT AFTER SETTING roots, and the plants should appear as shown in Cut 2. If, however, the ground is ready take the plants, proceed at once to prepare the plants for setting. No plant is ready for setting until its roots are trimmed back at least one-third. This is done by taking a full bunch and a pair of sharp shears as shown in Cut 1. If you will note Cut 5 you will see just the position in which to hold the plant while setting. The thumb and forefinger are placed at the crown, the hand lies flat on the surface of the ground, and holds the crown at the sur- face level, preventing the plant from go- ing too deeply into the soil. After the plant is set it should appear as in Cut 3. There are several advantages in prun- ing the plants. In the first place, if the roots are not trimmed, the man who is setting the plants out is apt to double the roots up, and when this occurs it requires fully a week or ten days longer for the feeding roots to start and the plants go to feeding on mother earth. During this CUT 2-HEELING IN PROCESS COMPLETE Shows how the plants should appear after being heeled in. Note that the soil has been drawn into the trench over the roots and that the foliage and crown appear above the surface. If it is to take some time to prepare your soil, shade them lightly with straw. In doing this do not cover them so heavily as to bleach them. time it is using up the vitality that is stored up in the crown of the plant. When the roots are cut back, the wound will callous and numerous little feeders will start. These will immediately go to feeding on the mineral elements of the soil. This results in developing a much larger root system, which in turn builds up a larger crown, the results being a heavier foliage and a more abundant yield or strawberries. When the plant is entirely dormant the pruning may be done more closely than where the plants are green. We have tested pruned and unpruned plants side by side — the same varieties and grown under the same con- ditions— and the results invariably have been in favor of the pruned plants, both in vigorous vegetative growth and in the production of fruit buds. Too much thouuht may not be given to the method of arranging the plants so as to secure proper pulienation. Be care- ful to set one variety at a time. If, for Pa«e 51 CUT I- PRUNING A BUNCH OF PLANTS instance, you are setting Warfields, mated on one side with Texas, and on the other with Dunlap, first setyour Texas, then skip seven rows, three of which will be left for Warfield and one for Senator Dunlap, to be followed in turn by three more War- fields, when another row of Texas will be set out; and re- peat until the field is set. Then comes the cultivator which should follow im- mediately after the plants are set. If this is not done, a large quantity of valuable moisture will be wasted through the tracks made by the plant- ers. We have found the best im- plement for this purpose to be the Planet Jr. twelve-tooth cultivator. If you would secure the highest possible results culti- vation should be repeated weekly through- out the season, unless the ground is too wet to permit it. And dcn't forget the hoe. All the crust should be broken close up to the roots of the plants. This prevents weed seed from germinating, conserves moist- ure and admits air to the bacterial germs. The best time to kill a weed is before it gets started, and the hoe is the most ef- fective tool with which to. accomplish it. After the plants receive one or two cul- tivations and hoeings, they will start blooming. The blooms should be picked off at once. Full instructions concerning this important work will be given in the April issue of The Strawberrj', An important consideration in this work is that of tools. The best device that we ever have seen is the metal THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 dibble which appears herewith. The blade is of steel, which is attached to a malleable shank. You will notice that the blade goes down to almost a needle point, making it very easy to press into the soil. The dibble should be forced to a depth of about six inches then pressed from you so as to make an opening large enough to take in the roots of the plant. 1 he roots should be placed in this open- ing before the dibble is withdrawn, then re- move the dibble and thrust it into the soil about two inches from this opening and draw it firmly toward you, which will press the earth firmly against tiie roots of the plant. Then firm the soil with the fingers about the crown of the plant. Your plants should be car- ried in a basket, shaded with some top- covering. As the one setting plants moves along the row the basket should be carried along with one hand, while the other hand is engaged with the dibble. With this little tool one man will set from two to three thousand plants a day, when he once gets into the swing, and there is no reason why every plant so set should not live. Growing Plants and Fruit Together THE surest way to make failure of the work of strawberry culture is to practice the method, all too com- mon, of growing plants and fruit in the same bed. It doubtless is the fact that more growers fail by following this method than from any other single cause. It simply is impossible for a plant to do two things successfully at the same time. To grow strong plants requires quite a different set of conditions from those re- quired to grow berries, just as it requires one kind of food to produce milk in the cow and another kind of food to produce fat. To grow a strong, well-developed and perfectly balanced plant requires science, both as to the feeding and cultivation of the plants. How to select mother plants and how to tell when they are prepared to make runners; what runners to set and and what not to set — these require quite as much science as is needed by the chemist to know what elements to put together in order to secure certain desired effects. Too many growers appear to think that to grow plants successfully one needs merely to set out the plants and let them make runners, or multiply themselves. At setting time they dig the alley plants, and leave the center of the row to fruit, and great is their disappointment because the big red berries don't pile up all along the rows. They fail to consider that the entire strength of their plants was ex- hausted in multiplying themselves. Then the plants that are left are mat- ted and neither roots or foliage have room in which to develop, the roots of one plant robbing the others like so many pigs rushing for the same ear of corn. CUT S-POSITION FOR HOLDING PLANT WHEN SETTING Turn a hundred pigs on ten square rods of clover and see how many big fat porkers you will get as a result. This rule of feeding applies alike to plants and animals. Sometimes a grower says he piled on enough manure to one acre to feed two acres of plants. Doubtless he did put on a needless quantity of manure, forgetting that only a certain quantity of food can be digested and assimilated by the plant, and that this plant food must first be dissolved by moisture and taken up by the soil grains before it can be used by the plants. Another point to be considered is the fact that plants require a great deal of water, and if they can't get it they will take up the leachings of this surplusage of plant food (manure) which makes a succulent, undeveloped, unbalanced, sickly plant. To use the analogy of the hog again, feed an entire load of corn to the hogs, unac- companied by plenty of water, and the fat will fail to develop on their ribs. There is a surprising likeness between animal and plant life, and if we will bear this fact in mind and use the same reason in the treatment of plants that we do in the case of animals, it will aid us not a little in attaining the results we seek. And never try to do anything not in har- mony with nature's laws. OVER in England the Countess of Warwick is doing a great work for young women by getting them interested in domestic science, in cultivating the soil and in carrying forward enterprises in an- imal husbandry. Some of the young women who are members of high social circles in Great Britain, but tired of the frivolities and follies of a life spent in idleness, have become expert poultry raisers, and others are proud of the fine porkers they send to the shambles. How infinitely preferable it would be if they were engaged in the refining and delightful work of strawberry growing! And why may not our own sweet A'merican girls take a lesson from the work their British friends are doing, and put into practical operation some of the splendid opportun- ities to physical health and financial in- dependence that only await their energy CUT 6 -HEELING IN PLANTS This illustration shows the plants placed in the V-shaped trench ready to be heeled in. This should be done only when the ground is not ready for the plants. Spread plants so that each will come in contact with the soil. Page 52 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 and skill to give them fine returns? The story of Miss Pollard in February Straw- berry ought to be an inspiration to every woman, young or old, who reads it, and we hope there shall be many to follow her example. Suggestions for March MARCH is essentially a month for preparation, and as such we may well count it one of the most val- uable seasons of the year; for upon thor- ough preparation depends, more than we may estimate, the results of the entire season. In many sections of the country to which The Strawberry already goes in large numbers the month will be one of great activity, in which the plow will be an important factor. How much de- pends upon the plowing of the soil just as it should be done! And you never should rush it through, for it takes time to put the soil in proper shape for the tender plants that are to draw from the earth and air and sky the elements that go to make up big crops of delicious berries The soil should first be broken up to a depth of at least five inches; deeper if the depth of soil will permit. But never turn the subsoil up to the surface, no matter how shallow the top soil may be. Having turned over the soil with the plow, harrow thoroughly and fine the soil to as nearly the consistency of ashes as its nature will allow. You will find it much easier to get your soil in proper condition before the plants are set than after. If the soil be sandy, roll it firmly; but clay and other heavy, stiff soils should be pressed but lightly, and once over with the roller usually will do the work in the case of the heavier soils. In brief, get your soil into ideal condition before the plants are set, and you will find in this case, as in every other, that "well begun is half done." How are your tools and implements.? Do you keep them stored snug and safe from rain and snow, or are they left to the tender mercies of wind and weather.'' We hope that your mechanical helpers have been given good care and are in CUT 1 A PERMANENT PACKING SHED ACME SIZES 3 to 17 feet Agents Wanted. Pulveriiin^ Harrow Clod Crusher and Leveler. SENT ON TRIAL. To be returned at my expense if not satisfactory. The best pulverizer — cheapest Riding Harrow on earth. The Acme crushes, cuts, pul- verLzes, turns and levels all soils for all purposes. Made entirely of cast steel and wrought iron — indestructible. CataloB and booklet. **An Ideal Harrow" by ^ HenryStewart sent free. . b. at New York, Chicago, Colmnbm, Loalrvllle, Kansas City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland, etc, DUANE H. NASH, Sole Manufacturer, Millington, New Jersey. BRANCH HOUSES: t 10 W. Waahlnglon SI., CHICAGO. 240-244 7lh A«e. S., MINNEAPOLIS. 1318 W. 8lh SU MKSASCTY. MO. 21. .O.h Si,.,iO;^'SVK.^^5Jj, iUis'yS^lSt "^ "" "- <=°'-""''"»- """^ first-class shape for the work they must do. But whether they are cared for poor or ill, now is the time to see that they are in complete readiness for the first ap- proach of spring. You may recall that there was a loose bolt in the cultivator that cost you lots of time and trouble last season, and the plow needed some repairs. Don't let the blacksmith get his shop filled up witn others' work before you get there, and so lose many precious hours, perhaps days, of time. Get out tools and harness and every sort of con- traption that contridutes to the working force of the farm and see to it that they are in the most perfect condition possible for the season's work. Many are thinking this month over the lively times they are sure to experience just as soon as the picking of the berries begin. We wonder how many of them are all ready for that eventful moment in the year's business. Have you a packing shed in which to handle the crop so that it shall be kept cool and where each box may be inspected before it goes to mar- ket to make or mar your reputation.^ If you have not such a shed, get to work at once to make one. Substantial or inex- pensive, the shed is one of the big things in the strawberry business. Packing-shed No. 1 shown herewith is a permanent and valuable addition to the farm build- ings, and serves other purposes through- out the year, but if i,'ou don't feel able to build one like it, or for any other reason prefer a less expensive affair, Packing- shed No. 2 will serve you well. Berries should be put under cover from the sun's rays just as soon after picking as possible, and they should be cooled oft before marketing. And another thing about picking time is the pickers themselves. Have you en- gaged your force for the season."" If you haven't don't delay any longer; for if you do you may find it difficult to secure all the help you require to make and handle the big crop that's coming, or you may find that the other fellow has snapped up the best help in the community. And there is the other help on the place, help that you will want to be right on hand as Pa«e 53 soon as the wintry blasts have given way to gentle southerly breezes. Good help on a strawberry farm is as essential as in any line of business we know about, and you will find that the quality of your fruit, the way it is put on the market and the ."t*.. CUT 2 AN INEXPENSIVE PACKING SHED size of your profits will depend quite as much on the character of the men and women you have on the farm to do its work as would success in any other en- terprise. One incompetent man, careless of his employer's interests, can do more damage in a day than ten men can repair in a week. OLE Groun'-hog he come outen his hole," as Uncle Remus would say, "an' see hisself and den go back ter sleep and ter snore fur six weeks mo'," which means, in terms of the weather, that we shall have a late spring. It is not pleas- ant to have \Vinter linger too fondly and too long in the lap o' Spring, but it has its advantages if warm weather do not come too quickly. It gives one more time to get his manure well scattered over the strawberry bed and get himself in complete readiness for the activities of the ripening season. Last season one might safely have uncovered his bed April 1 in many sections of the North; this year the work may be postponed from five to ten days later. Of that the individual grower must be the judge, as THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 he must be in many other things. The man who too rigidly follows rules in these matters will make a mistake. One must "feel" his way as it were, and learn, by developing a sort of sixth sense, the when and how and why of things. The Family Strawberry Bed ONLY a few years ago a strawberry bed rarely was seen in a family garden. Onions, radishes and all kinds of vegetables; raspberries black- berries, and all kinds of tree fruits were grown in abundance; but the family had to go hungry for the most delicious of all fruits. Each year when the fruit and seed cat- alogues would arrive, and the annual seed order was being made out, the wife plead and the children begged for some straw- berry plants. But there always was some excuse such as, "I don't know how to take care of them," or "the plants cost too much," or "I haven't time to bother with them," or "we can buy berries cheaper than we can grow them," or we can get plants from our neighbor's old bed. In many cases the latter was done, the results of course being disappointment in- stead of big red berries. Those who promised to buy their supply of berries hadn't the money when berries were ripe or they didn't have time to go after them. Whether the head of the house has run out of excuses, or whether his appe- tite got the best of him, we do not know, but anyhow things have changed. To- day the strawberry bed in many gardens is receiving as much thought and care as vegetables. While driving through the country last summer we observed that the strawberry bed was found to have the most prominent place in most of the gar- dens, and the beautiful green, glossy foli- age shining down the rows, presented a sight worth looking at. Just who to give credit for this great change in the family garden from all on- ions and no strawberries to some onions and plenty of big red berries, is hard to decide, but from the way letters are signed that come to us asking for advice and in- struction we judge that the "missus" is entitled to a big share of the credit. Plenty of vegetables is all right and is just what every family should have, but all vegetables and no strawberries is all wrong. Like the Irishman who bought two gallons of whiskey and ten cents' worth of crackers. He was asked by his partner what on earth he intended to do with so many crackers! Is there anything that goes to make a good meal richer and more delicious than a big heaping dish of freshly picked strawberries.'' Or one of those famous short cakes made by mother? And will the children ever forget such a home.'' We know they will not be like the boy who left his home to grow up with the West. While wandering down the street of a Montana town a big sign over the door of a restaurant attracted him. It read: "Coffee like your mother makes." The boy at once thought of home; walking into the restaurant he asked the waiter: " Do you make coffee like my mother's?" "Yes, sir; you bet we do!" "Well, gimme a cup of tea!" This boy's mother bought cheap roasted cofFee and boiled it over two or three times. The same conditions result when strawberries are shipped in and lie around the store or commission houses until all their delicious flavor and fine point are gone. Now don't be without your own strawberry bed. Make your plans right A TYPICAL FAMILY STRAWBERRY BED now; see to it that you order plants be- fore they are all sold, and be sure you get the right kind — those that produce the big red fancy fellows. Then when your boy eats away from home he always will ask for short cake like mother makes, and your daughter of marriageable age can eat strawberries instead of onions and the whole family will be made happy — as well as some nice young man of some other family. Where garden space is limited, and a separate place can not be given over ex- clusively to strawberries, we suggest that you mark the rows thirty inches apart for the strawberries and set the plants eigh- teen inches apart in the row. 1 hen on- ions and radishes may be set between the strawberry rows and all may be culti- vated with the hoe or hand cultivator. Of course, this refers to the first year only; the second year it would not do to plant a.nything else between the berry rows. They will require all the plant food and moisture that is in the soil. In preparing the ground for the family straw- berry bed, scatter a light dressing of ma- nure over it now, and in the spring, as soon as the ground may be worked, turn this under with spade or plow, and work up the manure and soil well together. Find out the number of plants required by counting the number of rows, taking their length and figuring that each plant will be set eighteen inches apart. And order the plants at once, if you would be sure to get the desired varieties. The accompanying photo-engraving shows a beautiful family garden, and is the property of a bank clerk, who finds great delight in working in this patch out of business hours. It is needless to say that this gentleman and his family have all the big red strawberries, fresh from the vines, required for their own use. C. W. GURNET A large assortment of NURSERYMAN strictly home-grown Yonlctnn ^ T* \i^S^ Freight paid budded; Con-^.^*^ \e>^ on trees. Cfata- cord Grapes >^ft^AC>^ lo^ue, English or 2c; Forest >'S'W. &°Xtor it today. Address GERMAN Box 101 NtlRSERIES, Beatrice, lieb. 'PFMf^MT STRONGEST r,KLn%s>SL MADE. B.uu. v./ ttrt'ii);r chick- en-tight. Sold to the Farmer at Whole- sale rrlr(>R. Fully warranted. Catalo>:rfre6 COILEn 6PB.rNG FENCE CO., Box iG'ly "Winchester, TnHiana, Evergreens that are hardy in your soil and climate. You can have a perfect wind-break, grove, hedge or screen of hardy evergreens at a very low cost; also forest trees, etc., all nursery grown. I ofler 50 GREAT BARGAIN LOTS AT $1 TO $10 PER 100 freight prepaid to your station. My catalog tells my own experience in planting a five-acre grove on the bleak prairies of Minnesota, that is now worth f 5,000. Don't miss this chance — send for my free catalogue and bargain sheet today. P. HILL, Evergreen Specialist. DUNDEE, ILL. Page 54 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 We never have known anybody, after having started a family strawberry bed, to give it up and be content without it; they were willing to forego almost anything else, but the strawberry bed was main- tained. THE manure spreader is not only a time saver and a fertility saver; it pos- itively adds to the cash value of every bushel of manure put upon the ground through its mechanism. On this sub- ject one of our most distinguished author- ities has said: "The manure spreader has solved many of the difficulties con- nected with direct hauling to the field. A lig;ht application of manure at frequent intervals is more advantageous than heavy applications unevenly spread and at long intervals. The unfavorable results which some farmers have experienced from the direct application of manure could have been largely avoided if it had baen used in smaller amounts and evenly spread with a spreader, instead of being applied unevenly and in large amounts. During recent years but few complaints have been heard of manure causing the land to dry out and getting it out of mechanical condition, and the western farmer is be- ginning to appreciate more and more the value of farm manure, and the present improved means of applying it." The Sentiency of Plants SCIENCE is making rapid strides these days and in consequence the world is coming to know itself bet- ter than ever before. When we recall that our ancestors of only a few genera- tions ago believed the world was square, with the jumping-ofF place just beyond the limits of vision, we may gather some idea of the progress the world has made as a result of the investigations of scien- tific men. One thing that has been ac- complished is the development of a larger conception of the things about us and the importance of many once deemed so common and so far beneath us as to merit no consideration whatever. We know more about germs and bacilli and microbes today than was dreamed pos- sible even a quarter of a century ago, and much as we fear some of them we have come to have a more wholesome respect for these minute but powerful influences in the world, knowing as we do that they are essential to health and to life itself. But man has given little attention to plant life save as a source of subsistence and support. That the three kingdoms of nature were very closely related we have had some inkling, but never have we thought much on the subject. But recently science has told us that there are points of contact where the animal, the vegetable and mineral kingdoms are quite indistinguishable one from the other, and that away back in things primal the origin of all three was the same, and that all three are related by the closest ties. No modern student but recognizes that man himself is a growth out of lower or- ders and that he is still sloughing off the coarser materiality and rising ever to loftier heights of civilization. So we have become accustomed to learning new things about ourselves and about animals and plants without doubt and without fear; in fact, we are coming to welcome everything that points to growth and ulti- mate perfection. Horticulturists will find, for instance, in a recent statement of Dr. Henry S. Conrad of the botanical department of Johns Hopkins University, matter of un- iversal interest. All know about the sensitive plant — how when the horseman approaches from afar it will close up as if to shrink from sight. And of the car- nivorous plants that beguile insects into their lips only to close over them like some beast of prey and devour them. But Dr. Conrad attributes to plant senses quite as well defined as are those ob- served in animals. He says that plant.' see, feel and taste, although he never has found evidence that they can hear. Dr. Conrad made this statement while dis- cussing the theory of Dr. Haberlandt of of the University of Gantz, that in the Use this^ American Manure Spreader TO PROVE ALL THE CLAIMS WE MAKE FOR IT WE sell direct to you. We sell direct to you because we are able to give you much better value for your money than we otherwise could, and a better understanding of your machine than any one else could. We always keep in close touch with our customers. They tell us what our Spreaders are doing. Sometimes they surprise even us. We find out just what it means to countless farmers to own a Manure Spreader that will double the value of every bit of manure put on their land. The American Manure Spreader will do this because it breaks up and pulver- izes all the manure so that it mixes readily with the soil. It distributes evenly. Every square foot of land gets its share. This means a good crop all over the field. You don't find any ••skinned" places in a field manured with the Ameri:an Spreader. But we don't ask you to take any hearsay evidence. We want you to find out for yourself what our Manure Spreader will do. So we make you this remarkable offer. We will send you one of our Spreaders on trial and prepay the frciglit. Use it a month on your own farm. If you find itexactly as we have rf pre- sented, after the month's free trial, you can settle for the machine on terms convenient for you. Bul,\l the American Manure Spreader is not what we claim, send it back at our expense. You don't owe us any- thing. The trial don't cost you a penny. The month's use you have had of the Spreader is FREE. Could we do more to prove to you that the American Manure Spreader is what we s;iy? Would we dare to make such an offer i£ we didn't know what our Spreader will do? Remember — when you deal with us, you are doing business with an independent concern. We do not belong to any Trust or Combination. And by our plan of making and seW- in^ direct, yon get a dollars' worth of Manure Spreader for every dollar you pay. You see we make more Manure Spreaders than any other concern in the world. We own and operate the largest fac- tory ever built for this purpose. It is equipped with every modern labor-saving device. All our machinery is up-to-date — the very "latest im- proved". This means the best possible machines at the lowest possible cost. The American Manure Spreader is today an example of the very highest development in modern agricultural implements. It is absolutely up-to-date. The principles upon which it is con- structed are sensible and practical. There are no complicated parts to get out of order. It is simple, and carefully constructed. And you take as much time as you require to pay for the Spreader after you have used it A MONTH FREE. The Spreader may earn its own cost, before you scod us a shilling:. Will you be as fair with us as we are will- ingr to be with you ? Will : ou send for information of our eener- ous proposition today ? Even though you do not wish to buy now, send for partieulnrs. Some diy you may wish to buy, and then knowledge of our ilew Selling Plan will come in handy. You will know tiow tosat/f moruy. If you will tell us how mueh land you own. and how many horses, cattle, sheep and hogrs you keep, we will eivc you the Govern- ment statistics as to the value of your manure crop. Write to us today. Put down this paper and write before the matter has a chance to slip your meinory. Address at once— AMERICAN HARROW CO., 4533 Hastings St. Detroit, Mich. Plge 55 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 leaves of plants and trees are organs that resemble the e5'es of animals. Dr. Conrad for some time has been making studies in this line. In one lab- oratory the work was being done upon the power of plants to see. There were placed in the window a number of plants of the bean family, which are the best lo- cal examples of this strange perception in the vegetable kingdom. Those of the plants which were in the full blaze of the sun had the edges of tlie leaves turned toward the sun, so as to escape too great an amount of sunlight. Those that were in the shade turned their leaves back close to the stem. In the morning at the first appearance of light they began to resume their natural position, and by sun-up they were fully extended. In another laboratory Dr. Conrad had some flat beans planted in moss which had put out long roots. One of the roots was pulled from the moss and the end of it cut off. The cells became dis- placed and the injured root behaved ex- actly as the limb of an animal would when injured. The sundew, a plant which grows in the swamps about Baltimore, probably shows the sense of taste to a greater ex- tent than any other. "With a single exception," says Dr. Conrad, "they can recognize light and the direction from which it comes; they feel the slightest wound, they discrimi- nate in taste, they have a sense of direc- tion whether they are turned in the right direction or not, and are influenced by electric currents passing near them." ^ '^ One Beginner's Experience By W. H. Rogers I AM only a beginner in strawberry growing, last year being my first crop. I do not think I have had large suc- cess as yet, but I intend to keep at it un- til I do. In the spring of 1904 I bought 3,000 thoroughbred pedigree plants, from which I picked 2,240 baskets of berries in 1905, and I think, had the season been favorable, I should have had double that quantity. We had continuous rains and muggy weather for more than a week at the height of the season, and the berries rotted on the vines instead of ripening. Just when the first berries were ripen- ing a berry grower came to my place and after looking it over declared it was the finest prospect for a big crop he ever saw, and he had been in the business for ten years. I counted 223 berries on a single plant at one time, but a great many of them fell off before they got ripe because of the bad weather. My plot last year was eight rods wide by eleven rods long. On this I spread twenty-five two-horse wagon loads of manure before setting out the plants and scattered eight hundred pounds of com- mercial fertilizer. I follow the hedge- row system of cultivation, with rows three feet apart. I found that Tennessee Pro- lific, Warfield and Kansas gave best yield, Michel's Early grew immense vines, but did not yield many berries. I sold direct to consumers and gave good satisfaction, quite a number requesting me to be sure to call again next season. This year I shall have eleven by sev- enteen rods in my patch. The vines are looking fine, and I hope for better results this year than last. I have seventeen varieties to fruit this year. I am experi- menting, and when I find out what suits my soil and trade best, I intend to make strawberry growing my whole business. At some future time, after I get some ex- perience, I may be able to write you something of interest to strawberry growers. I mulch my berries, using buckwheat straw, which I can buy cheaper than other straw, and I find it lays on better. We have had no snow here yet this win- ter and very little frost. From my ex- perience last winter I consider it best to mulch early — as soon as the ground be- gins to freeze at all hard. I was delighted when I learned that you intended publishing The Strawberry, and now that I have seen the initial num- ber I am more than ever pleased. I think it is just what strawberry growers need. Cobourg, Onl., Jan. 30, 1906. Our correspondent certainly has every reason to be proud of his success, consid- ering the conditions under which his crop was matured, and with the knowledge that experience brings to the intelligent and observing grower, he is sure to be- come a leader in his work. We are very sure that already he has had many inter- esting and suggestive things to tell Straw- berry readers. Regarding the heavy fol- iage and small fruit yield of the Michel's Early: It is the nature of that variety to develop heavy vegetative growth if over- stimulated, and the amount of manure and commercial fertilizer used by Mr. Rogers was excessive for that variety. It is in just such cases that the judgment of the grower must come into play, and when he observes that one variety does well, while another does poorly, under certain condi- tions, he may at once understand that the two are of different habits of growth and require different treatment. Michel's Early should not have been given such superabundance of plant food; the other varieties named thrived under its influ- ence. However, having the plant food in the soil, had our correspondent ceased cultivadng the Michel eariier than he did in the case of the other varieties, he would have greatly aided the fruiting power of the Michel. The particular attention given to individual varieties — the knowing of the nature of the several varieties and how to meet their peculiar requirements — constitutes an important element in sucessful strawberry produc- tion.— Editor The Strawberry. <our work better and in less time than any garden cultivator you ever used. Write for free descriptive catalogue and prices, Schaible Manufacturing Co.» Albion, Michigan. 20th Century Combination A wagon bos, stock rack and hay lad- ders combined. ' Can haul loose hay or straw, all kinds of live stock ear corn, threshed wheat or oats, apples, potatoes, etc. Good for every use on the tarra without removal of parts. All Chang'ei Made Instantiy. Catalog Free MODEL M'F'G. CO.. Box 52 t Muncie, Ind IJVhcn -nrltlne advertisers please mention Tlie Stra-n-berry ?kge 60 Work of the Horticultural Societies D ONE of the influences of far-reach- ing power that are working for the iiphft and advance of horti- culture is to be found in the horticultural societies of the several states. These societies themselves steadily are taking higher ground. They are attract- ing, by their scientific and practical work, the men and women of the country who are doing things in a horticultural vvay, and these in turn, by that fine interplay of cause and ef- fect under which effect be- comes another cause, gives to the societies new inspiration and strength and wider and deeper influence. In another place in this issue we refer to the work go- ing forward in the Minnesota society — a society, by the way, which has done more than ever may be fidly under- stood to de\elop the resources of that state, once held to be out of the zone of fruit pro- duction. That its work is but fairly begun, and that new and undreamed triumphs are before it, none who knows the nature of the men who are behind it doubts. The growing importance of the strawberry may be seen in the increased attention be- ing given it by the state so- cieties. In the Kansas meet- ing recently held "The Ideal Strawberry" was the theme of a paper that evoked generous discussion. The author, Mr. Dixon, said that some of the varieties now in cultivation seem almost ideal, yet there is none but could be improved in some respect, either as a fruitor plant. Muchdepends upon one's location and the weather conditions as to the behavior of difFerent varieties. Mr. Dixon's remark that he used prairie hay as a mulch and believed it the best to be had, aroused some discussion, one mem- ber declaring that he had used it, but found the grass seed it contained against it; his prairie hay mulch had seeded his strawbern,' patch to prairie grass. 1 his experience suggests the danger of using anything in the strawberry patch that contains many seeds. .'\nother member said that he had ex- perimented with various things for mulch- ing and believes that coarse stable manure is about the best, but one must see to it that prairie hay is fed to the animals and rve straw is not u^ed for bedding. \Vhere timothy hay or red clover is fed, or where rye straw is used for bedding, the manure shoidd be avoided in a strawberry patch. Someone asked how it would do to allow crab grass to grow late in the sea- son, to furnish a mulch, but Mr. McNal- lie said that this plan will not do at all. Crab grass in a strawberry bed is a dan- gerous thing, and one who wants good crops will keep his plants clean and apply Important Word From Secretary Hays URING a recent visit to Washington a representative of The Strawberry called upon .'\ssistant Secretary Hays of the De- partment of .Agrlcuhure and discussed with that oHicial the lack of statistical information concerninfj strawberry production in the United States, and the unscientific methods no"' followed in marketing the crop, every year becoming more vast and more val- uable. A few days later we received from Secretary Hays the following: "In the past year the Department of Agriculture lias been investi- gating the entire subject of agricultural statistics, both the Ameri- can system and the organizations of this kind in Europe. Plans are rapidly being inade in the development of impruv ed methods for gathering statistics in each state and for assembling these into na- tional figures showing the acreage, condition, production, etc. , of non-perishable crops, as wheat, cotton, fiax, etc. "With the organization of state agencies, the securing of statistics of such perishable products as strawberries, apples, vegetables, etc., will be made much easier and more practicable than in the past. Just how the statistical organization can be extended so as to be help- ful to the producers, market interests and consumers of such perish- able products as strawberries, has not yet been fully worked out. If the energies and expenses of producers, dealers and transportation companies now employed to distribute the products in the best man- ner among the various niarkets could be merged, possibly under the leadership of the (loverimient bureau, it might be that a system of dailv telegrams in the busy season could be made very useful and with but little added expense. "The Department is open to suggestions along this line, and ex- pects to do some experimenting to see if these various agencies cannot be so merged as to make feasible a general plan of statistics of perishable products." With the assurance in advance of Mr. Hays' powerful aid, and having in addition the knowledge that Secretary Wilson is thor- oughly interested in the matter, the time appears to be ripe for a movement all along the line hav ing for its object the initiation of such a work as is here proposed. There is no doubt if the people interested in commercial strawberry production were to ask Congress to appropriate the necessary sum to carrv forward such a work as Secretary Hays suggests in this note to The Strawberry, the response would be immediate and generous. How great the results of such a work might be is past estimate. May we not hear from every man and woman who markets strawberries or truck of any kind, express- ing willingness to cooperate with Secretary Hays in getting this de- sirable undertaking luuler way.' berry beds can be kept for four or five crops, provided the soil is good and the work is well done. 'Would you then plant strawberries on this land again?" was asked. "If not, how long would voii allow between cropsr "I certainly would not plant strawber- ries again on this soil, and would want about five years between the crops. We have tried to put strawberries on the samesoil within shorter time, but never have had good success. We even have tried the use of commercial fertil- isers, to replace the elements removed by the strawberry crops, but could not succeed. Other crops may follow strawberries to advantage, but I should allow at least five years between two plant- ings of strawberries. mulch material afterward; don't depend upon Nature to grow a mulch over your plants. .Asked to give his plan for renewing strawberry beds after fruiting, one exper- ienced grower said that as soon as the last picking is made the plants should be mowed; rake off the tops and cut down the width of the rows. To do this re- move some of the discs from a disc har- row, and narrow the rows to eight or ten inches width; then harrow across the rows, and cultivate well throughout the season. Handled in this way, stravv- MISSOURI strawberry folk are a growing circle of broad-guage people, and the recent meeting of the state society was unusually interesting as to this element in the program. Mr. R. F. (jeorge of Pierce City, read a strong paper on the subject, in which he said he preferred moderately rich, gravelly soil, sloping east or southeast. This slope especially for' Aroma. Plow ground in late fall or early winter and plant early in the spring .so as to get a good stand of plants. Soil should be worked fine and well packed so it wiU settle close to the plant and not dry out. Cultivation be- gins soon after planting, go- ing close to the plants at first, afterwards farther away as : row is formed, and keep up ' the cultivation till frost stops growth. Three fruiting sea- sons is usually the limit for one planting, and an acre should produce from l.=>0 to 300 crates. When it is Known that in 1905 there were 1100 carloads of strawberries ship- ped from that great berry district which includes portions of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, from which the net returns were $640,000, and that this vast quantity must be marketed « ithin a very brief space of time, it will be imder- stood how great was the interest in the paper read by G. T. Tippin on "How to Pick and Handle Strawberries." Mr. Tippin said that for distance shipments in car lots most varieties should be at least THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 lAin the Paint Man 2 Full Gallons Free to Try— 6 Months Time to Pay St. Louis, Mo. AM the paint man. I have a new way of manufacturing and selling: paints. It's unique— /^'5 better. Before my plan was invented paint was sold in two ways — either ready-mixed or the in- gredients were bought and mixed by the painter. Ready-mixed paint settles on the shelves, forming a sediment at the bottom of the can. The mineral in ready-mixed paint, when standing in oil. eats the life out o£ the oil. The oil is the very life of all paints. Paint made by the painter cannot be properly made on account of lack of the heavy mixing machine. , , , ,j My paint is ^tnlike any other paint in the world. It is ready to use. but not ready-mixed. My paint is made to order after each order is received, packed in hermetically sealed cans with the very day it is made stamped on each can by my factory inspector. I ship my pigment— which is white lead, zmc. drier and coloring matter freshly ground, after order is received— in separate cans, and in an- IMF" Yqu Pay Mo FrcIgM to Try My other can I ship my Oilo, which is pure old process linseed oil, the kind that you used to buy years ago before the paint manufacturers, to cheapen the cost of paint, worked in adulterations. I sell my paint direct from my factory to user at ray very low factory price; you pay no dealer or middleman profits. I pay the freight on six gallons or over. My paint is so good that I make this wonder- fully fair test offer: When you receive your shipment of paint, you can use tivo full gallons — ihsii will cover 600 square feet of wall — two coats. If, after you have used that much of my paint, you are not perfectly satisfied with it in every detail, you can return the remainder of your order and the two gallons will not cost you one Penny, No other paint manufacturer ever made such a liberal offer. It is because I manufacture the finest paint, put up in the best way, that I can make this offer. I go even further. I sell all of my paint on six months* time, if desired. This gives you an opportunity to paint your buildings when they need it. and pay for the paint at your convenience Paint. Back of my paint stands my Might Year, of&cially signed iron^clad Gaaran- tee» ^EilVRS, lGUARANir>EE This ia the longest and most lib- eral guarantee ever put on a paint. For further particulars reRardiiig my plan of eellins, and complete color card of all colors, Bt-nd a postal to O. L. Chase, St. Louis, Mo. I will BPnd my paint book— the most complete book of its kind ever published — absolutely free. Also my instruction book entitled '*ThiB Little Book Telia How to Paint" and copy of my b year guarantee. # NOTE— My 8 Year Guarantee backed by $S0,000 Bond a^Oi^ ^"•/-' 7f5SSOUv8 street. Bt. LouU. Mo. ihree-fourths colored, with pink showing on the greener side. For home marivet they should remain on the vines one day longer. After the first three or four days in the beginning of the season the field needs picking every day. Choose the cool of the morning, before berries are heated by the sun, as they will soon dry out. A general discussion on varieties showed that Aroma, Haverland, War- field, Senator Dunlap and Texas were the leading favorites in Missouri. The Haverland was planted over a larger ter- ritory, perhaps, than any other. COMMERCIAL strawberry growing is becoming year by year an industry of large importance in Illinois, especially in the southern portion of the state where the crop matures early and is in the mar- ket directly on the heels of those that come from down in Dixie. At the Illi- nois State Horticultural Society meeting E. C. Persels of the little city of Farina, himself an extensive grower, read a paper on the strawberry as a commercial crop. As Farina shipped eighty-eight carloads of berries last year, and Mr. Persels was a large contributor to these shipments, liis right to speak on the subject with autlior- ity may not be questioned. Mr. Persels said he planted every fourth row, at least, of staminate sorts, and usually plants two of the staminate rows together. Asked if it were not bet- ter to have staminate sorts which bloom a little later than pistillate varieties, so that the last blooms of the latter will be fertilized, he said he tried to have some of the staminate rows blossom before the pistillate varieties, and some of them af- terwards. If this can be arranged, the early and late blooms of the pistillate sorts will be properly fertilized. Pistil" late varieties are much more prolific, as a rule, than staminate sorts — in fact, he counts on about double the yield from the pistillate varieties, as the staminate sorts do not hold up until the last of the season. Has anyone ever triea growing oats between strawberry rows, to act as a mulch.'" "Yes, and the plan does not work; The Chance of Your Life FOR the express purpose of helping our pat- rons into a more successful plan of grow- ing bigger crops of better berries at less cost, we have established the Correspondence School of Strawberry Cuhure. It has cost us many thousands of dollars to learn how to grow big crops of fancy strawberries every year. We shall be glad to give you the benefit of ourexperi- ence and save you many costly mistakes. All sorts of questions relating to the produc- tion of strawberries for market and in the family garden, are here answered by experts who have made a wonderful success in the strawberry busi- ness and are now operating the largest and most successful strawberry farm in this country. The information you receive comes fresh from the strawberry 9.:]d. Advice counts for little unless it comes from those who thoroughly understand their business. Success comes by following those who are successful. Every detail of the work will be made perfectly plain; the lessons taught will be practical and common-sense. We shall recommend nothing save that which must be done in order to attain big results. Our whole aim is to make the mem- bers of this school the leaders in their section — if commercial growers., then to take the top prices on the market; if growing for f;imily use, lo have the strawberries of the neighborhood. While it costs us many thousands of dollars to furnish this instruction, information and advice, it will cost you but $1 per year to enioy all its benefits. How can you afford to be without it? Send your membership to The Kellogg Pub- lishing Company, 118 Portage Ave., Three Rivers, Micliigan. You will never regret it Don't Let It Get By You looks all right in theor\-, but will not pan out." In reply to questions concerning use of planting machine for strawberries, E. H. Riehl, of North Alton, said that the planters will not work; they are all right for tomatoes and potatoes, but will not handle strawberry plants, as some of the plants will be too deep and some too shallow. Other state societies have shown their sense of obligation to this great interest by more generous recognition in the pro- gram. The strawberry industry is com- ing into its own. '^ * SO you think "any old place" will do for your garden, do you? Well, you will make a great mistake if you act on that notion. Get the best, the richest, soil you can find, work it up as fine as possible, manure it liberally, get good plants and seeds, practice the best of cul- tural methods — and success will be yours. And give the very best of the lot to the strawberry patch. NO less an authority than the Dei>art- nient of Agriculture is responsible for the statement that the annual loss to American crops through the depredations of insects reaches the astoimding figure of .$700,000,000. Fairly makes one's head swiiTi to try to imagine so stupendous a sum. And just think of what it suggests of the value of the sprayer when we know that already the cotton boll weevil which had been costing the cotton states as high as $30,000,000 a year, has been brought under subjection by its use. And the coddling moth, which annually has been ruining $20,000,000 worth of apples, is kept under complete control by the use of arsenical sprays. Then add Pi«e iOB THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 to this tremendous sum that lost by tun- o;ous diseases, which also are regulated and checked by spraying, and u-e see what it means to the world of today to be well supplied with a reliable spraying outfit. More than that, the world of tomorrow is just as much interested, for upon the wise handling of these dread pests now depends in great part the prosperity, per- haps the very existence, of those who shall come after us. Strawberries "On the Side" ONK of the fine features of straw- berry growing is that it gracefully lends itself to one's circumstances. You may grow them on a large scale with great pleasure and profit; or, if your time and space are limited, you may grow them on never so small a scale and get the pleasure, with profits to match the size of the patcii. We have one friend who is becoming an adept in the art of straw- berry growing, while he attends daily to another line of work. So successful is he, and so in love with his work as a soil tiller, that w^e shall not be surprised to see him lay down his trade and adopt as his vocation the delightful and satisfying work of strawberry production on an ex- tensive scale. The illustration herewith shows the fine strawberry patch of the gentleman in question, Elijah Wing, barber, of Three Rivers. Mr. Wing set out 600 plants of the pedigree sort in 1903 just to see how they would do. The results were so satisfactory that he determined to enlarge his "plant." The photograph shows about an acre of grovnid, and a lot of Special Fertilizers for Strawberries peaches and otlier fruits. To give color, Havor and siil>stance to the Heshy parts of the fruits requires a good supply of sokible plant food, especially potash. Quality in wliat coants in fruit, not quantity WE MAKE SPECIAL BRANDS FOR THE DIFFERENT FRUITS We sell o^oods direct to the consumer at prices where we have no agents. For further information address whulesale THE BUFFALO FERTILIZER COMPANY BUFFALO, N.Y. TREES, PLANTS, ETC. We have an iinusuaUy line stock i)f One Year Old and June Bud Peach 'rn't\'5. One and Two Year Old Apple, Pear, Cherry, and Plum Trees. Grape Vine, Shrubbery, Roses, Ktc. Also all kinds of Small Fruit Plants. St-awberrj plants by tin- million, ."^end for catalogue of low-delivered prices before j-ou buy < H.VTTA>(K>G.\ NUK.SEKIE.S, tHATTAN'OOG A, TKNN. plants that anybod)' mijjht v\ell be proud to call his own. The beauty of Mr. Wing's enterprise is that it has been car- ried on out of working hours. He wields the scissors and razors with all the skill for which he is known, and then, when a spare hour is at his command he hastens to his particular pride, the strawberry patch. And he has given it such cultural care as to make it one of the sights of the town especially at fruiting time. Mr. Wing has planted Bubach, Glen Mary, Senator Dunlap, Warfield and Pride of Michigan, and every one of them has done well. The Portage river flows by his strawberry field, and there is NEW VEGETABLE WONDER A Sensational Discovery Silver King Hardy Celery 3 crops in one season. First crop early in May. Root hardy, everlastinpr. Multiplies rapidly like asparagus and puaraututd as represented. Ajjents make $5 to $L'0 a day. TREKS by the million. Northern grrown, 700 acres. Buy from the Bi^ Nurs- eries. Ase^nts wanted. Cash iiaid weekly. Greening- Fruit Book, 25c. Write today. THE GREENING NURSERY COMPANY "i Maple St., Monroe, Michigan. HOME AND STRAWBERRY PATCH OF ELIJAH WING f^ of ;i6ENT5 IN ONE ^-^7 "'^'•ftVo* 2 3il Ave. "^4 K'^'^> ' fAIRMOVNT. MP. y' AMERICAN POULTRY FARM We breed for Color. Viaor and Heavy Ega Production. Our Leghorns and Wyandotte hens have records o( over 200, Eggs per year. Eggs for Hatching from 40 Breedlnq Pens tit BifTtil and WhJIt Plymouth Rocks. While and Sihw WyiDdattes, Wliiie and Bidwd Leatnm aod Brine Tnrieirs. nTUTt* Eireriuc* la Srctdioi . . , DroUr Ml Men fni F. M. HUNGER & SONS, DeKallL III. My WHITE WYANDOTTES are bred for e^^gs ami meat, ■with ihie regard forstaniiard roquire- iiients. It' you want a conibina- t ion of beauty and business write- iiK^,. E'^g::^ from choift' matinu's, $2 per 15; $5 per 45; $10 per 100. A. A\. GRECIAN, FLATROCK, IND. METAL MOTHERS Conii>lete fire-prouf hatching am hroodiny: plant fur $7.5(1. 'J ut?;. .mI iKitehos r>Oei?c"s anU raisew c-nicks. Ciital-.fe'iK- tree. CYCLE HATCH- ER CO., Box 320, Salem, New York. THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 ST. JOSEPH. MICH. ja StUDfORILLUSTRftreP PRICt USTy HEADQUARTERS FOR Berry Boxes PEACH AND GRAPE BASKETS ALSO MELON BASKETS Established in 1869 Experience Counts To obtain highest prices for your fruits ship in our packages Illustrated Price List Free Wells-Higman Co., st. joseph, mich. A Cracker Jack Idea You have the fresh popcorn and other necessary material, and I have the formula for making the most crisp, de- licious and healthful Cracker-Jack on earth Now, what I propose to do is to send you my formula with complete instructions for mak- ing "Potter's Famous Cracker-Jack" if you will send me 25c. Why pay a big price for a little bag of stale cracker-jack, when you can Learn How to Make Ny Famous Brand et so small a cost? Send me 25c in silver or two- cent stamps and I will fonvard my formula and full information to you by return mail. It will tell you bow to make your own cracker-)ack, and earn big money Qark Potter, The Cracker- Jack Man, Three Rivers. Mich. We vouch for Mr. Potter.— The Kellogg Pub. Co. or Surrender That is the ultimatum tliat insects and fungi have served on every fruit grower of America if you do not heed the warning you will not get profits from your orchard Every man who sprays intelligently at theproper time nnds it the most profitable operation on the farm Send for illustrated catalog of the Eclipse Spray Pumps and Outfits MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor. Mich. DEWBERRIES After Strawberries, the best paying crop the small fruit grower can raise Write about Plants and Culture to T. H. Smallwood, ^V Fort Scott, Kas. Berry Quarts. $3 per 1,000 rSilQK f^tC Hallook'at'iips, Hal lock '8 Boies, LJaOIVVlO Cratoa, Eto., In stock. Send for List Cratoa , W. D. Soper, Jackson, Mitli. Mention "The Strawberry" when writine. tween a bisexual or male variety, one bi- sexual a trifle earlier, the other a trifle later, than the pistillate used as the leader in the particular case. This keeps a steady stream of pollen flowing from both sides, furnishing the very earliest and the very latest bloom to the pistillate, thus insuring a big red berry from every bloom: WARFIELD (P) 1 row Texas or Climax (B) 3 rows Warfield (P) 1 row Senator Dunlap (B) 3 rows Warfield (P) 1 row Texas or Climax (B) CRESCENT (Pi 1 row Texas (B) 3 rows Crescent (P) 1 row Splendid or Tennessee Prolific (B) 3 rows Crescent (P) 1 row Texas or Climax (B) HAVERLANDlPI 1 row Lovett's Early (B) 3 rows Haverland (P) 1 row Parson's Beauty (B) 3 rows Haverland (P) 1 row Lovett's Early (B) BUBACH (P) 1 row Bismarck or Clyde (B) 3 rows Bubach (P) 1 row Dornan or Aroma (B) 3 rows Bubach (P) 1 row Bismarck or Clyde (B) SAMPLE (P) 1 row Parsons' Beauty or Dunlap (B) 3 rows Sample (P) 1 row Aroma or Dornan (B) 3 rows Sample (P) 1 row Parsons' Beauty or Dunlap (B) MARK HANNA (P) 1 row Lovett's Early or Parson' Beauty (B) 3 rows Mark Hanna (P) 1 row Aroma (B) 3 rows Mark Hanna (P) 1 row Lovett's Early or Parsons' Beauty (B) DOWNINGS BRIDE iP) 1 row Ridgeway (B) 3 rows Downing's Bride (P) 1 row Miller (B) 3 rows Downing's Bride (P) I row Ridgeway (B) GLEN MARY (Partly Bisexual.) 1 row Parsons' Beauty (B) 3 rows Glen Mary (P) 1 row Tenn. Prolific or Lovett's Early (B) 3 rows Glen Mary (P) 1 row Parsons' Beauty tB) 1 row Tenn. Prolific or Lovett's Early (B) GANDY (First Bloom Barren.) 1 row Aroma (B> 3 rows Gandy (P) 1 row Dornan or Marshall (B) 3 rows Gandy (P* 1 row Aroma (B) It must be remembered that most all pistillates have a very long blooming sea son, and there are very few bisexuals that will open bloom through as long a period as the pistillate would require to insure a full season of fruiting. Hence the need of using bisexuals of two seasons. Please note that we treat Glen Marys as a pistillate. This is because it is only Pa«e 61 FRUITMEN SHOULD KEEP BEES There will be a nice income to you from a few hives of bees, and your Plants will Bear Better Fruit bearing depends upon the fertilization of the flowers, Wiiy not mako fertilization certain and at the same tlnio add to your Income by keeping beesT Bees are not expensive and can be made extremely profltaljle. Do you want to know how? Ou printt-d matt-er will Btiirt you right. Many liitereHtlntr booklets free. "The A B C of Bee Culture" the best text -book for bee keepers ever written, with over 500 lame liirge puges. beautifully lUuHtrated, for only $1.00. Send for trw booklet . The A. I. Root Co., MEDINA, OHIO We Make We Sell We Guarantee We are not inviting you to buy a vehicle through a mail order house. We are manufac- turers. "Direct" witii us means direct fron^ «actory. '^y^^^^ years Guararxfee and 30 Days Free Trial liefore you close the bargain. We make tfio price just about half of others, and even afte» you have bought, you get your money back without cavil it yuu ffnd a flaw in three yt-ars tlniek. That's the advantage oflTered I'rosrreBsive vehicle buyers. A couple apecial bari^aln-*. Complet«catulug tells It all. Don't fail to semi for It. THE PROGRESSIVE VEHICLE HFG. CO.. Dept V. Ft. Wayn«, tniMank. The Crescent Engraving Co KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN JEiiflravere, Elcctrolgpets Catalogue /IRaftera Landscape and Nursery Work A SPECIALTY Only house in tlie WesI making Steel Elec- trotype!- For durability and definition these practically equal original engravings Samples and Estimates Cheerfully Furnished lGG TM""',^'^;^- So wo can guar an- toe thorn. A" the virleOea known as * best * are from our nurseries. Hiindsome illuitrated cata- logue on request. THE OLD KKLIABIJC o.OEN TRAl MURSERKS^m J. WRAOO & SONS CO., WAUKEE, IOWA. .Mention '*Tli« Strawh»»rry" when wrltlnir THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 partly bisexual, and its pollen does not act as a perfect fertilizer upon its own stigma. Gandy also is treated as a pistillate be- cause its first bloom is almost entirely barren of pollen. Handled in this way it is a very valuable and prolific variety. And remember that the suggestions above may be applied to other varieties. That is to say, all pistillate varieties should be treated just as those shown above, the point being that the bisexual, or the staminate, varieties set with them must be of the proper season — on one side of the pistillate a bisexual of a little earlier season; on the other a bisexual of a some- what later season than the pistillate. If this be carefully noted, every reader may completely understand the whole system of mating varieties of strawberry plants so as to insure largest results. Practical Strawberry Culture By A. D. Stevens WE have been growing strawber- ries for thirty years and have made a careful study of the na- ture of them. We can truthfully say that no grower can afford to do without a propagating bed for growing plants from which to raise large crops of fine berries. The plants in the first place, should be selected, and none but large, well-bal- anced plants used, and then when they begin to show bud all that do not bud satisfactorily should be taken out, leaving only the fruitful plants. The plants in the propagating bed should be set farther apart than when in- tended for fruiting purposes and then all plants after September 1 should be kept cut off so as to allow the ones that have set to fully develop. Any plant grower who fails to follow these plans or similar ones is not a safe man to purchase plants from. His cheap grown plants are grown at the purchas- ers' expense. Of course, he can grow plants and put them on the market at very low prices, but they will not be cheap to the buyer at any price. The first step in growing large crops is the careful selection of plants. No mat- ter what other plans are adopted, if this is not done the crop must partly fail if it do not completely fail. Bridgeton-, N. J., Feb. 7, 1906. MAN may plant and Nature may water and send days of glorious sun- shine, but if you haven't a good spray outfit there's always danger of the fruit crop. The fungous diseases and the dread insect pests are kept in check only by intelligent use of the sprayer, and none who would win success with fruit, but must be well prepared to meet these en- emies and vanquish them at the very first struggle. There are many reliable out- Power Spramotor SPRAYS 250 TREES PER HODR. 16 to 30 nozzles with 125 lbs. pressure. Automat- compensating, single or double speed. Strains its own mixture and fills its own tank in 10 minutes. New patented nozzles that spray all parts of the tree from below or above as shown. 2^2 horse- '^Sfes power motor can be used (or II kinds of worb when not spraying- 20c to 30c a day. -^'-> ' ''■^,'.. «4 ?y^> ii^l ^^ ■Z'^' ^&S W^G dS'i An unlimited guarantee against breakagesor failure Tell us your needs. You will get expert advice. 86 Page Treatise A free! SPRAMOTOR CO. ■ UFrAlO.H.V. lOUBSH.UM This Row Sprayer IS PRETTY NEARLY THE IDEAL OUT- FIT FOR THE MAN WHO RAISES STRAWBERRIES, POTATOES, ETC. The sprayer mixture is forced with high pres- sure to every part of leaf and branch. It is one of the WALLACE Automatic Sprayers '■ I you do is to sit and drive. Driving gen- erates the power. Notice that each row is covered by these spray nozzles, and you can incline them up or down, or in any other di- rection. Spray either two or four rows, any width ; no equal for thoroughness and easy work We make various styles of these Power Sprayers for orchard and field work. Also best gasoline engine outfit made. "The Wallace Spray Way," our book, gives all particulars. WRITE FOR IT WALLACE MACHINERY COMPANY, Dp't 50, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS fits now being made, and man's ingenu- ity is ever at work to devise new and im- proved methods for the economical, safe and effective application of the mixtures that never fail to put the ravagers of plant life to flight, if they are put on in the right way. Among the best machines made are those whose makers find it to their advantage to advertise in The Strawberry, and we hope our friends may not neglect the opportunity now given to investigate the various outfits represented in these pages and make a choice of the one that appears best suited to their particular re- quirements. T^OES your manure lose nitrogen rap- ^-^ idly.? It is a simple matter to arrest it and you will improve the manure as well if potash in some form is added, es- pecially of the potash salt. Kanit has been found useful for this purpose. It is crude sulphate of potash and contains a large portion of salt. It will arrest the P»«e D622 escape of ammonia and prove valuable of itself when applied to the land. It is also excellent on land infested with grubs, though not a complete remedy for such pests. It is cheap and of very great value. PHOSPHORUS in the soil is a won- derful builder. It has staying quali- ties. Unlike nitrogen, it is not volatile, but gives off its plant food slowly, en- riching the soil by degrees. One instance is reported from Missouri where 600 pounds of ground bone was applied to each acre of an orchard eight years ago, and its influence upon crops is still man- ifest. Ground bone is one way to get the phosphorus back that is fed to the livestock — the only way, in fact. An- other way to get phosphorus in the soil is to buy the raw rock phosphate now be- ing produced so extensively and at so reasonable cost in the great phosphate mines of Tennessee and other Southern states. It will pay you to investigate. THE HOME AND STRAWBERRY PATCH OF E. J. VREELAND, SCHOOLCRAFT, MICH. Mr. Vreeland is a living example of the fact ihat strawberry culture holds its interest long after the frosts of many winters have left their marks of advancing years. He is as enthusiastic now as ever. In a note to The Strawberry, received just as we go to press, Mr. Vreeland says: "I have been growing strawber- ries for the last twenty years. I always get a good price tor my berries. I use the quart boxes, put iust as good berries at the bottom of the box as 1 do at the lop; have the box full, with the hulls all down. Then the berries look fine." Among Mr. Vreeland's favorites are the Aroma, New York and Senator Dunlap Some Reminiscences of An Old Timer By August Melcher STRAWBERRIES! As far as my memory goes back — to the days when 1 was a barefoot boy rambling in green meadows and beside the creeks and rivulets — of my rural surroundings, do I recall the wild strawberry, ranging in size from a small pea to a medium- sized acorn. Ah! there were so many varieties of them, and so beautiful were they, and so delicious! How that bare- foot boy enjoyed their fragrance and their sweet flavor, as he gathered these dain- ties from meadow and fence corner. And how kind was nature to these little volunteers. Just enough of moisture, and under the mulch of fallen leaves just enough temperature to satisfy the wants of the juicy berries. And the rain fell just when it was needed — not heavy rains, but fine showers, just suited to the nature of the little plant. I wonder how much one acre of our modern, highly developed plants would yield under our latter-day methods of cultivation, if just these favorable condi- tions were supplied them by nature. Surely something enormous in the way of yield. Later in life I found my neighbors were setting out plants they had bought from nurseries here and there, and some- times they had crops of berries that made them enthusiastic. I heard them tell with joy that they had picked so many quarts of "tame" berries from their patch on such-and-such a day. In the fall of 1885 I concluded to get some plants on my own account and try to grow enough for my own use. I gathered all the in- formation afForded by my neighbors and the limited amount of literature on the subject, and procured about 250 plants, and set them the next spring in rich clay soil. Clean culture was given them, and blossom buds were strictly removed, and in the fall they were covered with a fine mulch of clean straw. The next spring a thousand plants were set out and given the same care and treatment. Once more I was the expectant bare- foot boy with high hopes. And my first bed was indeed pretty to look at. Dur- ing blooming time it rained hard and of- ten and myself and my good neighbors concluded that this was the sole and suf- ficient reason for the failure of my plants to fruit; for not one quart did I get. For two years I set out a patch from the or- iginal stock, waiting with patience for my fine berries that never came. Then I was discouraged. Certainly, we had some years that v\ere fair enough, and the trouble was not all on account of rainy weather and frost. And my mind went back to those wild berries that grew when I was a boy on these very acres. Was my mode of culture wrong.' No; the plants were fnir to look upon, a fact which went to show they had been well cared for. Then it was I discovered that I simply had foo'ed my time away in growing unproductive plants! Knowing nothing of the mating of different varieties, I simply had set out pistillate varieties time after time. Kind providence now came to my aid. I always have taken to horticultural liter- ature. Through this I was directed to the right way. I was induced to try again. And so I did for two seasons more, then, I said if I do not get enough fruit while the season lasts I will quit for good. I now procured and set according to my new advices. As the saying goes, "a burnt child shuns the fire," and I did not dare set more than a few plants the next season, thinking I might work in vain as before. That second spring I was not expecting much anyhow, the winter just past having been quite severe. But at last I was agreeably surprised. I did get enough for my wife and myself to eat and to can, and I then had some to sell and some I gave away. I now con- sidered it would pay me to grow berries for market. The following spring I set one acre to plants from those last pro- cured. I also renewed my stock of the same strain for propagation and the spring following set one acre adjoining. The winter then gone had been so se- vere as to kill outright about one-third of my plants set the preceding spring. De- spite all this, I harvested a big crop of berries to my intense satisfaction. After renovating my first acre I got another se- vere winter, but the plants wintered fairly well, starting vigorously in the spring of THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 1905. But now came that same rainy weather as in 1896 only this later season was much harder — cold and rainy, and hail and winds. But still I was rewarded with a big crop of fine fruit from my two acres. But now! Ah! the big beauties I now raise — how do they exceed the highest expectations of the barefoot boy! Their general excellence and their fine flavor far and away surpass those of the wild berry of the old time, while the yield is some- thing tremendous. All that I can say is that my start was unsatisfactory — only be- cause I didn't know how. Now what I am doing is in every way satisfactory, and I know that actual results far exceed my highest hopes. More than that, I am confident that there are greater possibili- ties in strawberry production than we yet have attained. Stockholm, Wis. Overflow Question Box HERE are a few questions that came in too late to get into the regular department, and so we place them in the "Overflow." Please get in your questions as early as possible. You will .see that they are increasing in number. Mrs. A. L. H., Fitchburg, Mass. TYi Feb- ruary Strawberry at hand and it is a gem — just a little better than the January number. My strawberry plants did not make as good growth last summer and fall as usual. What kind of dressing can I put on this spring to bring about desired results? We have about three-fourths of an acre, mulched with horse manure. What kind of fertilizer and how much? We should apply fifty pounds of ni- trate of soda to the acre just as growth starts in the spring. Scatter this along the rows; be careful that it does not get on the plants. Repeat this application just before the buds open. Both of these applications should be put on just pre- ceding a rain. It will be unnecessary to apply nitrate of soda where the stable manure has been employed. W. R. A., Alliance, Neb. I am interested in Mr. Walsh's winter strawberries (see January Strawberry) and desire to ask: 1. Should the first runners in the spring be saved to transplant? 2. What is the best time to transplant? And if transplanted in October, as Mr. Walsh did, what time in the winter should they have ripe berries? 3. Would not shelves in the form of stair steps be as good and cheaper than earthen pots? 4. Would the plants be good for more than one year. 5. Should any of the blossoms be removed and if so, how long? 1. No. 2. The best time to transplant is early in September, and the best way to do it is to take six-inch pots, fill with good rich earth and set by mother plants; layer good strong runners into the soil in the pot and lay a small stone on them to hold into place. Let them remain in the field until the first light frost; then re- move to the house. As a rule they will PARTING THE MULCH FROM OVER THE ROWS Aj^HEN growth starts in the spring, you should go over your fruiting beds and part the mulch from directly over the row, so that plants may come up through the opening thus made. This is best done with a common fork, as shown above. If this work is not done in time, there is danger that the plants will bleach and become tender. Start fruiting from the first to the middle of January. 3. If you use boxes on shelves you should transplant plants from the field into them the first of September, leaving considerable dirt on roots when trans- ferring. 4. These plants will fruit for one year only. 5. Do not remove any blossoms; give plants plenty of water and a little weak- ened liquid manure once a week, but never apply this manure while the ground is dry; always put water on the plants first. E. H. I., Chicago, 111. — How early in the fall should I mulch my strawberries, and to what depth should thsy be covered? In Illinois, where the ground freezes to a great depth, mulching should be done after the first light freezing, and covered to a depth of four or five inches. Where mulching is used so heavily as this, it will be necessary to part this mulch from over the row somewhat ear- lier in the spring than where plants are more lightly covered. If this is not done there is a possibility of bleaching the plants. J. S. C, Battle Creek, Mich. Please state in your next issue of The Strawberry what you consider the most valuable form of box and crate that may be used for strawberries? The Hallock quart boxes always have been very popular in this state. The wax-lined paper baskets also are coming greatly into vogue. There are many manufacturers of strawberry boxes who are making first-class goods, and all have loyal patrons who consider the ones they use best suited to their needs. It would be quite impossible to say which is the best; indeed, it is doubtful if the dis- 'jKe^aylor I (omtination r fjarrow TWO TOOLS IN ONE nPHEbest harrow on earth because it puts the soil in ideal condition at less cost ^ than any other. Once over the ground with the Naylor Combination will prepare the soil in much better condition than twice working with any other, and it is easily drawn by two horses. 0 YOU want to know everj-thing possible about anything f Want clippings of every article published on any topic In the American or Foreign press, weeklies, dailies, mag- azines and trade papers/ Want to compile a scrap-book on a special subject? Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- ing club or elsewhere; paper or essay in a literary club, or iinythingof that nature? The easiest, surest, quickest, moat economical way is to secure the fler\'ice8 of our large staff of trained readers. Send $8.00 for a special trial month. United States Press Clipping Bureau, 13th Floor Republic Bldg. Chicaffo, 111. Send stamp for booklet. tinction of the superlative degree safely could be claimed for any particular box, as ''many men are of many minds, and what pleases one to a T suits an- other not at all. Some growers use the sixteen-quart crate, while others pre- fer the twenty-four quart crate, the former being used more extensively than the latter. Whatever box is used, care- ful and honest packing adds much to the price one gets for his fruit. A Remittance in Rhyme By J. A. Aulabaugh THE STRAWBERRY'S a pretty miss. Vivacious, fair and gay, And very truly may be called The Early Dawn of Day. For we need no longer wallow In quagmire nor in hollow. So here's your mighty dollar And I'm your strawberry scholar Council Bluffs, Iowa ONE good friend writes us in a kindh- critical way to say that she does not believe in advocating the idea that "there's millions in" growing strawberries. Well, neither do we; although there is large success possible where conditions as to soil, climate and markets are all favor- able. But what we do believe in is this, and we advocate it on all occasions: There is a good li\ ing, and an independ- ent one, for any man or woman with the intelligence, the patience and the perse- verance to care for a strawberry bed as should be done. And it does not require a high order of intellectual development to do this, although brains are valuable everywhere, and best results are sure to he found where the largest intelligence is joined to practical effort — this always is true whether it be in the strawberry patch, in the counting room or in the pul- pit. And there are many honest folk, these days, seeking a means of independ- ent livelihood; and these it is our duty, as it is our pleasure, to serve. THAT pedigree has value in the plant and seed world was indicated quite clearly on the occasion of the meeting of the American Breeders' Association at 32YEAR5 CELLING DIRECT We are the largest manufacturers of vehicles and harness in the world sell- ing to consumers exclusively. We Have No Agents but ship anywhere for ex- amination and approval guaranteeing safe deli ery. You are out noth- ing if not satisfied as to style, quality and price. We make 200 M- ««•'»' IL T- r> '1. t' '*" .'L- styles of vehicles and no. 628. Leather Top Buggy with Leather ' Covered Bows and li Inch rubber tires. o5 Styles Of harness. Price complete $68. As good as Q^p large HatalogTie ll FREE. Send for it. sells for $25 more. ElkHart Carriage CSL Harness Mf^. No. 327. Canopy Top Surrey. Price complete $73. As good as sells for $25 more. Co.. £lKhart, Indiana. We Want An Agent In every Town in every State of the Union and the Dominion of Canada to take subscriptions for THE STRAWBERRY A generous commission will be allowed on each subscription taken, and to the man or woman, boy or girl who will send us the largest number of subscribers in excess of 100 between this time and the 15th of December, 1906, we offer any one of the following list of tours as a prize: f[| Round Trip to Washington, D. C. '' and $15 In cash to pay expenses while there. Round Trip to Niagara Falls and same amount in cash. Round Trip to Jacltsonville, Fla., and same amount in cash. Round Trip to the Farm Home of The Strawberry and a full week's en- tertainment. The winner may choose which of these tours will be taken and when, and The Strawberry will publish a full account of the trip, illustrated with the winner's photograph, and a story of the way in which the prize was won. Write us for sample copies and gel to work. DO IT NOW THE STRAWBERRY I 18 Portage Ave. THREE RIVERS, MICH. Paint Without Oil Rem&rkable Discovery that Cuts Down (he Cost of Paint Seventy-Five Per Cent. A Free Trial Package and a Big Book Telling All About Paints and Paint- Making are Nailed Free to Everybody Who Writes. A. L. Rice, a prominent manufacturer of Adams, N. v.. has discovered a process of makine a new kind of paint without the use of oil. He calls it Powdrpaint. It comes to you a dry powder and all that is required is cold water to m;iite a paint weatherproof, tireproof and as durable as oil paint. It adheres to any surface, wood, stone or brick, it spreads and looks Uke oil paint and yet only costs one fourth as much. For many pur- poses it is much better than oil paint and is indis- pensable to every property owner. Wiite to Mr. A. L. Rice, 550 North St , Adams, N. v., and he will send you a free trial of his new discovery, together with color cards and his valu- able book on Painting, all free. This book lets yotl into all the secrets of paint-making, exposes fake paints, tells you what kind of paint to use for different purposes and shows you how you can save and make a good many dollars. Write today and the book and free trial of Paint will be sent you by return niaiL Lincoln, Neb., a few weeks ago. On that occasion there was a corn show, and the best forty ears exhibited were sold to a son of the governor of Nebraska, O. E. Mickey, for the sum of $40, or just a dollar per ear — at the rate of from $80 to $100 a bushel. O. E. .Mickey put that value of the pedigree corn seed at so high a figure because he desired to raise corn from such seed. And there is no doubt that he will get his money back if the corn is grown according to the best of modern methods. Poor seed or poor plants never can be made to do well, no matter what you do in the way of good culture. Good seed and plants may be Page 65 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 killed by neglect. But with first-class plants, selected and bred from only the best of parent stock, you have the foun- dation for unlimited success. Lay upon this foundation the stones of good cul- tural methods and correct business prin- ciples, and you are as surely building for success as that the sun shall rise upon the morrow. <^ ^ ANOTHER good report on the sub- scription side of The Strawberry we have the pleasure of making this month. That the strawberry is the fruit universal is indicated anew by the fact that our subscriptions come pouring in from every state and territory in the Union, and not the least enthusiastic are our Canadian friends, whose enthusiasm extends from Cape Breton to Vancouver and is found all along the line between these continent- separated points. Even what we once considered the inhospitable prairies of Manitoba and Assiniboia are taking kindly to the strawberry. But we are far from satisfied as yet, for we want every man and woman who grows strawberries to be on our list. Won't you help us get them there.'' It Was Five Bites Big ONE of our earliest subscribers, W. D. Hitchcock of DeTour, Mich., writes us as follows: Here is a good one for Kellogg's. When I ordered my plants a few years ago, a neighbor of mine, a hotel-keeper, who has a garden, wanted me to let him LITTLE ADS. FOR OUR FOLKS AN ADVERTISING EXCHANGE FOR AtL -^*- Strawberry Growers in which they may make known their wants. If yon have anj-thinq; to buy, sell or exchange , need a job or are looking for help in your strawberry work, here 18 the place to make it known. Count name, post office, initials, words or numbers each as one word, and remit a sum equal to 2 cents for each word for each inser- tion. No order will be accepted for less than 25 cents and cash must accompany each order. Advertisements must contain address, otherwise we cannot forward replies from this office. Remit by post office or express money orders. FOR SALE — "Pan American" and "Autumn" Straw- berry Plants that will bear from August until Novem- ber. Sr'ud for circular. Samuel Cooper, Delevan, N. Y. PRINTING FOR STRAWBERRY GROWERS— Letter heads, envelopes, cards, labels. First-class work at low prices. The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Michigan. TRY the Kelloi:£r malleable-iron, one-piece Dibble, if you would turn plant-setting into adelitcht. Pays for itself in onohalf-day's work. Write the K tllog^ Co. for their little folder on "How We Keep Down the Weeds. ' ' 'TwlU help vou in your work. R. M. Kellogg Co., Box 775, Three Rivers, Michigan. LONELY man, aged 41, now in tobacco district, but with interest in horticulture, would like to ensa^e \nth small family in strawberry culture. Kindly write. Address K. O. A. , care Tlie Strawberry. PALMETTO Asparac'us; sowed April, 1005; waist high in SeptemlH-r; $1.00per 100: $4.00por 1.000. By mail, 25 plants, 50c. C. Gould, Route 2, Gilman, 111. FERNWOOD POULTRY FARM, brpcdrrs of lar^e, vig- orous, heavv-Iavini; Barred Plvniouth Rocks; also Mammoth Pekiu bucks that won all Hrsts. Tnl.do. 190ti. Eggs, *1 .25 sitting. K»uU- 2, Wi^st Tukdo, Ohio. WAJTTED— A youim man who thorou^'hly understands strawberry culture, and who will make himself gen- erally useful on a ranch. Apply -with references, staHng wages expected. McDermid and McHardy Nelson, B. C. MATTHEWS' ''NEW 6 TOOLS IN ONE Seeder, marker, dfi ^ ^-A=,t=«_ hoe raU. ^low, 4« ^^Tff]^ Seeder, marker^ hoe rake, plow, cultivalor. ' ' or double ffheeL Adjust' ments easily made. For plantinfif and all kinds of cul- tivation. Send for FREE BOOKLET of val- uable informa- tion for planting and cultivating the garden and full description of these implements, AMES PLOW COMPANY UNIVERSAL'^ GARDEN TOOLS Double or Single Wheel Hoe 6 Styles Seeders Opena fur- H ModelS row. dropB ■ of muks. Cultivator, Plow, Rake. Changes quickly made. Cultivate be- or Mtrlde tbo rowi. Aaj '- &117 width. Note High Arch and Plant Guards. Bent Oak Handles on all Tools. 143 MARKET STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS FOR SALE HY D. M. FERRY & CO., I>ETROIT, MICH. THE BEST AND GHEflPEST. UNIYERSflLLY ADMIRED. NATIONAL BERRY BOX IN ALL STYLES IDEAL IN REALITY N Patented Nov. 17. 1903. O skinned fruit; no nailing; no mildew; no warping; no splitting; no waste; no loss. A fruit preserver, folded in an instant. A clean, glossy, substantial package, aiding in the sale of fruits. Made from Smoottl Paper Stock, coated on both sides with odorless and tasteless best parafine wax. First Year's Results: Sales in 29 States and communication with 44 States of the Union. LESLIE STYLE GREATLY IMPROVED— double reinforced on bottom edge, which gives also EXTRA support for bottom on all sides. Folded-up sample sent on receipt of ten cents \J(*<*(U«* WRITE FOR CIRCULARS AND PRICE-LIST AND READ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS. NATIONAL PAPER BOX CO. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. have some of the strawberry plants. I did so, and though they "were too busy growing cabbages, cucumbers, etc., to pay much attention to them, they did grow some berries. The gardener, Keno, was at work in the garden one day, when the proprie- tor's little son, Angus, came out and said: "Keno, are there any straw- berries.?" Page 66 "Yes; a few." "Can I have some?" "Yes; you can pick just three." Soon the little fellow came back, in great excitement. "Oh, Keno, I found an awful big strawberry!" "Well, where is it.?" |;Oh! I ate it!" _^ . "How big was it.?" "Well, I got five bites out of it!" OUR COMSPONDENCE SCH00L|23L0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE ZvIEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION NOTHING else so heartens one, so inspires him to his best, as to feel that his efforts are appre- ciated and are accomplishing beneficial results. We had expected much from this Correspondence School department because we knew of the problems and perplexities that the straw- berry grower is compelled to meet and solve, and how helpful these queries and answers would be, but that the work should so soon have captured the atten- tion of our readers; so quickly have met their warm and cordial approval, we scarcely had dared to hope. But from iMonadnock to the Sierras and from the land of the Scuppernong to Snohomish have come to us such letters as "warm the cockles of the heart," arid we reprint some of the words written us, partly as matter of pride and satisfaction, and partly because they contain of themselves matter of value. This from a subscriber who went to the great fir-tree country of Washington and carved a strawberry patch out of the monster forests of the great North land: Snohomish, Wash., Jan. 17, 1906. 1 have been reading The Strawberry — Vol. I, No. 1 — and I surely got ,$5 worth out of. the Correspondence School. Now when I can cap- ture so good a thing as The Strawberry for $4 less than nothing a year, and you pay the post- age, I won't let it escape; so here's a P. O. M. O. for .$1 for subscription. Wm. L. Cochran. Here is a word from a California sub- scriber that will be read with interest: Ahwahnee, Calif., Jan. 17, 1906. The Strawberry received, and I am very much pleased with it; the one issue is worth more than the price of a year's subscription. One gathers so much information from the Questions and Answers, as it places the culti- vation of the strawberry under so many differ- ent conditions. One must have very peculiar conditions, indeed, if some of them are not sim- ilar to his own. I am growing strawberries in the Sierra Ne- vada Mountains on the stage line to the Yo- semite Valley and at an altitude of 6,000 feet abo\'e sea level. Our summers are very nice, as we are in the midst of a dense forest of pines, firs, cedars, and the mammoth trees of Cali- fornia— the Sequoia Gigantea. The deciduous trees are the black oak and the dogwood. . . My berry vines are mostly on sub-irrigated ground, and I have been troubled not a little with the end of the berry next to the ground rotting; and as many of them measure from five to five and a half inches in circumference, it makes a considerable loss in the season's crop. It is well enough to say right here that we have from five to twehe feet of snow here on the level — that the ground never freezes and tnr sno .• often 'ies on the ground into May. Before the grc nd gets settled and fit to work the strawhcr'y plants have made a considerable growt^ and are in b'oom. A good mulch is what I have been in need of, but as hay is $30 per ton and straw in proportion, and as I did not require to mulch as a winter covering, I thought it too expensive. But your article in the January issue on "Mulches and Mulching" has put me right, as there is a limitless quantity of pine needles in the ne.irby woods, and when the snow disappears shall try a carpet of nice clean needles for a resting place for the big beauties. Enclosed please find check; kindly book me for a year, ami I will carefully read each issue and wait anxiously for the coming of the next. W. H. Chaffee. C. A., Litchfield, III.— In the spring of 1905 I set a small patch of strawberry plants. I started to handle these under the single-hedge system. After layering one runner each way from each mother plant, all other runners were kept off until about August 1. After this date, owing to sickness, these plants were neglected, and runners thickly matted all over the ground. Now what is the best thing to do with these surplus nmners.' You certainly started out all right; it is unfortunate that illness prevented you from carrying out your plans. It will not do to dig the stirplus plants now, as to do so would disturb the roots of those which are left for fruiting. Inas- much as you kept all runners off until the 1st of August, there is no doubt the mother plants are extra strong, and the two plants layered before the surplus plants began to develop have built up large crowns. If your patch is a small one, you may take a sharp hoe and shave off the extra runners just below the sur- face. This will not interfere with the fruiting plants and will increase the crop by giving the sun and air free access to the remaining plants. Of course, the same plan might be followed with a large patch, but it would be rather a tedious job. A. L. M., Earl, Wis. I intend to set out one acre of strawberries in May, and would like your advice as to the best berry I can set. I am within forty miles of Lake Superior and subject to frosts in June. The land is quite high and sandy, but new and fertile. As you are in the Lake Superior region we should advise you to set only of late varieties. One reason for this is that these varieties bloom late and therefore there is less danger from frost. Another reason is that straw berry growers in your Page 67 localii;- may create an independent market by growing high-grade late strawberries. By using late varieties you should be able to send berries into Duluth, Superior, St. Paul and Minneapolis markets three weeks later than those which come to them from sections further south. E. D. M., Colfax, Calif.— I would like to have your opinion about fertilizing strawberries with a mixture of lime-kiln ashes. I have three acres of very fine plants; have fertilized well with stable manure. Please advise me as to the best fertilizer to use next spring. We assume that these ashes are from the wood used in burning lime. This being the case, you may safely apply from forty to fifty bushels to the acre. The proper way to do this is to distribute them evenly over the surface of the soil after it is broken up. This may be done with the shovel if care be exercised, or may be applied through the fertilizing section of a grain drill. Work these ashes thoroughly into the soil with har- row or disc before setting plants. Ashes are good for the strawberry because they contain from 30 to 32 per cent of lime, which sweetens the soil and makes the locked-up plant food in the soil available. They also contain enough potash to give a high color to the fruit. However, if used excessively ashes will give the berry a somewhat dull appearance. As yoii have used manure liberally it will be un- necessary to use any other fertilizer. G. E. H., Middleburg, Pa.— I would like to know how long strawberry plants are to be worked in the fall, and how long the runners are to be kept off? Some fruits, if worked too late in the season, will not bear fruit the next year on this account. I have a nice patch of strawberry plants, and I would not like to spoil them by doing something that would ruin the prospects for berries in the spring. 2. I am doing some transplanting where there are some weak plants, and would like to know if it is better to leave a weak plant, or would it be better to replace it with a strong one at this time.' The length of time plants are to be worked in the fall will depend somewhat upon the habit of the variety. If the varieties you are growing are of the large- foliage type, with an upright growth, we would discontinue cultivation September 1, doing no work among them except to keep down weeds, if there be any. But if the varieties have a scant foliage, con- THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 tinue the cultivation until the first heavy frost, because this method stimulates a larger vegetative growth and helps to maintain a better balance between fruit and foliage. As to cutting runners, none should be allowed to take root after you have your row filled in according to the system in which you intend to grow them. If you are growing in a single-hedge row the cutting of runners should begin after your plants have made a continuous single row. If by the double hedge, then allow runners to grow a double line of plants. If the narrow-matted row has been adopted, allow enough plants to set to make the row twelve or fifteen inches wide. But where this last system is fol- lowed, no plants should set closer than six or eight inches to each other. Closer than that would result in producing small berries, just as corn would produce small ears if planted too closely. 2. Certainly you should grow only strong, plants; never permit weak ones to occupy the ground, but always set strong ones in their stead. A weak, puny plant is like a weak animal; it will use up food, but give nothing in return. <^ ^ E. E. K. , Brownwood, Tex. — I believe I un- derstand your double and single hedge row of planting, but do not know how far apart the rows should be set. West Texas is very dry and we must depend upon irrigation. When growing strawberries in single or double hedge systems the rows should be from three to three and a half feet apart. By making a furrow directly be- tween the rows and allowing the water to run in this, the water will percolate through the soil, traveling from one soil grain to another, dissolving the stored-up plant food as it travels. The plant roots will reach out for this moisture, which is charged with plant food. This process indicates that there are more advantages in irrigation than that of supplying mois- ture only, and where irrigation is done berries always should be grown either in single or double hedge rows. A. J. S., Kalamazoo, Mich. — 1. Is the Gandy a later berry than the Sample or Aroma, and if so how much later? 2. What variety should be planted along with the Gandy? 3. I now have one-half acre of Sample and Aroma on a black loam with clay sub-soil that was thinly fertilized with stable manure last spring before setting plants. Would any fertilizer put on this coming spring be a profitable investment for the com- ing crop? 4. How late is it profitable to hold plants back in the spring by mulching? 1. The Gandy is several days later than either Sample or Aroma, but the two latter have a longer fruiting seaso.i. 2. Gandy and Aroma go well to- gether, as Gandy, being deficient in pol- len, is amply supplied when planted near Aroma. 3. Your black loam should give a profitable crop of Sample and Aroma without any extra fertilizer, considering that the ground was well manured before plants were set. 4. The length of time which plants may be held dormant by mulching with safety will depend somewhat upon the season. If spring opens up with bright sunshine and warm rains, it will force the plants into growing. When this is done the callous on the root is bound to burst, and from each break in this root a feeder will start. This will force the foliage into action and if the mulch is not re- moved it will cause the plant to bleach and become tender. Ordinarily plants may be held from ten days to two weeks. G. W. D. , Durant, Miss.— Will the Dornan strawberry thrive in this locality, and what time will it ripen here? I should like to have a berry to follow the Klondike. If the Dor- nan will not do, what variety would you rec- ommend? The Dornan has become a standard variety and we get excellent reports of its performance from all parts of the country. If grown in the double-hedge row and properly handled, we see no reason why it should not suit your purpose, as it would ripen its first berries just when the Klondike is closing up its season. The Aroma and Gandy are very popular vari- eties in the South. Both of these will give fine results and should be mated. Mrs. J. J. S. , Superior, Wis. — Please tell me how to prepare a leaf-mold compost to be used for my strawberry bed. First a layer of leaves should be placed about six inches deep. Cover these with a good grade of soil. Over this scatter manure to the depth of about two inches. Repeat this until you have the amount of compost required. R. C. A., Loveland, Colo. — Have a plot of ground about twenty by sixty feet; it has been heavily manured for two years, especially for high-tension strawberry culture. I want to make this do all it will, and our soil will grow fine berries. Think some of putting tiling under for sub-irrigation. Will this pay? As Colorado is strictly an irrigation country, we see no reason why sub-irri- gation would not pay, provided an ade- quate quantity and an even distribution are secured by the construction of your system. Indeed, if we may judge from the excellent quality of fruits grown in the sub-irrigated districts of California, you will be likely to get a much better FRUIT PACKAGES Of Every Description Leslie Boxes and Crates Hallock Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Illinois Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Boxes FOR APPLES, PEARS, MELONS, POTATOES and VEGETABLES Baskets FOR PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, TOMATOES, MELONS, and GRAPES Leslie Crate &nd Boxes Four-basket Crates for Peaches and Tomatoes Six-basket Crates for Peaches Special Prices to Associations and Users of Large Quantities 40Page Catalogue FREE. Send for it. So. Haven, Mich. The Pierce -Williams Co., Jonesboro, Ark. Page 68 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 A KALAMAZOO DIRECT TO YOU WHY not sa^-e iuonev in your stove and range buying? Why not get a really i'-^tft/ stove or range while you are about it? Here's a Kalamazoo Rnyal Steel Range — one of the many of the Kalamazoo-direct-to-you family. It is guaranteed, under a $20,000 bank bond to be strictly high grade in every respect. The body is made of Wellsville blue polished steel— the highest grade steel procurable. Not an ounce of scrap iron enters into it. The tops and centers are cut and braced in such a manner that we guarantee them against warp- ing iot five years. The linings are heavy and the fiues anrl all oth- er partswhere it IS necessary are lined withA'<««- itie asbestos, held between two sheets of steel. The oven is square and large, with a bottom that ((irtntj/ warp or "buckle." The oven venti- lation is perfect, making it a quick and even baker. Quality is our first consideration, and our 32 years experience in building and selling stoves and ranges has taught us hoiu to make a raD(;e which we can put in comparison with any other in the world. ^ Quality should also be your first consideration. Vou cannot altord to buy a poor ranee at any price, especially— flW^t-rtr'jM^ point— When you can buy this high grade Kalamazoo —or any other of the Kalamazoo line of ranges. cook stoves, base burners and heating stoves of 1,1 ,-- .J .. . .« all kinds — at a price loiver thattyour dcaUr pays and fuel, and is guaranteed not to get out of /^r st^v^s and ranges. n>t the e<,uai of the KaL °^'*^^* «"'^"" Please read that again. You get a Kalamazoo, freight prepaid. onaSuOdays approval test, guaranteed The oven is equipped with patented oven ther- mometer which gives perfect control of tlie oven's temperature and makes good baking and roasting an easy matter, It saves time, trouble, The hot water reservoir is large; is lined with white enamel and is easily re- moved for cleaning. The fire bos is equipped with either a duplex or a dock ash grate as desired, and either hard or soft coal or coke or wood may be used for fuel. It is handsomely finished, all the orna- mental parts being heavily nickeled. »We do all our own nickel-plating, and do it right. The riveting, the mounting, the finishing, are Oven Tbermomcter under a $20,000 bank bond, with privi- lege of returning to us at any time within 3(>0 days, if it shows any faults or defects — and all at a /(•jj/rAr than your dealer pays for many stoves and ranees not nearly so good. Heie's the secret: We are manufacturers — actual manu- facturers and we sell to you direct jrom r factory i\.\. hnvest factory prices, saving you ^WAowQ by hand, by expert workmen, and we all dealers", jobbers', agents', and middlemen's guarantee that there is not a better designed, a prohts and commissions, better made, a better finished, or a more dura ble stove or range in the Kalamazoo . world, than is the Please Remember: We are actual manufacturers, not mall order dealers. We have more than 50,000 customers — all satisfied. Vou run no risk, as we give you a 360 days approval test. We pay the freight. We make you actual factory prices. We sell you a stove or range not ex- celled by any in the world. We have more than 50.000 customers in all parts of the United States. Their letters show that they have saved from S5 to $40 by buying a Kalamazoo direct from our factory. We will be clad to send you the names of our customers in your vicinity. Let them tell you what they think. The Kalamazoo line is complete — embracing; ran;:es. cook stoves, base burners and heaters for fuel of all sorts, all of late design, handsome pattern and beautiful finish. Send for our catalogue. You will find in it the stove or ranee exactfy suited to your purpose, and you will be able to purchase it at a money-saving price. Don't you think it a proposition worth lookinff into? Let us send you our free catalogue and price list. You'll be interested and pleasf d. Ask for Catalogue No. 348 . Kalamazoo Stove Co., Mfrs., Kalamazoo, Mich. quality of berry through sub-irrigation than from surface irrigation. You cer- tainly have put your ground into excel- lent contJition for splendid crops by so thoroughly manuring it. >^ ^ C. J. P., Tecumseh, Mich. — Am looking about for material to cover my quarter-acre of strawberries and have in view some red cloverchaff. Kindly advise how this would work as a covering. Does any one ever use tobacco stems for covering.' There are two factories here and any amount of stems could be secured. Clover chaf? would make a very good mulching, but would contain much seed, and this would cause endless trouble at fruiting time as well as when cultivating the bed for another crop. Another ob- jection is that clover hulls are so dark as to absorb the heat from the sun's rays and might result in blistering the fruit. \Ve would not recommend the use of to- bacco stems as a mulch. G. T. , Tacoma, Wash. — Do you think pistil- late varieties will do well here? We have very little wind, and no bees to amount to anything. The scarcity of bees and the lightness bf your winds will have no effect upon your pistillate varieties, provided you properly mate them; and the way to do this is to set one row of bisexuals and two or three rows of pistillates. The or- der in which to set these rows should be as follows: First, a bisexual somewhat earlier than the pistillate rows, the pistil- lates to be followed by a row of bisexuals a little later than the pistillates. This system of planting insures a continuous flow of bisexual bloom, with anthers burst- ing just at the moment when the stigma of the pistillate bloom is most receptive. Nature has provided many ways for carrying the pollen. ^ <^ J. R. S., Covert, Mich. — Whal varieties would you recommend for shipping to South- ern markets.' We think your idea of growing straw- berries in this state for Southern markets is a good one and we are very sure that you can make a splendid success of it After the crop has all been harvested in the states south of us the people just begin to get good and hungry' for strawberries, and if you will grow the late varieties, that will come in after the Southern varieties are marketed, you will have the market pretty much to yourself, thus finding it easy to make quick sales at big prices. We believe the best thing for you to do Page 69 is to set largely of the latest varieties and the best of these are Aroma, Pride of Michigan, Dornan, Sample and Gandy. These are all extra late, and we are quite sure will be just the ones you want. E. C, St. Francis, Mo. — I find it impossible in the time I have to work to keep the run- ners cut back during the growing season. Can you give a suggestion, or in other words, have you discovered a quick and easy way to keep the runners from growing.' It is easy to control the runners if you start the work in time by using a roller- runner cutter. This will cut off all the runners that run between the rows, and those that form directly in the row be- yond the number you wish to grow may be cut off with hoes and treated the same as weeds. The trouble is that the grower is apt to let the runners become mattevl before he begins the work of clearing them out. J. B., Louisville, Neb. — My plants are very thick — too thick, I am afraid. What shall I do — thin them early in the spring, or let them go until after fruiting? There is nothing now that you can do to rectify the difficulty until after fruiting time, then take a bar shear and throw a THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 furrow from each side of the row into the center, narrowing down the row to about six inches. After this is done level the soil back into its place and throw enough soil over the crowns to cover them about one-half inch. The plants then will come up through this fresh soil and will make a new system of roots just below the ground and above the old roots. <^ ^ A. B., Soquel, Calif. — 1. I have a fine bed of strawberry plants; all the bloom was picked off in the spring, but I notice some of them blossomed again in the fall. Would you pick these blossoms off? 2. Should I mow the foliage off my plants after they have fruited the first year? 3. When topping them with the scythe is there any danger of cutting them too close? 1. You have followed correct prin- ciples by removing the first bloom, but do not take off the bloom that opens in the fall, as the plants have become well established in the soil, and are able to produce a fall crop of berries — some- thing quite frequent in California. 2. You should top your plants just as soon as the first crop of berries is har- vested, and immediately they are dry burn over the patch. This should be done a few days after the mowing. If put off too long, the plants will have made a new growth and there will be danger of the fire injuring them. 3. There is no danger of the scytne cutting too closely, as the crowns are protected by the surface soil, into which you would have to cu> to injure the plants. G. E. B., Everett, Mass. — 1. What is meant by bisexuals? 2. Are male and female plants separate? 1. Bisexual means two sexes or both sexes; that is, the flower of a bisexual contains both male and female organs, and thus has power to procreate or to of fruit itself. 2. Male and female plants are sepa- rated in some varieties. This is true of all pistillate varieties, which possess only the female organs, and depend upon the male element in the bisexual plant for its pollen or fertility. ■^ ^ J. M. H., Lenore, Idaho. — What varieties would you advise setting out to grow berries for market? In growing berries for market, a some- what different selection should be made from that employed in the case of the family garden. What is needed is gen- erally a highly colored berry, one that is productive and a good shipper. There are so many good varieties that fill the bill, it is rather difficult to name the best, but in your locality you could not make 1 SAVE HALf YOIR TIME The mostBucceesrul farmers and gardeners are doing it all over the world today by using the Planet Jr. Line of farm and garden tools. And the gain is not alone in the sav. ing of time, for they do the work faster, easier and better than Itcan possibly be done In any other way. For example, take our No, 8, Horse Hoe. It is a hoe and cultivator combined. Ha3 blgh, stiff steel frame; Interchangeable, non-clogging standards; adjustable bandies, reverblble hoes, etc. A convenient lever adjusts the side beams to fit wide or naiTow rows. It is a perfect one boreecalti- vator for com, potatoes, cotton — indeed all crops planted in rows. Then again there is our Planet Jr. No. 26. It is a HiU and Drill Seeder, Double "Wheel Hoe, Cultivator and Plow combined. Looks like a lot of things to combine in one tool but they are all there and all work perfectly. Sows al'. garden eeeda in continuous rows or drops in bills, 1, 6, 8,13 or 2i inches apart, at the same time marking tbe next row. Hoes and cultivates any desired depth, killing all weeds, opens furrows, throws up ridges, etc Groes astride or between the rows throwing the earth to or from as ddsired. Cfta be ad- justed in a. moment for any work on any crop. These are but two out _^ of 45 time and labor saving planet Jr. tools. Our new catalogue ehows Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Horse Hoes, Harrows, Riding Cultiva- tors— one and two row— Beet Cultivators, etc. This book will delight and instruct everyone Interested In farming and gardening. Be sure and Krite foritto4ay. We mail It free on request. S. L. Allen & Co., Bol1106DPIillaiJelphla, Pa. Nftt -; ■'>% Japanese Honeysuckle This Floral Wonder is the Latest Importation from the Land of the Mikado Is a sturdy rapid climber and with- in sixty days after the time it is planted will drape your piazza with a brilliant mantle of green luxu- riantlyspotted with beauti- ful white flowers turning to yel- low. It blooms c o n - stantly- is never bothered with insect pests and in the South and on the Pacific Coast holds its foliage through- out the entire winter season. IVY COLXECTION— No sardea is com- plete \%qthout Ivy. We have a 6ne slock of healthy roots. The old favorites Boston Ivy- English Ivy— Kenilworth Ivy— and Vanegated Ivy are 25c. per poot or the set of four tot 50c. CUMBER COIXECTION— We will send you this whole collection of seven climber roots postpaid for $1.00 Japanese Honey- suckle—Kenilworth Ivy— Enslish Ivy— Trum- pet Creeper — Japanese Hop— Vitginia Creeper — Boston Ivy. The plant is a genuine floral wonder. Its thriftiness, hardiness and prodigal bloom speaks volumes for the skill and plant-loving pro- clivities of the little brown people of the Occident who 've nurtured and im- proved this climber for so many years. We \ have im - ported a large numb er of these parent vines fromja- 1 h e y take root on this coa^ s readily as as they do in the native clime. If you are fond o f beautiful climbers and appreciate something in plants decidedly bizarre and out of the ordinary, try some Japanese Honeysuckle on your porches and fences. You'll be charmed to see how beautiful this plant will make an ugly old fence or shed apppear. Our shipments are all packed with extreme care. All roots are imbedded in moss and will travel ten miles or ten thousand miles with absolute safety. They will surive in perfect condition; are ready for immediate planting. TEAR THIS OFF, MAIL TO 001^0. Seattle Portland San Francisco Enclosed is $ (in money order, draft, 2C stamps) for which send me (prepaid) items as checked below. Japanese Honeysuckle roots Ivy Collections Climber Collections Please send me (free postpaid) your Plant and Seed Catalog of 1906. Name .... Address. When writing to advertisers just say that you saw it in The Strawberry Page 70 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 "Good Enough" is Not Good Enough WHEN IT COMES TO STRAWBERRY PLANTS Only the Best Will Pay That is Why You Should Set the Kellogg Strain of Thoroughbred Pedigree Plants THEY ARE THE BEST BECA USE they are selected from the mother plants that have won the world's greatest Fruiting record. B£C4£/SE they have been scientiflcally sprayed, which insures you against destructive insects or fungous spores. BEC/1 USE they are carefully mulched before freezing, insuring a well-calloused root and perfectly dormant plant. Every one of them will grow if properly set out. BECA USE they will produce more berries from one acre than two acres will grow from the "other kind" YOU cannot afford to give up your valuable land and put a lot of hard work on poorly developed plants just because they are cheap. The cheapest plants are those which have a perfect balance in fruit and foliage—the kind that produce the big paying crops. If you want this kind of plants you must send us your order at once, as our old customers, who have used our plants for years and know the value of our pedigree plants, are ordering heavier this season than ever before and we are sure that our entire stock of plants, the largest and best ever grown, will be engaged long before setting time! If you are undecided as to varieties, or do not know hoiv to mate them, our expert will assist you to make the best selection for your soil, climate and particular purpose. Tell us whether you intend them for market or for home use. R. M. Kellogg Company, i is Pomge Ave., Three Rivers, Mich. a mistake by planting Excelsior, Texas, Warfieid, Splendid, Senator Dunlap, Haverland, Gandy, Dornan, and Sample. This will give you from the very earliest to the latest. C. C. J., Colusa, Calif. — In examining my strawberry bed December 31 found a number of the plants in bloom. Will this affect my crop at the regular fruiting time? The fact that your plants have bloomed out of season will not affect results at cropping time, as these blooms come from buds that were backward and did not develop at the proper time. It never occurs to an extent sufficient to weaken the plant. We have had our fields bloom quite heavily in the fall, many of them maturing into berries, and the fol- lowing summer harvested the largest crop we have ever taken from an acre. As a rule this out-of-season blooming indicates great vigor in the plants. C. H. B. Nelson, B. C— Can the Glen Mary (bisexual) be planted successfully by itself, or does it require some other variety — a medium pistillate — to be planted with it? Although the Glen Mary is a bisexual, some of its bloom is deficient in pollen. It will give good results when set alone. but the yield may be greatly increased by setting such strong pollenizers as Parsons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap or Ridgeway every fourth row. These are all bisexuals; a pistillate will not aid a bisexual; the pistillates depend upon the bisexuals for their fruiting power. But there is no doubt, we believe, but that a deficient bi- sexual will be greatly aided by being sur- rounded by other bisexuals of strong pol- lenizing power. D. A. S., Cardinal, Ont. — I have about one acre of land along the river. It has good drainage. It was planted to potatoes during the last two years, and it received a good coat of manure both seasons. Should I plow this piece of ground in the fall and again in the spring? 2. What would it cost me to set this acre to strawberries? 1. Potatoes are an ideal crop to grow in advance of strawberries. As this soil has had two coats of manure it should give a large yield of fruit. Where ground is plowed in the fall it is unneces- sary to replovv it in the spring, unless it be heavy clay soil. But when not re- plowed it should be chopped up with the disc and harrowed until thoroughly fine. 2 You should put out 7,000 plants on this acre, and of course it will not pay to set any but strong and vigorous plants. Ptge 71 The cost for these will depend somewhat upon the varieties selected, and ranges from $3.50 to $8.00 per thousand. One man easily will set this number in from three to four days, if he has the proper tools. E. B. G., Bazaar, Kan. — I send you in this mail a small box in which I have enclosed a few dead leaves from my strawberry plants for your inspection. This summer and fall some of the leaves looked as if they had frost on them, and as I have never raised strawber- ries I did not know what it was, but feared it was rust, and ask you to let me know whether that is the case or not and what the treatment for whatever it is, if any is needed. We have carefully examined the leaves sent us and find that they are affected with mildew and rust. These are fung- ous growths that spread by spores. They are controlled by the use of Bor- deaux mixture which should be applied early in the spring. Bordeaux mixture is not a cure, merely a preventive, which acts on the leaves somewhat as vaccina- tion acts on the patient to keep him im- mune from small-pox. We start spray- ing as soon as the plants begin to grow in the spring and continue until fall, and have no difficulty in keeping these en- emies out of the fields. THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan. ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 47 Plymouth Place, Chicago, III. Subscription Price One Dollar a Year MARCH, 1906 THE subject for our colored cover for this issue is the farm home of The Strawberry, showing the pub- lication office of this magazine as it looks from the fields which stretch away from it and the handsome park surrounding it. During the summer months that park is a quiet resting place for many visitors who come from far and near to visit the farms and study the methods employed here in the culture of the strawberry. And when the breeding beds are filled with great luscious berries it is a sight to see our visitors come and go, carrying away in the aggregate many bushels of the big fellows, many of which would take the blue ribbon at the world's lead- ing horticultural shows. While we are speaking on this subject, let us invite you and every other reader of the magazine to come and see us. We are sure it will do you good. And just notice that we are offering to that friend who shall send us the largest number of subscriptions to the magazine, above 100, between this time and the 15th of December next, a free round trip to this farm and a full week's entertainment; or a choice of a round-trip to Washington, Niagara Falls or Jacksonville, Fla., just as the prize- winner may prefer. ■^ ^ STUDY your market conditions if you would make a big success of the strawberry business. And don't wait un- til the berries are ripe on the vines before doing it. Look the field over carefully to discover just what is wanted, how many you can sell of the high-grade ber- ries you produce. Then get your boxes and crates in hand, engage your pickers early so as to be sure of having sufficient help to handle the crop as it matures, get your packing shed in readiness, and then when the season comes on you are pre- pared to do business and get all there is out of it. Some good folk go ahead and grow splendid crops, forgetting all about the market side of the business, and then wonder why they did not make a larger success of their season's work. There is the cultural side of the question, and there is the market side; both must be given due consideration if real success is to be won. SEND us your experiences as a straw- berry grower, amateur or profes- sional. Everybody whose labor has pro- duced the favorite fruit has something in- teresting to tell about it. We shall be pleased to have you tell your story, confi- dent that it will help and encourage others. Write briefly and clearly and give the world the benefit of what you have done — the pleasures the vexations, the downs and the ups, of your experience. ONCE more we take pleasure in call- ing attention to our advertisers. We are sure you will find them well worth getting acquainted with. They stand for reliability in goods and in meth- ods, and if you will give them a chance they will prove it to your entire satisfac- tion. It is not always a simple matter to be able to present only the best of folk in our advertising columns, as an incident of the month shows. A very attractive offer of advertising came to us from one claiming to be an extensive nursery and seed man in New England, with breed- ing farms in Europe for his flower spec- ialties. The electros accompanied the order. We decided 'twere better to look him up before accepting. You will not find his "ads" in The Strawberry because we were advised that he was selling doubtful seeds. No "fakers" need apply for space in The Strawberry. THE paclcage sells the fruit," is the motto of the Pierce- Williams Co., whose mammoth works at South Haven, Mich., and Jonesboro, Ark. , are famous for their splendid products in the way of baskets and boxes, put up for strength and neatness foi" the fruit growers of the country. All who have engaged in the business of selling fruit will recognize the truth of that statement. If there is any one thing that more than another will stand in the way of the fruit seller it is an unattractive package, and baskets and boxes that are made in slipshod fashion will destroy the appearance of the finest fruit. The Pierce- Williams Co. are situated with especial advantage to two of the great fruit-producing regions of the country, and this fact, combined with the excellent quality of their goods, has resulted in building up a great reputation and a large trade all the country over. The free catalogue of this company will give you many helpful hints and much valuable in- formation. PUGET SOUND seems far away to the Eastern gardener, and the idea of securing seeds from that land of sunshine and flowers to plant in the regions east of the Rocky Moun- tains appears at first sight to be rather strange. But when we remember the extraordinary suc- cess achieved out there in the production of flowers and fruits and vegetables; when we re- call what Luther Burbank, down in California, has achieved for horticulture everywhere, and Pa«e 72 when we consider the extraordinary display of everything pertaining to horticulture at the Lewis & Clark Exposition last year at Portland — these things well may suggest to xis the ad- visability of testing the quality of the Puget Sound products in our own soils and climate. Chas. H. Lilly & Co., the most extensive growers of seeds on the Pacific Coast have made their initial bow to the Eastern public in the pages of The Strawberry. This is a great house, a reliable one, and their products arc of the highest order. Give them a trial if a flower lover, of their wonderful Japanese honey- suckle; if a truck-grower, of the marvelous Lilly's Glory cabbage; if a berry grower, of Burbank's Phenomenal berry, which Mr. Bur- bank himself declares to be the best berry in the world. And don't forget to mention The Strawberry. EVERYBODY his (or her) own cracker-jack maker! Isn't that a cracker-jack idea, in- deed? And if you had ever partaken of the crisp and delicious cracker-jack made by Clark Potter "the Cracker-Jack man" of Three Riv- ers, you would begin to understand what a privilege it is to have all one wishes for oneself and one's friends of this delicacy. For it is a delicacy, compounded according to Mr. Pot- ter's recipe, and this recipe he is offering to you at a nominal sum. Having this recipe you may make all the cracker-jack desired for your- self, your family and your friends, and not one but will appreciate such a treat. Write Mr. Potter for his famous recipe. He is a neighbor of The Strawberry folk and we know just what we are talking about when we recommend his cracker-jack. ONE of the nurseryman's catalogues which has just come to our desk and which pre- sents a handsome face and a valuable interior is the one just issued by W. F. Allen of Salis- bury, Md. The modern catalogue has become a real friend to the practical husbandman, pre- senting the latest and best in the particular lines represented, and giving needed information and advice. Mr. Allen has put out a valuable aid to the horticulturist, and you will enjoy a perusal of his work. LIKE so many of our good things, the dis- covery of tha Silver fCing celery was acci- dental. An Elgin County (Ont. ) farmer named Smith grew ordinary celery. One sea- son he had gathered only a part of his crop when winter settled down upon him. In the spring he was astonished to find that some of the abandoned celery was growing up finely. To make a long and interesting story short, Mr. Smith found he had a plant that appears likely to revolutionize the celery industry. Greening Bros., the well known nurserymen, of Monroe, Mich., have bought the exclusive rights in the Silver King, and you should write them for full information. It is claimed for this remarkable plant that it is everlasting and perfectly hardy in any clime, and so prolific is it that four or five plants are sufficient to supply the entire family with delicious celery. MANY strawberry folk engage to a greater or less extent in the production of corn. To those who do so we take especial pleasure in calling attention to the advertisement of A. T. Doerr & Son of Han'el, 111. , on another page in this magazine. The corn grown by the Messrs. Doerr is famous for its fine quality and great productive power, and a few bushels of such seed as they produce will give larger results than many bushels of a less vigorous sort. Mr. Doerr began the work of breeding corn for seed many years ago, and he has suc- ceeded in producing varieties that are not to be excelled. He makes an attractive proposition; if you are contemplating planting corn he offers you an opportunity to test the value of pure- bred seed corn at so slight a cost that you can not afford to let it pass. Send for catalogue. Big Money in Strawberries We Teach You How to Grow Them Do you know, dear reader, that raising; strawberries for market is an exceedingly proHtable business? Well, it is, if you know how to do it right. And it is not only a big money maker, but is a very pleasant and healthful pursuit as well, as many of our pupils can testify. Hut you must thoroughly understand how to go about it. \'ou can't succeed in getting all there is in it of health, enjoyment and good hard dollars without proper training. And to get that practical training and preparation that will make success absolutely certain, you must put yourself in touch with those who are equipped by experience to help you. Isn't that true? "THE Kellogg Correspondence School of Strawberry Culture teaches you the way and tells you how to grow big crops of fancy berries and how to pick and pack them for top prices. We show you how to get more select berries from one acre than two will produce of the "other kind" under the old heads. We make every detail of the work K. M. Kellogg Co. Ill ttie Rprinir of 1904 I ordered 1,000 of vour Thor- onL'librcd P'-diLTT Plants, set them on one-eiiihth iicn- of L'ood soil ;Lini liitiidled them aecordini; to your instnictions. 1 pick'-d oIT the Imds the tirst year and what do you think I plain and tell you just when and how to do everything to get the very best results. We show you how to lower the expense of production and increase your receipts. wide and open one. No grower is too large and none too small to be benefited by our teachings. The better you understand your business the more money you can make and with less work. Now, if you want to know all about our methods, send us your name and address and $1.00, and you will be enrolled as a full member of the great Correspondence School. And "The Strawberry", our inter- esting and valuable publication, will come What We Bid for One Pupil East Jaffrey, N. H., Nov. (! ■05. I picked and sold 900 quarts of nice, bit; , u rnnnth full nf inef nirtlmi -inrl them for 1.5 to 18 cents per quart, mak- '° V °" ^^<^" month tull ot instruction and yot in return! ripe herries, sold t iUL' in all *lr,(i; that is just what 1 ,000 plants did for me, ,gll ygy jj,s, „,h3t ,£, Jq j^ yo^^ strawberry I picked and tilled standard quart baskets wnth fifteen . berries and can furnish proof if anyone doubts my word, field at that particular time, and will keep I shall want 10,000 of vour Peditrree plants for next . . , We explain in a practical way how sprins; caul get them? ' Yours truly. you from making expensive mistakes. •^ ^ • ISRAEL VALWAY. „_,, . , ,, -n 1 he strawberry will contain no large families with small gardens can grow an abundance of choice berries for home use and make money, too. We prepare the young man for a good paying position. There is a great call for foremen on berry farms. The demand is far in excess of the supply. We fit you for that work. Our course of instruction trains the young woman for an ideal out-of-door occupation in which she can make much more than an independent living. The first person to join this school was a young woman wl.o has won splendid success as a strawberry cultur.st in Minnesota. And among our hundreds of pupils are many women who are enthusiasts in the business. Miss S. M. Pollard, of Woodside, Minn., sends us a clip- ping from a local newspaper and says that it v\as through our instruction that her success as referred to therein was made. She says that the 1905 crop was her first attempt at raising straw- berries, yet from about eight rods of plants, she had sold on July 19th, 400 quarts and had about 300 more to gather. The newspaper clipping follows: ' 'The larirest and ni<'est strawbenies we liave had tlic plensnix- of seeins this year were broUL'ht to our office by Mis,s S. M. Pollard, of Woodside. The size of the benies is phi-uonn-niil, some of them measurini: five and one- half incliesin circumference, wliilethe llavor is sweeter and it is more juicy than the western and southern berrj. ' " No Other out-of-door employment offers larger opportunity to the enterprising than does strawberr)- culture, and the field is a puzzles, no visionary stories, no imaginary theories; nothing but strictly business instruction, common sense and actual experience from the world's greatest experts. It is the only journal in the world de\ oted evclusively to the interests of strawberry producers The Strawberry Bed Inlerc:>l:> (tic Lnlire family Don't delay, but write us today. Address R. M. Kellogg Publishing Company, iispomgeAve., Three Rivers, Mich. T>^<€ -^?T^r>^' 'i'vMr •^A'j/fA^-W^'-^>..: V y*S:'-iL^J^: bitmmsh\^^^^<^ CAPITAL STOCK $l,000,000-ALL PAID UP General Offices, Nurseries, Packing Houses and Shipping Station LOUISIANA, MO. BRANCHES I Starkdale, Mo. I Rockport, 111. Portland, N. Y. Dansville, N. Y. Fayetteville, Ark. Atlantic, Iowa Oldest Nurseries in the West Established 1825 WE PAY FREIGHT on $5 orders (one- fourth cash to be sent with order) at prices quoted in our Wholesale Price List, to any R. R. Station in ARKANSAS KANSAS ILLINOIS MISSOURI INDIANA NEBRASKA IOWA OHIO On Orders Amounting to $7.50 or more, if one- fourth or more cash is sent with the order, w^e ^vill prepay freight to any R. R. Station in ALABAMA DELAWARE CONNECTICUT INDIAN TER. GEORGIA MARYLAND LOUISIANA MISSISSIPPI MINNESOTA N. CAROLINA NEW YORK S. CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA TENNESSEE VIRGINIA TEXAS DIS. COLUMBIA KENTUCKY MICHIGAN NEW JERSEY OKLAHOMA RHODE ISLAND WISCONSIN W. VIRGINIA On Orders Amounting to $10 or fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight ''-." to any R. R. Station in j more, if one ARIZONA COLORADO IDAHO MONTANA NEVADA OREGON UTAH VERMONT WYOMING CALIFORNIA FLORIDA MAINE MASSACHU'TS N. HAMPSHIRE NEW MEXICO NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA WASHINGTON We make no charge for Box- ing and Packing. We Do NOT pay freight on orders amounting to less than specified, nor un- less one-fourth cash is received with order, nor on shipments by express. GRAPE VINES— In order to carry out our policy of furnishing only the BEST, we maintain a nursery at Portland, N. Y., in the heart of the famous Fredonia— Chautauqua Grape Belt, which produces the finest vines grown in the U. S. We are head- quarters for all the leading Commercial sorts. WARNING— We are sole owners of the names Black Ben, Champion, Delicious, King David and other leading commercial apples. Gold plum, Stark- Star grape, etc., all of which are our Trade-Marks, duly registered in the U. S. Patent Office under the new law approved Feb. 20, 1905. Planters are warned against infringers offering trees under these names or trees claimed to be "just the same." We offer the GENUINE at prices as low as GOOD trees can be produced. Wise buyers ■will take no chances. Largest Nurseries in the World 4675 Acres — J. STARK TREES SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL— BECAUSE, three generations of Stark Nursery- men have made the production of the BEST trees their life study, their life work; BECAUSE, Stark Trees are produced under an exact science from the time the seed are selected until the tree is delivered carefully packed for transportation; BECAUSE, in selecting buds and scions only healthy, vigorous, highly prolific trees of the best strains are used as parentage; BECAUSE, a tree grown with all conditions favorable has high vitality and ■will ■withstand climatic rigors and unfavorable soil even better than the stunted weakling propagated in just such un- congenial surroundings; BECAUSE, having eight nur- series in five states, each sort is grown under the most favor- able conditions of soil and cli- mate, resulting in hardy, healthy, thrifty trees that LIVE and BEAR; BECAUSE, we are constantly on the watch, not only for valuable new varieties of fruits, but for the best strains as they are developed. As soon as an improved strain is found it is propagated and the inferior discarded; BECAUSE, only THE BEST roots, scions, soil, location, labor, cultivation, pruning, digging, storing and packing enter into the production and handling of Stark Trees. We ask for your orders BECAUSE, Stark Trees have given satisfaction in every state and territory for 80 years, w^ith the result that Stark Nurseries have constantly grown (the only true test of merit) until they are now the LARGEST IN THE WORLD. We are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow^." APPLE SEEDLINGS— We offer for the coming: season's trade several million that, owing to favor- able season, are EXTRA FINE. They are Iowa gro\vn from Vermont seed and our own experience has demonstrated that they are superior to all others we have used. Also a fine lot of Catalpa, Black Locust, Mahaleb Cherry, French and Japan Pear Seedlings, Plum Stocks, etc., Vermont Apple Seed. •WORLD'S FAIR FRUITS" shows in natural colors and accurately fruit. Send 50 cts. and we will send the book post-paid and a REBATE Or the Rebate Ticket CTMKFRUITBOOK jJ^Im^^ describes 216 varieties of Ol* TICKET permitting its return within 60 days when the 50 cts. will be refunded. ^^is good for $1 part payment on a $10 order for nursery stock. Send for Wholesale Price List, Order Sheets, Descriptive Circulars. Hall-tone 'Views, etc.— FREE. WE PAY CASH Weekly and want MORE Home and Traveling Salesmen. Address, STARK BRO'S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO. . Desk 1 1 , Louisiana. MO- -r^i> r* 'f:,'^' April 1906 THES BERRY "r/ie Lord might have made a better thing than the Strawberry— but He didn't." >X- ^ The PUBLISHED BY Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN \l/ w Water Supph for country Homes and Small Fruit Irrigation IF you live in the country there is a way for you to enjoy all the comforts and conveniences of a city water supply, without a penny for water tax. It is accomplished by the Kewanee System. With the Kewanee System you get even more than city service, because, in addition to every benefit the latter affords, you may have— —Soft water in your bathroom and laundry. * * + * The old-fashioned gravity system meant pumping water up in order to get it down again. Now, to give the necessary pressure for fire protection and service, the ele- vated tank must be located on top of a tall tower. This is expensive, unsightly and unsafe. The water freezes in winter, becomes warm and stagnant in summer, and re- pairs are a big item of expense. The attic tank doesn't give sufficient pressure for fire protection. Its weight is apt to crack the plastering, and when it leaks (as it is pretty sure to do' your house is flooded. Just one such expensive accident may cost you many times the price of a Kewanee Outfit. — Which cannot flood the house because the tank is resting on solid ground, where it can do no damage. The installation of a Kewanee Pneumatic Tank and Outfit in the cellar (or in the ground) means — Plenty of pure, fresh water, — Cool water in the summer, — No freezing water in winter, "Absolute protection from fire, — Decrease in insurance rates, —A plant that will last a lifetime, — No expensive repairs, — It solves the country water problem completely. The Kewanee System will take care of all your needs,- for home, garden, lawn, stables, poultry houses, etc. * * ♦ * It ought to make strong appeal to the man with strawberry beds. You know it is important that strawberries have water at Just the right time. You may «ant to sprinkle or you may want to lay an open hose at the bead of the row. Take your choice; a Kewanee System enables you to do either. What's true of strawberries is true of flower beds, rose bushes, garden vege- tables. You can't carry water and reach all these with a sprinkling pot. With a Kewanee Outfit, you just pull the hose out to the highest point you want to irrigate and turn on the water. It will do the rest. Mr. I. Newton Swift, Ypsilanti, Mich., is one of thousands who are using Kewanee outfits for general purposes. A late letter tells of the service he is get- ting from it. "A year ago I had your Kewanee Water Supply System installed on my farm of 240 acres. The lank is in the cellar of the house and supplies water for 75 cows and young stock, a dozen horses, 60 hogs and 500 chickens. It affords excellent fire protection for all the buildings, with an average water p-essure of 40 to 50 pounds. It gives me pleasure to recommend this system, because it is bound to give complete satisfaction." Here are also letters from other users which speak for themselves:— H. I. Spafford, North Bennington, Vt. "It works perfectly satisfactory. It does all you claim for it and more too. It furnishes plenty of water to bath room, hot water boiler, lavatories, kitchen sink, and outside sill cock for watering lawn and for fire protection." E. T. Crawford, Augusta, O. "Equal to any city water works." Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, New York. "Perfectly delighted." U. R. Fishel, Hope, Ind. "My Kewanee System is giving splendid results." * * * * Our Kewanee Outfits are complete. Not an engine only; - which in itself cannot give you a water supply, nor a tank only, which is useless unless you have some form of pumping power - But we furnish the whole thing,— a complete system, of water supply. Our engineering department is prepared to solve your water problem,- no matter how difficult that problem may now appear. Kewanee Outfits are made in sizes, suited to the smallest cottage or largest building, - or group of buildings. We guarantee every Kewanee Outfit to give perfect service. Send for catalogue No. 15 giving names of users in your state- free if you mention this paper. KEWANEE WATER SUPPLY CO. Drawer R. KEWANEE, ILLINOIS THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 4 Three Rivers, Mich., April, 1906 $1.00 a Year ARGUE against it as we may, the fact remains tliat with the increasing tendency to specialization in agricul- ture there is in some sections of the country a dis- position to give up even the family garden on the farm. And this is not so strange when we consider the grow- ing scarcity of farm labor. However, we must take things as they are, and the purpose of this article is to suggest that in ginning to enjoy the rich things of earth that come to the farm as well as to the city home. It takes no prophet to see that our sons are to have them at their full. Consider the work of the Department of Agriculture, of the Experiment Stations and the Agricultural Colleges in relation to the art and science of soil culture and animal husbandry. None may consider it fully, for the achievements are too vast every farming community some good strawberry grower might and too complex for one mind to grasp it all. Consider the find a home market among his farmer neighbors if he set about material and moral significance of rural-mail delivery. Con- it to grow the sort of fruit those neighbors wish to have served sider what it means that tiiousands upon thousands of miles of them, and always delivers fresh, sweet and inviting berries. This hint is worthy of consideration by our friends who have a small acreage in a community where for the most part farming is done on an extensive scale. Take it in the corn-belt, where farm- ers are engaged "from early morn till dewy eve" in running the machinery of their extensive plantations — machinery ro expensive that they cannot afford to let it lie idle, and crops so sensitive to condi- tions that neglect at a particular moment may mean the loss of thousands. How can they afford the time to look after the garden patchi^ This is what they ask you when you talk to them of their neg- lect— and how can you answer it.'' And the dairyman, busy with the thousand details that go with the modern dairy, with its machinery, its costly cows, its sanitary requirements and its daily commercial calls. It isn't much like it used to be when every farm-wife made her own butter and something over for the people of the nearby town. The towns have grown into cities, the cities 1 AFTER examining carefully and with much delight the January and February numbers of The Straw- berry, I am perfectly willing heartily to endorse all the good things which I had heard about the magazine. It is a handsome, a beautiful, thing. Mechanically it seems beyond criti- cism. ', cool place until morning. The crates should be covered so as to keep the air from coming into direct contact with the berries. If berries are picked when the vines are wet with dew, they will mould and sour within a few hours, and the fruit will not retain the bright THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 PACKING STRAWBERRIES READY FOR SHIPMENT Note that the team drives into the packing house. The wagon is loaded, only waiting for the last few crates to start with the last load for the day. This is a very econotnical plan glossy appearance they always have when the strawberries are picked perfectly dry. Another serious objection to picking before the dew is gone is that the pickers get so wet that it often results in illness, or they will get tired and quit, leaving the proprietor with his crop of berries to spoil on the vines. Of course, there are wet seasons when it is absolutely necessary to pick the berries wet. In seasons of this kind it is rather difficult to get big prices, because the fruit must be rushed to the consumer at the earliest possible moment. We warn the berry grower to pick no fruit of any kind when it is the leaist bit damp from any cause. But when condi- tions will not permit of doing things the right way, then do the next best thing. Like the father who advised his son to never cheat, but, rather than to be cheated, to cheat a little, we say, never give your customers berries that were picked wet, but rather than let your ber- ries rot, pick them wet. T~*HERE is no question but it pays to * pack berries before placing them on the market. If the berries have been graded in the field by the pickers, put- ting the fancy fruit in quart boxes sepa- rate from the second grade, the packing process is an easy job. All that is neces- sary is to place the top layer attractively If the berries are round in form, they should be placed with stem-ends down which will show only the top ends of the fruit, but if the berries are long, like Haverland, Lovett or Parker Earle, they will present a much better appearance laid on their sides, putting the glossiest side up. This method not only shows the berry to best advantage, but also enough of the green calyx, which adds to their beauty. Small berries look most attractive when top berries are placed in rows with stems down. Several spays of lea\'es placed on top of each crate after the quarts have been placed in it gives the packing a finished appearance. When packing, do not press the ber- ries. Simply lay them in place, and they should be handled carefully so as not to bruise them. IT is an easy thing to get m the wrong way of doing things and there are some don'ts which are well worthy to be considered at this time. Here are ten commandments we all may with profit paste in our hats for occasional reference: Don't set out your plants until your soil is made perfectly fine, and if ma- nured see to it that the manure is thor- oughly incorporated with the soil. Don't stick the tips of the roots in the ground, leaving the crown and part of the roots exposed. Don't set your plants on a ridge; if you do the soil will settle away from the roots. Don't set plants in furrows; for then the dirt will wash down and smother the heart leaves. Don't stick your plants down between clods or in clumps of manure. Don't work a minute in your patch when the ground is wet enough to pack. Don't al'ow weeds and grass to take Page 76 the land given over to the strawberry bed. Don't let your plants crowd each other. Don't throw dirt up against the plants when cultivating. Don't cultivate the plants in a half- hearted way. Scientists tell us plants have sense and know when they are well treated. Don't go deep or close enough to the plants to cut the roots. ^ ^. T^HAT the position of The Strawberry ■^ in the matter of advertising only those lines of business that stand for up- lift and benefit, and permitting no man with a scheme to work or an axe to grind not harmonious to the public welfare to invade its advertising columns, is appreci- ated, we have many substantial evidences. We take pleasure in quoting from a let- ter received from A. M. Grecian, of Flat- rocK, Ind., in which he says: "I feel sure that The Strawberry will be a good advertising medium, and I admire the honest, straight-forward course you are pursuing. Too many business concerns are run simply for the 'almighty dollar,' but I am glad it is possible to do an hon- orable and pleasant business at a fair profit and at the same time be a benefit to mankind in general. I especially ad- mire your method of shutting out all un- Tufts' Sectional Crate Neat in Appearance Well Ventilated Quarts can be Well Filled, Yet No Mashed Fruit Displays fruit to best advantage. Especially adapted to the local market. Investigate. Catalogue Free Elmer G. Tufts, Aurora, Indiana Fruit Paciiages of all Kinds Before ordering your supplies write for our Descriptive Catalogue and Price List. BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO., Erie Co. Berlin Heights, Ohio. Webster Basket Co., Miuiufai'tnivrs of tho BEST WIRE-SEWED BERRY BASKET ON THE MARKET Get our Catalogim and Price beforo ordt-rini; dsmvlicre WEBSTER BASKET CO., Box 4 0. WE BSTE R, Monroe Co., N. Y. Berry- Quarts, $3 per 1,000 IRnQK ffC Hall. M-k's flips, niillo.'k'sBoxes, U a O I\V I O , .|..,,es , Etc . , in stock . Stiiil fin- JAfit. AV. I>. S€»i>er, Jaokson, Midi. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 reliable advertisements." Like the other advertisers we present this month, Mr. Grecian is one whom we talce pleasure in introducing: to our large and growing circle of Strawberry folk. That Family Berry Patch NOW or never, at least never so far as this season goes. Soft southerly gales and April's weeping eyes tell us that spring is here, and it warns us that we must get into action if we are to have that long-anticipated, long-prom- ised, long-hoped-for, strawberry bed in our own back yard, growing big, red, juicy strawberries, our very own and thus sure to be big- ger and sweeter and fresher than any we might secure any- where else in the wide world. It's astonishing how far away spring seems, when we are sitting about t h e glowing hearth, mak- ing cracker-jack and spinning tales of the past or dreaming dreams of future triumphs. Then, all of a sudden, before a fellow has time to think twice, the snow is gone, the frost is out of the earth and the gentle showers and warm sunshine have worked a miracle more mar- velous than any wizard with his magic wand may ever dare to think of doing, and, presto change! — S p r i n g is here, garbed in her loveliest of costumes and with smile so be- witching and so sweet that all mankind do her homage and take new hope and courage in her royal and inspiring presence. And here she is, in this blessed year A. D. 1906 — but where is that family strawberry patch.'' Well, you'll get a few more days of grace if you don't postpone it any longer, for there is time yet in some very exten- sive portions of the country to get in the vines. First thing you do, decide just where you will locate the patch. Very important that, because you will want them near the house for your own con- venience, and, shall we say it.' — to dis- courage those help-themselves fellows to whom a strawberry patch is a temptation all too great to be withstood. A word to the wise is sufficient. And having the patch decided upon, the ne.xt thing to do is to put the soil in- to condition for the reception of the plants and for their development into splendid fruit-bearing power. First there must go over the entire surface a good heavy dressing of manure — it doesn't matter whether it comes from the cow-stable or the horse-barn or the chicken-coop — any will do the land good and store it with the plant food upon which the vines must feed and grow and produce big crops. This must be well A PERFECTLY PACKED BOX OF BERRIES worked into the soil before the plants are set. Then comes thought of the arrange- ment of the plants. As you are to have only a family patch, you will cultivate with the hoe. This will enable you to place the plants closer together than if you were engaging more extensively in the business and contemplated using machinery. However, you musn't crowd them, for the strawberry is condensed sunshine and air in part and requires lots of both to do its best. Suppose we say that the rows should be thirty inches apart, and that the plants be set fifteen inches apart in the row. This will give you ample room 'o work in and allow air Page 77 and sunshine to reach the plants at all points. This brings us to the plants themselves, for, having determined on the size of your plot and the number of rows and the number in the row, you will know exactly how many to order. Need we urge that you get only the best'' We think not; for folk who have the good taste to grow their own strawberries are sure to have the good sense to go about it in the right way. But we warn you that you must not longer delay ordering the plants if you would have those which will give you returns worthy the name. And having good soil and good plants and giving them good cultivation, you will realize the high value and intense de- light of having on your own vines, as a result of your own efforts, an ample supply of the most delicious of fruits in the very best form possible to secure them. No other thing in horticulture compares with it; the cost is nothing, and the pleasure im- measurable. And there is a moral value in thus doing for yourself in these matters that may not he too highly esti- mated, and high physical value in coming in con tac t with mother earth and in the fine exer- cise of the body it involves. We could do no higher service to the world, both town folk and rural folk included, than to impress upon all both the joy and the gain of the family strawberry patch. Don't postpone action another day. Get to work, for, as we have said, 'tis now or never. HERE is a note from the breezy up- lands of the inter-mountain West, and it. is so full of enthusiasm and good cheer that we pass it along that others may catch its hopeful spirit and be re- newed and strengthened for the work that lies before them. The writer is J. S. Bonham, of Rigby, Idaho, a subscriber to The Strawberry', and one who knows an opportunity when he sees it. He says: "If I can get a first-class man to help me I shall do a big business here in the THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 strawberry line. I got 155 cases from one-fourth of an acre. 1 never found such soil as we have here I was raised in \Visconsin where the soil is good, but this beats anything I ever saw. There are few weeds to contend with and no pests at all. If some energetic young fellow will come in with me here we have every opportunity to make a mint of money out of strawberries." Such a wide-open invitation as that ought not re- main unaccepted very long, surely! <^ ^ Strawberries in North Dakota IT is a well-known fact that strawber- ries thrive and yield abundantly in Alaska, in the very shadows, as it were, of the mighty glaciers. And one of the families of the strawberry plant is called the Alpine because it abounds in the higher altitudes of Switzerland. Yet many intelligent people persist in doubt- ing the possible success of strawberry culture in the Dakotas — a doubt every year dispelled by the abundance and fine quality of the berries produced in both of these states. This question was interestingly treated upon in the recent meeting of the Tri- State Growers' convention held at Fargo, N. D. The three states included are Minnesota and North and South Dakota. In that convention Fred Heath of Fargo, made an interesting address upon his ex- periences with strawberries, in the course of which he said: The question often is asked. Can strawberry culture in North Dakota be made a successful industry.'' Is our soil and climate adapted to the raising of this delicious fruit.'' Is it a crop that can at all be depended upon.? These were the questions on which I wanted light and as I didn't want to throw good money after bad 1 decided that the experience of the college [North Dakota Agricultural Col- lege, which is located at Fargo] should be the guiding star to determine my course, and so I waited and watched and waited. In the meantime to my certain knowledge the college had raised four good crops of strawberries thus giving proof enough one would think to convert any doubting Thomas. At any rate, I made up my mind to throw aside my pessimism and get down to doing some- thing." Mr. Heath was met by a cold and wet spring, which resulted in giving him something of a backset. But he evidently followed correct cultural methods, if we may judge by results secured from his acre and a half of plants. He says: 'We commenced harvesting our crop about June 28, the harvesting lasting un- til July 20. My crop yielded about ninety crates per acre or going a total of 135 crates which sold for $480. The fruit was large, solid, attractive and of excellent flavor. I do not think that any Hallock's Two-Horse «*6„. _ ^ Elevator Digger PATENTED AND PATENT APPLIEDPOR PntQtn rirriM/Prc! ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ °"'" competitors' rULdlU VjlUWCloI agents are defaming our O. K. Well, we seek a better acquaintance, and will be pleased to enter a field contest any- where east of the Mississippi river on condition that each and every competitor shall place $100 in the hands of the owner of the field, to be awarded to the competitor adjudged as having the highest degree of merit by judges chosen, one by each compet- itor, and three other men acceptable to all competitors. WHO WILL ARRANGE FOR SUCH A CONTEST? Guaranteed as Good as the Best D. Y. HALLOCK & SONS, Li YORK, PA. We have a Rich Field for Agents Planet Jr. Garden Tool Quality. Half a million users regard the Planet Jr. line as the most practical, durable and dependable garden tools made. They stand the test of time, because "quality" is the Planet Jr. watchword. They wear well and give perfect satisfaction wherever used. Plane! Jr. No. 17 is a particularly valuable tool. It is the best of our single wheel hoes, carefully tested by practical men and the latest approved pattern, with the greatest variety of tools we have ever offered. Frame is stroni? and convenient, having a quick change device which permits tools to be changed without removing nuts. Planet Jr. Harrow, Cultivator and Pulverizer is a great favorite with strawberry growers, market gardeners and farmers, because the twelve chisel shaped teeth do such thorough, fine, close work without throwing earth on small plants. The pulverizer used with the lever wheel enables the operator to set the tool exactly to any desired depth. The Planet Jr. line includes Seeders. Wheel Hoes, Horse Hoes, Harrows, Riding Cultiva- tors, (one or two row), Beet and Orchard Cultivators, etc.. 45 in all. ^Farmers as well as gardeners need our 1%6 book, which fully illustrates the machines at work both at home and abroad. Mailed free, L. Allen & Company, BoxlWED, PtaUadelpbla. Pa. 33 Years Selling Direct Our vehicles and harness hnve been sold direct from our factory to u~erlorathird of acentury. We ship for ex- amination and approval and gruaranteesafe delivery. You are outnotbm^ if not satisfied as to Btyle. quality and pi ice. We are the Largest Manufacturers in the World sellina; to the con- sumer exclusively. We make^irostylea of Vehicles, 65 t^tyles of Harness. !l^logaer''° "'" ELKHART CARRIAGE t HARNESS MFG. CO., No, 331. Canopy Top Surrey. Price complete, |66. JO. As t'ood as telis lor SiJo. more. No. 647- Top Bucrtrv. Price complete, IIO.UO. As good as sells for C25. more ELKHART, INDIANA. Page 78 f H THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 finer berries were shipped into Fargo dur- ing the entire season, even from tiie Hood river country. Before taking my seat I want to say that my interest in strawberry culture dates baclc to 1880 when I first came to this country. I read and studied a good deal on the subject, but it ended just where it began. In the meantime I have paid out several hundred dollars for fruit, a large percentage of which, by the time it reached here, was hardly fit for use, when at the same time with a very little trouble I could have been raising the most delicious fruit and plenty of it in my own garden. I believe there is scarcely a section of land in the Red River valley but in some parts of which good crops of strawberries could be raised. The land from which I harvested my crop has no natural advantages over the ordinary prairie land in regard to natural drainage, the fertility of the soil, or pro- tection, and any man that can raise good corn or good potatoes can with a little variation raise good strawberries. And to those who intend to start a bed let me say, select a clean piece of ground, having fairly good drainage. Put on a liberal coat of manure, plow and work down fine, get good, healthy plants, and if throughout the season you will do your part I venture to prophecy that very soon you will raise the most delicious fruit and prove to the doubting Thomases who have said that we can't raise fruit in North Dakota that in making that state- ment they have been committing a gross libel against the country and didn't know the possibilities of North Dakota as a fruit-growing state." We ha\e heard what the governor of North Carolina said to the governor of South Carolina. We suggest that the governor of North Dakota might say to the governor of North Carolina a much more important and beneficial word. He might say, for instance, in the days of June and July, when the South no longer enjoys the cooling and health-giving strawberr)': "Let's take a strawberrj', grown on the broad and fertile prairies of North Dakota, so close to the north pole that Aurora Borealis paints the sky at night with its effulgent glories — a straw- berry so solid that we can ship it under refrigeration to the Florida Keys under the hottest July sun, and sweet and rich of flavor beyond compare." And we make no doubt that the gov- ernor of South Carolina and all his peo- ple would be glad if the enterprising folk of the North state should set up com- merce of this sort with them. ^ <^ PJIGURE up what poor quality and *■ slim quantity strawberries cost you last year and, our word for it, you will be disgusted with yourself for going so long without your own patch, with its ample supply of cool, fresh, high-flavored ber- ries ready on demand to give yourself and friends such a treat as nothing else in the world may supply. Better consider this now before it is too late to remedy. UNITED we win, divided we fail, is a good pharaphrase of that old-time and true aphorism, which our forefathers so aptly employed to bring about a union of the states. Our strawberry friends ought to recognize in the thought a great source of power, and apply it immedi. ately to the cure of untoward conditions. A few days ago our strawberry friends on the Kansas City Southern railway rose up in protest against the rates charged for service. Instead of rushing about as individuals, raining execrations upon the heads of the railway manage- ment, these wise growers got together, formulated their reasons for complain' and their demands for reform, and went unitedly to the railroad company. They were met in the spirit in which they Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days lest trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. . On the farm it proves especially valuable for operatmg teed gnnders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROW FACTORY TO DUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical m construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This; Lyons Enoine Company, Lyons, Mich. Gentlemen:-: am about to parcha.se agas orgaso- line engine for mrnoses and wi.-ih you to send me full particulars ibnut your approval oner as a.lyertispd in The Stra IV- icrrv Yours very truly. berry. Name To\vn. strict No. orP. O.Box_ R. F. n When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. LTONS ENGINE COSTPANT, Lyons, Blichlgan. Pa«e 79 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 came; their grievances were considered, their requests were, in the main, granted. After all, lailroad men are human, and like the rest of us, amenable to plain talk and the spirit of fair play. Another thing, the power of a united movement, when it is just, is altogether out of proportion to the number of individuals interested; by that we mean to say, for instance, that one hundred men. acting for a certain purpose as individuals will accomplish nothing in comparison to the same men acting unitedly for that cause. That is one reason for the existence of society it- self. We should use this power of union to its full. When we do there will be little left of which to complain. '^ ^ ■pvON'T forget that good resolution '-^ you made last June that, come what would, you should set out a nice lot of strawberry plants in the spring of 1906. The time is here when you should be putting that resolution into practical ef- fect if ever you are to do it. First thing to do now is to order your plants, or run the risk of getting varieties that are not your first choice if you postpone this sim- ple action. Then see to it that the plot you are to use is liberally covered with stable manure, well-rotted if it be pos- sible to secure it so. And as soon as the soil is in condition get to work fining it with hoe and rake into an ideal state for the plants. These things done, you have started out on a successful career as a strawberry culturist. Follow it up with good cultural methods and that success will be assured. YJ^HILE there is no doubt that the " leguminous crops, with the aid of bacteria, will supply all the nitrogen re- quired for extensive agriculture, there al- ways will be a large demand for nitrates for use by fruitmen and trucksters. This lends large interest to a piece of news that comes from Norway. Near Chris- tiania in that country, we are informed, the enormous water power is made use of for the manufacture of nitric acid from the nitrogen of the air. It is a long- known fact that an electric spark will cause the combination of nitrogen and oxygen. It is said that in the experi- mental trials a yield of 205 tons of nitric acid was obtained with 500 horse-power, and the factory is now proceeding with 5,000 horse-power to multiply the pro- duction ten-fold, and the utilization of 500,000 horse-power is regarded as pos- sible. A production of 250,000 tons of nitric acid would form strong competitirn for nitrate of soda. Nitrate of lime is to be prepared, the effect of which, for ma- nurial purposes is supposed to be equal to that of sodium nitrate, and, according to latest investigations, is supposed even to excel it. Nature isn't likely to "runout." Strawberries IF you believe the plants you plant cut any figure in the results; if you think think the best is none too good for you, and cheap- est in the end, and if you want to be sure of getting the variety you buy, in a condition to make the most for you, I ask you to investigate THE PLANTS I GROW I don't claim to sell you plants cheaper than anybody else. I am not competing vi'ith the man whose stock has nothing but cheapness to recommend it, and it is not to your interest to buy that kind. My claim is that I am producing the best, strongest, most vigorous and most prolific plants that can be grown in a favored strawberry climate and that I am selling them at a reasonable price. ONE HUNDRED VARIETIES About every kind that has ever proved its right to be grown in any locality. Of course I especially recommend the weW known varie- ties that are standard everywhere, among them being Virginia, Chesa- peake, Cardinal. Commonwealth, North Shore. Oaks Early. New York. Glen Mary. Stephen's Champion, etc. But select your own \'arieties and I will send plants to please you. MY 60- PAGE CATALOGUE Is free and gives all particidars. Also lists leading varieties in Cab- bage. Cantaloupe. Tomatoes, Field Corn, etc. Tested novelties and Standard Garden, Field and Agricultural Implements. Don't fail to write for a copy. W. F. ALLEN, '%' SALISBURY, Md. PIONEER GUARANTEED NURSERY STOCK AT WHOLESALE PRJCES.! All stock giiaranteed disease free and true to name. Hart Pioneer Stock is pure bred and produces heavy crops. Talue received for every dollar sent us. No Agent's Commission. WRITE FOR COnPLETE PRICE LIST. WE WILL SAVE YOU HONEY. HART PIONEER NURSERIES, ^'''^'' Fort Scott, Kan. We grow our HARDY "BLIZZARD BELT" EVERGREENS by the million. I They are healthy, well rooted, vigorous. To prove it, we offer 13 choice I sprucea and pines i; years old, entirely free to property owners reading I this advertisement. Mailing expenwe 5c, which send or | not as vou please. A postal will bring them. Our CATA- LOGUE, containing 4-i colored plates of our HARDY "BLIZZARD BELT" Fruits, Evergreens, Ornamentals, etc., with amine of valuiitilc infornKition for fruit growers, free for the asking. | Write to-day. This t>ffiLT may be with' Ira wn later on. THE GARDNER NURSERY COMPANY, BOX 802, OSAGE, IOWA | Twelve Evergreens Free Page 80 Breeding New Varieties of Strawberries By S . H . Warren MARSHALL P. WILDER once said that "He who produces a new fruit or flower is a pubHc benefactor," but I shall have to make some exceptions to this saying of our noted friend and horticulturist. When I think of some of the new strawberries that have been disseminated during the last fifty years, I doubt if all of them have been a benefit to anyone; although, perhaps where they originated they may have been a success. I am well aware that some of the varieties which have done poorly with me may have done well with others. Most new varieties are started from the seed. A single berry with two hun- dred seeds will produce, if all live, two hundred new varieties. Most of these may be multiplied by runner production, others by crown separation, as the latter do not make runners, but grow in stools. The artist, in preparing his paint for a certain color, puts together a little of one shade and a little of some other, then mixes them; each addition changes the color. So, in like manner, the Great Ar- tist employs the insects to mix together the pollen from the blossoms of the vari- ous qualities of the strawberry and to de- posit it in the receptacles or seed tubes of other blossoms. The mixing of each ad- dition changes the quality of the product from the seed. Watch the busy bee as he flies from blossom to blossom, till he has visited hundreds of flowers. Some of these plants produce fruit that is very acid, other that is very sweet, still other of a medium quality, and so on through all the various flavors. From all of these he has made a collection and a deposit of this mixture. The deposit may not have been intentional on the part of the bee, but it has been done. The next bee or butterfly may visit other varieties and some of the same, each adding to the variety already collected; so it is not strange that each seed should produce a product peculiar to itself. This is the result of promiscuous fertilization. But to procure the best results a plant of your ideal pistillate, also one of your ideal staminate, varieties should be separated from all other varieties, so that when in bloom there shall be no other variety to cross-fertilize but the one you desire. If these two plants set near each other they will fertilize themselves, but if not, the pollen should be applied with a camel's hair brush. When the berries are perfectly ripe they may be picked and the seed washed out of the pulp in water. By rubbing the berries between your hands the seed will settle to the bottom. Drain off the water and pulp and dry the seed, then bottle and cork it so no in- sect can get at the seed to destroy it, or plant at once. We plant the seed in February so as to get stronger plants be- fore being allowed to fruit. If planted in July it will bear fruit the following June, but the plants will not be as strong as if planted in February. In preparing the soil for the seed u.se good, rich soil from the garden and mix one-third sand with it. I use a box three and one-half inches deep; put in three inches of the prepared earth; press it with a board so as to leave a smooth surface, then sow the seed evenly over the sur- face, press with the board, cover with earth one-sixteenth of an inch and press again, then water and cover with a wet cotton cloth. The seed germinates in about three weeks; when the young plants show the fourth leaf they should be transplanted into other boxes or open ground. All runners should be cut off as fast as thev r '-^ The Entire Editions of Both the January and February Numbers of The Strawberry ARE EXHAUSTED This annnouncement is made because of the flood of requests that is pour- ing in upon this office for copies of the issues named. ^= =J appear to get the best results. If you have done your part well, you may hope to get some good seedlings, but often we are disappointed. You may be sure of getting >iirw varieties, but better varieties are not so certain. For the last several years I have been growing new varieties from seed. Some of the first seedlings I grew were grown from Jewells crossed with Belmonts, or as Belmonts stood next to Jewells, I called them a Jewell and Belmont cross. I had a nice bed of Jewells, but the fruit stood one day too long on the vines and, it being a wet time, many of the berries began to decay. These berries were put into separate baskets as we picked them, and dumped near the packing shed. Most of them were very large. Later in the season I gathered a lot of the seed out of the pile, for there were forty quarts emptied there, sowed it in boxes and transplanted it to the open field. The result was that out of two hundred and fifty plants that lived I selected thirty that were better than many others I had ?%it 81 paid high prices for. Yes, I will say bet- ter than the average of the standard vari" eties that are grown in Massachusetts. I have taken great pleasure in growing these seedlings, watching them from the time the seed first breaks ground till it gives us its first fruit. To get the best results we must have strong, healthy plants to start with. Be careful to sa\e the seed from strong, healthy stock, for the same rule holds as good in plant life as in animal life. Formerly I have said that all new vari- eties were produced from seed; but since the introduction of the Pan-American I no longer make that assertion, for that or- iginated from a sport from the Bismarck by bud variation. The Pan-American was first discovered six or seven years ago last September. The originator was walking over his Bismarck bed in New York state and found the parent plant with sixteen young runner plants all producing either green or ripe fruit and blossoms. From these seventeen plants this new variety has been propagated so that nearly every plant produces fruit out of the regular season of the common varieties. I have grown them three years and they are a wonder to all who see them in the fall. Most people who have tried them complain they do not make enough new plants; but if grown on black, moist soil, they will produce plants enough. Where mine do the best is on a reclaimed swamp (black muck land). If you have any var- iety which is a poor plant maker use this kind of land to propagate the plants, and there will be no trouble in getting all the plants needed. Many of the older straw- berry growers remember the Jewell strawberry introduced by P. M. Auger of Connecticut. They were a poor plant maker on dry soil. The first hundred plants I bought (for which I paid ten dollars) of the Jewell were the largest, best-looking plants I ever saw. These I set in rows next to Belmonts which cov- ered the ground too thick, although they were set four feet apart; but the Jewells didn't average three new plants to the parent plant. Late in the fall I took up some of the very small plants (tip-enders) that I feared would not live over winter, and set them in a cold frame under glass and wintered them there. The follow- ing spring I set these tip-enders on my reclaimed swamp, and the plants covered the ground as thick as a mat. Since then 1 am not afraid to set small plants (par- ticularly of those varieties that are poor plant makers), for the tip-enders of these varieties will produce more runner plants than the large overgrown plants of that same variety. What is there about a small-end plant that is so objectionable with most peo- ple.^ You say, "it is too small." But so THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 The Old Reliable New American Cultivator Sold on an Entirely New Plan. We Let You Test it on Your Own Farm a Full Month— FREE PROBABLY no Riding Cultivator is so well and favorably known to the farmers of this country, from East to West and from North to South, as the New American. We have sold them for many years and they have always given and are now giv- ing splendid satisfaction. Now we are offering this Old Reliable New American Cultivator on an entirely new plan. We have been selling to the dealers, but, realizing that we could serve our real customers, the farmers, to bet- ter advantage if we were doing business with them direct, we recently changed our Entire Sales Organization, and are now selling all the product of our Factory direct to the farmers who use the machines. The New American Spring Tooth Cultivator is a suc- cess because the Lock Levers positively control the Teeth. Spring Teeth are ideal for all kinds of cultivation — they vibrate in the soil, they break up the lumps and scatter the fine soil loosely over the surface, they do not pack the soil but pick it up and let light and air, life and vigor into it. They do not merely plow through the land leaving it in ridges, but cultivate ail the surface^ leaving it fine and level. But, to do good work, they must be controlled by ma- chinery. The vibration which makes them so valuable to the soil, makes it impossible to hold them securely by hand or foot. That is where the New American Culti- vator does its part. Notice the little wheels from which the sections hang. See the bars on which they roll. These bars are Locked securely in any position in which they are placed, by the LOCK LEVERS which are within easy reach from the seat. The sections roll from side to side with entire freedom; a boy can guide them easily, and they do not swing up out of the ground, but are always doing the same level cultivating. We furnish a Center Section with 5 teeth with each Spring Tooth Cultivator. This makes a splendid Har- row for fitting your ground. We can also supply Broad- cast Seeder Attachment, or Bean Harvester Attachment, or both. Now we have only just touched upon one good point of the New American Cultivator. There are many more, and they are all explained in our Cultivator Book, which we want to send you. Our Liberal Proposition And we want, not only to send you the Book which tells about the good points on our Cultivator, but we want to send you the machine itself, so that you can find out for yourself about its merits. We will send you a New American Cultivator on trial at our own expense. You needn't even stand the freight. Simply send us a trial order for the New American Cultivator, and we will ship one to your railroad station, freight prepaid. You don't pay us anything. We don't ask you to make any de- posit. You just take the Culti- vator home and use it a month FREE on your own farm. Give it a good slif! test. Cultivate wjih it just as if it was your own. If you don't find it exactly as represented —if it don't show up to be all we claim, take it to the railroad station and tell the agent to ship it back to us at our expense. The use you have had of it won't cost you a penny. ' If the Cultivator is as repre- sented you can pay as suits your convenience. We will allow you any reasonable time. How's ^^^^^^^^^^^^^" that for a fair proposition? You see we are not new in the agricultural implement business. We have been making Cultivators about as long as any house in existence. Our capital is large enough to enable us to buy mater- ials in quantity. We don't buy anything but the best. The machinery in our factory is all high-grade. We have all the latest labor-saving devices. Our men have been with us for years. They know Cultivators from the ground up, and can make them just right every time. This means the finest Cultivators that can be turned out. And at lowest cost consistent with the high standard of quality we maintain. It means that when you buy a New American you get a hundred cents worth of Cultivator for every dollar you invest. You Buy from the Makers We sell our entire output direct to the farmers. Doing business this way keeps us in close touch with the users of our cultivators. If you need new parts at any time, or there is anything you want to know, all you have to do is to write to us direct. You know where to find us. We know who you are. You get q*jick attention, and all your dealings are direct with the Maker who knows all about your machine. If you want to try a New American on this offer of ours you ought to write to us at once. The direct to you, 30 days* FREE test, and long-time terms plan is bring- ing us hosts of orders, and we are already working over- time to supply the demand. Our New American Culti- vator Book tells the rest of the story about the New American Cultivator and it tells all about the New Plan on which we are selling it. Just say in a letter or on a postal card, '"Send me your New Cultivator Book", and you will receive it by return mail, with full particulars about our Liberal Free Test and On Time propositions. Address - American Harrow Co., 4536 Hastings Street, DETROIT, - - - - MICHIGAN were the largest ones small at first. I am not now referring to those small plants which grew in the bed as thick as the hairs on a dog's back, but the small plants that grow at the end of the run- ners. The large stocky plants have their fruit in an embryo form started in them and this fruit prevents them from making the most plants. But the smaller ones are the plant-makers. Please keep in mind that we are speaking particularly about those varieties that are notably poor plant makers, and I now repeat that the small plants of these varieties will pro- duce more runner plants than the large, stocky plants of the same variety. Plenty of water and stable manure will grow plants on most any soil. Weston, Mass. FREE strawberries for Canada are asked for in a bill introduced into Congress by Representaiive Thomas, of North Carolina. There is now a duty of two cents a pound on strawberries and other berries imported into Canada from the United States. This doesn't do the Canadians any particular good, and it hurts the market for the American fruit. Mr. Thomas wants the president author- ized to make a treaty with King Edward by which this duty would be removed. Reports From the Field THE situation as regards strawberry production is quite as cheerful as could be desired. Away down South "in the land of cotton" a recent cold wave did considerable damage to the crop, and reports from Louisiana and North Carolina estimate the damage in some sections to represent about 30 per cent of the crop. Florida has been eat- ing and shipping the fruit since early February, and all along the gulf and away over in Texas the same pleasant ex- perience has been had for weeks. In the neighborhood of Wilmington, N. C, the world's most wonderful strawberry cen- ter, they are counting upon shipping 2,250 carloads, or 18,000,000 quarts, during the season, estimated to be worth to the producers about $3,000,000. The P»tv" tloessuth go.xi w. irk— why it hatches' ^■• rn;iiiy :ui(lso;rO(id< hii-k . -"• *^1' —why It IS soeiisy tn np .rut.— whyit i^ so eo.. tinnilcul. It's sold on 40. U —f-J J ll (VinrWdaystiial.freiirht a li fi pifpaiii. W>nte tit UH. 8 We Pay I] * M. M. Johnson Co., ' the y (.i/ijd-nl.T. S.-},. Freight, f Let Me Tell You The Special Price On thisGeuuiue 19U0_ Oliathani luoubator. If yoQ say bo we wend it to| jou at our eiponse to try 84 I days. You see it ^ you see it I work. If notentirely satisfied, 1 return it at our expense. We I return your money and ask no I question^. Anyway send for I free catalogue. Find out about * it. then try it. Write today The MaasoQ Campbell Co.Lld.282WessoaAve.Detrolt.Mlch. BUY YOUR STOCK AND EGGS OF A SPECIALIST MY WYANDOTTES ARE WHITE AND STAY WHITE And are unsurpassed as e^ig machines or table poultry. I have bred them exclusively for nine yearn, and spared neither time or expense in perfecting my strain. Kggs $2 per 15; $5 per 45; $10 per 100. <_'urri_-spoiidi_'n(jL- invited. A. M. OKKCIAN. FLAT ROCK, 1N1>1A^A. 10 n/tfOR THIS. liSI 200 ecG PERFECT ^m. ' mCKR d BROODCR W/oo E$^ Sfze s6 Brooders S3 \B.PRoc/nipile a scrap-book on a special subject.' Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- ing club or elsewhere: paper or essay iu a literary club, or anything of that nature? The t'iisiest, surest, quickest, most economical way is to scrui-e the ser%'iees of our hu ::<■ stuff of trained readers. Send $;i.00 for a spc.-ial ti-iiil mnnth. United States Press Clij 13tli Floor Kepublir IJld^j. Kend stamp for booklet. Iiiiiy: Hurean, C'liicaKO, 111. To Strawberry Growers We are offering a high grade concentrated fertilizer, utilizing Pure Animal matter as a base. Dried Blood, Bone and Meat Tankage have fully demonstrated in the soil that they are the best plant foods known. The guaranteed analysis of 200 lbs. Bwift's Blood & Bone ertilizer Swift's Strawberry Special Ammonia, Available Phosphoric Acid, Available Potash, Actual Kz O - Equal to Sulphate of Potash 4 Per cent 9 Per cent. 10 Percent. 18.50 Per cent. produces early and strong growth of plant, better setting of fruit and a full development of crop. Makes top market prices. In considering your soil management for this season it will pay you Manufactured by % \ to get full information and prices from our nearest dealer. if t &: Company A Better still — address us direct. Sign your ^^^^^^^^^\ name to coupon, cut out and send to us and \J,m we will send in addition to the desired ^"^""^ information, a copy of our new 1906 Fertilizer Book. Swift & Company, U. S. A. Page 84 A Honey-moon Strawberry Enterprise By Cora June Sheppard With llluslralions f rom Pholographs by the Author A SHILOH, NEW JERSEY, STRAWBERRY BED THE first money I ever earned was by picking strawberries at two cents a quart. That was when I was a very little girl. Father had a patch and hired pickers. My two older broth- ers picked for pay and I wanted to do the same. It was a cross to me in those days not to be allowed to just pull the berries off, instead of cutting the stems with the fin- ger nails. I thought the pulling process was the fastest and I wanted to make all the money I could — a habit that has stuck to me. Wasn't I happy when there were several bo.xes full to carry up! The record was kept on a shingle. Oft- times my mother took the berries to mar- ket The crates were loaded in the cov- ered market wagon and a gentle horse put in the shafts — she drove to the near- est town, and from there they were sent to the city by boat. Now that the dear mother has passed away and I find myself in a home of my own with all its problems to face, I sometimes wish I could go back to those happy, care-free days. At the old home on the farm we did not tire of strawberries if we had them three times a day, and mother would can sixty or seventy quart-cans each season. How eageily we watched for the first berries each spring! iMy eagerness would hardly allow me to wait until the berry was red all over. I was married in June 1904, and one of the first things thought of for future pleasure and profit was a little strawberry patch. So in a small space between our barn and the neighbor's 135 plants were set out. While the work was being done by the husband after his regular occupa- tion was finished, I sat in a lawn swing nearby and we laughed and talked. This patch we call our honey-moon patch. The next season it repaid many fold the time and trouble of putting it out. Our table was supplied all the season and there were berries to spare. We did not let them waste, however, but gave them away. A number of quarts were canned. Before we realized how nicely the honey-moon patch was going to yield a second patch of four rows was put out. All our gardening is done after the regular work hours. Getting one's hands and feet in close contact with mother earth is the best society we need; the contact is healthful and life-giving. When Patch No. 2 was made I dropped the plants — but not as a bare- foot girl, as was my first experience on the farm of my childhood. The dark caught us and the last row was completed entirely by feeling and not seeing. Not a plant died. All grew and grew and the people, as they passed, marveled at their beauty. After the ground was frozen a covering of manure was placed on them. They are not now a thing of beauty, but we are enjoying in anticipation the delicious berries that will come forth with the ad- vent of the warm l\Iay sunshine. To the Jersey man a strawberry patch is like a good gold mine — it is very profit- able. Why there are so many poor people I cannot understand, when there is so much land and money to be made therefrom, if one will give a little time and labor to the cultivation of the strawberry. Shiloh, N.J. ^ ^ THE vast possibilities of plant breed- ing can hardly be estimated, says Luther Burbank. It would not be diffi- cult for one man to breed a new rj'e, PICKERS AND PACKERS IN THE FIELDS OF WALTER L. MINCH, SHILOH, NEW JERSEY P««e 85 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 wheat, barle\', oats or rice which would produce one grain more to each head, or a corn which would produce an extra kernel to each ear, a potato that will add another potato to each plant, or an apple, plum, orange or nut to each tree. What would be the result? In five staples only in the United States alone, the inexhaustible forces of nature would produce annually without effort and with- out cost 5,200,000 extra bushels of corn, 15,000,000 of wheat, 20,000,000 of oats, 1,500,000 of barley, 21,000,000 of pota- toes. But these vast possibilities are not alone for one year, or for our own time or race, but are beneficent legacies for every man, woman and child who shall ever inhabit the earth. Another Amateur's Experience By Ada B. F. Parsons I HAVE advocated patronizing home industries with much enthusiasm all my life, but some recent annoying experiences have led me to undergo a change of feeling and a few more similar ones will effect a thorough conversion. A catalogue from a well-known strawberry farm found its way to my reading table and it found me in a receptive mood. The attractive pages, so full of instruction, convinced me that I wanted to experi- ment with some of the varieties described therein. Two years before I had ventured with fear and trembling into strawberry cul- ture. Two hundred plants from our home nursery were transplanted and tended with all possible care. They grew and promised everything one could wish. The bed was a perfect beauty and we counted the days until we should reap a harvest. The "gude mon" even bought an extra Jersey cow on the strength of his belief in these promises. The children were promised strawbern,- shortcake and Jersey cream to their heart's content. Well, it would not be fair to say we were disappointed; far from it, we picked altogether two hundred quarts and were it not characteristic of human nature to always be wanting more in this world we might have been content. "Aye there's the rub. In this patch there were three little spots, of perhaps a half-dozen vines each, which grew berries equal to the pictures in the catalogue afore mentioned. We always carried a dish to the patch in which to pick these separately to show to the neighbors, and while our backs were almost breaking in picking the small ber- ries that resembled in size the wild ber- ries, we couldn't help being provoked at ourselves, our nurseryman and everyone in general because we hadn't known enough to buy all big varieties. The possibilities of a patch such as ours, of the fancy varieties could hardly be com- prehended, and our work would have been identically the same. The fact that we had the only straw- berries in the neighborhood and that all who came and shared them with us re- solved henceforth to grow their own hardly compensated us for not knowing how to have had better ones. But ex- perience, coupled with the information found in the catalogue, made the way clear, and I called up our nurseryman over the 'phone. I was "chock full" of queries as to varieties and his ability to furnish me just so many of each and I would know this time exactly what I was doing. But like a dash of cold water was his courte- ous reply that he could furnish and guar- antee no separate varieties; that he had not found it practicable in the past to keep them separate since so many people didn't understand the principle of mating, etc.! Such theories to come from a nursery- man who virtually controls the supply of the entire county is absurd, inconsistent and very discouraging, when you reflect how many people will buy of him, ex- periment a season or two and eventually give up in despair and declare that they have no luck growing strawberries. What a boon to the farm world it would be if The Strawberry could be placed in the hands of every farmer who has any aspirations towards living up to his privi- leges! If he would allow himself to be- come convinced that no more effort is re- Use this American Manure Spreader -%aj^ TO PROVE ALL THE CLAIMS WE MAKE FOR IT WE sell direct to you. We sell direct to you because we are able to give you much better value for your money than we otherwise could, and a better understanding of your machine than any one else could. We always keep in close touch with our customers. They tell us what our Spreaders are doing. Sometimes they surprise even us. We find out just what it means to countless farmers to own a Manure Spreader that will double the value of every bit of manure put on their land. The American Manure Spreader will do this because it breaks up and pulver- izes all the manure so that it mixes readily with the soil. It distributes evenly. Every square foot of land gets its share. This means a good crop all over the field. You don't find any "skinned" places in a field manured with the Ameri;an Spreader. But we don't ask you to take any hearsay evidence. We want you to find out tor yourself what our Miinure Spreader will do. So we make you this remarkable offer. We will send you one of our Spreaders on trial and prepay the freight. Use it a month on your own farm. If you find it exactly as we have re pre- sented, after the month's free trial, you can settle for the machine on terms convenient for you. But,\t the American Manure Spreader is not what we claim, send it back at our expense. You don't owe us any- thing. The trial don't cost you a penny. The month's use you have had of the Spreader is FREE. Could we do more to prove to you that the American Manure Spreader is what we say? Would we dare to make such an offer if we didn't know what our Spreader will do? Remember — when you deal with us, you are doing business with an independent concern. AMERICAN HARROW CO., 4533 Hastings St. Detroit, Mich. We do not belong to any Trust or Conibinaiion. And by our plan of making and s&W- ing direct, you get a dollars' worth of Manure Spreader for every dollar you pay. You see we make more Manure Spreaders than any other concern in the world. We own and operate the largest fac- tory ever built for this purpose. It is equipped with every modern labor-saving device. All our machinery is up-to-date — the very "latest im- proved". This means the best possible machines at the lowest possible cost. The American Manure Spreader is today an example of the very highest development in modern agricultural implements. It is absolutely up-to-date. The principles upon which it is con- structed are sensible and practical. There are no complicated parts to get out of order. It is simple, and carefully constructed. And you take as much time as you require to pay for the Spreader after you have used it A MONTH FREE. The Spreader may earn its own cost, before you send us a shilling:. Will you be as fair with us as we are will- ing" to be with you ? Will ; ou send for information of our gener- ous proposition today ? Even though you do not wish to buy now, send for particulnrs. Some day you may wish to buy, and then knowledge of our ^e\vScIlin:-l' Plan will come in handy. You will know h'nv to save money. If you will tell us how much land you own, and how many horses, cattle, sheep and tiogrs you keep, we will grive you the Govern- ment statistics as to the value of your manure crop. Write to us today. Put down this paper and write before the matter has a chance to slip yoar memory. Address at once— Page 86 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1 906 WANTED-IOOO OF THE STRAWBERRY GROWERS TO TEST DOERR'S YELLOW DENT CORN In loot;. Orii:iii;it.'d hv us in liMlL'. Stands without a successful rival in thi- com Im-K to- day. We start you with four pounds scd. de- livered at your door bv U. S. mail for .f 1 .00 Kiioiisli to ffrow'35 to 40 bushels. Why not test it I We are in earnest in the mat - ter. and L'ive you the Harvel Bank as refer- ence as to our reliabilitj". A. T. DOERR & SON, - - - HARVEL, ILLINOIS Lari;.;- circular FREE. Writ.- f.ir it NEW YEOETABLE^ WONDER ASinsatlonal Discovery Silver King Hardy Celery 3 crops in one season. First crop t-arly in May. Rout hardy, everlasting-. Multiitliea rapidly like asparag'us and guaranteed a3 represented. A^^ents make $5 to $l'0 a day. TREES by the million. Northern grrown, 700 acres. Buy frnm the Bi^ Nurs- eries. Agents wanted. Cash I'ai'l weekly. Greeninj? Fruit Buck, 25c. Write t«"iav. THE OREENINQ NURSERY COMPANY 28 Haple St., Monroe, Michigan. DEWBERRIES After Strawberries, the best paying crop the small fruit grower can raise Write about Plants and Culture to T. H. Smallwood, 'k"!? Fort Scott, Kas. The Best Fruit Paper is The Fruit-Ornwer. published monthly at St. Joseph. Mo. Tlie ret'uliir subscription price is a dollar a Year butifyu will write for freesaniplecopv and mention this paper. y..u will receive a prup..sitiiin wlierclivyou may secure it one year WITHOUT (_'< >ST. Everyone who has a few fruit trees or a garden, should read ST JOSEPH. MISSOURI Every is^-ue is handsomely illustrated and from 'i-: to 64 pages a month are filled with intci estini; nintter per- taininu to fruit-pinwiny and Kanien- intr. The first four issues of 1906 willbe hands-'ine special nunibeis devoted to tin- follnwinpr subjects: — Januarj', The Mi'i-ticultui-al Societies; February. S|ii;iyintr; March. Oardeninp; April. Snuill Fmits. Any one of these nuin- hits will be worth a dullar to yuu. We pulilivh the "Druthcr Jciiathah Series" TRAi'K M vHK "f fiiiit h-.oks. Send your name and Beo. Jo.s'ATUAN learn how to secure these books free. Fruit-Grower (q. 167 S. 7th, St. Joseph, Mo. quired to raise all the strawberries he could possibly consume than the patch of cabbage he always raises, how much bet- ter fed would his family be. There is a host of my co-workers who like myself will learn from a careful study of The Strawberry the things that willenable us to become experts in berry culture, and Three Rivers will become a familiar household word in homes whose inmates now could hardly locate it on the map. That it has a big field before it, and a very useful one, is clearly to be seen, and its success already is assured. Fairfield, la. A NYONE who doubts that there is ■'»• money in bee-keeping need only to look up statistics on the honey crop of the United States to find out what a great marketable article honey is. In the year 1900 the total amount of capital invested in bees in the United States was $10,- 196,000. The returns from the National honey crops that same year were $6,665,- 000 — a dividend of 65 per cent on the amount invested. What other crop pays this rate of interest? At a recent conven- tion of the bee-keepers of the state of Massachusetts — the fact was revealed that only forty tons of honey is raised an- nually in that state, while the amount of honey consumed each twelve months amounts to more than 200 tons. Honey always is a ready seller, and the price per pound averages anywhere from 12 to 20 cents, depending upon the locality and quality. A good hive of bees in the av- erage locality will produce about 75 pounds of honey per year and pay 50 per cent on the investment the first season. Get posted on bee-keeping if you seek a pleasant and profitable occupation, writes T. P. Hallock of Medina Ohio npHAT the people of the South are •^ quite as willing to pay for good strawberries as are Northerners is indi- cated by the prices paid down there for early berries this season. The first four crates to reach Houston, Texas, for in- stance, netted the grower $52.05, and thirty-six crates that followed netted $380. We repeat what we said in The Strawberry for February, that the North- ern growers of late berries, could, if they FRUITMEN SHOULD KEEP BEES There will be a nice income to you from a few hives of bees, and your Plants will Bear Better Fruit bearinii depends upon the fertilization of the flowers. Why not make fertilization certain and at the same time add to your income by keepin;; bees/ Bees are not expensive and can be made extremely profitable. Do you want to know how.' * ever written, with over ."»00 laru'c large pages, beautifiillv ilhistrat<-d, for only $1.0O. Seiid for free booklet. The A. I. Root Co., MEDINA, OHIO MANurAcTunca "ax ..: MICHIGAN BASKET FACTORY OF WKLLS lllIAN- CO. ST. JOSEPH. MICH. i» StWD FOR ILLUSTRATED PRICt LIST. HEADQUARTERS FOR Berry Boxes PEACH AND GRAPE BASKETS ALSO MELON BASKETS E stablished in 186 9 Experience Counts To obtain highest prices for your fruits ship in our packages Illustrated Price List Free Wells-Higman Co.. st.joseph, mich. ■==Let us Act as Your Factory^ THAT'S OUR BUSrNESS We make nothinj^ of nur nwn for sale. Man- ufacture exclusively for tptbers aiiything in metal. We refer you to tlie publishers of Ibis magazine. Kalamazoo Novelty Co.,S!.i|,V,r»ti 450.000 TREES SOO varieties. Also Grupem^^mall Frultnctcllest root- ed stock. Uenuine, ct mtstn Allied for ed stOL'K. Uenuine, crieaj). = i;.iT!i;!e (un .■inta tn^iiiod roi 10c Desc. price li^c free. Levis Uoescb, FredoiilAiM.T. WHAT ONE OF OUR AGENTS DID IN ONE AFTERNOON^ Eleroy, 111., March 12, 1906. Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Mich'. Gentlemen: — The sample copies of The Strawberry came this noon. This afternoon I got four subscriptions and an ad. of tliirty- five words for three insertions. Enclosed find money order for $4.58. S. S. TURNIR. fige 87 YOU CAN DO AS WELL Read our great ofTer in another place in this issue, and gel lo work at once. Everybody subscribes if given a chance to learn the merits of The Strawberry THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 grew them, find a large and generous market for very large quantities of straw- berries. However, the Northern states will continue to absorb thousands of car- loads of late-grown berries in excess of what now is offered them, and it is likely to be a long time before Northern-grown berries will reach the hungry folk of the South. But what an opportunity for a lot of enterprising folk if they would utilize the cheap but fruitful lands of northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Min- nesota, as might easily and inexpensively be done, in the growing of late straw- berries! f F you'd ha\e a garden neat * Do it nou'; If you'd have strawberries sweet, Do it now. Spring is coming on a pace; She'll give you a merry race, If you trespass on her grace — Do it now! When Old Age Comes On I ENCLOSE a dollar, and I want The Straw- ■* berry. While I am not in the business as yet of growing anything, I anticipate doing something of the kind in the near future, and your plan strikes me as being the proper thing. I am a railroader, but I have a continual hanker- ing after a more independent life; besides, my age soon will shelve me as an active man; but am still not old enough to kill as some advo- cate. But I do love soil culture, and had con- siderable experience in younger days. I hope by spring to be in shape to put out some plants. Louisiana, Mo. R. M. S. THERE is something pathetic in that frank letter from a man who has given his life to service as a railway man, and now, with the frosts of winter showing in his hair, turns back to Mother Earth as the source of subsis- tence and support in his declining years. What this friend writes is but the expres- sion of thousands in like situation and possessed of like feelings and desires, and it gives the publishers of this magazine great satisfaction to know that they may be of help to such as he in getting started on the right road to success and an inde- pendent old age. An independent old age! Who but looks hopefully to that goal as the su- preme earthly desire.'' Just as there is nothing more sad and more wretched than dependent old age, so there is no- thing else that brings so great joy to later years as the assurance that in the days when the sun of life is westering there shall be no want, no poverty; but com- fort, cheer and plenty. And where shall he go but to the warm and generous bosom of Mother Earth, from whose abundance all things material come.^ And to what order of undertaking may he look with greater confidence as the solution of his problem than that of strawberry production? We know of none, and with his youthful ex- perience to start in with — as he doubtless was one of the boys that left the farm at the call of the city — he will find it no difficult task to take up the work and carry it forward to success. That he will, like the prodigal son, enjoy the fat of the land and renew his youth in his return to his first love, we have no doubt. Haste That Makes Waste WILL strawberry plants fruit the same spring they are set out.? This question is more frequently asked us than any other. Especially from new beginners and those wanting berries for family use; and our answer always is this: Plants that are set out this spring would bear fruit, but to allow them to do so will weaken the plants by pollen-ex- haustion and seed-production and per- haps result in killing them; therefore, the loss would be greater than the gain. All newly set strawberry plants should be re- lieved of their buds and blossoms just as soon as they appear. Simply pinch or cut them off. This is an easy job and it pays big to do it. When this is done, it throws all the strength to the mother plants and gives them a chance to send out vigorous runners and develop up a large crown system. If a plant is allowed to fruit at once after transplanting the great strain of pol- lenating and seed production takes place before the plant is established in its new quarters, and all the vitality that has been stored up in the crown and roots is used up in maturing the fruit, making it al- CLIPPER LflWN MOWER GO. DIXON, ILLINOIS Manufacturers of HAND and PONY MOWEnS; also MARINE GASO- tlNE ENGINES. 2 Id 8 H. P. No. 1 12 In Mower S 5.00 No. 2 15 " - 6.00 110.3 18 " ■ 7.00 No. 4 21 " - 8.00 Pony 2( " - 18.00 THP A/\n\Y/PR That Will Kill all tlie Weeds In inC ;T1L;WCI\ your lawns. If you keep the weeds cut so tiiey do not go to seed, and cut your grass without breal^ing the small feeders of roots, the grass will become thick, and the weeds will disappear. THE CLIPPER WILL DO IT Please Send Draft or Money Order or Registered tetter FRUIT PACKAGES Of Every Description Leslie Boxes and Crates Hallock Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Illinois Quart and Pint Boxes and Crates Baskets FOR Peaches, Pears, Plums, Tomatoes, Melons and Grapes Boxes FOR Apples, Pears, Melons, Potatoes and V egetables Michigan Hallock Crate and Boxes Four-basket Crates for Peaches and Tomatoes Six-basket Crates for Peaches Special Prices to Associations and Users of Large Quantities 40-Page Catalogue FREE. Send for it. So Haven, Mich Thc PieFce- Williaiiis Co., Jonesboro, Ark. Page 88 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 most impossible for the roots to send out feeders. We have seen whole fields ruined be- cause the bloom was not picked off. This is a case of saving one dollar and losing one hundred or more. We often get letters saying: "I ha\e bought me a a little farm and am in debt, and cannot afford to wait a whole year before getting returns from my plants." These friends are over-anxious to pay off the debt. If they only will be patient with their plants and give them time to develop a large crown sj'stem, the debt will be paid much quicker than by trying to get plants at work before they are sufficiently mature. It is folly to try to hurry nature, and when we expect a plant to produce a crop of berries immediately after it is set out, it is too much like expecting a newly hatched chick to lay eggs. One is quite as reasonable as the other. ^ i^ A VE, he's the man to pity, his the ■'^ tale of woe, Who hath no wish to plant a seed, and help to make it grow; Whose heart is brick and mortar. Whose life is soulless barter, A million miles from God's sweet world — the man without the hoe — E. C. Tompkins A Note From The Southland By D. B. Lacey I AM a novice in the culture of straw- berries. In the spring of 1904 1 planted one thousand plants and ever since then I have been thoroughly an en- thusiast on the subject. From a plot 74 x52 feet I gathered last spring (1905) about 350 quarts of berries and many quarts were lost on account of the wet weather. Strawberry culture is just like the culture of any other kind of plant: you must have well-bred plants and prune, fertilize and cultivate them on sci- entific principles if you hope to have suc- cess with them. The strawberry busi- ness is a fascinating, elevating and profit- able business for any yoimg man or woman. I intend to plant several thous- and more in the spring of 1907. I can't see why Noah didn't plant some strawberries for his famil.\'s use as well as the grape vine, when he went out of the ark into the valley. If the apple was as tempting to Adam while he was in the Garden of Eden, keeping it for the Master, as the strawberry is to mine eye, I can't blame him for "partaking of the forbidden fruit." If there were more young men, yes, and old men, out on the farm raising big red strawberries, there would be fewer suicides and homicides in this country. What is more fascinat- ing than to walk out into the field in the spring and behold a robe of white blos- soms, with the air filled with their sweet SHIPPING The Wax-Lined Paper Berry Baskets Haven't time to get up "Ad." SEND IN YOUR ORDER If you want sample basket and catalogue It is yours free by writing to MULLEN BROS. PAPER CO., Depi. B. ST. JOSEPH, MICH. Pa«e 89 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 perfume? Any young man can start out with a few thousand strawberry plants and two or three hundred grape vines, other fruits and some pouhry in reason- able proximity to a good market and make a good living and save some money. Maylene, Ala. Berry-Growing Among the Firs By Wm. L. Cochran 1CAME here about four years ago and bought a few acres of what is called logged-otT land. That means land from which the saw-logs have been taken. But the loggers left the stumps and tops and lots of other bulky stuff for the ranchers to wrestle with, and "clear- ing" is a serious problem where the tim- ber is as big as it is here. I had been told that strawberries al- ways did finely on new land here, so the next day after I had bought the place I sent East for some strawberry plants. I had found a place about thirty rods away from where I was clearing, where, by snaking off a couple of tree tops, I had ground enough to plant the strawberries and they were out of my way. When the plants came the little piece was plowed and I set them right away. Then I got busy again clearing and build- ing a house and making a fence, and I thought but little of my strawberries and still less about cultivating them. Finally, one day about three weeks after I had planted the berries, I thought I would go and see how they were coming, but I couldn't find them, as the ferns had come up about as thick as hair on a dog and were two feet high. I simply let them go as they were for about six weeks longer and then I went into the patch with a team and a plow and a chain; and turned them under with the rest of the weeds. Well, even that experience was not en- tirely without benefits, because I realized — yes, really realized — that if I was to raise strawberries in this weedy country I had to attend strictly to the strawberry business. So the next spring I again sent to the same place for some more pedigree plants, secured some alley plants from my neighbors, and as I had a nice little clear- ing by that time I set out a little more than one-eighth of an acre. I kept them fairly well cultivated and rigidly restricted as to buds and blossoms, but not so well restricted as to runners, as I let the latter get the start of me twice and had to cut off too much foliage at the expense of the crowns. That was the patch I got my berries from last summer, and notwith- standing all my blunders, I had the hnest crop I ever raised. And everybody that saw them said they beat anything they ever saw. But the pedigree plants were the ones that shone. They bore three times as many berries as the others and were very much larger and better fruit. I had no trouble selling all the berries I had and do not think it will be possible for me to raise more than I can sell at any time. I am going to increase my acreage as fast as I can. Last spring I set out to see how good a job I could do in berry raising. I ma- nured a piece of ground very heavily with stable manure and plowed it under, then I cultivated it four times with a double- shovel plow and repeated the operation with a hve-tooth cultivator, and sowed muriate of potash by hand at the rate of 200 pounds per acre; dragged the field once each way with a spike-tooth drag and I had the best seed bed I ever planted. I set it to strawberry plants of my own propagating from the selected plants received and planted the year be- fore. The field shown herewith is the one 1 refer to. It was set out in March, 1905, and the photograph was taken August 4, only a little more than four months after setting. Of course, I don't know how they are going to pan out, but The Northland Shop A SIGN OF OOOD WORK Designers^ Illustrators and Engravers Let us figure with you be- fore placing your work NO. 11 3RD AVE., THREE RIVERS. MICH. CEDAR Poles, Posts, Ties, Lumber and Shingles SPECIAL PRICES UPON AP- PLICATION IN CAR LOTS SMITH BROS., THREE RIVERS, MICH. ^^ FINE smf^ of ;?mOlS IN ONE I'o. t-fk, ^'^^i^^J^^f "■srJo, No. 2 3d Ave. ^;"«i OfF£„ Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 50 to 100 pazea, it3 writers are tlie most succeasfu! Poultryrnen aud women in the United States. It is ThePOULTRYTRIBUNE, nicely illustrated, brimful each month of iuformatiou on How to Care for Fowls a'ld Make the Most Money with them. Iti fact so good you can't afford to be without it. frire.SO cent^ per vear. Send at once for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU. R. R. FISHER, Pub., Box 8S. Freeporf, III. I look for a bumper crop when they are ripe. Snohomish, Wash. THE fanner at the Minnesota state training school at Red Wing, J. A. Smith, reports that last year the institu- tion raised 3,600 quarts of strawberries on a small patch of three quarters of an acre. MR. COCHRAN'S HOME AT SNOHOMISH THE STRAWBERRY PATCH 'MID THE GIANT FIR STUMPS Page 90 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. mflF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION LAST month we quoted words of cheer from two remote friends — cne away up on the lofty Sierras, the other in the great forests of the Sno- homish country in Washington. These two Pacific Coast friends were most hearty in their expressions of favor for The Strawberry, but no more so than the friend who now writes us from the North Atlantic Coast country a cheery letter from which we quote: St. John's N. F., Feb. 14, 1906. The Kellogg Publishing Company: Gentlemen — Allow me to congratulate you on the production of The Strawberry. The matter is excellent. I would not begrudge $10 for the instruction already given. May con- tinued success be your portion. C. R. Steer. An Ohio subscriber places his estimate of the value of The Strawberry even higher than does our New Foundland reader. Here is what he says: Bellefontaine, Ohio, Feb. 20, 1906. The January and February numbers of The Strawberry surely are worth many times the price of the paper. I would not take $25 for the information I have received from the tno copies. J. J. HoBSON. And one advertiser in pleased surprise writes us of the e.xtraordinary results he is receiving from his advertising in this magazine, saying: St. Joseph, Mich., Feb. 7, 1906. We are continually receiving inquiries brought through our "ad" in The Strawberry, and we also notice the stretch of country through which you circulate. We have received in- quiries from Nova Scotia to Oregon. We cannot endorse your magazine too highly as a medium for advertising our articles. Mullen Bros. The universal application of the an- swers given in this department is referred to in many letters, but one letter in par- ticular is most suggestive on this point. "I had prepared a list of questions for you to answer when The Strawberry came," says this subscriber. "In it I found an answer to nearly every one of them, and so I shall await, before sending the re- mainder, the coming of the ne.vt issue, believing that they will be answered in that number." This brings up another matter — the importance of asking ques- tions. You may depend upon it that you are serving others as well as yourself when you ask anything relating to straw- berry production; for there is so ''ttle in print concerning thi;^ great subject as to make it matter of universal surprise. So let the members of this circle of inquiring students — a circle so large as to include the Florida Keys, Hudson's Bay, San Diego, British Columbia and New Foundland — let the members send in their inquiries, both for their own sakes and the good of others as well, assured that it gives us pleasure to answer them so clearly that all may comprehend and utilize the instruction thus given. J. S., Stanton, Neb. How shall I handle a patch of ground that is now in alfalfa to get it in the best possible condition for a straw- berry bed? It is bottom land but not wet. 2. How will stable manure, mixed with chicken droppings, do for strawberries.' Or will it be better to use them separately? \. The first thing to do is to turn the alfalfa sod under just as early in spring as you can work the soil. Be sure and throw the furrow flat, so that the sod will be turned completely under. Alfalfa is one of the best leguminous crops. It fills the soil with humus and supplies an abundance of nitrogen. Therefore, it will be unnecessary to apply any ma- nure at all. If the soil is made too rich in nitrogen it will make the berries soft and salvy. 2. The chicken droppings and stable manure may be mi.xed together and ap- plied very lightly on some other soil to good advantage. J. G. B., Townsend, Tenn. Enclosed please find $1 for The Strawberry, and please an- swer the following in the Correspondence de- partment: Should I raise my own strawberry plants to set new beds? If so how should they be managed? If not, why not? Everyone who grows strawberries on a large scale should propagate some of his own plants. 'Fo prepare a propagating bed, get your soil well filled with humus. This is best furnished by growing a crop of cowpeas or some other legume, which should be chopped up and worked into the soil. After this is done a light coat- ing of stable manure should be applied in the winter months. In the spring this should be turned under and thoroughly incorporated with the soil. After the ground is perfectly fine mark your rows four feet apart and set plants two and a half to three feet apart in the rows. When the mother plants become well es- tablished in the soil, they may be permit- P4ge 91 ted to make runners at once and to ma- ture as many strong runners as they will. But never allow any mother plant to start making runners until it is strong and vigorous itself. And don't, under any circumstances, try to grow fruit and plants on the same bed. ■^ ^ T. H. , Austin, 111. Is there any way I can tell by the thermometer in the evening if there will be frost during the night? 2. Will smoke destroy the injurious effect of frost upon bloom, and how may I make a smudge to prevent frost? 1. There is no way in which to tell by the action of the thermometer what is to come; it merely registers conditions of tem'perature as they are. 2. Smoke is effective as a preventive of injurious action by frost, as it forms a cloud over the plants. In making a smudge you may use tar put on coarse, damp manure. The thing wanted is the heaviest clouds of smoke possible to create. G. S. F. , Greensburg, Pa. Have just bought a farm of thirty-seven acres and wish to put out some strawberries, but I am afraid that the field I wish to use is too poor. As I shall not get possession of the farm until April will not be able to put any manure on the ground this spring in time for it to rot. Now I wish you to tell me if there is any way I can get this ground in order to plant a bed of strawberries this spring? As you cannot get possession of this farm until April we advise you to break it up, work the soil up finely, then set your plants, and after this is done you may then scatter well-decayed manure between the rows and work into the soil when cultivating the berries. F. G. M., Fabius, N. Y. Wish you would tell us some time in The Strawberry what a grower can do to keep the robins from tak- ing so many berries. This is not an easy thing to do, be- cause we do not know what one can do to keep the robins from eating the straw- berries. We cannot blame the robins for eating strawberries; they are so good. About the only thing that can be done is to put up a scare-crow, fixing a red flag so that it will keep floating in the air. Sometimes this is quite effective, but not for long. The birds get accustomed to it and they will take the berries in spite THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 A KALAHAZOO DIRECT TO YOU WHY not sa^'e ntoney in your stove and range buying? Why not get areally sood stove or range while you are about it? Here's a Kalamazoo Royal Steel Range— one of the many of the Kalamazoo-direct-to-you family. It is guaranteed, under a $20,000 bank bond to be strictly high grade in every respect. The body is made of Wellsville blue polished steel— the highest grade steel procurable. Not an ounce of scrap iron enters into it. The tops and centers are cut and braced in such a manner that we guarantee them against warp- ing loz Jive years. The linings ar e heavy and the flues and all oth- er parts where it is necessary are lined with^'(-;/«- ine asbestos, held between two sheets of steel. The oven is square and large, with a bottom that rrt«K('^ warp or ''buckle." The oven venti- lation is iierfect, making it a quick and even baker. The oven is equipped with patented oven ther- mometer wliich gives perfect control of the oven's temperature and makes good baking and roasting an easy matter. It saves time, trouble, Quality is our first consideration, and our 32 years experience in building and selling stoves and ranL'es has taught us hoiv to make a range which we can put in comparison with any other in the world. Quality should also be your first consideration. You cannot afford to buy a poor range at any price, especially — and here's the point— When you can buy this high grade Kalamazoo — or any other of the Kalamazoo line of ranges, cook stoves, base burners and heating stoves of 11 kinds — at a price lotver than your dealer pays .^...wK^^ ^-.-.j-.c...-., ..^^,^^ w^^,, ,..„^^.v.. aw \^mas—at a price lotver tfian your deaier pays and fuel, and is guaranteed not to get out of for stoves and r a n^'cs not the equal of the Kala- order. The hot water reservoir is large; is lined with white enamel and is easily re- moved for cleaning. The fire bos is equipped with either a duples or a dock ash grate as desired, and either hard or soft coal or coke or wood may be used for fuel. It is handsomely finished, all the orna- mental p-.rts being heavily nickeled. fWe do all our own nickel-plating, and do it right. The riveting, the mounting, the finishing, are all done by hajid. by expert workmen, and we guarantee that there is not a better designed, a better made, a better finished, or a more dura- ble stove or range in the world, than is the Kalamazoo Please Remember: We are actual manufacturers, not mail order dealers. We have more than 50,000 customers- all satisfied. You run no risk, as we give you a 360 days approval test. We pay the freight. We make you actual factory prices. We sell you a stove or range not ex= celled by any in the world. Please read that again. You pet a Kalamazoo, freight frepaid, ona3b0d.iys approval test, guaranteed under a S2(l,00O bank bond, with privi- lege of returning to us at any time within 3oO days, if it shows any faults or defects — and all at a /ejj/r/Vf than your dealer pays for many stoves and ranges not nearly so good. Here's the secret: We are manufacturers — actual manu- factururs and we sell to you direct from our factory at Unvest factory prices, saving you all dealers", jobbers', agents', and middlemen's prolits and commissions. We have more than 50,000 customers in all parts of the United States. Their letters show that they have saved from SS to 540 by buying a Kalamazoo direct from our factory. We will be glad to send you the names of our customers in your vicinity. Let them tell you what they think. The Kalamazoo line is rcwr/i/f/^— embracing r.'inges, cook stoves, base burners and heaters for fuel of all sorts, all of late design, handsome pattern and beautiful finish. Send for our catalogue. You will find in it the stove or range exactfy suited to your purpose, and you will be able to purchase it at a money-saving price. Don't you think it a proposition worth looking into? Let us send you our free catalogue and price list. You'll be interested and pleased. Ask for Catalogue No. 348. Kalamazoo Stove Co., Mfrs., Kalamazoo, Mich. of the scare-crow. And we miijht add a word for the robins, which are among the most useful of our friends, eating the grub worm and other insect destroyers of the strawberry in great numbers, J. A. W. , Bowbells, N. D. 1 find some va- cancies in my strawberry rows, and I wish to fill in these vacancies from my own plants. Shall I dig them this fall and heel in till spring, or how may I manage them. It will be a good plan to take enough plants from each row to fill in the vacan- cies, but do not disturb the plants until spring, when they are in a dormant state. In removing them take up enough earth with them to prevent any check in growth. By so doing they will be able to produce a few berries without much injury, E. C, Monson, Mass. Are the common blackeye pea good to sow for plowing under? Is there any reason why I should not grow two crops of peas before sowing rye.' Peas of any kind belong to the family of legumes and all are excellent soil-im- provers. Anything that develops a pod is a legume, and all legumes have the power to draw the free nitrogen from the air and store it in their roots. This free nitrogen is transformed into available plant food by bacteria, which acts upon it much as yeast germs do in bread. The vines, or woody part of the peas, add humus to the soil. Humus warms the earth, thus encouraging bacterial activity and preserving a more even temperature; makes it more friable, adds to its spongy nature so that it retains moisture better and causes it to yield moisture more evenly and for longer periods to the plant. It will be unnecessary to plow under two crops of covvpeas before sowing rye in preparing your soil for strawberries. The e.xpense would be greater than the in- creased returns would justify. J. J. H. , Bellefontaine, Ohio. How would it do to sprinkle fertilizer around the berries, say in the month of June or July, and culti- vate it in with a hoe, or would you advise putting it in before the berries are set out.' 2. Would you advise cutting the first run- ners off, and letting the mother plant get a good start, or let the "children" go to making their own living as soon as possible? You would get better results by sprink- ling the fertilizer around the plants early in the spring, btit do not put it on very heavily and not very close to the plants. Another good way is to make a furrow and scatter the fertilizer along in it; cul- tivate it in and then set the plants where the furrow was made after it has been Page 92 filled in. While cultivating the furrow in, mi.x the soil and fertilizer well to- gether and the plants will get the full benefit of it. 2. If the mother plant has made a good growth and seems strong and healthy, it will be all right to let the first runners start, but if they seem to be lagging in any way, we would cut the first runners ofF. Just as soon as the children get their roots into the soil they start feeding from mother earth. This lessens the strain on the mother plants. C. H., Creighton, Mo. 1. Will Excelsior, Warfield and Lovett yield as well in hills as the Crescent? 2. How should I mate the following varieties for best results: Excel- sior, Warfield, Crescent, Lovett, Senator Dunlap, Haverland, Gandy, Pride of Mich- igan and Sample? 3. Will it be all right to keep all runners cut off until the first or mid- dle of July? 1, The varieties you name do well when set in hills; but we prefer that they be grown in single or double hedge rows. The Excelsior does splendidly in hills, because it builds up a large foliage and crown system, same as does the Crescent, 2, First set Excelsior, then follow with Warfield, Dunlap, Haverland, Lovett, Sample, Pride of Michigan and Gandy. In following this order you THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 may set them in one, two or three rows of each, as you choose. 3 ^Ve prefer to let the runners start the latter part of June. By this time the mother plants should be in prime condi- tion to send out strong, vigorous plants. By doing this it gives the young plants more time to build up crown systems, thus increasing your prospects for a large crop of berries. S. B. R. , Elliott, la. I have but one lot 60x120 feet, and on this is our home and out buildings. We have a small patch of ground 13x30 feet square, that we would like to set to berries. It is the richest of black, sandy loam — the best soil in Iowa. It is so rich in some things at least, that tomatoes w ill do nothing but vine — no fruit for two years. But such vines! It is new ground two years from the sod. I set it to strawberries last fall, just at the be- ginning of the only dry spell we had last year, and had to leave home for a few days, just long enough to spoil all the plants — did not save one. Now what I would like you to tell me is the best kind of plants, and how many I need to fill up this piece of ground, and the best way to set them to get the best results. We do not care for market berries, but the best for the table of a preacher who thinks he likes strawberries. As your soil is so excessively rich we advise you to use no stable manure and to set varieties that are heavy feeders — those that make a light foliage and re- quire strong soil — such varieties as Au- gust Luther, Clyde, Splendid, Aroma and Haverland. Most of these produce rich, sweet berries, and they are all very prolific; they will suit a preacher or any- body else, no matter how fastidious he may be. It will require about 100 plants to set your little patch. Make the rows only two feet apart and set plants every fifteen or twenty inches in the row. S. A. B., Medina, N. Y. How much fertil- izer per acre shall I apply on sandy loam land that will, under proper conditions, raise 100 bushels of ears of corn, and about what should it analyze? I can't get barnyard manure. 2. How far apart should the rows be on a small plot to be worked by hand in hedge rov\s to get best results? And how far when horse cultivator is to be used? The best fertilizer for sandy loam is decayed stable manure, applied at the rate of about ten or twelve tons per acre. As you cannot get stable manure, we hardly believe it will be necessary for you to apply any commercial fertilizers, as we note by your letter that this piece of ground produces about 100 bushels of corn to the acre. This is evidence that it also will produce a large yield of berries. 2. As you intend to work the berries by hand you can make the rows two feet TttE BEST ftND GHEftPE&T. UNIVERSflLLY ADMIRED. NATIONAL BERRY BOX IN ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY N Patented Nov. 17. 1903. O skinned fruit; no nailing; no mildew; no warping; no splitting; no waste; no loss. A fruit preserver, folded in an instant. A clean, glossy, substantial package, aiding in the sale of fruits. Made from Smooth Paper Stock, coated on both sides with odorless and tasteless best parafine wax. First Year's Results: Sales in 29 States and communication with 44 States of the Union. LESLIE STYLE GREATLY IMPROVED— double reinforced on bottom edge, which gives also EXTRA support for bottom on all sides. Folded-up sample sent on receipt of ten cents **>»nk* WRITE FOR CIRCULARS AND PRICE-LIST AND READ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS. NATIONAL PAPER BOX CO. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. apart and set the plants twelve to fifteen inches apart in the row. If a horse culti- vator is to be used, then the rows should be three and one-half feet apart and the plants set twenty-four inches apart in the row. <^ '^ C. S K., East Stroudsburg, I'a. I have bought thirty acres of land and am going into the strawberry and poultry business. This land is sandy !o:un and at one time was used for trucking, but has been run down for the past eight years. What varieties should I plant, and have you any other suggestions to otfer.' You certainly are startini; out along right lines. We know of no other enter- prise that may bt- started on so little cap- ital or that ofFers larger opportunities to enterprise and intelligent effort than does Pa«e 93 the combination of strawberries and chickens. ^Vhen your strawberry busi- ness is dull the poultry gives you a con- tinuous income through the sale of eggs, broilers and breeding stock, besides mak- ing an abundance of the very best of fer- tilizer for the strawberry beds. So many of our friends are making a large success of this combination that it gives us pleas- ure to learn of others engaging in the same work. Our hrst suggestion is, how- ever, to set no more than one or two acres in berries the first year. VVe should set more largely of standard varieties, such as Excelsior, August Luther, Ten- nessee Prolific, Crescent, \Varfield, Par- sons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap, Haver- land, Aroma and Sample. Then we ad- vise setting aside a small plot for experi- mental purposes, where you may test a number of the newer varieties. We make this suggestion because we believe THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 it wise to go slowly at the start and de- velop the business as your knowledge of it increases. And if we may be permitted to say it, we think you will find the same rule will hold good in the poultry side of your enterprise. G. H., Lincoln, Neb. Suppose I set two or more varieties of plants in order to pollenize properly, what variety would the fruit be? For instance; if I should plant Pride of Mich- igan and Marie Hanna, should I have Mark Hanna berries or Pride of Michigan, or neither or both? 2. If the Warfield will not fruit alone how can I get the Warfield berry? Two varieties of different sexes are set side by side for the purposes of pollena- tion. It in no way affects or changes the type of the berry. Each variety will pro- duce its own peculiar fruit. But if you were to plant the seed from the Mark Hanna berry, that had been pollenized by Pride of Michigan, the result would be a cross between the two varieties. 2. You may get the Warfield berry by setting Warfield plants beside some bisexual plant of its own season, like Texas, Dunlap or Splendid. A. C. R., Tidnish, N. S. I have cut all run- ners off my strawberry plants except enough to form a single-hedge row. Will there be enough plants form after this date (Septem- ber 2) to transplant next spring? 2. Will the ground where the plants now are need manure this fall or next spring? 1. Never try to grow plants and fruit in the same bed. It is as impossible for a plant successfully to yield fruit and re- produce itself at the same time as it would be for a cow to give milk through- out the entire period of gestation. Even if this were possible, the plant that would form after the first of September would not have time fully to develop itself. 2. A light dressing of manure just be- fore you mulch the plants would act as a stimulant and aid to produce a large foli- age, and this in turn would increase the size of the berries. R. H., Watertown, N. Y. Last spring I put nitrate of soda on my strawberries at the rate of seventy pounds to the acre; scattered it along the rows. My berries were a little soft. Did the nitrate of soda cause this condition? 2. I am afraid the soil in which I set the plants last spring is hardly rich enough to raise perfect berries. Would you advise the application of a good fertilizer, strong in pot- ash, this fall? 3. I want some good rasp- berry plants. Will you please advise me where I may secure them. 1. Your mistake was in applying so large a quantity of nitrate of soda at one time, as it is a powerful stimulant and be- comes immediately available as soon as dissolved. Your plants overfed, and this explains why your berries were soft. The proper way is to use eighty pounds to the acre, making two applications, the first one just as growth begins in the spring, which will feed the plants until the buds form. The second application should be made before the buds open. This will carry the plants through the fruiting season. 2. It is not a good plan to apply com- mercial fertilizer in the fall, especially if it is a mixture that becomes easily available as plant food, as the potash is liable to leach away and waste. It would be bet- ter to apply some complete brand in the spring just as you uncover the plants. 3. You may secure raspberry bushes from any one of our advertisers in The Strawberry who grows trees and bush fruits, certain of getting what is desired and at fair prices. W. A. K., Jackson Summit, Pa. The ground on which I wish to plant strawberries is buckwheat stubble. It has a gradual slope to the west. The soil is in a fairly good condition of fertility. Under proper treat- ment do you think the soil favorable for a crop? ' 2. I have plenty of both cow and horse manure, but fear there is some hay or weed seed in it. Have also plenty of good hen manure that has no seeds in it and is un- der shelter. Which, if any, of the above- named manures should I use and how much? 3. Should I put it in the row or broadcast? Are wood ashes mixed with hen manure or any other manure good as a fertilizer? In what proportions should they be? 4. I have selected Haverland as a pistillate and New York for bisexual; will the two kinds mate with good results? If not what other (B) variety would you advise for Haverland? I have the Sample and Senator Dunlap; never have had them to- gether, but thought I would try them this year. Will they make a productive and sat- isfactory match? 1. There is nothing better to grow in advance of strawberries than buckwheat, as it loosens up the soil and puts it in fine condition for the plants. 2. We would advise you to scatter manure lightly over this piece of ground, then turn it under in the spring and work it up thoroughly with the soil before set- ting the plants. Most any kind of stable manure will contain some weed seeds, but these will give you no trouble if you cul- tivate every week and hoe occasionally. 3. The chicken droppings will also be good, but you must apply them very lightly. All manure should be scattered broad cast. Do not mix your wood ashes with the manure. Apply them sep- arately at the rate of about forty bushels to the acre. These should also be well worked into the soil before setting the plants. Apply the ashes after the ground has been broken up. 4. Haverland and New York mate fairly well together, but if you will use Page 94 Factory Prices W ON THIS VEHICLE ON A SATIS- W FACTORY SELLING PLAN. The first selling step is to send it to you on 30 days free trial. If it stands the racket for 30 days and appears to be right, you pay us its price, but we are not released. We give you a personal guarantee, good for three years. Per- sonal, mind you; straight from the factory to you, the user. We are not mail order dealers, but manufac- turers. We make every vehicle we sell, and sell every one we make direct to the users. Well, this three-year guarantee : You are free to act on it any time. If any defect appears, if it is not all it should be. or all we represent it to be, or you are not satisfied with your pur- chase, you can have your money back for the asking. ^ . , *, You see we giveyouevei-yadpantape; lowest fac- tory price, buy with your eyes open, seeing and try- inir, and give you opportunity to protect yourself a^'ainst latent defects three full years. We sell all styles of vehicles this way — all dlre<:t, and all on sameternis and guarantee. Just now weare offer- inR t" o special bargains. Our catalogue explains them all. Write us for It. The Progressive Vehicle Mfg. Co., D«pt. V . Ft. Wayne, Indiana, or Surrender That is the ultimatum that insects and fungi have served on every fruitgrower of America If you do not heed the ^^arlunt^ you will not get prolits from your orchard Kvery man who sprays intelligently at theproper time finds it the most profitable operation on the farm Send for illustrated catalog of the Eclipse Spray Pumps and Outfits MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor. Mich. A Compost ^^^* ^'" thoroughly pulverize " and evenly distribute from one r^ptll hundred'ponnds to ten tons per aere; made in two sizes by J. 31. I>INDSEY. Crystal SprinsTs.Ga. Seed Sweet Potatoes The Cuban Succeeds on rich black s()il Where Others F&tl For descriptive price list of this and 12 other im- proved varieties write EDWIN H. RIEHL, North Alton. !ll. 850,000 GRAPEVINES 69Varlctlci<. AlwSmoll Fruits, Trec>,,te. BestrooS- ed stock, (icmiine, oLeap. S f;nmiile vinte Dniled for He Descriptive prlce-llEt tree. LEWIS ROESCH, FREDONIA.N.V. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 "Good Enough" is Not Good Enough WHEN IT COMES TO STRAWBERRY PLANTS Only the Best Will Pay That is Why You Should Set the Kellogg Strain of Thoroughbred Pedigree Plants THEY ARE THE BEST BECA USE they are selected from the mother plants that have won the world's greatest fruiting record. BECAUSE they have hesn scientifically sprayed, which insures you against destructive insects or fungous spores. BfC^ t/S£ they are carefully mulched before freezing, insuring a well-calloused root and perfectly dormant plant. Every one of them will grow if properly set out. BECA USE they will produce more berries from one acre than two acres will grow from the "other kind" YOU cannot afford to give up your valuable land and put a lot of hard work on poorly developed plants just because they are cheap. The cheapest plants are those which have a perfect balance in fruit and foliage---the kind that produce the big paying crops. If you want this kind of plants you must send us your order at once, as our old customers, who have used our plants for years and know the value of our pedigree plants, are ordering heavier this season than ever before, and we are sure that our entire stock of plants, the largest and best ever grown, will be engaged long before setting time. If you are undecided as to varieties, or do not know how to mate them, our expert will assist you to make the best selection for your soil, climate and particular purpose. Tell us whether you intend them for market or for home use. R. M. Kellogg Company, iis Portage Ave., Three Rivers, Mich. Haverland and Lovett's Early or Parsons' Beauty you will get better results. If you will set Sample in rows between Sen- ator Dunlap and Aroma they will mate it perfectly. ^ <^ T. W. H., Westchester, Pa. I have a lot of first-class hen manure and I want to mix it with either land plaster or cotton-seed meal. Please tell me which of the two is the better to make an ideal fertilizer for strawberries and when the best time to put it on.' Mix the hen manure and land plaster well together. Use no cotton-seed meal with the chicken droppings, as this com- bination would produce an excess of ni- trogen. The best time to apply the fer- tilizer is in the spring after the ground has been broken up. Scatter evenly and lightly, and mix thoroughly with the soil before setting the plants. W. R. T., Rhinebeck, N. Y. I am growing some strawberries by the hill system. In re- moving the runners should they be cut off, or may I pull them oiT without injury to the parent plant.? 2. What varieties are best adapted to the hill system.' 1. In removing the runners it is much better to cut them off with a knife or pinch them off with the thumb nail. Pulling them off would do no particular injury after the mother plant becomes well established in the soil. Most of them may be cut off with the hoe while working the plants. 2. In growing any variety in the hill system you should have your soil very rich and the plants should be set so close in the row that the tops would almost touch each other when fully developed. Excelsior, Texas, Parsons' Beauty, Sena- tor Dunlap, Pride of Michigan, Dornan, Marshall and Mark Hanna develop won- derfully and give big returns when grown in the hill. W. H. B., LaBelle, Mo. I have a strawberry patch; this spring will belts third crop. I manured this piece of ground heavily and turned it under in the spring, then set it to plants again. In cultivating them that sum- mer I noticed that much of the manure was not decayed and it was not well mixed with the soil. Some of the plants grew and did well, while others failed to make a thrifty growth. Why did not all the plants make an equal growth? The reason some of your plants did poorly while others did well, is that you did not evenly distribute the manure and thoroughly incorporate it in the soil be- fore setting the plants. Some of the Ptge 95 plants have been set where there were large clumps of manure under them, which prevented water from rising by capillary action. The plants also became 'sick" by feeding upon the rankest part of the manure. A. P., Sheboygan Falls, Wis. Last year my strawberry leaves turned red in spots and some times the whole le.if became affected. This occurred early in the season. What is the trouble and the cure.' Your plants are affected by rust— a fungous growth that spreads by means of spores. Bordeaux mixture, sprayed at the first sight of the enemy, will prevent its spread. See article on "Insect and Fungous Pests of the Strawberry" in this issue, for methods of mixing and apply- ing remedies. B ARGAINS IN PLANTS & TREES Hardy Vari'-ties: Strawberry, Raspberry, ^^ BIack)>erry. CurrHiit umi C>rai»e Plants, r~ Apple ami Plum TreeH, Seeds, Hnses, I Hi-., at half a^'f-nf sprU-'-s. B;ir-Jiin Kh..l fn-o. Korth I Star Plant Parnw. i'okato, Minn. tuunnuu TFMf^F STRONGEST ' mLim%0mL made, buu- Ptrontrcliick- en-titrht. Sold to the Farmt-r at WboI»» flaleTrlfes. Kallj warrantrd. Catalopfre© COILEn BPKING FENCE CO. ' Box 1 G^, Winchester, TnH;a»«, When Writing Please Mention The Strawberry THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 Overflow Correspondence School IT is getting to be a regular thing to have an over-flow session — members coming in with their problems after school is out. But the teacher, always at his desk, has heard and answered all he could in the time and space at com- mand, although some very interesting and helpful ones cannot be gone into until the April term. 'Twill be a good rule to follow to get to school with your ques- tions just as early as possible. M. W. , Xenia, Ohio. This is the second year for our bed of strawberries. Last year we used stable manure liberally, worked in wood ashes plentifully and mulched with leaves and wheat straw. Last spring our berries were everything that was to be desired, but they were the first crop from the bed. This spring we do not expect to make application of ashes as we think the soil contains enough, but we expect to use commercial fertilizer. Will you kindly tell us when is the best time to apply it and about what quantity per acre is needed? As you have used stabe manure and wood ashes quite liberally, we hardly be- lieve that it will be necessary to use any other fertilizers. After the berries are all picked mow the vines off, and when dry burn over the field and, as you will have picked the second crop, this bed should be turned under and the land planted to some other crop. ^ '^ L. E. L., Renville, Minn. In the spring of 1904 I set out about fifty plants of several varieties of strawberries, and as an experiment tried the single-hill culture. I picked all blossoms and allowed no runners to form, making it strictly single-hill cultivation. They grew to wonderful size and a great sight to look at. About November 1, the weather being fine, they threw out buds and blossomed. In the spring of 1905 I got a very poor crop of ber- ries off of them. What I would like to know, as a matter of curiosity, is what caused them to bloom in the fall? 1. I have often heard stated that air-slaked lime has been used as a fertilizer. Will you kindly let us know what kind of soil it would be best adap- ted for and of what use it would be on straw- berry ground? 2. Where can nitrate of soda be purchased, and what is its cost per 100 pounds? From what you say we conclude that you have overdone things in the way of applying nitrogenous manure, and have failed to apply a sufficient quantity of phosphorus and potassium. This has forced all the strength of your plants into making vegetative growth at the expense of the fruit buds. Stable manure is an excellent fertilizer, but like many other good things there is danger of getting too much of it. Almost any variety of plants will bloom in the fall if weather condi- tions are favorable, but this should not in- terfere with the crop the following spring. provided the plants are supplied with a properly balanced plant food. We are sure you will get better results in single or double hedge rows than in hills. 1. Air-slaked lime contains no fertil- izing value in itself, but it has a wonder- ful effect upon the soil in makmg plant food available. It will give good results either on clay or sandy loam, but never should be used on black, rich soil. 2. Nitrate of soda may be bought of any fertilizing company whose advertise- ment is found in The Strawberry. It costs about $3.50 per hundred weight. M. T. A. , Rockland, Mass. Do you think that one can pay $5 a cord for manure besides the cartage and make strawberries a paying crop? 2. Would Senator Dunlap on one side of Sample and Midnight on the other be a good way to mate? 3. If one is doing the culti- vating by hand would thirty inches be too close for rows? Would there be enough space for the double-hedge system in that manner of planting? I have only about a quarter of an acre for berries, and want to make the most of it. than should be done on poorer soil. Each mother plant could make at least eight strong runner plants and these can be layered in such a way as to form a double-hedge row. We hope you may be successful in winning that blue ribbon. ^ i^ THE magnitude of the Elkhart Carriage and Harness Co.'s business may be understood when their proud claim to be "the largest man- ufacturers of vehicles and harness m the world selling exclusively to the consumer is known. We are just in receipt of the 1906 catalogue of this mammoth enterprise, and judging from its size and the variety and character of its manu- factures this claim is none too strong, tor the purposes of strawberry growers the delivery wagons made by this company are of special in- terest The company has a line particularly suited to the needs of the berry men who must get their products to market with the least )ar and most dispatch, and if anybody desires to have vehicles built on special lines, the Elkhart people always are glad to quote prices and do such a job as must please the most exacting. Write for catalogue 57, addressing the com- pany at Elkhart, Ind. You wil receive a beautiful book and one that may help you in your business. While the sum named is a high price to pay for manure, yet we are sure it would prove a good investment, because it furnishes both humus and plant food. Commercial fertilizers always give better results when used in connection with ma- nure than when used alone. 2. The Sample set in rows between Dunlap and Midnight should give extra- good results. 3. If you intend to cultivate with hand tools it will be all right to place the rows thirty inches apart, and when the double-hedge row is formed there will still be plenty of room between the rows for pickers. J. B. , Brooklyn, Fla. I have a piece of ground now ready to set plants. They are Lady Thompson. My ground is a light, sandy soil. Last spring I plowed under a thick growth of grass and weeds and planted cow- peas. When they were nearly ripe and peas picked, I plowed the vines under and planted another crop of peas and plowed them under. Last December I put on a good coat of well- rotted manure— cow and horse manure mixed —so that the ground was well covered. I plowed that under, smoothed the ground with a float then spread on broadcast wood ashes at the rate of about 100 bushels per acre and harrowed that in with a tooth harrow. I would like your advice as to anything else to put on during the summer and fall, and what should it be. I am certainly pleased with The Strawberry; it is here to stay. Your soil should be in ideal condition for strawberry plants, and there is nothing more that you should do except to apply plenty of muscle in the work of cuhiva- tion and hoeing. As the ground is so rich the plants may be set more thickly Page 96 - THE PRICE MOVES THEM TliN is a specinl for 19 6 that ™e are building hy h.u'.l.eds. And tliey »r= pning »s fas. as we can bu d tliem. You ,vm pay a dealer $ 0 more No such bargain ever thought of by a mail order house. Our old time liberal terms 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL „.ith right to return " our expense if ifs not a bargain Great bargains on full liue light vehicles. Send for free catalog. Also special bargain circular. KALAMAZOO CARRIAGE & HARNESS CO., Box 244, Kalamazoo, Mich, Paint Without Oil Remarkable Discovery that Cuts Down the Cost of Paint Seventy-Five Per Cent. A Free Trial Package and a Big Book Telling All About Paints and Paiivt-Makin« are Mailed Free to Everybody Who Writes. A L Rice, a prominent manufacturer of Adams, N Y has discovered a process of making a new kind of paint without the use of oil. He calls it Powdrpaint. It comes to you a dry powder and all that is required is cold water to m ,ke a paint weatlierproot, fireproof and as durable as oil raint. It adlieres to any surface, wood, stoiie or brick it spreads and looks like oil paint and yet only costs one fourth as much. For many pur- poses it is much better than oil ramt and is indis- pensable to every property owner. .j,„» Write to Mr. A. L. Rice. 550 North St . Adams. NY and he will send you a free trial of his new discovery, together with color cards and his valu- able book on Painting, all free. This book lets vou into all the secrets of paint-making, exposes fake paints, tells you what kind of paint to use for .liferent purposes and shows you bow you can =• ve and make a good many dollars. Write today aid the book and free trial of Pamt will be sent you by return mail. BEEBE'S SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORNS ARE THE BEST HEAVY TESTED LAYERS TsTi^-OO: 20, $3.00: 100, $6.00. H. C. Beebe. - Route 5, - Canton, Illinois. Mention "The Strawberry" wlien writing Insect and Fungous Enemies of the Strawberry And How to Keep Them Down THAI' prevention is better than cure nowhere is more emphatically im- pressed than in dealing with the in- sect enemies of the strawberry. And it is a great satisfaction to know that, instead of its being a liopeiess task to keep one's fields rid of these pests, it is a very sim- ple matter, indeed, if you are careful to see that they never are permitted to get a foothold. Right now is the time to get to work with your measures for preventing such an undesirable condition. In order that our readers may know these enemies when they see them, we give herewith a description of the particular enemies of the strawberry, and in order that they may know exactly how to go about it to keep them down, we give directions for their prevention or cure. The Aphis or Louse If black ants are seen working around the plants it is a sure indication that lice are at work down at the lower end of the roots. The lice are carried from the roots of one plant to another by these ants. These aphides multiply very rapidly and will be- come quite troublesome if not looked after in time. 'i"he remedy for these lice is this: Before setting the plants dip them into a strong tobacco tea made by boil- ing one pound of tobacco stems in five gallons of water for twenty minutes. The roots should be dipped up to the crown. This will kill the lice if any be present, and requires but a very little time. The Strawberry Beetle The strawberry beetle is a small dark- colored bug, which like most all other troublesome insects, generally is found in old, neglected strawberry fields. The beetle hibernates under old dead grass and any kind of litter. For this reason the best preventive is clean cultivation and rotation of crops. The beetle feeds upon the leaves while their larva; works on the fibrous roots of the plants. As the beetle is a chewing insect it easily may be controlled by spraying with Paris green. The Leaf Roller The strawberry leaf-roller is hatched from eggs which are laid in the spring by a reddish brown moth. The larva attains its full growth in June and is brownish or greenish in color. It is nearly one-half inch long and has a shiny yellowish head. It folds the leaves by bringing the upper edges together and fastens them by a silken web. There are three or four broods each year. This pest, like nearly all others, may easily be destroyed by burning the entire held over after fruiting time. Spraying with Paris green also will destroy the leaf roller, if the spraying be done before the leaf is folded together; but after the leaf-roller has enclosed itself in the leaf it is difficult to put poison where it will get it. The Strawberry Slug This insect comes from a four-winged fly which deposits its eggs within the leaf tissues or on the stem. The larva- soon SPRAYING IS I HE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ROUT THE ENEMY hatch and feed upon the leaf, gnawing circular holes through it and making it look like a veil. In five or six weeks they develop into a full-grown green worm about three-fourths of an inch long. They seem to have a particular love for young plants previous to fruiting. A good spraying with Paris green or any arsenite solution will destroy them. Burning over after fruit is gathered will help control it. The White Grub 1 he May beetle or June bug is re- sponsible for the white grub. These in- sects delight in feeding upon plants that have wiry roots, and are most generally found in soil where timothy sod has been growing for years. Old manure piles which have stood for some time are gener- ally the hibernating place for them. Inasmuch as the w-hite grub has an underground habit, it is rather difficult to get at them. Just as soon as they attack the root of a strawberry plant, the foliage will wilt, having the appearance of suffer- ing for moisture. About the only rem- edy is to dig down to the roots of the plant upon first sight of this wilting, and Patfe 97 kill the grub. If this is done at once, the plant often can be saved. One of the best preventives is to break up your ground in the fall, and let it stand in the rough over winter. This exposes the grubs to freezing and thawing, and also the attacks of birds and other lovers of their carcasses. Hogs, chickens and turkeys will leave corn to eat the grubs, and if your piece of ground is situated so these friends can be turned in, they will rout and scratch a large per centage of the grubs up and devour them. The grub when full grown is nearly one inch long, and about as large through the body as a lead pencil. They are gen- erlly white, with yellowish or brownish head. Rag weeds and foul stufF of any kind af- ord them a hiding place. Here is another reason why \"ou should practice clean cultivation. The Sawfly The sawfly is a small dull-colored worm about one-fourth inch long. It has the appearance of be- ing coated with mildew or inilkish-colored substance. They most generally put in their first appearance the latter part of May, und are found on the un- lier side or shady part of the leaves, curled up like a snail. Their presence is easily detected as the foliage will be eaten full of holes. The best way to get rid of this pest is by a liberal dose of Paris green. One feed is generally enough. The sawfly is also a lover of raspberry foliage. The Strawberry Crown Borer This is a troublesome insect if once it gets into a bed of plants. The larva is a white footless grub with a white head. It is one-fifth of an inch long and lives in the crown of the plants. The adult in- sect is a dark-colored snout-beetle, and is one-fifth of an inch long. They can not fly and the only way they can be trans- ferred from one field to another is through affected plants. Avoid setting your beds where old plants have been turned under, and never take plants from an infested field. The Strawberry-Crown Miner The miner is a caterpillar, small in size and reddish in color, and its habit is to bore the strawberry crown, making ir- regular channels through it in all direc- tions. Early summer finds it full grown, when it passes into a chrysalis state, emerging two or three weeks later as a THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 small, dark-gray moth. As yet no rem- edy has been discovered for the miner. Badly infested fields should be burned over and turned under either in the fall or early spring. Two Minor Pests There also are the tarnish plant bug and strawberrry weevil. You never will be troubled with these if you will see to it that your vines are carefully mowed oiT after the crop is gathered and burned. Be sure that the straw or other mulching is loosened up so that it will make a quick, hot fire. This is the most effec- tive remedy known, and it is a fine pre- ventive, freeing the fields for the follow- ing season. Preventives and Remedies The remedy for leaf-eating insects is Paris green, which should be prepared as follows: Take one pound of unslaked lime; put over this seven ounces of Paris green and pour over this two gallons of hot water; add to this water enough to make fifty gallons. For fungous growths, such as mildew, blight and rust, start spraying at first sight with Bordeaux mixture, which is prepared a^ follows: Four pounds lime slaked in four gallons of hot water; four pounds of blue vitriol dissolved in four gallons of water; to this add sufficient water to make one barrel of forty gallons. Where both fungous growths and in- sect pests trouble, the Paris green may be added to the Bordeaux mixture and ap- plied at one spraying. Much importance attaches to the method of applying these remedies. Some people practice a false economy by neglecting to get the proper conveniences for this work. They apply these mix- tures with a broom, or with a sprinkling pot. In most cases this work is entirely lost, so far as any benefits being derived from it are concerned. These mixtures must, to be effective, be applied in a fine spray, and with as much force as possible, and the only way this may be done is by the use of some one of the modern spray- ing outfits. These are made in all sizes, so that every strawberry grower may ac- commodate himself and his necessities by selecting one which best suits him. After the fruit is all picked mow ofF the vines and when they are perfectly dry set fire to it on the side from which the wind is coming and let it sweep over the entire bed. Inasmuch as the burning over of the fields is so important and so destructive of insects, larva; and fungous spores, we know it will pay everyone having a straw- berry bed to see that these instructions are carried out. Complete and plain in- structions will be given in The Straw- berry before the time arrives for the work to be done. And don't forget the primary impor- tance of clean and thorough cultivation. Power Spramotor SPRAYS 250 TREES PER HOUR. 16 to 30 nozzles with 125 lbs. pressure. Automat- ic, compensating, single or double speed. Strains its own mixture and fills its own tank in 10 minutes. New patented nozzles that spray all parts of the tree from belo or above as shown. 2K horse- power motor can be used for all kinds of word when not spraying ■ 20o to 30o • day. THE AUTOMATIC ROW SPRAYER Is the Ideal Outfit for Strawberries, Potatoes, Beets, Etc. Three nozzles to the row. High pressure forces mixture to every part of leaf and branch. No cost for power. The Government Buys Wallace Sprayers Two orders just received for these Automatic Row Sprayers from the United States Government for beet spraying at Experiment Stations. After full investi- gation the Government selected Wallace Sprayers as better than all others. In adaptability, economy, thorough work, and easy handling they have no equal Other Automatic and Gasoline Power Sprayers for orchard and field work, gives all particulars. FREE. Write for it. "The Wallace Spray Way" WALLACE MACHINERY COMPANY, Dp't 50, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS There are fewer insects to combat in the strawberry field than any other. Let each grower see to it that these encourag- ing conditions are maintained in his own field. In order to assist you along these lines we suggest some "don'ts." Don't let a bed of strawberry plants run wild after you have fruited it for sev- eral years. Burn it off clean. Don't take your plants from an old fruiting bed, as the insects and fungous spores are bound to go with the plants. Don't allow plants in your fruiting beds to mat thickly. Don't allow weeds and grass to have their home among your plants. Don't kill a lady-bug, spider, quail or bird of any kind. These are all your best friends, not your enemies. If the birds do eat a few berries they are only collecting their own wages thereby. Don't plow an old, runout bed of plants under and reset it before some le- guminous grain or vegetable crop has Pag* 98 .^STRAWBERRY-. LANDS Tlie most profitable locations for raising strawberries are in the South, where the climate and soils produce large crops and where the berry ripens early, so that it goes to the markets of the country at the time when the highest prices are obtained. The various sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orchards and gardens. Lands may be obtained at extremely low prices. Good shiitping facilities to all mar- kets at rates which encourage the industry. Finest vegetalde growing opportunities. Write the nearest agent for information about desirable locations, lands, etc. M. V. RICHARDS Land and Industrial Agent Washington , D. C. Chas. S. Chase, Agent. 622 Chemical BIdg., St. Louis, Mo. M. A. Hays, Agent, 225 Dearborn St. Chicago, III. Mention "The Strawl)erry" when w ritiii;; THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 been grown upon it, unless the old plants were in perfectly healthy condition. Even then see that the bed is burned o\er before being turned under. Now don't Don't, but do Do, and everything will come out all right! Managing the Berry Pickers ON E of our commercial strawberry growers writes to ask for some suggestions relative to the man- agement of the berry pickers. This is one of the very important things in the successful management of the berry farm. Your pickers may "make or break you," and in no other time of your work is a thorough system more essential. Women who are careful make the best of pickers. The first thing to do is to have a complete understanding as to what you expect of your pickers and what they rightfidly may expect of you, it must be understood from the first that picking berries is work that requires judg- ment as well as skill, and that strict at- tention to business is to be insisted upon at all times. The name of each picker should be enrolled and each be given a number so that the errors or poor work of an individual may be promptly discov- ered. One point of prime importance is the selection of a foreman, and no foreman should be asked to superintend the work of morj than twenty-five pickers, and he should have authority to hire and dis- charge if his position is to command the respect necessary to maintain discipline. Each picker should have a ticket bearing his name, and the foreman should carry a punch and keep accurate tally of the ber- ries picked each day by every picker under him. Before accepting them, the foreman should examine the berries turned over to him by the picker; then, if the)' pass inspection, the ticket should be punched and the box marked with the picker's number and sent to the packing house. In order that the foreman may be free to oversee, one man should be employed to every twenty-five pickers to carry the berries to the packing house. This system of careful ins lection in the field saves an incalculable amount of time at the packing house, and it is one of the strong points about a good fore- man that he knows just when berries properly are graded and packed. It also serves to fix the blame for carelessness or slovenliness right at the time, and a cour- teous, gentlemanly foreman will be able to show the careless picker what must be done in order to bring the work up to grade; or, if the picker persist in doing in- different work, he may be made to suffer the consequences. And no man should be employed as foreman who is not at once a gentleman and a rigid dis- ciplinarian. Consideration of the rights of the pick- ers must be shown at ;ill times; the mat- ter of hours for beginning work and for quitting work must be scrupulously ob- served by both sides, and should be an- nounced in some way — by bell or horn — so that they shall be uniform the field over. No employer ever lost anything by being thoughtful of the welfare of his "hired help." It has been the making of many a man's fortune that he did so, say nothing of the personal satisfaction that kindness and generosity always yields to those who practice them. 'DEFORE the recent meeting of the ■^ Minnesota State Horticultural Soci- ety Walter Yahnke offered the following advice on the planting and spring care of strawberries: "Great care should be ex- ercised in setting out strawberry beds. If plants are set too deep, crowns will rot or make feeble growth, and if too high the upper roots will be exposed and die. Secure plants from a bed that is in a healthy, thrifty condition, and cut off all old runners and unnecessary leaves. The fine roots must not be exposed to the wind — the best protection is to dip the roots in mud. Put the plants in baskets or boxes to take them to the field. A line is best to set plants by, as it leaves them level with the ground; plants set af- ter a corn-marker are likely to be washed under during a heavy rain. Distance apart depends upon the kind and fertility of soil. Pick off all blossoms the first year, that the strength of the plant may go to development. Cultivate as soon as planting is done with fine-tooth cultivator, working twice a week during May and June, which kills the weeds and makes plants grow rapidly; pulverizing the soil helps to retain moisture. Hoeing is nec- essary around the plants to keep down weeds." JOIN OUR COLONY OF NORTHERN Folks on a New Plan. Work for all. Oraded Schools. '2 Railroads. Buildins lots free. Lands adapted to fruit, truck, and (general farnilnf;. Spec- ially yood soil and readv markets for Strawherries. Large or small farms. Address, 1906 COLON Y CO., Box .5, Folkstitn, Ga. Practical Potato Growers Increase Their Profits BY USING Aspinwall Potato Planter Aspinwall Potato Machinery WE have been making potato machinery for over twenty-tive years, and thousands of .satisfied customers in all parts of the world are using our machines to their profit and advantage. If you are engaged in raising potatoes for market it will pay you to own an outfit of our time and labor-saving tools. CUTTERS PLANTERS SPRAYERS DIGGERS SORTERS Aspinwall Four-Row Sprayer The Machine Par-Excellent for Spraying POTATOES, STRAWBERRIES, CABBAGE, MELONS, TOMATOES, AND SIMILAR CROPS Oar Free Calalngue is full of information tor potato growers. Write for it, Aspinwall Mfg. Co., .sa.'in'st.. Jackson, Mich., U. S. A. RulverizinS Harrow ^Clod Crustier and Leveleri SENT ON TRIAL. To be returned at my expense if not satisfactory. The best pulveri;;er— cheapest Riding Harrow on earth. The me crushes, cuts, pul- ■erizes, turns and levels -^11 soils for all purposes. Made entirely of cast '■ steel and wrouclit iron indestructible. * Cataloi: and booklet. •i**'Ai\ldeal Harrow'* by Henn-Stewart fient free. Id Iverf o h i New V(irirci'icaro.Coluniba8,Louisvl1le,kan8aaCity,MinneapoI!s,SanFranci«co,Portland,etc. DUANE H. NASH, Sole Manufacturer, millington. New Jersey. BRANCH houses: HOW. Washington SI., CHICAGO. 240.244 7th A... S.*"N''"';°'-'^- '»'«*; "^Ji'j' Page 99 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan. ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 47 Plymouth Place, Chicago, 111. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United States and Canada • - -$1.00 Foreign 1.25 Application made for entry at the post office at Three Rivers, Mich., as second-class matter. APRIL, 1906 APRIL brings many changes, and The Strawberry brings to its read- ers this month a change of face, at at least as to color-efFect. March winds bring a russet hue to the face of man, and our cover presents this month the ruddy glow of springtime vigor, bronzed but beautiful. The artist has made good use of a photographic reproduction of a scene familiar to many, the fine straw- berry bed of Charles Cox, teller in the First National bank of Three Rivers, Mich. The golden orange, the soft grays and deeper-toned effects of the pic- ture are unusually fine, and we are sure our readers will enjoy its artistic quality and dignity. By holding the cover in certain lights the reader will discover some very unusual effects in changing colors, some of them exceedingly rich and beautiful. STRAWBERRY folk are offered a free gift by the Gardner Nursery Company of Osage, la. This company offers to send to each of our readers who will ask for them twelve of their beautiful evergreen trees free. If set eight feet apart in a row, these twelve trees would in a few years time make a perfect wind- break 100 feet long. If not wanted for a n ind- break they are of suitable varieties for setting on the lawn, in the cemetery or along the street. This company grows all kinds of hardy nursery stock, and have made a specialty of growing hardy evergreens for nearly forty years, and to prove their hardiness and quality they offer to send twelve fine pines and spruces two years old, entirely free to our readers who apply for them at once. Mailing expense is five cents which you may send or not, as you please. A postal addressed to Box 802, Osage, la., will bring them. This company's catalogue con- tains forty-two colored plates and a mine of valuable information for fruit growers. Sent entirely free to all property owners. V^E are in receipt of a letter from Carl Son- •V deregger of Beatrice, Neb., in which he says: "The results from our ad in The Straw- berry were satisfactory, and we shall give you another ad next fall." Mr. Sonderegger is the kind of advertiser it is a pleasure to have such a word from. His name is synonymous with all that is honorable and high-class in nursery stock and dealing, and he deserves all that he is get- ting in the way of substantial appreciation. By the way, for the convenience of his patrons, many of whom are compatriots of his and still use the language of the Fatherland, Mr. Son- deregger issues two editions of his catalog — one in English and the other in German. The cat- alog lists a great many good things for the agriculturist and includes not only fruit trees and small fruits but forest tree seedlings and hundreds of choice varieties of tested seeds. Be sure and send for one of these catalogs before ordering your supply of seeds for this season's planting. Address The German Nurseries, Carl Sonderegger, Proprietor, Beatrice, Ne- braska, mentioning The Strawberry. BY their fruits ye shall know them," appears to be the test that Stark Bros. , the largest nurserymen in the world, are anxious shall be applied to their fruits. Not only are these gen- tlemen nurserymen, but extensive orchard own- ers as well, and they try for themselves the stock they recommend and sell to others. And the other day the office force of The Strawberry was made glad by the receipt of a box sent them by this couiteous company containing three specimens of as many varieties of apples that it would be hard to beat in any country. They filled the office with their fragrance as long as they were permitted to do so; but with apples at 65 cents a peck that you wouldn't call apples at all in an ordinary season, they were not long in going the way of all good fruit. One was a Black Ben, that Stark Bros.' vigorous battle over and complete victory has made fam- ous among apple folk. We didn't think of weighing it until it was too late; but the mem- ber of the staff who ate that particular apple says he weighed at least three pounds more after do- ing so than before, and felt a good deal more than three pounds happier. Another was a specimen of Stark's Delicious, and the third was a Senator. We could wish our friends no better treat (strawberries excepted) than to have all of these splendid apples they could eat; and if they will write the Starks at Louisiana, Mo., they may learn just how to get them in ample supply. INCREASED acreage in small fruits should be the effort this season among all classes of growers. The insistent demands from Chicago, Boston, Phildelphia and St. Louis markets should be planned for and met by farmers and fruit growers, large and small. W. N. Scarff, of New Carlisle, Ohio, says that $300 profit per acre can be made from small fruits. Mr. Scarff's 1906 catalogue is just off the press. It has a handsome cover and the inside of the book is given up to detailed descriptions of small fruits, garden and field seeds, fruit and ornamental trees and other nursery stock. IN agriculture as well as in all other businesses, conditions have changed so rapidly of late years that the methods used to successfully carry on the various kinds of work on the aver- age farm have undergone a great change. Re- liable farm help has become so scarce that the farmer must depend on some more efficient and economical method of production than that af- forded by the majority of hired men. Power of some kind is absolutely necessary on every farm of any size that is worked to produce soinething more than "just a living." The most practical and economical power for use on the farm or in tlie shop is furnished by the gas- oline engine. A good gasoline engine always is ready to operate just when you need it. You do not have to wait for steam or go to the ex- pense of hiring an engineer. The farmer has hesitated, however, to invest in such a motive power because of the cost and because so many of these engines are so complicated that they re- quire an expert to set them up and start. But the Lion Engine is an exception. This en- gine is very simple in construction and easily set up and operated; in fact, the manufacturers, the Lyons Engine Company, Lyons, Mich- igan, are selling this engine direct from the fac- Page 100 tory to user at a price much lower than that asked by other makers who are obliged to sell through dealers. The Lyons people send explicit instructions and directions with each engine, so that it is an easy matter for anyone to start and operate a Lion gas or gasoline en- gine. They also have an easy-payment plan which appeals to many who desire to have the engine pay for itself while in use. Just write the Lyons Engine Co. , at Lyons, Mich- igan, for full information concerning tte Lion Gas or Gasoline engine. And don't forget to mention The Strawberry. WHEN D. Y. Hallock & Sons bring out anything new in the way of a potato- handling implement nobody doubts for a mo- ment that it is just as represented and will do the work. That is the priceless value of hav- ing a reputation. Perhaps no other implement invented by the genius that makes that com- pany notable has been of larger importanc to the potato growers of the country than thee O. K. potato elevator digger. If you will obsers'e the cut of this digger as it appears in the adver- tisement of the company in this issue, you will see that the principle of its construction is cor- rect; that by its very form and operation it digs and handles the potato in such a way as to de- liver the tubers without injury, while the rapidity with which it may be done is apparent at a glance. Practical experience fully justifies the company's hopes for the machine. Write for full particulars to D. Y. Hallock & Sons. Box 842, York, Pa. THE family garden is something that every American citizen should have, and one of the greatest aids to success and pleasure in this line is the handy seeding and cultivating im- plements made by the Ames Plow company, Boston, Mass. No back-breaking work in getting the seeds into the ground, if you have one of these machines, and the work of culti- vating the crops becomes a positive delight and such exercise as e\ ery healthy man or woman enjoys. A child can operate them. The Ames company manufactures the Matthews and New Universal seed drills, which are marvels of in- ventive genius and accuracy, planting all kinds of seeds and in just the quantity desired. An adjustable agitator in the seed-box regulates the flow of the seed, which is entirely under the control of the operator. ATTENTION is called to the new and en- larged advertisement of the Hart Pioneer Nurseries in this issue of The Strawberry. This is an old-established firm, having organized their business in a small way in 1865. At the present time their nurseries comprise more than 600 acres and is one of the largest in the West. Thev make a specialty of the mail-order busi- ness and sell their stock direct to the planter at wholesale prices, which saves the consumer all agent's commission. They advertise their stock to be strictly first-class, pure bred in every respect and guaranteed true to name. Drop a card to them asking for their wholesale cata- logue, and just say you saw it in The Strawberry. EVERYBODY who ever has used the Planet Jr. tools knows what they stand for in con- venience and economy, and those who use im- plements drawn by horses will be particularly pleased to know that there has been a new addi- tion to the Planet Jr. family for 1906. It is No. 74, and is a two-horse pivot-wheel cultiva- tor, plow, furrower and ridger. This covers the one spot in garden work not previously pro- vided for in the long line of Planet Jr. tools, and we are assured that the new machine pos- sesses more really good points than anything of like kind ever invented. If you garden and are not already provided, you will find the Planet Jrs. to be your kind of tools. It's an old say- ing that there's a Planet Jr. for every need. You will find just what you want in the 1906 Allen catalogue. Send for it. It will be mailed free. Write them at Box 1106D, Philadelphia. We Do Not Want Your Money Unless we can give you your money's worth, and we can- not do this unless you give us a chance to prove our claim, and HERE IS WHAT WE CLAIM: 1st.— That The Strawberry gives more practical information on everything pertaining to strawberry production and marketing than can be obtained anywhere else in the country. 2nd. That The Strawberry makes every detail of strawberry grow- ing so plain that none who reads it can fail to understand it. 3rd. — That every issue is brim full of good things — of actual exper- iences and clean-cut facts, and is so interesting that you never get tired of reading it. 4th. That the Correspondence School Department each month is worth more than the cost for a full year, because here is where we an- swer your questions and help solve your problems. 5th. That the paper is of extra good quality, and the print is so clear that it will not tire your eyes. 6th. That we will never allow any but good reliable firms to use its columns for advertising purposes. In other words, we refuse to intro- duce any firm to The Strawberry readers except those whom we can safely recommend. Now Here Is Our Proposition: We want every man and woman who grows strawberries, either for market or family use, to become a regular reader of The Strawberry. We want to ac- complish this on a purely business basis, and if you will send us $1.00, we will enroll you for a full year and The Strawberry will be mailed to you every month, and if you are not perfectly satisfied that you are getting your money's worth, just say so, and your dollar will go back without a word. And /ou are to be the judge. You cannot lose on this proposition; neither can we, because you will not want your money back. All you need to do is to send us your name and $1; we will guarantee to do the rest. THE STRAWBERRY Ii8 Portage Ave. THREE RIVERS, HICH. SIARKBROSNHS§^l@ CAPITAL STOCK S 1.000,000-ALL PAID UP General Offices, Nurseries, Packing Houses and Shipping Station LOUISIANA, MO. m?AivjrMT7Qi Starkdale, Mo. BRANCHES I j^^^j^p^^j^ 111. Oldest Nurseries in the West Established 1825 Portland, N. Y. Dansville, N. Y. WE PAY FREIGHT on $5 orders (one- fourth cash to be sent with order) at prices quoted in our Wholesale Price List, to any R. R. Station in ARKANSAS KANSAS ILLINOIS MISSOURI INDIANA NEBRASKA IOWA OHIO On Orders Amounting to $7.50 or more, il one- fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight to any R. R. Station in ALABAMA DELAWARE CONNECTICUT INDIAN TER. GEORGIA MARYLAND LOUISIANA MISSISSIPPI MINNESOTA N. CAROLINA NEW YORK S. CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA TENNESSEE VIRGINIA TEXAS Fayetteville, Ark. Atlantic, lo^va Largest Nurseries in the World 4675 Acres DIS. COLUMBIA KENTUCKY MICHIGAN NEW JERSEY OKLAHOMA RHODE ISLAND WISCONSIN W. VIRGINIA On Orders Amounting to $10 or more fourth or more cash is sent with the order, we will prepay freight to any R. R. Station in if one- ARIZONA COLORADO IDAHO MONTANA NEVADA OREGON UTAH VERMONT WYOMING CALIFORNIA FLORIDA MAINE MASSACHU'TS N. HAMPSHIRE NEW MEXICO NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA WASHINGTON We make no charge for Box- ing and Packing. We Do NOT pay freight on orders amounting to less than specified, nor un- less one-fourth cash is received with order, nor on shipments by express GRAPE VINES— In order to carry out our policy of furnishing only the BEST, we maintain a nursery at Portland, N. Y., in the heart of the famous Fredonia— Chautauqua Grape Belt, which produces the finest vines grown in the U. S. We are head- quarters for all the leading Commercial sorts. WARNING— We are sole owners of the names Black Ben, Champion, Delicious, King David and other leading commercial apples. Gold plum, Stark- Star grape, etc., all of which are our Trade-Marks, duly registered in the U. S. Patent Office under the new law approved Feb. 20, 1905. Planters are warned against infringers offering trees under these names or trees claimed to be "just the same." We offer the GENUINE at prices as low as GOOD trees can be produced. Wise buyers will take no chances. STARK TREES SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL— BECAUSE, three generations of Stark Nursery- men have made the production of the BEST trees their life study, their life work; BECAUSE, Stark Trees are produced under an exact science from the time the seed are selected until the tree is delivered carefully packed for transportation; BECAUSE, in selecting buds and scions only healthy, vigorous, highly prolific trees of the best strains are used as parentage; BECAUSE, a tree grown with all conditions favorable has high vitality and will ^vithstand climatic rigors and unfavorable soil even better than the stunted weakling propagated in just such un- congenial surroundings; BECAUSE, having eight nur- series in five states, each sort is grown under the most favor- able conditions of soil and cli- mate, resulting in hardy, healthy, thrifty trees that LIVE and BEAR; BECAUSE, we are constantly on the watch, not only for valuable new varieties of fruits, but for the best strains as they are developed. As soon as an improved strain is found it is propagated and the inferior discarded; BECAUSE, only THE BEST roots, scions, soil, location, labor, cultivation, pruning, digging, storing and packing enter into the production and handling of Stark Trees. We ask for your orders BECAUSE, Stark Trees have given satisfaction in every state and territory for 80 years, w^ith the result that Stark Nurseries have constantly grow^n (the only true test of merit) until they are now^ the LARGEST IN THE WORLD. We are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow." APPLE SEEDLINGS— We offer for the coming season's trade several million that, owing to favor- able season, are EXTRA FINE. They are Iowa grown from Vermont seed and our own experience has demonstrated that they are superior to all others we have used. Also a fine lot of Catalpa, Black Locust, Mahaleb Cherry, French and Japan Pear Seedlings, Plum Stocks, etc., Vermont Apple Seed. WORLD'S FAIR FRUITS" shows in natural colors and accurately fruit. Send 50 cts. and we will send the book post-paid and a REBATE CTARKFRUITBOOK ^Jkl*^^ describes 216 varieties of PJ* TICKET permitting its return within 60 days whe i the 50 cts. will be refunded. Or the Rebate Ticket is good for $1 part payment on a $10 order for nursery stock. Send lor Wholesale Price List, Order Sheets, Descriptive Circulars, Half-tone Views, etc.— FREE. WE PAY CASH Weekly and want MORE Home and Traveling Salesmen. Address, STARK BRO'S NURSERIES & ORCHARDS CO. . Desk 1 1 . Louisiana. MO. May 1906 THES 'T/ie Lord might have made a better thing than the Strawberry — but He didn't''' PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN We are now Busily Engaged in Digging and Shipping Kellogg's Famous Strain of Thoroughbred Pedigree STRAWBERRY PLANTS This rush will continue until June 5th, filling orders that are pouring in from all parts of the country. Send yours in at once, and the plants will be freshly dug and hustled to you on the first train SCENE IN OUR PACKING HOUSE Showing One Hundred Trained Counters, Packers and Shippers at Worli Two of the Great Express Companies establish Branch Offices here each season. One hundred and fifty men are out in the field Cleaning and Digging the Plants, and thirty experienced foremen to see that every detail of the work is dispatched with accuracy and without a moment's delay. Our customers have bought more heavily this season than ever before, but we have so largely increased our acreage oi" the old favorites that we are still able to supply in large or small quantities as you desire. R. M. KELLOGG CO. 118 Portage Avenue THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN ^^l^££>^ ^'^Tt^^Sl^:. ENTERaO AS SECOND-CLHSS MATTER MARCH 31 , 1 9 06 , AT T M 6 POST OFP.C^ AT THREE RrvERB. MICHIGAN. UNDER THE ACT OF CONQRESB OF MARCH THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. S Three Rivers, Mich., May, 1906 $1.00 a Year SOME suggestive parallels are to be found in a study of animal breeding and plant breeding, and every year these correspondences appear more clear to breeders as experience brings them into clearer view of the sit- uation as it exists in these important fields of endeavor. In an address before the students of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, taking for his theme "The Plow and the Book," John Clay, the well-known Scotch-American stockman, urged the need of intelligent reading on the part of the men who hold the plow and raise live stock if agriculture is to attain its true place in the world. Referring to the history of the Short-horn breed of cattle, Mr. Clay said: "It is a pathetic story in away. There is a rise, decline and fall of many families, a weakening of constitution, the disappearance of some grand work. And from its pages the young breeder, nay, the average farmer and ranchman, may draw many a good lesson." So in the plant world we have the rise, decline and fall of noble orders of plants written large on history's page. If we consider so unromantic a thing as the potato, we shall find some striking instances. For one, the Early Rose. What person of forty years but recalls its fine form, smooth skin, mealy texture and delicate flavor, to say nothing of its enduring qualities? Practically it has disappeared from the earth. Why.'' Simply because there was failure to select and restrict, failure to note the good, the better, the best, and propagate only from the latter. Does anybody doubt that if this had been done the Early Rose would today be a better potato than it was thirty years ago.^ But now the world is growing more intelligent, and we see the beginnings of better things. Over in Illinois there are now great farms devoted for the most part to the breeding of seed corn. One of these consists of more than 25,000 acies of the best corn land in the world. Upon these farms is grown pedigreed seed- corn, and as a result of the performance of this seed, as compared with that planted by the average farmer from his own crop, con- sidered from both its quality and yield, many farmers in the Illinois "corn belt" now buy each year every bushel planted on their farms. And they find it pays them many times over to do so. Yet consider what Riley and Reid and Leaming had to go through before they could prevail upon the world to accept the idea that there was anything in "breed- inrr corn. But the world of agriculture moves, though slowly. Have we tangible proof that this care in the selection and breed- ing of seed-corn gives actual returns in dollars and cents.'' Let us take the result or several years of seed-corn breeding in Illi- nois, as described by Prof. Cyril G. Hopkins, chief in agron- omy and chemistry at the University of Illinois, and perhaps the most profound student in this particular line of work in this country, if not in the world. In a recent article Professor Hopkins tells of the work done by the Illi- nois corn breeders to bring up their seed to higher yielding power, and finds in the gov- ernment crop statistics a singular and impress- ive confirmation of his contention that extra- ordinary results will follow continued breeding along scien- tific lines. The gov- ernment figures show that during the four- year period, 1897-1900, Illinois raised an average of 33.9 bush- els of corn to the acre a year, while Iowa raised an average of 33.3 — a diff^erence of six-tenths bushels only in favor of Illinois. In the four-year period, 1902-1905, Illinois went up to 36.8 bushels, while Iowa went down to 31.9 bushels per acre a year, spreading the diflterence between the two states to 4.9 bushels. In commenting upon these figures Professor Hopkins calls attention so the fact that "In the actual and general putting into practice of modern methods of corn improvement, the state of Illinois is at least three or four years in advance of Iowa, the second greatest corn state. Indeed, the general popularizing of corn improvement has been so recent in Iowa that its influence must be measured by future effects rather than by corn yields already produced." Dr. Hopkins also observes that "Illinois farmers as a very general rule are planting improved seed-corn, much of which is actually tested for germinating power, some- times ear by ear." Of the results secured by breeding for special purpose, Dr. Hopkins says: "The increase in the feeding value of corn is by far the most important improvement made by breeders thus far. When we know that the protein in some of the leading varieties of corn has been increased from 10 to 13.25 per cent, we begin to realize what improved seed means to the farmer." "I do not wish to predict what will be done," concludes Dr. Hopkins, "but I do wish to assert with confidence that by con- tinued use of well-bred, carefully selected and tested seed-corn, by the more general adoption of good crop rotations and the addition of liberal amounts of lime or phosphorus or potassium where either is so deficient as to limit the yield of corn or the success of clover, and by continuing the present excellent Illi- nois practice of thorough soil preparation and good cultivation, THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 the average yield of corn for the state of Illinois can easily and very profitably be increased to at least ten bushels per acre above the last four-year average, and this average, 36.8 bushels, is the highest aver- age ever recorded for four consecutive Illinois corn crops." Just what your breeder of dairy cows is doing in the improvement, by breeding and selection, of the milk flow and but- ter-fat content; just what your breeder is doing to increase the number of high- priced steaks in the beef steer; just what the nurseryman is doing whose trees you know always are the best; just what the the seed-corn specialist is doing to furnish a quality of pure-bred seed that, coming from a thoroughly tested ancestry, is sure to yield splendid results at harvest time — just this sort of work is what tells the story of success or failure in strawberry production. Plants that have been bred up to the highest degree of productive- ness, that possess known powers — these certainly are the ones that afford the only safe basis upon which to build the struc- ture of an enterprise from which one may hope to realize fortune and independence. Cultivating the Fruiting Bed NO matter how well a strawberry bed has been cared for during the growing season, weeds and grass are almost sure to bob up through the mulching, especially if the mulching be lightly spread. The mulching itself is likely to be responsible for the presence of weed seeds, as the materials composing it are almost sure to be infested with such seed. It is at once apparent that weeds must not be permitted to dispute possession of the ground when the vines are in full frutt, because the making of good fruit and lots of it requires all the moisture and plant food the soil can supply. And it is a big job to keep the fruiting bed free from these obnoxious growths by hand. The easiest and best way to get rid of the weeds is to rake the mulching close up to the row of plants, and then cultivate the bare space between the rows. By doing this the mulching will be so thick along the rows that weeds and grass can not come up through it, and the stirring of the soil between the rows will prevent seed from germinating there. If the grower is careful to see that he does not cultivate too deeply; does not start the work until danger from frost is past; does not cultivate when plants are in bloom save when the soil is so damp that the dust will not fly — if these points are observed this work will serve two purposes: it will destroy foul growths and conserve moisture in the soil, and these will insure an increase in crop. If any weeds should grow in the row they would be so few as to make it a simple matter to pull them out by hand; and this is easily done after a rain and the ground is moist and yielding. Success to the Man Who Does By Joseph Bolt AS you invite accounts of practical experiences in strawberry growing, I will try to tell you of mine, not in any spirit of boasting, but in the hope that it may encourage someone who is in the same position that once I was to take courage and try it, too. For thirty years I worked at the trade of blacksmith, and always considered my- self a little above the average, especially in the matter of horse-shoeing. So I al- ways could earn good wages and part of the time was in business for myself. But JOSEPH BOLT do what I would, I could not make more than a living and keep my family decently. Expenses always equalled income. Fi- nally, when I was nearly fifty years of age, my health gave way; my v\ife's health also was poor, and the doctor told me I had to give up my trade and keep away from the fire, or I could not live a year longer; that I must get into a warm cli- mate and work in the open air. Well, the warm climate was a long way from Pennsylvania, where I then lived, but we made up our minds to make the change; sold out nearly every- thing but those effects we could pack in boxes and a set of my tools which I knew would come in handy here, and came down to Florida in the spring of 1900, with a capital of less than $100, both wife and myself in poor health and having a five-year-old child. I bought twfenty-three acres of wild land for $30. It was thought to be poor land, but it was well located on a public road, with railroad station and lake only a half-mile Pg&e 102 away. Here I erected a rude house — as all we need in this climate is enough to keep the rain and wind out — and started to clear and fence. We soon found that health was return- ing, and before the summer was over both of us were strong and healthy. The next spring I set out 200 peach trees and had enough land under cultiva- tion to raise our vegetables. Then I re- ceived a strawberry catalogue from the North, and the truths set forth in that book so appealed to my reason that I concluded to try strawberry growing. That summer I got a piece of ground in readiness, and set out 2,000 finely bred plants the following spring. Everybody said that my land was not good for the purpose of strawberry growing, and that I was foolish to pay so high a price for plants, with high express charges added, when I could get plants here for one- fourth the cost. But I was in for it, and was bound to see it through, although the summer was very unfavorable — hot and dry — but the plants all lived, save about thirty, which were cut by worms. Last spring I had my first harvest. Although I lost some berries through un- favorable weather, and some through a blunder I made, still we sold 1280 quarts, not counting what we ate, canned and gave to our friends. And we had pre- served enough to last until now. This spring we picked our first berries Febru- ary 6, and have picked twice a week ever since. Still the vines are full of green berries and are blooming, with a promise of doing better than last year. Now I have a piece of ground ready to put into strawberries as soon as the plants come, which will double the out- put, and next spring I shall double again. I also have a nice peach orchard of 615 trees, most of them in bearing, and am now breaking up land to set to peach trees next spring. I a'so have a nice bed of asparagus, which will be ready to cut for market next spring. So you can see that with strawberries, asparagus and peaches I have almost a continuous har- vest for seven months of the year. Of course we have to grow several varieties of berries and peaches to do it. It is pleasant when you can take fruit to the station every week-day and stop at the postoffice and get a check for prod- ucts marketed. And the beauty of it all is that I can blow my own whistle as to when to commence and when to quit work. Brooklyn, Fla., March 12, 1906. ■^ ■^ THE world has heard a great deal about Nicholas Longworth lately. This young Congressman, who was for- tunate enough to become the son-in-law of Theodore Roosevelt, had a grandfather — Nicholas No. 1 — to whom strawberry growers and the world in general owe a debt of gratitude. He was an interesting THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 character, a typical American pioneer, and among his numerous activities he was a. grower of the strawberry. More than sixty years ago, we are advised, he dis- covered the fact of sex in strawberries. Before that discovery was made failure to produce crops of berries was the rule rather than the exception. Gran'pa Nich- olas Longworth's discovery changed all that, and pointed the way to the extraor- dinary commercial success enjoyed by the grower of the present day. Why Bunker Was Disappointed YES, that's a mighty purty picture," said Mr. Simpson, as he looked over his neighbor's shoulder at a copy of his monthly magazine that con- tained some excellent illustrations of strawberry beds in summer time. "An' it's as true to life as Bill Grubbin's snow statoo of that yaller dog o' his'n. There hain't nothin' puttier, to my way o' thinkin' than a fine field o' strawberries, an' I do like to see 'em when they're in the papers. But every time I see a picture like that it reminds me 'o one 'o Bunker's ex- periences. Didn't I ever tell you of the first lot o' plants Bunker got from a mail- order plant concern.? Well 'twas several years back. Bunker got a catalogue just chock full o' fine pictures o' growing plants, and sent for a lot of 'em. They came along in May, all right, and I no- ticed they looked mighty fine and dandy as they laid in the box; but didn't say nuthin' to nobody about 'em 'cause Bunker didn't happen to be around at that minute. "Well, the next time I see Bunker he says to me, 'Say,' he says, 'I'm awful dis- appointed; them plants I got the other day wa'nt no good at all.' " No good!' I says; why man, I looked 'em over, and they was fine.' " Now you're a jokin' me again,' says Bunker; for of all the dried up lookin' things I ever see tliem wuz the worst ever! Well, sir; for a minute I was stumped. Then I says to Bunker: " 'What on airth do you expect plants that have been under mulch and snow all winfer, and are all calloused, to look like in April.? ^'ou" — '.Come into the house,' says Bunker, an' I'll show ye.' " "So in we went, and Bunker he gets down that catalogue. There,' he sajs, is what they advertise — why don't they send out plants that look nice and purty like them! Them dried up things won't grow!' An' he was madder'n a hornet. 'Well, sir, you might a knocked me over with a match. That blamed idiot had got that fine summertime picture in his mind, ana expected to see a box of great spreadin' plants, full of sap and green as a hothouse plant in December! And he was so hot about it that the first thing FROM BUD TO BERRY PYRAMID Number Fruui Top Downward 1. Showinc the bud just as it starts to swell. Little danger from frost at this stage. 2. Bud just starting to burst open. A heavy frost would do some injury. 3. Bud nearly half open, anthers fully matured. Frost more effective at this time. 4. Bloom fully matured, antliers ripe and have burst and pollen has taken effect. Heavy frost more dangerous than at any other period. 5. Stigmas ail impregnated, petals fallen and the body of berry formed, which causes the flower 10 droop. This protects it from inroads by frost. he done was to throw 'em out in a heap and spile the last one of 'em, and he made a roarin' kick against the innocent nurseryman. He was out his money and out one hull year's growth of his plants. When I sobered down enough to explain matters to him he was as meek as Moses, and called himself harder names than any- body else 'd dare to do. "Yes, that's a mighty purty picture you've got there. There hain't nothin' puttier. Why I Got No Strawberries By A. F. Jones I HAVE raised a few berries for family use and had a few to sell for the past three years. The first plants I got from a gardener, and they were out of a bed that had fruited for two years. He said they were all right; that he got his from an old bed five or six years before. So I set them out and let them run in wide-matted rows, without taking any runners off at all. They grew and had a heavy foliage, as I have ideal land for strawberries. The next spring they blos- somed out wonderfully and looked beau- tiful and as though there was going to be a monstrous crop of berries. But when it came fruiting time about half of the blossoms dried up to a little black speck. On a stem where there ought to have been twelve or fifteen berries there would be two, or possibly three, luscious ones, and then there would be three or four that would be partly developed, looking as if they had been stung, or the juice sucked out of one side of them. They were deformed. I spoke about it to two or three differ- ent ones who grew berries and they said that it was caused from flies and bees sucking and stinging the blossoms. They did not know of any way to prevent it. Last spring I set out some more of those and went to a man that grows them quite extensively and got some Glen IViary's, Ridgeways, and Climax out of a bed that had not fruited, although they were grown in the wide-matted row. I set them out three feet apart, and about two and one-half feet in the row. They have grown and come together in the row to within a foot of each other between the rows. I kept them well cultivated and weeded. The ground is of a rich, sandy loom, and gravelly. It was well manured the spring before, and before I set the plants out I put wood ashes on the bed. I have them well mulched and I was expecting large returns until I be- gan to read your method of cutting run- ners and directions for the proper selec- tion of plants. Wells, vt. Mr. Jones' experience is the universal one where an attempt is made to get na- ture to do two things at once. The P&ge 103 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 fruiting bed and the propagating bed must be kept absolutely separate if you would succeed. Is it not enough to ask of plants that they shall grow a crop of big, red, luscious berries, without placing upon them the added burden of rearing progeny at the same time? Nature em- phatically says it is, and nobody will suc- ceed who goes counter to Nature's laws. — Editor Strawberry. Cultivation vs. Fertilization WHILE thorough cultivation will not produce a big crop of fancy berries without the use of manure or fertilizers, we would rather take our chances of getting a profitable crop of berries on medium-grade soil by intensive cultural methods without fertilizers than to depend upon liberal fertilizing without the use of the hoe and the cultivator. That is, we rather would have medium- grade soil and give the plants thorough cultivation than have highly fertilized soil and neglect cultivation. Of course, neither method is complete without the other; we compare them only to show how essential it is to give the plants careful and continuous care; and we are sure that the importance of this feature of straw- berry production cannot be over-estimated. It certainly does not pay to set plants on valuable land and then endeavor to cut the cost of production down by re- ducing the number of cultivations and hoeings. Just as soon as the plants are set, the cultivators should be started, and this should be repeated every week until early in the fall, unless the ground is wet. Always cultivate after each rain, just as soon as the soil -will crumble. This will prevent crust from forming and thus save a large amount of moisture which other- wise would be wasted. Remember that every time it rains, the water percolates into the soil and travels from one soil grain to another. During this process the moisture dissolves a cer- tain percentage of mineral matter from the soil grains. Immediately after the rain the moisture, which is charged full of the richest mineral matter, starts for the surface, working up by capillary at- traction, and if there is not a dust mulch prepared before the surface-crust forms, the moisture will work up until it comes in contact with the air. Here the plant food and moisture separate, and the moisture is taken up by the air and the plant food left on the top surface to be washed away by heavy, dashing rains. If the crust is broken up by cultivation the com- plete blanket of dust, or loose soil, will prevent this waste by holding the mois- ture below the mulch, or from two to three inches under the surface. This places the mineral matter in the warmest part of the soil, just where the feeding roots easily can absorb it, and but little moisture can escape through the plants; and this is just the channel we want it to pass through. Another valuable feature of cultivation is that every time the cultivator tooth cuts through the soil it assists in furnishing air to the bacterial germs, which in turn work up the plant food into available form, and so it is easy to see that every time you work the soil you also are feed- ing the plants. This is why we say that careful cultivation with fertilizers is better than heavy manuring without the proper working and stirring of the soil, because neither manure or fertilizers are of value to plants until they are worked up by bacteria, dissolved by moisture and taken up by the soil grains. And this process cannot take place effectively without re- peated stirring of the soil. Advertising Your Strawberries AT first thought, it would seem hardly necessary to advertise such delicious fruit as strawberries, but when you stop to consider for a moment, you are quite sure to admit that it does pay, because it gets the people to think- ing about your berries, and the more you can get them thinking about your goods, the more you will want them. Of course, it is true that high-class berries always will be in demand, but it also is true that advertising will increase that de- mand, and thus will make it easier for you to get your price. One of the princi- pal objects in advertising is to make your name a household word, and every time the housewife thinks of strawberries, your name will come to her mind, and when she steps to the 'phone to order her daily sup- ply of berries, your name will be so fixed in her mind that she is certain to call for your strawberries. And if the grocer says he hasn't any of yours on hand, she will say: "Oh, pshaw! can't you send out to his farm and get me six or eight quarts.' I am going to have company and I must have extra fine berries!" Now, Mr. Grower, don't you see that this lady is compelling her grocer to handle your berries.? One way is to put "squibs" or little ads in your local daily or weekly papers. These should be put in with the "locals", and should read something like the following: "If you have a longing for big, red, juicy strawberries that are free from all taint of grit and sand, call for Brown's Fancy Se- lect Berries and insist upon getting them." "There's no place like home when the table is loaded down with a big shortcake made from Brown's Select Berries." "If you never have tasted a real, juicy, properly grown and fully ripened straw- berry, call for Brown's Select Berries. He is the man that knows how to grow them." Another good way to advertise is to have large display cards printed something like the express companies use, and hang them in front of the grocers' who handle your berries. Let them read something like this: BROWN'S FANCY SELECT STRAWBERRIES FOR SALE HERE Every grower has an over-supply of berries for one or two days right in the midst of the picking season. Then is the time he should get out little leaflets, mak- ing special inducements to get the women to put up their winter supply of berries. This will help you sell the surplus with- out glutting the market. KFRUITBOOK •^ 44 pages 9x 12 inches; 22 page" -n natural colors '216 varieties of Fruit, witli concise de? ~son of ripen- ing of each; 64 half-tone views of Nurseries, .. , . ..s^jHouses, etc. "Send 60 Cts. for book (post-paid) and Rebate Ticket pernmtlng return of book by mail within 60 days and we refund the 50(f. Or, mail ns within 1 year, ' Rebate Ticket with $12 order for nursery stock and we will credit $1.00 in part payment on your order and you keep the book free. WE PAY THE FREIGHT. YtT T% £^ V weekly and want more home and traveling salesmen. OdtfiT MlC F^y vaSIl FREE.— Stark Bro's, lOllSIANA. Mo., Atlantic, Iowa, fayettevllle, Art. PIONEER GUARANTEED NURSERY STOCK AT WHOLESALE PRICES.! All stock gruaranteed disoase froe and true to uame. Hart Pioneer Stock is pure bred and produces heavy crops. Value received for every dollar sent us. No Agent's Couiniissiou. WRITE FOR COnPLETE PRICE LIST. WE WILL SAVE YOU HONEY. HART PIONEER NURSERIES, ^"11^^-^ Fort Scott, Kan. Potie 104 .•'s intelligently at theproper time finds it the most protitable operation on the farm Send for illustrated catalog of the Eclipse Spray Pumps and Outfits MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor. Mich. THE AUTOMATIC ROW SPRAYER Is the Ideal Outfit for Strawberries, Potatoes, Beets, Etc. Three nozzles to the row. High pressure forces mixture to every pan of leaf and branch. No cost for power. The Government Buys Wallace Sprayers Two orders just received for these Automatic Row Sprayers from the United States Government for beet spraying at Experiment Stations. After full investi- gation the Government selected Wallace Sprayers as better than all others. In adaptability, economy, thorough work, and easy handling they have no equal Other Automatic and Gasoljne Power Sprayers for orchard and field work. "The Wallace Spray Way" gives all particulars. FREE. Write for it. WALLACE MACHINERY COMPANY. Dp't 50, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS Page no Commercial Fertilizer and the Strawberry Bv C. W. Foster TH K use of commercial fertilizers for growing strawberries ft)r market is more largely followed in the South than in the North. Stable manure is plentiful in the North; it is a very scarce article in the South and so much more valuable in making a corn crop than in making a berry crop that I rarely have seen it used. At three large shipping points within forty miles of where I sit writing twenty-five to thirty carloads per day will be shipped this season, and on some days, the largest shipping days, the shipment may reach forty carloads, and I venture to say that in a season of three weeks, not one car load of berries has been raised by the use of barn-yard manure. First of all, it needs to be understood and thoroughly fixed in the mind that when we fertilize one year, we not only expect to produce the next crop of ber- ries from that fertilizing, but we do pro- duce them from that fertilizing. We have found from sad experience that the use of a nitrogenous fertilizer in the spring before the plants are in bloom, and while they are in bloom, makes the berries so soft that they will not do to ship by express or freight. The addition of a phosphatic fertilizer in the spring has the same effect in a less degree and both unfortunately prolong the bearing season and exhaust the plants. With us this is a misfortune. Our shipping season is from two to three weeks. It is much better that our plants cease bearing at the end of that time and save their strength for the next year. We never take less than three and some- times five crops before turning under a field of berries; and if the field is well worked the fifth crop is as good as the first crop at least. Potash as a fertilizer gives color to the berry; undoubtedly it could be applied in the spring to advantage on a light-colored berry, but we have not found it to be necessaiy, for applied late in the fall it seems to serve all purposes, and with most of the berries we grow here, i. e., the Excelsior, the Klondike, and the Lady Thompson. As an illustration of our methods I will give the history of a one-acre patch of Lady Thompson for the year 1902-1903. After the season of 1902, which was a light pick, owing to a very late frost, the berries were barred off, that is, a one- hotse plow was run on each side of the row, turning a furrow away from the plants, or rather, in this instance, the en- tire middle was thoroughly plowed, turn- ing the soil away from the plants, cutting lots of the plants up, and leaving a narrow ridge about six inches in width. The rows were then hoed out, that is the hoe was struck through this ridge of plants so as to leave about every foot, two or three plants — last year's plants — old plants v\ith their large crowns being discarded as far as possible. Needless to say, all weeds and grasses that could not be reached by the hoe were pulled out by hand. The plowed ground in the middle was then thoroughly pulverized by a one-horse large-toothed harrow. The ground was pretty grassy and as the grass accumulated in bunches, it was burnt and the middles were at once turned back to the berry row. It would ha\e been an ideal time to fertilize before turning the soil back to the berry plants, but there were more acres to attend to and it could not he done there. In a few days all the berry fields were brought to the same stage and the plants were already making runners, when a harrow was run twice in each row to level and fine the soil, and this was fol- lowed by a narrow shovel plow or sweep to sift a little fine dirt among the plants and to leave a deep furrov\- for the fertil- izer. The fertilizer used was acid phosphate, 200 lbs., cotton-seed meal, 100 lbs., and a sufficient quantity' of a well-knov\n potash salt to give about 30 lbs. of potash per acre. This was distributed in the furrow on each side of the row at the rate of 400 lbs. per acre. The potash salt was additional to this and put down at the same time. A scooter run in the furrow thoroughh' mixed the fertilizer with the soil and again the one-horse turning plow was used to throw down the ridge in the middle between the rows. There was not a weed to be seen and it was nearing the first of June. The after cultivation was mostly a matter of harrow and sweep, with a little hoeing. Not a runner was cut and the Lady Thompson makes plenty. You may judge it was a matted row. There was no need for mulching. None was applied and in the spring some grass sprang up between the row's. According to all the books, professors and theorists there should have been no berries, or if any, very small ones, but neither books, professors nor theorists were in it. This was the only Lady Thompson we had in and in ten days we picked and shipped 250 crates — quart crates — of large fine berries. And in our mind's eye we are comparing them with Mr. Beatty's Covington berries, and he sure raised fine ones. And then the strike came. I don't know how many crates rotted in the field but they were not a few. The treatment of this acre is typical of the vVay we raise berries in the South land. When we raise them by the acre for market we cut no runners, except such as are cut accidentally. We do not, as a rule, fertilize in the spring for the reasons I have before suggested. We do not mulch, but our plants are so thick on the ground and on the edges of this "matted row" there is usually a short AN ILLINOIS GROWER AND HIS GANG OF PICKERS ?tge III THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 grass which glows only a few inches high, which dies down by the first to the middle of May, which keeps our berries from getting sandy or dirty. In conclusion, we would advise our Northern friends who must use commer- cial fertilizers to gather their berry crop and then fertilize for the next year. But if they wish to prolong the season of bearing apply in the spring as early as possible one or two hundred pounds of a high-grade acid phosphate and with it such an amount of some potash salt as will give 20 to 30 pounds of potash per acre and then be very careful not to let the berries get too ripe on the vine or they will not stand shipping any distance. Meltronville, Miss. A Question For Southerners ONE of our Mississippi readers would like to have the experience of some of his neighbors with the Senator Dunlap berry, and writes The Strawberry as follows; "How does the Senator Dunlap com- pare in earliness with the Lady Thomp- son, the Klondike, the Excelsior, at the South.? "Southern growers please answer and give their experience. They Work Without Pay BOYS and girls who read The Straw- berry and are interested in the tilling of the soil may learn an im- portant lesson from the following little sketch for which we are indebted to Sun- beam: "Onions, turnips, beets, tomatoes, peas, celery — my! I guess Ell have as grown- up a garden as grandfather's is!" exclaimed Willie happily, as he named over the dif- ferent seeds he was going to plant; as soon as he got the "corner lot" ready for the beds. Suddenly he stopped digging and be- gan striking his hoe vigorously into the soft soil. "What's the matter, Willie.'" called grandfather from the onion bed; "what have you found.'" "Ohe, two, ten, twenty — why hun- dreds of them, grandfather, and they'll eat every seed I plant!" exclaimed Willie excitedly, as he began to cut the soil with his hoe more vigorously than ever. "Hundreds of what.'" and grandfather raised himself slowly from his knees. "Worms, grandfather, and I'll not have a single thing come up." The little fellow's face looked a very picture of despair, as visions of early vege- tables— a surprise for father — that he had planned to take back to his city home, suddenly disappeared. "Why 1 never call them worms." "But they are worms — angle-worms, grandfather." "Yes, but I never call them so," laughed grandfather at the serious little face. "I call them farmers — my assist- ant farmers — and the more work I have for them, the better I like it." "Farmers! Worms, farmers — and work.? Why, grandfather, all they do is squirm and wiggle." "Certainly, that's their work. Don't you see they angle their way through the soil, and so make it light and loose. They are regular little plows; fertilizing the soil, too, as they plow, so to speak. "But — but, grandfather, don't they eat the seeds while they are resting.'" "No, indeed; my little assistants don't destroy; they only aid in my crop-raising. "I didn't know I was going to have some hired help this summer, when you gave me my garden" laughed Willie. "You're not going to" chuckled grand- father, as he returned to his onion-bed; "they work for nothing!" WORD of a new late variety straw- berry comes from Wisconsin, where J. L. Herbst, long secretary of the State Horticultural Society, is said to have developed a Bubach-Gandy cross that is reported to possess the strong points of both of these excellent varieties. He has given it the suggestive name of "Tardy." The new variety is said to be a strong plant maker with heavy foliage that protects the fruit from sun and rain. The foliage resembles Gandj-, growing up well from the ground with strong stems and larger leaves, somewhat darker in color. The fruit has taken traits from both parents. It is large and conical in shape, being a little more pointed than Candy with a large green calyx similar to Candy. In color and flavor it is very nearly like Bubach. It holds up well after being picked and makes a good shipper. The fruit is borne on strong, stocky fruit stems that do not extend above the foliage, and it is claimed to be far ahead of either Candy or Bubach in yield. TH.'\T old joke about crossing the milkweed with the strawberry in or- der to develop the combination of straw- berries and cream without going to the trouble of mixing them, evidently was not a joke so far as Alonzo Murphy of Mor- ristown, N. J., is concerned. The news- papers tell us that Jack Frost nipped his hopes in the bud by destroying his com- bination plants, and one of the local pa- pers says of the attempt to grow straw- berries already creamed and the cause of the failure; "Mr. Murphy, being an imaginative farmer, dreamed that he could accomplish this by a judicious crossing of the milkweed and the strawberry. Last fall he grafted several strawberry plants Page 112 WOLVERINE FURNACES Make Comfortable Homes They hum roiil iirwnod. old rails, stuuips, rub- bish, etc*. Tliey du not iieat the eellar and spoil veiretaliles. They are easy to feed and manage. WOLVERINKS eliminate all danger from fire, are sold direct to the eustomer, saving jobber's profit, and are installed by our own men nnder a %\Titten guarantee to give perfect satisfaction . THE WOLVERINE Is the best furnace because it is tubular in con- struction . Our le.rge illustrated catalog explains this fully. 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We fear we shall have to take even th's mm grano satis! MOSQUITOES and strawberries make a queer combination certainly, but that is what the people in the neigh- borhood of Mount St. Elias can boast of in a region of perpetual ice and snow. .'\long the edge of the glacier, it is said, is a strip of luxurious vegetation, where strawberry vines cover the ground for miles. Strawberries vs. Lager Beer ONE of our family — The Strawber- ry's great family — away out in Idaho has undertaken a work along the lines of practical temperance that must win the instant approval of everybody. M. H. Vorberg of Haley, Idaho, is the man and his plan is to furn- ish the sweet and healthful strawberry, dressed in rich cream in place of the beer that intoxicates and makes all kinds of trouble in this good old world of ours. Everybody who knows about such things declares that modern beer is generally a concoction of stuff so full of poison that it is the parent of an innumerable family of diseases, fatal alike to mind and body. Our German friends who used to drink the lager of the Fatherland tell us that the American article, as a rule, is far more dangerous than the old country brew, and everybody will admit that anything that steals away health and reason is a pretty good thing to let alone. Well, Mr. V^orberg has observed human nature long enough to know that the way to get mankind to leave ofF that which is bad is to offer him a good substitute in attractive form, and with remarkable good judgment has decided that the strawberry is the thing — the only trouble being that you can't have strawberries all the year 'round, while breweries pour out an end- less stream of lager the year through. However, Mr. Vorberg will make the most of the season while it lasts, and will fix up a comfortable place, with neat tables where one may sit down and enjoy to the full the ripe fruit smothered in cream, or in crisp, light, fresh strawberry shortcake, or both, if the customers want them, and he says he in- tends making his experiment more at- tractive than was ever any saloon. All success to this practical temperance 33 Years Selling Direct. i^^S^i^^^^ Our vehicles ani harness have l>etn sold direct from our factory to user mra third of ac'fiituiy. w c ^llip lor ex- amination ami approval and piiurBnteosare delivery. You areoutoothiu^^ if not satisUeU as to titvle. quulity and pi ice. We are the Largest Manufacturers in the World selling to the con- sumer exclusively. We make 2U0 styles ut Vehicles, 65 styles of Harness. «^''iogue!"''*'"*'° ELKHART CARRIAGES HARNESS MFG. CO., No. 331 . Canopy Top Surrey. Price complete, |6j. 00. As yood as bells lor 9:^. more. No- 647- Top Buffpy. Pi ice complete, 110.1)0. As good as sells for £25. more ELKHART, INDIANA. WATER FOR YOUR COUNTRY HOME A KEWANEE System Means Plenty of pure, fresh water Cool water in the summer -No Freezing water in winter -Absolute proieciion from fire Decreased insurance rates No expensive repair bills A plant that will last a lifetime A city water supply without water tax WITH a Kewanee Water Supply Outfit you may have every convenience of a city water sup- ply. The Kewanee System will take care of all your requirements for the house, garden, barn etc. You will have an abundant supply of water delivered anywhere you want it,- and all this without payment of any water bills. A Kewanee tank is placed in the cellar or buried in the ground. The water is pumped from your well or cistern into it. This creates the pressure, which forces the water to the various connections. Just the thing for strawberry culture, flower beds or vegetables. No elevated or attic tank to freeze, leak or flood the house. No expensive repairs. The Kewanee Ooulfiis are complete not the pump alone or the tank only, but everything necessary to provide a first class water supply. Guaranteed to give perfebt service. Write for catalogue No. 1 5 giving names of users in your section. Free, if you mention The Strawberry KEWANEE WATER SUPPLY CO., Drawer R, KEWANEE, ILLINOIS movement, and may there be many others to follow his example! Pathologists tell us that the juices of fruit are distinctly anti-alcoholic in their effects and are an aid to the cure of alcoholism of high effi- ciency. Let everybody try this strawberry cure — it's a good thing for all conditions and all people. 1 BELIEVE in a spade and an acre of good ground. Whoso cuts a straight path to his own livinj; by the help of Ciod, in the sun and rain and sprouting grain, seems to me a universal workingman. He solves the problem of life, not for one, but for all men of sound body. — Emerson. CHILDREN on the farm and no strawberries! This is almost a crime. Last year we just didn't know what to do with ours, they grew so fast, so we all ate all we could, and how the little folks did enjov them! Of course, we can grow them! Minnesota and the Dakotas are the very home of strawberries. Last year at Fargo, N. D., a man from Page 113 Do Your Doors Rattle? Of course they do. 99 out of every 100 rattle and slam with noise enough to drive anyone crazy Stop It! with one of our Anti-Door-Rattle Attachments. Anyone can attach them to the door casing. They last forever. Self-adjusting. The best thing you ever saw. They all say so Agents 'Wanted; No Has Beens Price; 10 Cents Each, or 75 Cents per Dozen Stitt« wh'-ttiiT llL'tit (ir lifuvy duur The American Anti-Door-Rattie Co. 415 Perrin St. YPSILANTI, MICH. an acre and a half grew over $500 worth. Just think of it, and many a farmer's child ne\er sees a strawberry unless it is bought in town. Put out one good long row, better two, the whole length of the garden, says the Dakota Farmer. Keep THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 them clean and well manured and when the ground freezes up next ^fall cover them with a little strawy manure and in the early spring rake it away from the plants. Mr. Gregg, of Minnesota, who says he can grow strawberries cheaper than he can potatoes, and judging from the strawberries we have seen growing on his farm, we believe he can come pretty close to it, plants his rows very wide apart and piles straw between so deep that no weeds grow and the ground is always moist, but good surface cultiva- tion will do it. Poultry With Strawberries SPEAKING of the advantages of combining the raising of poultry with the growing of strawberries, a writer in the Albany (N. Y.) Journal de- clares it to be one of the most profitable of combinations and continues; "When one speaks of poultry in con- nection with any low-growing plant most people can see only the scratching birds and the ruined plants, but the combina- tion has been and is being profitably car- ried out. If one selects one of the larger breeds of hens for this combination the scratching part of the proposition will be reduced to a minimum, and if the fowls are not required to obtain their entire liv- ing from the patch of strawberry plants, they will do comparatively little damage. It is, of course, understood that the fowls are not allowed on the patch until after the fruit has been gathered, but from that time until they go into winter quarters, they will be exceedingly useful, for they will take good care of all the insects, do little damage in the way of scratching, which can be readily repaired by going over the plot each day, and their drop- pings will add materially to the richness of the plot. "If the plantation covers a considerable area it will be a good plan to have several small colony houses on the plot so that the hens may have their own quarters and thus work over a smaller area. The profit from this combination is good and neither will interfere with the other, es- pecially if the fowls are raised for egg production. Try it on a small scale and increase as experience proves it pays." ^ '^ TH E manner in which strawberries are shipped from the South is interesting. Large boxes, substantially built, are con- structed to hold between sixty-four and eighty quarts of berries. The berries are placed in the bottom of the case, and at the top are two large pans, into which ice is placed. Cold air being heavier than warm air, the atmosphere in which the berries lay preserves them until they reach their destination, and they are usually in perfect condition. The first shipments of strawberries reach the North about January 1. The New York and Chicago markets usually take them, and the price is between $1 and $1.25 a quart. They are shipped by express, and about four days is allowed for transporta- tion from the extreme south to the most northerly states. ^ '^ NEW JERSEY is famous for many things, but just now its strawberry stories are among its most interesting products. Here is the latest, which one will do well to accept with certain reser- vations, even though he may hope it shall prove true: "Fresh strawberries each month in the year from the same plant is the wonder produced by Henry Jorale- mon, who recently returned from Califor- nia, where he compared notes with Bur- bank, the plant wizard, and says his new monthly bearing plant is practical, and may be successfully cultivated by any one. The ultimate result will be to place fresh strawberries on the table at Christmas as well as in June, all from the same plant. It was because he want- ed a certain hardy strawberry plant to cross with his present plant that he spent the summer in the West, and journeyed 2,000 miles north of Seattle. It was in this chilly climate that Mr. Joralemon found the plant he sought." ^ <^ Learning the Better Way By George R. Kasey MY experience in the strawberry business is not long; but will tell you about it anyway. On my first attempt I set nine rows about thirty hills long and let them mat in the rows. I did not keep the runners cut off as should have been done, but fought grass and weeds. My health being bad I wor- ried about it and began to think the straw- berry business wasn't the thing it was cracked up to be. When picking time came I kept an ac- count of every quart sold and they brought me $29.50. Just think; ofF of nine little rows! I was so well pleased that the next year I went into it with more energy. I set about three times as many as I did the first year — over-did the thing a little. I had all the work to do myself so I could not work them so well as I did the first, but did the best I could and my second little crop brought me $55. I was tolerably well pleased, but might have been better if I had known the proper way of cultivating them. I thought I knew a little about how to grow straw- berries until 1 read your instructions. Now I see it was little I knew, sure enough. I would not take $10 for what I already have learned through The Strawberry. Leslie, Va. Page 114 LITTLE ADS. FOR OUR FOLKS AN ADVERTISING EXCHANGE FOR ALL -^*- Strawberry Growers iu which they may make known their wants. If you have anything to bny, sell or exchange, need a job or are looking; for help in your strawberry work , here is the place to make it knouni. Count name, post offiee, initials, words or numbers eaeh as one word, and romit a sum equal to 2 cents for each word for eaeh inser- tion. No order will be a(!cepted for less than 25 cents and cash must accompany each order. Advertisements must c()ntain address, otherwise we cannot forward replies from this office. Remit by post office or express money orders. PRINTING FOR STRAWBERRY GROWERS— Letter heads, envelopes, cards, labels. First-cUss work at low prices. The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Michigan. '"KRY the Kellogg malleable-iron, one-piece Dibble, if you J- would turn plant- setting into a delight. Pays for itself in one half-day's work. Write the K ellogg Co. for their little folder on ' 'How We Keep Down the Weeds.' ' 'Twill help you in your work. R. M. Kellogg Co., Box 775, Three Rivers, Michigan. ''} ^ VARIETIES of Poultry, Eggs and Fowls for sale on ^tJ short notice. Send 4 cents for catalogue which will give you prices and descriptions of best fowls and eggs. W. SEIDEL, BoxS, Eleroy, III. (4G) RHODE ISLAND REDS— A superior strain of heavy layers; vigorous, farm-raised stock. Eggs $1 per sitting. J. McPartland, Williams st. , New Loudon. Conn. BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS, White Plymouth Hocks, Rose-Comb Brown Leghorns. Farm range for stock. Choice of varieties. $1 .'25 per VA. Two or mo^e sittings, $1.00 each. Z. Turner, Eleroy, 111. WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLISH and imported En- glish Redcaps. Two handsomest breeds. Eg^'s, 4^^ per sitting; two sittings for $5. Stanley Turner, Eleroy, Illinois. FERNWOOD POULTRY FARM, breeders of large, vig- orous, heavy-laying Barred PI yraonth Rocks; also Mammoth Pekin Ducks that won all firsts, Toledo, 190G. Eggs, $I.'25 sitting. Route 2, West Toledo, Ohio. t45) W^HITE WVANDOTTES EXCLUS IVELY— Pedigreed Plants and Pedigroed Fowls should g<» together. We have the fnwla, and will be pleased to express the eggs at *1. 50 to $3.00 per 15. Davis Poultry Co. Audubon. Iowa. (45) P. ROCKS— Eggs *1.00 per setting. 14 chicks guaranteed. Mrs. Edith Chelton, -Landnnville, Md. B, WANTED — Position i»y single man as manager of small sized fruit farm. Best of references. 0. H. Graves. State College, Pa. MICHIGAN FARMS ^-ood improved farms, splendid soil, fine climate, selling cheap. Wnte 'list r Benham & Wilcox. Hastings, Michigan. B EEBE'S SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORNS ARE THE BEST HEAVY TESTED LAYERS -EGGS- ^^ 15, $1.00; 20, $3.00; 100, $6.00. H. C. Beebe, - Route 5, - Canton. Illinois. 10 nftfOR THIS, Vil£200 £GG PERFECT ^ HATCHCR S BROOD[l> f/00 E§^ Size s 6 Brooders $5 \B.P. Rochs-E^^s *t per 15. *5 per too. l^ nSTIMOWALS A ILLUSTRATtD CIRCULAKi Z* f7 ^A CHELTOp.' FAIRMOL'fJT MO. y' Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 50 to 100 paffes, its writers are the most successful Poultrymen and women in the United Stales. It is The POULTRY TRIBUNE, nicely illustrated, brimful each month of information on How to Care for Fowls aid Make the Most Money with them. In fact so good you can't afford to be without it. Price, 50 cputs per vear. Send at once for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU. R. R. FISHER. Pub.. Box 86. Freeport, III. IMPORTANT TO FRUIT GROWERS I have on hand one million ''Invincible" Berry Boxes. Can fill orders instantly at $3.00 F. O. B., Milwaukee, in any quantities. Best Berry Box ever invented. Ready for instant use; fits any standard crate. Have over 800 excellent testimonials. CHAS. R. LULL, Milwaukee, Wis. I Ways for Having Strawberries the Year Round THIS is the season of the year when the thrifty housewife lays plans for the days to come when the fresh, deHcious small fruits of summer are a thing of the past, and the only way in which they may be enjoyed is in preserves and jellies, jams and canned fruits. With this in mind, The Strawberry presents some recipes herewith, those which are tested and tried and known to be of just the sort that delights the taste and pre- serves in greatest similitude the nat- ural fruit of the delicious strawberry. Some folk like to make the fruit the medium only through which to produce sweetmeats, loading them up so heavily with sugar as to destroy all taste of the natural fruit. In this way the different fruits are made to taste alike, the sugar in all of them dominating to so great a de- gree as to destroy individual flavors. Of course, this is a matter of personal choice, although it must be said that fruits so preserved are neither so appetizing nor so healthful as those containing the mini- mum of sugar. And the recipes here- with, for the most part, will be found to conform to the plain way of putting up the berry. There also are recipes here for the im- mediate use of the strawberry in the way of crisp, feathery shortcakes and flaky pies which we are sure will be appreciated by the cook. Many of these are simple, and all of them are excellent. We shall welcome suggestions for the June issue of The Strawberry from the housewives who think they have something better to suggest than the recipes here offered, or have some new way of making a pleasant dish from their favorite fruit. Bottling Sun-Preserved Strawberries Strawberries and raspberries hold the color and shape better when preserved in the sun. Weigh the fruit; to each pound allow three- quarters of a pound of sugar; put a layer of sugar, a layer of fruit, another layer of sugar on a large granite or stone ware platter. Cover with glass and stand in the hot sun. As the sun cools toward evening bring them in; put them out again the next day. Lift each berry care- fully with a fork and arrange them neatly in tumblers or bottle. Boil the syrup for five or six minutes, pour it over the fruit, cover with the glass and let them stand all night in a cold place. Next morning cover the jars with melted paraffine over which stretch tissue paper and fasten it down with white of egg. When the covers are dry brush them over with water. Strawberry Jelly Measure the juice after straining before putting to cook, and use an equal amount of sugar or less, as you like, for the jelling depends on the pectin of the fruit and the juice will jell with no sugar. For strawberry jelly use some lemon juice or one-third red currant juice as the jellv from strawberries is apt to be less firm than that made from more tart fruits. When the sugar and fruit juice have been measured, put the juice to cook in a granite kettle free from stains, and the sugar in the oven to heat. The object in having the sugar hot is simply to hasten the work of jelly making, as the boiling need not stop when sugar is added. Boil the juice twenty minutes, then add sugar and allow the whole to boil up once before taking from the fire. Pour in jelly glasses which have been rolled in hot water. When jelly is cold cover with melted paraffine. Canned Strawberries Make a syrup in the proportion of one cup of granulated sugar to one quart water. When boiling add enough fresh strawberries to fill a quart jar when cooked. Allow berries to merely come to a boil. Carefully lift berries into the cans allowing syrup to overflow to exclude all air. Seal, being careful to tighten cover occasionally as fruit cools. Strawberry Sponge ' One quart berries, one-half box gelatine, one and one-half cups water, one cup sugar, juice of one lemon, beaten whites of four eggs. Soak the gelatine in one-half cup of water; mash the berries and add half the sugar to them; boll the remainder of sugar and the cup of water gently Pa«e 115 twenty minutes; rub the berries through a hair sieve; add gelatine to boiling syrup; take from the fire and add berry juice; place the bowl in pan of ice water, and beat with egg beater five minutes; add beaten whites and beat till it be- gins to thicken. Pour into well wet moulds and set on ice. Serve with cream. Strawberry Jams For every pound of fruit allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar, one pint red currant juice to every four pounds of berries. Boil the juice of the currants with the strawberries half an hour, stirring all the time. Add the sugar and boil for about fifteen minutes longer. You may omit the currant juice, but the flavor will not be so fine. Canned Strawberries After the berries are pulled, let as many as may be put carefully In the preserve kettle at once be placed on a platter. To each pound of fruit add three-fourths of a pound of sugar; let them stand two or three hours, till the juice is drawn from them; pour it in the kettle and let it come to a boil; and remove the scum which rises; then put in the berries very carefully. .'\s soon as they come thoroughly to a boil put them in warm jars, and seal while boiling hot. Be sure the cans are air tight. To Preserve Strawberries Whole Select firm, entirely ripe berries; hull and free them from sand. For each pound of fruit allow one pound of sugar, granulated, and for each four pounds one pint of red currant juice and let it boil until they are clear and thick. Add the strawberries, only cooking a few at a time, cook them gently until clear and tender; take them up carefully and place in jars; continue thus un- til all the berries are finished. Cook the syrup until it will jelly; pour over the fruit and when cool, cover and put away. Strawberry Pie Into a rich, deep undercrust that has been baked, put sufficient strawberries to fill, and cover with sugar. Make a meringue of the whites of two eggs and a tablespoonful of sugar; cover the pie with It and brown. Strawberry Fluff Strawberry flutf is very nice and Is made of one and one-fourth cups of strawberries, one cup sugar, white one egg. Put these ingre- THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 dients into a bowl and beat with a wire whisk un- til stiff enough to hold its shape; this will require about thirty minutes. Pile lightly on dish, chill, surround with maccaroons, and serve with cream sauce made of three-fourths cup heavy cream diluted with one-fourth cup milk beaten until stiff, then add five and one-half tablespoons powdered sugar, three-fourths teaspoon orange extract. If heavy cream is not used, omit the milk. Strawberry Cream Mash one quart berries with one cup powdered sugar, and rub through fine sieve; dissolve one and one-half ounces gelatine in one pint sweet milk; strain and add one pint whipped cream and the berry juice. Pour in a wet mould and set on the ice to form. Strawberry Frappe One quart of fine, ripe fruit, put through a press, and one pound of sugar; let stand until the sugar is dissolved, then add a quart of water, and freeze until thick, but not stiff. Strawberry Shrub Pour three quarts of best cider vinegar over nine pounds of fine ripe sti;awberries, let it stand twenty-four hours, then bring to a boil and strain, add a pint and a half of sugar for every pint of juice, boil together five minutes, then strain again. Put up in self-sealing pint cans. A tablespoonful or two added to a glass of water makes a grateful and refreshing drink. Serving Fresh Strawberries Sift confectioner's sugar, and pack it solid into a cordial glass. Invert glass in center of fruit plate, removing glass carefully that mold may keep its shape. Wash fine, large straw- berries without removing hulls. Drain and heap them around mold of sugar. They are properly eaten with the fingers. Strawberry Sauce One-third cup of butter, one cup powdered sugar, one teaspoon lemon or orange extract. Cream the butter, add sugar gradually and flavoring. To this add one cup strawberry pulp and the lightly beaten white of one egg. Chill thoroughly. Strawberry Sauce Cream together butter and powdered sugar, .^dd flavor, and when ready to serve mix in one or two crushed berries to tint the sauce. Add also a generous quantity of hulled berries cut in slices. Fruit Punch Sugar syrup rather than sugar in a crude form is preferable for sweetening any kind of beverage and is especially desirable when the foundation of the beverage is a fruit juice or a combination of several varieties of fruit juice as is usually the case. Boil three pints of water and three cups of sugar twenty minutes. When cold add a pint of strawberry juice, a cup of orange juice, the juice of three lemons and one quart or more of water. Oranged Strawberries Place a layer of strawberries in a deep dish, cover thickly with pulverized sugar, then a layer of berries and so on until all are used. Pour over them orange juice in the proportion of three oranges to a quart of berries. Let stand for an hour and just before serving sprinkle with pounded ice. Strawberry Pudding To a large teacupful of finely powdered bread crumbs add the yolks of four eggs and a quart of milk. Stir these together, flavor with vanilla and bake. When done, remove from the oven and spread on the lop a thick layer of slightly mashed and well sugared strawberries and over this spread a meringue of the whites of the eggs sweetened. Return to the oven and brown slightly. Strawberry Cake Bake three sheets of sponge cake. Put lay- ers of strawberries between the sheets of cake, pour whipped cream over each layer and over the top. Dainty Strawberry Fritters Beat together one cup sweet milk, one egg, and a level tablespoonful of sugar. Dip into this slices of stale sponge or other loaf cake, having We Want An Agent In every Town in every Slate of the Union and the Dominion of Canada to take subscriptions for THE STRAWBERRY A generous commission will be allowed on each subscription taken, and to the man or woman, boy or girl who will send us the largest number of subscribers in excess of 100 between this time and the 15th of December, 1906, we offer any one of the followinglist of lours as a prize: JIT Round Trip to Washington, D. C, ^' and $15 in cash to pay expenses while there. Round Trip to Niagara Falls and same amount in cash. Round Trip to Jacksonville, Fla., and same amount in cash. Round Trip to the Farm Home of The Strawberry and a full week's en- tertainment. The winner may choose which of these tours will be taken and when, and The Strawberry will publish a full account of the trip, illustrated with the winner's photograph, and a story of the way in which the prize was won. Write us for sample copies and get to work. DO IT NOW THE STRAWBERRY 1 18 Ponage Ave. TH REE RIVERS, MICH. it cut into neat squares. Fry in hot, sweet lard, and arrange on a hot dish with strawberries gen- erously sprinkled with sugar heaped upon each fritter. Serve with either plain or whipped cream slightly sweetened. Plain Shortcake Three cups sifted tlour, one-half cup butter and lard mixed, two teaspoons baking powder, sweet milk enough to make a soft dough. Di- vide in two equal parts, roll out, spread melted butter on each and place on top of each other and bake. Strawberry Sherbet Boil for twenty minutes two cupsful of sugar and three cupsful of water. Remove from the fire and add three cupsful of strawberry juice, juice of two lemons. Pour into cans packed in ice and salt, then just before freezing add one cupful of milk. Freeze and serve in dainty cups with strawberries on top. Strawberry Floating Island Make corn starch pudding and pour into glass bowl when cool. Then place layer big red berries on this. Make a meringue of white of egg or whipped cream, sweeten to suit the taste, color Page 116 the meringue pink with a little juice of the ber- ries and pour this over the berries. Canned-Strawberry Shortcake One-half cup of sugar, two eggs, three table- spoons of melted butter, two cups flour, two teaspoons" baking powder, one cup milk. Bake in two layers, spread with berries and pour over whipped cream and a little of the juice. Strawberries and Cream Always remember that the flavor of the straw- berry is the most delicious of all fruits and must not be smothered or neutralized and therefore cream should be sweet and free from taint. It should only be used to stick the sugar to the berries. Where cream is not perfect, clear w'ater is preferred by many. Some Practical Experiences By A. D. Stevens SOME twenty-five years ago when strawberry culture was carried on by the hit-or-miss plan, I began to study the nature of the plants and readily saw that the old method of waiting until the plants began to grow before the cul- tivator and hoe were started was not the right course of cultivation. I began to cultivate early and make them start to grow when some of the older growers said that I would kill them, because they had not started enough roots and had not become firm in the soil; but it was soon proved that the new method was the right one. We had fifty-two days of drought, so the old rule of not cultivating in dry weather was practiced by most of the growers in this locality, and to their sor- row nearly all of many patches withered and died. But I began to cultivate and kept it up every ten to fourteen days and by June 14, at the distance of seventy- five yards, passersby took the strawberry vines to be potatoes, the foliage standing eight to ten inches high. Then we began to watch for new methods of setting plants, as it was diffi- cult to get the roots straight down in the soil. One day I ran across one plant that had the roots all bitten od by a mole or mouse, so that only about three ii>ches remained. 1 set this plant and carefully watched it for some time, and found it was rapidly surpassing the other plants in growth, so I took the pains to dig it up and found that every root that had been bitten off had started from three to six new white roots just above the ends. So this led me to take some of the other plants up, and I soorf observed that they had but very few new roots and the ends withered and turning black. I heartily endorse plant pruning. 1 find great pleasure and profit in rais- ing seedlings. I take the seeds from a pis- tillate or female berry after it has been properly mated, and plant them in sum- mer as soon after they are ripe as possible, and allow them to remain in their place until spring. Then I transplant them at THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 The Avery Press ARTHUR D. AVERY, Proprietor. r WE PRINT "^ The Strawberry and solicit the work of other High Class Publications THE real value of distinctive printing as a trade producer cannot be com- puted in dollars and cents. Tasty booklets, pamphlets, blotters, cards and the high class catalogue advertising and station- ery printing creates impressions that are lasting in their effect. GOOD PRINTING always pays. It is accorded a hearing and consideration when every day printing would find a premature grave in the ever handy waste-basket. Modern Ideas Employed in up-to-date printing win win business — money-making business — the sort you are long- ing for. Give US an Inkling of what you want, and we will propa- gate it into an idea. It is our business not only to create ideas, but to artistically reproduce them with ink on paper in business-fetching attractiveness. It's then up to yOU-whO wins; and its easy money. The Avery Press One Hundred Eighteen Portage Avenue THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN PMe 117 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 a distance of four feet apart, and watch them until they fruit, when I take all that show two or more good qualities, set the plants and breed them up by selection, until I have the imperfections all bred out of them. Bridgeton, N. J. Renewing the Strawberry Field By J. B. Graves JUST as soon as the picking is ended mow the field as close to the ground as the mower can be run. If the trash is heavy enough to interfere too much with the plows, rake it into wind- rows and haul it ofF to use somewhere else on the farm. Take now the double shovel, put on the curved calf-tongues, spread them sixteen inches apart and plow across the rows. Plow shallow, not quite the depth of the strawberry roots. This cultivation will thin the plants, plow out the grass and weeds, and partially level the ground. This done, take the single broad shovel and run lengthwise the row squarely in the center. This will plow out the mother plants, those originally set, and will still further thin, cultivate and level the row. When the ground has settled, or after a rain, which would be better, take a narrow "turning" or "break- ing" plow and "bar off' rows crosswise of the old ones. If the old rows run east and west, lay off the new rows north and south. Bar ofF rows eight inches wide and three and a half feet from center of one to center of next. These three plowings will destroy nearly all the plants in the field. There will be plenty left to make a good row. Cultivate this row as you would one newly set. Cultivate often and hoe enough to keep free trom weeds and grass. Stop your cultivation for awhile about the first or middle of August. By the 20th of September your plants will have run over 'all creation." The row will be full, the back will be full, they will be piled upon one another, and "thick as hair upon a dog," If left thick in the row the berries will be small, poorly col- ored, illy flavored, and unsuitable for a fancy market. Besides, when rows are too wide and plants too thick the berries are much slower to ripen and rot badly in rainy weather. Now to thin out those overthick plants and give them a final cultivation take the double shovel with the narrow curved calf-tongues, spread sixteen inches apart and cross-plow the rows as was done at the first cultivation after mowing. Do this about the 20th of September. This will plow up many plants, drag many runners out of the row, and cover up many others. To uncover these, to draw the weak plants and runners out in- to the balk and to level the ground, take a havrake and run across the rows in the same direction as the shovels, holding it firmly on the ground with the foot. This will tear out the weak runners, and leave the ground much nearer level than it was when the lengthwise cultivation ceased. When a field is serxed in this way it looks as if it might be forever ruined. But it isn't. It is the making of it. The plants thus treated are given more room and more plant food. They grow strong and hold their rich color until late in the fall, and in the spring they are the first to wake and get ready for business. The beauty of this method of renew- ing is that by pursuing it from year to year you can perpetuate your field for an indefinite period and have practically a new field all the time. Besides, it is much less expensive than to plow under the old field and plant a new one. I have two other methods of renewing, but I like this one the best. If you are a r- -% The Strawberry In the South BUTNER PRODUCE COMPANY Chattanooga, Tenn., 4-7, '06 Kellogg Publishing Co. The writer was down in Georgia yesterday making some deals with berry growers and saw one field of 40 acres which was the most perfect stand, and showed the result of bet- ter cultivation than any crop of berries I ever saw in the North Georgia dis- trict. I was at a loss to know the reason of such a signal success — un- til when we went in to dinner the grower picked up "The Strawberry," then I was "next." The grower is Mr. W. A. Mitchell, Trion, Ga. Foster Butner. strawberry grower and can keep your nerve with you you might try this plan on a small scale to see how it works. Neosho, Mo. We prefer the plan of burning the old bed over, but are glad to give the exper- iences of others in all matters of this kind. — Ed. The Strawberry. Conserving Farm Manures PRACTICAL horticulturists are coming year by year to understand the fundamental importance of the proper use of farm manure. None is so rich as to afFord the loss of fertility; the world itself cannot afFord such a loss. Therefore, it is the duty of everyone who has any manure about his place to see Page 118 that it is given to the land in its best form. The methods adopted for the conser- vation of farm manure is an important thing to decide. On this subject Pro- fessor Snyder of the Minnesota Experi- ment Station says: "In connection with the subject of farm manure, there are many points to consider, as composting, hauling directly to the field, the use of the manure spreader, and the crops most suitable for manuring. The question of hauling the manure directly to the field and spreading it, or first composting it, is one that has received considerable atten- tion from practical farmers. "Experience has shown that wherever conditions will allow, it is best to haul it directly to the field rather than to let it accummulate in yards and undergo leach- ing, excessive fermentation and fire-fang- ing. When hauled directly to the field the losses by leaching are prevented and the only losses that are liable to occur are through the formation of volatile gases containing ammonia and nitrogen. The losses in this way, however, are not large, and the advantages of having the manure in contact with the soil so as to cause de- cay and disintegration of the mineral mat- ter are far greater than the slight loss of ammonia due to volatilization. When manure is hauled directly from the stable and applied to land the expense for labor is much less than it would be for spreading the manure in the spring, and the land is in condition for seeding at an earlier date than if the manure had first to be spread and the land worked before seeding." ^ 4^ KALAMAZOO has done itself proud by electing William Thompson to be mayor ot that beautiful and progressive Michigan city. Mr. Thompson is vice- president and directing head of the world- wide popular Kalamazoo Stove Co., and has been giving the general public a "square deal" for so many years that he has the habit so well fixed we are confi- dent Kalamazoo, the Greater Kalamazoo that is to be under his administration, will be governed in the interest of moral and material progress: Mr. Thompson, in an address to the public the evening of his election, said a word that ought to repre- sent the attitude of every administrator of a public office in the land. We quote from Mayor Thompson: "I fully realize that my majority is made up of the votes of persons of all shades of political belief, and I want to assure the citizens of Kal- amazoo that I shall be the mayor of the whole people — with equal rights to all and special privileges to none. I call upon all good citizens, irrespective of their political affiliations, to aid me in every possible way in inaugurating and in maintaining in Kalamazoo the era of the "Square Deal for Every Man" and in la- boring together for a Greater Kalamazoo. OURCOim^ONDENCESCHOOLpayF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WITH the coming of spring every strawberry grower in the land is up and doing, and the number of questions increases as new problems arise, or as amateurs come to the old problems that have vexed those who have gone before them. This is the beginning of the season when the grower must "make good" the fine dreams of the long winter season, and there is no reason why he shouldn't go Ills dreams one better" and produce bigger strawberries and more of them than he dared to think possible — if only he will intelligently read and faithfully follow the instructions that appear from month to month in this department. We say this out of an experience extending over many years, and would not say it if we were not confident you could do as well if the same line of procedure were allowed. The first thing one needs to have is confidence. If one approaches an under- taking with fear and trembling he has, by that very attitude, in\'ited failure. Read the instructions gi\'en; say to yourself: That says to do so-and-so and in such- and-such a way. I can do it just as well as anybody — and here goes!" It's just as simple as learning your lessons in school used to be — if you will but think so. Success comes from thinking success — very largely. One can't sit with folded hands and imagine success — and attain it. But think success, act success, do the things that win success — and success is yours. And if you will follow throughout the entire season the simple methods prescribed in these columns, nothing but an upheaval of nature or some serious accident can cheat you out of the success such a course has earned. One member is so pleased with what he has received in the way of helpful advice that he sends in a subscription paid up to 1911, and doesn't want to miss a paragraph for the next half-decade. From a basket full of complimentary words — words that cheer and hearten us more than we can say — we take a sample or two to let you see how the others are feeling about The Strawberry and its mission. One comes from Minnesota and another from the Pacific Northwest, and both are si^ch expressions of appre- ciation and good will as make easier the editor's task: Anoka, Minn. I am a subscriber to The Strawberry, and consider it a most valuable magazine for any person engaged in strawberry culture, no matter on how large or small a scale. No one who would win success can get along without it unless he has had wide experience in the business, and e\ en then he would be surprised to learn how much behind the tmies he is in this line if he will read The Strawberry. F. M. Craig. Riverton, Wash. To say that I am pleased with The Strawberry is putting it mildly. I like it in every way. The intellectual ring that it has, coupled with clearness and simplicity, will make it pleasing to all classes. The substantial quality of paper and elegance of appearance make it worthy to be filed. The matter in all departments makes it valuable generally. May it live long to be a help and blessing. Rev. Wallace Bruce. E. E. C, New England, N. D. It is so dry here that we have to irrigate. How late in the season should I continue to water the plants.' As you are located in a cold climate that fact must be taken into consideration. A SENIOR-CLASS MAN E. R. MAUL, ELMER, N. J. You should do no irrigating after Septem- ber 1 unless the warm weather continues extremely late, as too much tender vege- tative growth woidd be produced at the expense of the fruit buds. L. A. H., Blenheim, Ont. I have a fine bed of strawberry plants that were thoroughly sprayed last summer. The plants came from a propagating bed that also was thoroughly sprayed. Should I spray the fruiting bed next season? It will not be necessary to spray your plants again at fruiting time, as they were sprayed so thorouijhly last summer. Of course, if any insect appears then you should spray at once, unless the plants Page 119 are in bloom or fruit. It \ery seldom occius that insects attack the plants at that time of the year. F. M. C, Anoka, Minn. Please advise me what to raise this season for a mulch for my strawberry plants next winter. Straw is very scarce here and I will not be able to gtt enough to mulch my plants. 2. I am lo- cated near Minneapolis. Would you advise me to raise all late varieties.' 3. How deep shall I cover my plants and when? For mulching purposes you may grow either corn or cane. If corn is used, sow at the rate of two bushels of shelled corn to the acre. This will make it so thick that the stalks will be very spindling. If cane seed is used, sow at the rate of about one-half bushel to the acre. This will make a perfect mat of spindling growth, and the finer the stalks the better mulch- ing will it make. As you are so near Minneapolis, you may be able to get suf- ficient coarse stable manure to use for mulching. This is especially valuable, as it serves two purposes — a'^ a mulch and in supplying the fertilizing element. 2. Minneapolis should be a splendid market and for this reason you should grow both early and late varieties unless you intend to grow them on a large scale to ship to cities farther south. This being the case, we should recommend mostly late varieties, as when these are ripe the fruit from more southerlv points will all be marketed. This will make it possible for you to get much better prices for your product. 3. In mulching strawberries, put on enough covering to hide the foliage, and if sowed corn is used, it is best to have it cut and tied in bundles. Lay these bundles on top of the rows in continuous lines. After this is done cut strings that hold the bundles; this will leave the stalks lying lengthwise with the rows. Then in the spring it is an easy job to part the mulch to let the plants come up through. The best time to apply mulching is imme- diately after the first hard freezing. .*, ^ L. A. B., Prevost, Wash. I would like to see something in The Strawberry about growing strawberries by the hill system. There was a time when we thought the hill system the only one by which to grow fancy strawberries. But after ex- perimenting with the single and double- hedge row systems we find that many THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 more quarts may be grown to the acre in these ways than by the hill system and that the berries are just as large and of as high quality. Of course, where the fruit is grown just for home use and only a small space is occupied, the rows may be placed about fifteen inches apart, setting the plants about twelve inches apart in the row. By keeping the runners ofl, the hills will spread until the plants come to- gether. But we do not feel like encour- aging the hill method for market purposes. J. M., Port Jer^'is, N. Y. Will ground that was limed two years ago and since then has grown garden truck be suitable for strawber- ries next spring? Lime has always seemed to me to be detrimental to the strawberry. 2. I applied a small quantity of muriate of potash to a few rows of berries last fall and it scorched the leaves to some extent. Do you think this will injure or has injured the fruit buds.' The variety is Glen Mary. 1. Your piece of land which was limed two years ago and has grown two crops of vegetables should be in excellent condition for strawberries. No better crops can be cultivated in advance of strawberries than vegetables. We agree with you that it is not good practice to use lime for strawbenies, especially on clay or black soil. About twenty-five bushels of lime to the acre is all right if the soil be loose and .randy. 2. We judge from what you say about the application of potash that you put it on too liberally or did not mix it suf- ficiently well with the soil before permit- ting it to come in contact with the plants. We should not think the fruit buds will be affected by this experience. F. G. S. , Fortyfort, Pa. Enclosed please find $1, and kindly enroll me as a member of your correspondence school. I would like to ask if any of your members ever have mulched with hops from the breweries.' I have for the last five years and with good results. This is certainly something new to us in the way of mulching, but we see no reason why it would not make an ideal covering, unless it would be that the hops might affect the flavor of the fruit. A. C, Nebraska City, Neb. I am troubled somewhat with the white grub, which cuts off my plants. What is the best way to get rid of them.' The white grub pupates from the May or June bug. They are generally found in a timothy sod, as they prefer roots of a wiry nature. The eggs sometimes are de- posited in old manure piles and are trans- ferred to the fields when the manure is spread over them. After hatching they appear not unlike a maggot, and continue to grow until about an inch and a half Hallock's Two-Horse Elevator er PATENTBO AND PATE APPLIED POP Pntotn Hrnu^prc! ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ °"'" competitors rULdlU UlUWCl^J agents are defaming our O. K Well, ue seek a better acquaintance, and will be pleased to enter a field contest any- where east of the Mississippi river on condition that each and every competitor shall place $100 in the hands of the owner of the field, to be awarded to the competitor adjudged as having the highest degree of merit by judges chosen, one by each compet- itor, and three other men acceptable to all competitors. WHO WILL ARRANGE FOR SUCH A CONTEST? Guaranteed as Good as the Best D. Y. HALLOGK & SONS, l^z YORK, PA. We have a Rich Field for Agents long and as large around as a lead pencil. They have many legs, a yellow head and a corrugated belly. They are gross feed- ers and quickly sever the roots from the plants. Their presence is first indicated by the wilting of the plant, as if suffering trom lack of moisture. Immediately up- on observing this, if you will examine the ground, you will find the grub about one- half to one inch under the surface. The only remedy is to kill the individual grub; by doing so at that time the plant may be saved. Good preventives are — first, good, clean cultural methods; second, breaking up the ground in the fall previous to the spring in which plants are to be set, which exposes them to freezing and to birds and other feeders upon insects. Hogs, chickens and turkeys will desert the corn crib in order to feed upon them. W. F. P., Bloomington, Ind. When plants are properly mated, will it cause them to pro- duce more berries than plants can mature into large size. 2. How do you set the plants in order to make the double-hedge row.' 1. Proper mating of varieties will not make any more berries than the plants can mature into large size, provided you furnish the plants with plenty of food and moisture. Moisture may be retained Pftge 120 by mulching the plants in the winter and leaving the mulch between the rows dur- ing the fruiting season. 2. In making the double-hedge row, each mother plant is allowed to make four runners, layering them zigzag in the row. J. D. F., Merrimac, N. H. Last year I lost all my plants. I set out about 500. The wind blew so hard that the soil, which is sandy, was blown away from around the roots until they were exposed fully two inches, while other plants were entirely covered over by the sand. What method may I pursue to prevent the wind from injuring my plants an- other year.' We were several years in devising a plan for keeping the high spring winds from destroying our newly set plants, and we have discovered how to do it. Here is the prescription: Just as soon as your plants are set, follow immediately with a cultivator having medium-large shovels, and go as close to the plant as you can — about four inches — and let the shovels go down quite deeply. This will leave the ground in ridges, which will break the force of the wind as it passes over the field. Since we have followed this plan we never have lost any plants. If you will observe, you will see that the THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 wind always blows the sand the worst where it is rolled the smoothest. This is because it has an unbroken sweep. We have seen it blow for days so that the men engaged in setting plants were invisible, but the method suggested always has proved effective in saving the plants. Just try it. B. W. M., Durant, Miss. I sprayed my strawberry bed about tv^'O weeks ago with Bordeaux mixture, leaving out the Paris green. The berries are blooming quite abundantly and I want to spray again in five or six days. Will the Bordeaux mixture be the thing to use.' My plants are not troubled with insects, but I wish to get rid of the blight. Never spray your plants with anything while they are in bloom. The best time to spray the fruiting bed is just as soon as growth starts in the spring; then repeat this just before the buds open. Bordeaux mixture is the best preventive to be had for blight or fungous growths of any kind. We regret that you are compelled to grow berries on ridges. If they were grown on the level, as we grow them in the North, you could then follow our plan of turning over the bed after the fruit is picked. But the nature of your soil is such that you must grow the fruit on ridges in order to keep the water from ly- ing on the plants, which makes it almost impossible to mow off the plants and burn over the field. R. B. C, Berlinville, Ohio. In preparing for second crop, should one, after burning, plow the furrows away from row or onto the row from between the two rows? 2. After removing mulch preparatory to digging plants, is there any tool better than one's own hands for re- moving old runners, leaves, etc.? 1. Throw the furrow away from the row. 2. Nothing better than the hands ever invented. A sharp knife will be found helpful in cutting the runners. G. N. S.. Rochester, N. Y. Am going to Florida to engage in the strawberry business, and desire to set out two acres this year. One acre on dark rich moist land — almost muck. The other acre on high, sandy land. Will you please arrange this two-acre experi- ment for me by suggesting the best varieties for each particular piece of land? 2. How far apart would you place the rows, and how far the plants in the row? 3. Shall I grow them in single or double-hedgerow? 4. How many plants will it take for each acre? Please give me all the information you can so that I may secure the best results. There is no reason why you should not succeed in raising strawberries in Florida. See article detailing the success of Joseph Bolt in this number. Your low, mucky, moist soil should be set to the latest varieties — such as Aroma, Sample, Dornan, Parker Earle, and for best results we should set them as follows: Three rows of Aroma, three Sample, three Dornan, three Parker Earle, and so on until this acre is set. Make the rows three feet and a half apart, and set the plants twenty-four inches apart in the row. We should grow Dornan and Parker Earle in single-hedge rows and Aroma and Sample in double-hedge rows. To set this acre will require about 6,500 plants. 2. On your acre of high sandy land we would suggest drought-resisting va- rieties, such as Texas, Crescent, Tennes- see Prolific and Klondike. We should set these as follows: Three rows of Texas, three Crescent, three Tennessee Prolific, three Klondike, and soon in this order until the acre is set. Make the rows three and a half feet apart and the plants thirty Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days test trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and vpater-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Liice This: Lyons Engine Company, L\ons, Miuh. Gentlemen;— I am about to purchase agas or gaso- line enpine fop . purposes and wish you to send me full particulars about your approval offer aaailvertised in The Straw- berry. Yours very truly, Town State Street No. or P. O. Box. R. F. D When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. iYONS ENGINE COMPANT, I.yon8, Micbigan. VJi Pa<3e 121 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 inches apart in the row, as all of these varieties make runners profusely and may set farther apart than the later varieties. It will require only a few more than 5,000 plants. These varieties should be grown in the single-hedge row. In preparing your high sandy soil it should be rolled and pressed firmly, and the plants should be cultivated every week, keeping a perfect dust mulch for the purpose of retaining moisture. The low land will not require so much culti- vation, and you may cultivate deeper here than on the sandy soil. J. S. A., Prairie-du-Chien, Wis. I had quite a mishap the other day, and would like your advice. Last fall I put quite a heavy cover- ing of straw over my strawberry patch. By accident it caught fire and burned over. The ground is frozen. Will it injure them? Would it be advisable to cultivate them, and continue to do so until they are in bloom or later, and then mulch them? If the wind was blowing briskly when the mulching was burned from over your plants, it is hardly probable that the fire did any great injury, but if the fire burned slowly, it is more than likely some dam- age has been suffered. Examine the buds and see if they are green; if so, life is still there and the plants should be mulched again to keep the berries clean while picking. Stable manure would be effective, as the liquid manure would stimulate large foliage growth. Yes, it would be a good plan to cultivate this bed, starting the work after all danger of frost is past, and continue right through the fruiting season, excepting while the plants were in full bloom. Even then, cultivation may be done if the soil is damp enough to prevent dust from flying. If you cultivate, put the mulching along the row merely to keep the fruit clean. ■^ ^ Mrs. N. B., Brighton, Iowa. Should I pick the bloom off my plants the first year they are set out? 2. When picking berries is it best to leave a stem on each berry? By all means pick the bloom off your young plants just as fast as they appear; it is an easy job and pays big. The en- tire fruit stem may be pinched off. This stem easily may be identified, as it grows directly from the crown. If you do not pick off the bloom, the plant will become exhausted from pollen and seed produc- tion. A new plant cannot send out its feeding roots while it is being drawn up- on so heavily in the production of fruit, as to do this is to exhaust the native vi- tality of the plant, and by the time the fruit is ripe the plant is virtually exhausted. 2. You should always pick the berry so that the stem will be from a half-inch to an inch long. This prevents the air from getting into the calyx end of the OIM -rF3IA.l_ How Your Money Comes Back on this Vehicle. Because we manufacture it and know of what it is made and how it is made and all about it, we can sell it on terms never before offered. Just read — First, we send it to you to try 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you're nothing out, THREE FULL YEARS GUARANTEE. But if you like it, (as you will) you buy it at just about half dealer's price — and you have exactly the same right of return and money back for three full years. That's our guarantee. If any defect or fault appears, if it is not what it should be or what we represent it to be, call for your money. That's our plan. It's the way we are dealing with hundreds of vehicle buyers. It's a guar- antee that we toe the mark — build honestly and deal straight. It accounts for all our buyers being satisfied. Don't foreet that we are factory people. We buy nothing but materials. We makf? everything we sell, and sell everything direct to users. That accounts for the extraordinary low prices we make. Same low prices on all classes of vehicles. Two special bargains riyht now in our general catalogue. Write for free copy, for free copy. The Progressive Vehicle Mfg. Co., Dcpt v. Ft. Wayne. Indiana. LE SPECIALIST PUBLISHED MONTHLY ^'The Fruit-Growers Friend" It treats of how to SELECT, PLANT, PRUNE, SPRAY and FERTILIZE TREES; extinguish all kinds of ORCHARD PESTS; pick, pack, and market apples; how to raake cider, vinegar, etc. SO cents per year. SEND ONE DOLLAR for three years and receive a pair of 60c PRUNING SHEARS, prepaid, as a premium. Address, The Apple Specialist, Dept. ass Quincy, III. berry, and they will hold up longer and look much better, and will bring a much better price than when picked without any stem. Even though your berries were to be sold right on the patch, we should advise this method of picking the fruit. <^ ^ F. D. A., Nelson, B. C. I have some land here facing lake, sloping to the southeast. The land was cleared last year and is virgin soil. I intend to plow it at once and use fer- tilizer analyzing as follows: Nitrogen, 3^ per cent; potash, 11 percent; phosphoric acid, 9 per cent. I purpose using 300 pounds to the acre; vvill that be proper? 2. When do I remove the young plants for next planting? 3. Please give me a scheme for keeping a patch growing year after year, say with 1,000 plants, placed in the twin double-hedge row system; land being unlimited. 1. This piece of ground should pro- duce good crops of berries as it lies so near the lake and slopes to the southeast. This will be a great protection against frost. The fertilizer you have in mind is well proportioned for this land, as new ground requires a large percentage of po- tassium and phosphorus, with but a small per centage of nitrogen. 2. Never remove the young plants until you are reaay to set them in the new bed. If possible, they should be taken up while entirely dormant, the roots cut back about one-third, then set out Page 122 with the roots well spread and straight down in the soil. 3. There is really no way in which to take 1,000 plants and continue to propa- gate from them year after year unless you take a certain number of each variety of the plants and make a propagating bed. Even in this way they will run out unless you are very careful to select the best plants. It always is best to set your propagating bed from a new strain of plants. Never take plants from a fruit- ing bed, as in doing so you are interfering with the plants that are left to fruit, and you also are taking plants that have be- come pollen-exhausted. H. C. McC, Red Bank, N. J. I have eight acres of strawberries on my farm to pick from this season. They have been heavily mulched with strong horse manure. Would you ad- vise any further fertilizing this spring to bene- fit the crop? Would my berries be of finer color and firmer if I gave the bed an applica- tion of muriate of potash and wood ashes? Which of these two fertilizers would be the better? As you have mulched your plants with stable manure, it will not be necessary to use any other fertilizers on this year's crop. Potash or wood ashes applied to the fruiting bed this spring would not benefit this year's crop because any fer- tilizer must be dissolved by moisture and absorbed by the soil grains before the plants can utilize it. The proper time to THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 apply the fertilizer is before the plants are set, or, after the first crop of berries is picked, you may mow off your vines and burn the bed over, then scatter your fer- tilizer between the rows and work it into the soil. This will be in plenty of time to benefit the succeeding season's fruit. If your soil is sandy loam and quite loose, we should prefer the wood ashes, usinj; from forty to fifty bushels to the acre. But if your soil is a black loam or clay, the potash would serve better. J. S. A., Jackson, Mich. I had an old run out strawberry bed which was heavily manured last summer. This has been turned under and the soil worked up in fine condi- tion. I propose to salt it heavily this spring to kill weeds and white grubs, which troubled me seriously last season, and after the rain has washed the salt down into the soil will reset it to new plants. Will this be all right? So far you have followed the right method in turning the old bed under, save that you should have burned the bed over before doing this, as this would have resulted in destroying many insects and fungous growths. If you apply salt heavily enough to kill weedseedsand grubs it also will kill strawberry plants, as well as affect the chemical condition of your soil for some time to come. The best way to kill weeds is by cultivating once each week. This stirs the soil and pre- vents the weed-seeds from germinating. Of course, if the Soil is wet this cannot be done, but as soon as it becomes dry you can carry on the work. The grub is a troublesome enemy, and quite difficult to get rid of on account of its underground habit. The best preventive is to break your ground in the fall, which leaves the grub exposed to freezing and thawing and to the attacks of birds. As your ground was plowed last fall we think you need not fear for the grub this year. ■^ ^ I. H. S. , East Akron, Ohio. What would you think of preparing the soil for strawberries like this: Use a manure spreader and scatter a light dressing of manure over young clover after the wheat is taken oflF, using only fine manure of course. Then the next year give it a heavier coat after the hay is taken otf , us- ing a manure spreader as before. This will give a good second growth of clover which I propose to turn under and the following spring plant to potatoes, and the following spring after the potatoes are dug, will set this field to strawberry plants. What would you think of plowing the potato patch twice — once in the fall before freezing starts, and again in the spring.' This letter makes us anxious to see the berries you will grow upon soil thus pre- pared. We say "amen!" to your entire program. Your first light dressing of manure will give you a big crop of hay. Your second dressing of manure and and second growth of clover will fill your soil full of humus — just what potatoes re- quire to give a big crop, which you will be sure to get. The potatoes will take up the rankest part of the manure and will put the soil in the best possible con- dition for the following spring. If you break up this piece of ground after the potatoes are dug, sow about five pecks of rye to the acre, but do not harrow the ground smoothly. The rye will prevent leaching of the plant food. In the spring turn the rye completely under, then pre- pare the soil thoroughly before setting the plants. And when the berries are ripe don't forget to send us an invitation to come and eat shortcake with you! One word about those potatoes: As the use of so much manure is likely to produce scab on the potatoes, let us sug- gest that you dip the seed potatoes in a preparation composed of two ounces of corrosive sublimate dissolved in sixteen gallons of water. Submerge the seed in this for about one hour. This prepara- tion is rank poison; be careful that it does not get into a cut or sore of any kind. J. W., Austintown, Ohio. Will you please advice me how you prepare your sowed-corn fodder for mulching purposes — do you shred it or put on the whole stalk? I want to know, as I have some trouble in securing enough straw for my berries. How much corn fodder do you use to the acre? 2. I have quite a lot of strawy manure every year, and last year put quite a lot on my plants. But the tim- othy and weed-seed grew so rank that they got the best of me. How do you manage such cases? 1. In sowing the corn use three bush- els to the acre. This will make the fod- der so thick that it will grow up spindling and full of blades. We run over ours until the corn is about a foot high, with weeder, thus keeping it free from weeds. In the fall cut it close to the ground with a mowing machine. This should be done before it is fully ripe, so as to retain the toughness of the fodder. Two days after cutting and when the corn is damp, pile this up in large heaps and let them re- main until you are ready to spread. We do not shred, but apply the corn in the whole stalk. This material will last for two or three years as a mulch if carefully stacked after the berries are picked. It will require about four big two-horse loads to the acre. Another good way is to have the fodder cut with a corn har- vester, which will bind it in bundles. Lay these bundles lengthwise in the row, continuously, and after laid cut the string and spread it out thinly enough to cover all the plants. You will readily see how easily this mulch will be parted from over the rows in the spring. 2. In using stable manure for mulch- ing, it always is best to throw it ofF the wagon in small piles, then go over it and P&ge 123 shake out tne coarsest parts to put directly over the plants, scattering the decayed matter between the rows. Let this re- main undisturbed until spring; then rake the decayed matter along the side of the row, which will make it thick enough to make seed-germination impossible, while the bare space between the rows may be cultivated through the entire fruiting sea- son. Do not start the cultivator in the spring until all danger from frost is past, and avoid cultivation when the plants are in full bloom, unless the soil is moist enough to prevent any dust from flying. Mrs. L. S. Detroit, Mich. I had a patch of strawberry plants which gave three good crops of berries; then we transplanted some runner plants from this bed and the last two summers they made some bloom, but the"e blossoms dried up and bore no fruit. What is the cause of the trouble? You have taken plants from an old, run-out bed where the mother plants al- ready had exhausted themselves in pro- ducing three crops of berries. It is im- possible for such plants as these to pro- duce a crop of berries. This only em- phasizes what we so often have said, that plants to produce a crop must be taken from a new bed and be vigorous and strong. FRUITMEN SHOULD KEEP BEES There will be a nice Income to X you from a few hives of bees, •^^ and your ■^^ Plants will Bear Better Fruit iMMi-inc; depends upon the fertilization of tho llowcrs. Why not make fertillzfition certain nnd at tho same time add to your int-ome hy kftoping hfrn1 Bi^os are not expensive and c;m bn made extrouicly l>rMiUable. Do you want to know hovrl Our printed niattt^r will sturt you ri:_'ht. Many intt^restiui^ bookb'ts free. "The A B C of Bee Culture" the best text- book for beo keepers ever written, with over iiOO l!ir:re lari^e pa-jes. beautifully illustrated, for only $1.00. Send for free bookb-'t . The A. I. Root Co., MEDINA, OHIO A Cnmnn«!t That will thoroughly pulverize l\ V^UIIIl^uai. „„,,,,,.,, „iy rtistrilitilo from one r\|*|fl hundred pounds to ten tuns per ^t III acre: made in two sizes by J. M. riNDSKY, Crystal Spriners, G.-i. THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 47 Plymouth Place, Chicago, 111. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United States and Canada - • -$1.00 Foreign .--... 1.2S Application made for entry at the post oflit-e at Three Rivers, Mioh., as second-class matter. MAY, 1906 MAY comes in with smiling face to meet a smiling landscape and finds all the sons of the soil busily at work, and glad to be at work, at so congenial a task. In the strawberry world every aspect of that industry is now to be seen. For weeks the Sunny South has been shipping trainloads of strawberries to the North, where Winter's feet are laggard, for he loves to linger in the lap of Spring. In the Ohio river region berries are "coming on," and as we proceed north we find varying stages of development — development that becomes so attenuated when we reach some of the more northely states and the Dominion as to be almost invisible to the naked eye. That every man and woman in the land, and every one of our younger friends, too, who are engaged in this delightful labor shall find the season of 1906 one of large profit and pleasure, is the sincere wish of The Strawberry. A THOUGHT-PROVOKING pa- per was read by Prof. N. E. Hansen, of the South Dakota Experiment Station, before the Missouri Horticultural Society. While not dealing especially with the strawberry, it indicated the broad lines on which plant-breeding is now being carried forward, and the work which even the amateur may do in aiding the production of new and worthy varieties. All of us may not be Luther Burbanks, but we may give to the world something worth while if we are sincere, intelligent and persistent. Prof. Hansen said: 'We now know that we can produce fruits for different purposes, and we are practically unlimited, up to a certain point, in our operations. It is simply a question as to whether we are willing to grow enough seedlings to produce what we want. Take the matter of getting varieties which are disease-resisting, for instance. We can find varieties not subject to scab to any extent, but they may have poor qual- ity; the thing to do is to cross the scab- proof sort with varieties of good quality; plant the seeds from these crosses, and if we grow enough of them we can know that somewhere in the list will be found a variety which is scab-proof, and at the time has good quality. Most of the seed- lings will be worthless, of course — we may grow them by the millions, and all be discarded, but somewhere we will find what we want. It is simply a question of growing enough seedlings." WE might wish that more of our friends would take an interest in spreading the gospel of good horticulture by encouraging their neighbors to become regular readers of this magazine. We can't complain of the reception given it, but we know that there are thousands of others who are looking for just what The Strawberry gives its readers — we know this because so many good souls write us of the joy they experience when the fact is called to their attention that such a publication exists. And we don't ask anybody to get out and work us for the love of the thing. We think the "laborer is worthy of his hire," and are glad to pay a generous commission on every subscrip- tion received. Won't you just see if you can't help the good work along by getting your neighbor to subscribe.' THE supreme end of life is the making of character, and, as the beauty of the sunset depends largely upon the clouds that have filled the sky, so the clouds of disappointment and failure, burdens and sorrows, cares and crosses, griefs and losses, make possible a soul beauty that were without them impossi- ble.—P. H. Swift. FEW features about the home beautiful de- serve greater consideration than the lawn and yard surrounding it. One of the first aids to a fine lawn is a good lawn mower, and we are pleased to introduce to our readers this month the "Clipper Lawn Mower" whose very con- struction is a guarantee of its quality and work. The reader will observe that the cutter bar is directly in front of the wheels. The wheels travel over the ground where the grass is cut, never rolling down the standing grass as so many lawn mowers do. The small gauge wheels at the side are to gauge the height you wish to cut the grass. These features are unique. The Clipper Lawn Mower Co.'s works are located at Dixon, 111. You should make the acquaintance of this company. THE first care of good farmers is the best pos- sible seed bed. That is the end sought in the Acme harrow — the perfect seed bed. With the disc, one kind of soil preparation is obtained ; with the straight-tooth harrow another; with cultivator teeth, still another. The Aciue har- row secures all the good points of each of these and it adds another feature just as important as any, namely, that of breaking and crushing the clods. After plowing, the whole matter of right preparation for planting seed is compre- ^U« 124 hended in crushing and pulverizing the clods, stirring the soil and leveling it up. There is ample reason for the hearty commendation that every user gives his Acme harrow. Good farm- ers value good work, and the Acme harrow pre- pares the soil most perfectly. That is why we say, look into it, if you will need a harrow this spring. AMONG the growing institutions that make Kalamazoo famous as the center of import- ant industrial enterprises is the Kalamazoo Car- riage and Harness Manufacturing Company. This institution makes everything connected with equines and equine equipages, and makes a product it is proud to show to the world and to test by actual use. They manufacture for the great American public and will ship com- plete outfits, or any part of an outfit, anywhere. It is the claim of this great company that itsav.es its customers money every time. These goods will be shipped to you for examination and sub- ject to your approval. A postal card addressed to the Kalamazoo Carriage' and Harness Mfg. Co., Box 244, Kalamazoo, Mich., will bring you a fund of interesting information that will be of real value to you. YV^E are pleased to welcome to our advertising W pages the Progressive Vehicle Manufac- turing Company of Ft. Wayne, Ind., a house that has won so excellent a reputation for quality of product and square dealing that it makes the unusual offer of three years' guarantee and thirty days'-f ree trial before purchase need be completed. This company manufacturers its own goods, and finds that the most satisfactory way to deal with the consuming public is to sell direct to the man who buys for use, thus eliminating middle- men's profits. Address the Progressive Vehicle Mfg. Co., Department V, Ft. Wayne, Ind., and get their complete catalogue. EVERYBODY who is interested in bees or bee culture unconsciously associates the name of A. I. Root with all things pertaining to that line. Mr. Root has been the means, per- haps more than any other single individual, of organizing that great and growing industry up- on a practical basis , and the success he has achieved in this direction is reflected in the mammoth plant he has developed at Medina, Ohio, devoted exclusively to the manufacture of everything that will economize or make mors pleasurable and profitable the production of honey. Strawberry folk ought to be interested in the bee and its product. Strawberries and bees form a combined opportunity for intelligent endeavor that is worth seizing hold upon. If you are interested and want to know more about it, that compendium of bee lore, "The A. B. C. of Bee Culture," will point the way to suc- cess. Send for the free booklet put out by the A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio, anyway, and mention that you saw it in The Strawberry. IT is not surprising that the Wallace Machin- ery Co. management is gratified over the action of the United States Government in pur- chasing two of the Wallace Sprayers for use at experiment stations. Everybody likes to have Uncle Sam for a customer, and it is very certain that, with the growing popularity of the spray- ing machine in all horticultural lines and the rapid development of the agricultural work of the government through the department of agri- culture and the colleges and experiment stations devoted to that interest — it is very certain that the company that turns out a sprayer to suit this large interest will receive many orders for its machines. This company is meeting with fine success in pleasing the general public as well, and those who are intending to purchase a sprayer of any sort will do well to write the Wallace Machinery Co., Department 50 Champaign, 111., for "The Wallace Spray Way," a littlo book that will tell you all about a good many interesting things relating to methods for producing fine fruits and vegetables. ''im^^^Bdi.- We Do Not Want Your Money Unless we can give you your money's worth, and we can- not do this unless you give us a chance to prove our claim, and Here Is What We Claim: 1st — That The Strawberry gives more practical information on everything pertaining to strawberry production and marketing than can be obtained anywhere else in the country. 2nd. — That The Strawberry makes every detail of strawberry grow- ing so plain that none who reads can fail to understand it. 3rd. — That every issue is brim full of good things — of actual exper- iences and clean-cut facts, and is so interesting that you never get tired of reading it. 4th. — That the Correspondence School Department each month is worth more than the cost for a full year because here is where we an- swer your questions and help solve your problems. 5th. — That the paper is of extra good quality, and the print is so clear that it will not tire your eyes. 6th. — That we will never allow any but good reliable firms to use its columns for advertising purposes. In other words we refuse to in- troduce any firm to The Strawberry readers except those whom we can safely recommend. Now Here Is Our Proposition: We want every man and woman who grows strawberries, either for market or family use, to become a regular reader of The Strawberry. We want to ac- complish this on a purely business basis, and if you will send us $1.00 we will enroll you for a full year and The Strawberry will be mailed to you every month, and if you are not perfectly satisfied that you are getting your money's worth, just say so, and your dollar will go back without a word. And you are to be the judge. You cannot lose on this proposition; neither can we, because you will not want your money back. All you need to do is to send us your name and $1; we will guarantee to do the rest. THE STRAWBERRY ii8 Portage Ave. THREE RIVER5, HIGH. APRIL 25 TO MAY 5 Return Limit, July 31 JUNE 25 TO JULY 7 Return Limit, September 15 SEPTEMBER 3 TO 14 Return Limit, October 31 First-Class Round-trip Tickets to San Francisco or Los Angeles will be sold at nearly half rates on the above occasions by Milwaukee Tickets will be good on THE OVERLAND LIMITED of this Company to San Francisco and Los Angeles via Omaha; THE PIONEER LIMITED via St. Paul and Minneapolis, or THE SOUTHWEST LIMITED via Kansas City. Why not go via one of these routes and return via another? Advance information about rates, routes and train service mailed to any address free F. A. MILLER R. C. JONES General Passenger Agent Michigan Passenger Agent CHICAGO 32 Campius Martius DETROIT =J June, 1906 THES ERRY ^^The Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry— but he never did.'' -HENRY WARD BEECHER PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN We Want 30,000 More Readers for The Strawberry And want them right away, and in order to get them we offer the following Cash Prizes to those who will send us the largest clubs of subscribers between this date and July 20, 1906 1st 1 riZC for largest club received . . ^J^U Zd rFlZC for 2d largest club received . ^ 1 J *j(l rriZC for 3d largest club received . ^ 1(J T'tn 1 riZC for 4th largest club received . ^ J Everybody who has canvassed for THE STRAWBERRY finds it easy work, and the great crops of strawberries grown this year makes it a simple matter to get subscribers in ail districts where strawberries are raised. And even city people are subscribing for this magazine by hundreds No reason why YOU should not win the first prize This Contest Will Close July 20, 1906 Write for full particulars to THE STRAWBERRY. THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 6 Three Rivers, Mich., June, 1906 $L00 a Year STRAWBERRIES and the home beautiful! How naturally these associate themselves in the mind, and how inseparable they should be in actual practice. The home beautiful — what higher ideal can there be, considered from the viewpoint of material possessions, than the place where our lives are to be spent and our children reared to manhood and womanhood? How great an influence in training and gilt and architectual grandeur may not vie in actual beauty. See what one of The Strawberry family is doing with these aids of nature to make his home a beautiful part of the landscape and a place fit for a king to dwell in — although we are not dis- posed to think that a king enjoys the beautiful things of this world one whit more than do the men and women and boys and girls who comprise the large and rapidly expanding Straw- the mind to think true thoughts, in developing high moral pur- berry family. However, this lovely home of J. O. Staats of pose and in inculcating noble principles in the hearts of the Dana, Ind., is typical of what may be done, and we are sure its young such a home may be is quite beyond estimate. That it simple beauty will appeal to every one, and all should see in it is one of the most powerful of life's influences has been proved suggestions which may be followed with advantage in their in all ages. And now, with June at hand, and all the sweet own particular situation, influences of nature calling to us to make the most of these It has been said that the home is the most accurate index to opportunities presented by this delightful season of the year, we should give thought to this matter, considering it alike from the material joys such a home afFords and the larger interests which have been sug- gested above. Some folk, when you speak of the home beau- tiful, immediately pic- ture in their minds a magnificent castle, with high towers and vast acres spreading away in greensward and in forest. To such the idea of the home beautiful and a large expenditure of mimey Ziic::Si*y^P'-. EDGEWOOD FRUIT FARM, THE HOME OF J. O. STA\TS, D\NA, IND. the character of the in- dividual. Not long ago we had a visit from Mr. Staats, and we found in the thoughtful man who has won such extraor- dinary success in straw- berry culture that he has a large annual in- come from his fields and has fully realized that "comfortable" for- tune of which Mr. Ed- gerton is to speak in our next issue — we found him to be just such a man as one expects would conceive and create such a home as is shown in the illustration on this page. Mr. Staats has had an interesting are inseparable. Well, if this were true, there would be com- career as a strawberry specialist, and has led an interestmg life paratively few beautiful homes in this world of ours, and to as a man, and now, with life's sun westering, he finds pleasure talk of them would be idle. But it is not true. Simplicity' is a primary element of beauty; let us understand that at the out- set. The most beautiful homes in the world are those which have been created by lovers of simple natural beauty; who ha\ e called to their aid grass and bush and vine and tree; a running brook; a fountain playing through a mound of boulders; an oKl tree trunk, covered with a mass of climbing foliage or bright in his work and solace and comfort and peace in his beautiful but simple home at Dana. We could wish no better fortune to the members of The Strawberry family than that each one of them may find himself, while yet so full of the spirit of youth as to enjoy such ideal surroundings, in a home so charm- ing and so restful. Now such a home did not make itself; nothing in this world with the colors of myriad flowers; a closely cropped lawn; a garden that is worth while "just growed" as Topsy said she did. But on the other hand, the results accomplished by Mr. Staats are so largely so out of proportion to the amount of labor expended, as to encourage other friends to follow in his footsteps. One thing Mr Staats enjoys that few rural homes possess, and yet all may have it. It is a complete water system, and that little fountain you see playing on the lawn is only one of the less important features of this system. Many of our readers have well kept, with fruit bushes skirting its edges and the varying shades of green of its different products; the strawberry patch combining the loveliest of foliage with the most roseate of fruit'; — these constitute the simple elements out of which may be con- ceived and constructed the most charming and exquisite home. The house.'' Oh, yes, the house is very important, but the humblest cottage, surrounded by these lovely natural surround- ings, becomes a palace of beauty, with which marble and piint asked us about the Kewanee system of water supply. It may THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 be of interest to them to know that it was Mr. Staats who firsr called our attention to the value of this system, and led us to investigate it. Mr. Staats advises us that this system not only gives him an inde- pendent water supply that furnishes his house with that essential for all modern conveniences, but supplies him as perfect fire protection as is to be had in any city in the land. He considers his investment in that system one of the most profitable he ever made. What Mr. Staats has done in his rural home lies within the power of others to accomplish. A formal arrangement of the garden beautiful, which adds so much to the landscape effects of the home is seen in the other illustration herewith. This is the entrance to the garden of one of Three Rivers' merchants, and suggests the combination of the architectural with the natural. For the most part, strawberry growers are lovers of nature; they also are home makers and lovers of the home. May not all of us vie one with the other in the development of the home beautiful, re- membering that it requires no big bank account to achieve desired results, but that good taste and an intelligent use of the resources at hand will accomplish it. None may measure the delight such a home affords or estimate its beneficent influence upon ourselves, upon those near 'and dear to us, and upon the entire com- munity. Read these words of wisdom and coun- sel from John Burroughs, the poet-nat- uralist. None who reads but knows they are the simple truth, and that real happi- ness and the joy of life come to us through faithful adherence to the simpler ways of living. He says: 'T am bound to praise the simple life, because I have li\ed it and found it good. When I depart from it evil results follow. I love a small house, plain clothes, sim- ple living. Many persons know the luxury of a skin bath — a plunge in the pool or the wave unhampered by cloth- ing. That is the simple life — direct and immediate contact with things, life with the false wrappings torn away — the fine house, the fine equipage, the expensive habits, all cut off. How free one feels, how good the elements taste, how close one gets to them, how they fit one's body and one's soul! To see the fire that warms you, or better yet, to cut the wood that feeds the fire that warms you; to see the spring where the water bubbles up that slakes your thirst, and to dip your pail into it; to see the beams that are the stay of your four walls, and the timbers that uphold the roof that shelters you; to be in direct and personal contact with the sources of your material life; to want no extras, no shields; to find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk, or an evening saunter; to find a quest of wild berries more satisfying than a gift of tropic fruit; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest, or over a wild flower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life." TEXAS is glad to have "something that the cotton-boll weevil won't eat." For delicious as is the strawberry, that fastidious and voracious insect has not as yet cultivated his taste to the point where he can find pleasure in the fruit. The result is that down in the land of King Cotton, where ruination once stared the farmers in the face, disaster has been averted by turning the cotton fields into strawberry gardens. More than that, the profits from one acre of strawberries ENTRANCE TO THE GARDEN OF C. G. DEAL, THREE RIVERS, MICH. frequently has exceeded that received from fifty acres of cotton. Places in eastern Texas, like Tyler and Jackson- ville, that were practically dead and im- poverished a few years ago, now are prosperous financial and industrial centers, all because fruit and truck have succeeded to cotton, bringing in a steady stream of cash for many months of the year. It is one of the phenomenal things in the life of the South that the fruit and truck in- dustry has all but done away with the old system of credit that kept the com- mon people there in poverty. Practical Experience in Strawberry Culture By A. D. Stevens I HAVE studied the nature of straw- berries for at least twenty years and find that each variety needs to be studied very closely and then be treated to suit its nature if success is to be real- ized. For instance, if plants are deficient in foliage but strong in yield of berries, great care should be taken to increase the foliage and to preserve a balanced plant as between fruit and foliage. This kind should be cultivated much later in the fall, which will overcome the defect to a large degree. If plants show signs of being weak at this time of the season their first runners should be cut off to give them time to become more firmly established for the work they are about to perform in pro- ducing new plants. I have been working on seedling plants for sixteen years and find a great field here for experimentation. I don't allow any plants to go on the market un- til it has been worked on all kinds of soil and been thoroughly tested and proved to be of high quality and perfectly balanced in all respects. After I find a seedling plant that shows a certain number of good qualities I then breed them up by bud selection. For growing a fine and large crop of berries labor and manure should not be used too sparingly. The good book tells us that it rains on the just and unjust alike, yet we have our part to perform or nature cannot give us a large crop. I am growing strawberries on newly cleared land at present and find it less difficult to keep down weeds than it is on old land. I burn the brush and cut- harrow the land first, then take a five- tooth cultivator and pulverize the soil thoroughly, after which I harrow with a spike-tooth harrow, and then let it lie through the winter. In the spring I pre- pare the soil for setting the plants by this method. I find that berries do bet- ter than they will when one plows the top soil down and turns the wild yellow soil up. I have a T-shaped steel which I insert Page 126 THE STRAW[>>ERRY JUNE 1906 in a shovel handle that I find is a great labor-saving tool to cut the runners after they have been layered and are thick enough set. This can easily be sharp- ened on an ordinary grind stone. In cultivating the bed after it lias been picked, I find that to mow the vines off, then burn them and narrow the rows to about twehe inches is the better way. I use an ordinary five-tooth cultivator, taking the wide blades off and putting on about one inch or one and one-fourth inch blades. Spread the cultivator so it will cut the soil about every six inches to the depth of about two inches, then when the plants start a new growth the work with the hoe will not be much to thin the plants to the proper number. We have a label which is placed on all crates of fine berries that has proved to be a great advantage in securing a good trade for our ber- ries. It is a guarantee for high CO 1 o r, fine flavor, and for honestly packed fruit. Bridgeton. N. J. Strawbp:rries should be packed immediately after they are picked, care being taken to have them the same all through, not allowing any larger ber- ries on top than are in the bottom. As soon as rhey are packed place carerully in the crate and if to be shipped the lids should be nailed on at once and marked to the firm which is to re- ceive it. Mark on the end of each crate the grade it contains, whether fancy or med- ium. An account should be opened with each dealer, charging him with the number of cases of both fancy and medium berries shipped each day; then when he remits you easily can compare his report of sales with your books, and should there be an error it will easily be located and the dealer will gladly rectify the mistake. It doesn't pay to do business without a set of books. PVERYBODY ought to have all the ■•-' strawberries he wants. If he does not care to grow them, he ought to be in some business so that he can afford to buy them quart after quart, morning, noon and night. Not only because they give en- joyment, but because they are the cheap- est, best and most natural medicine to tone up the system that has ever been in- vented. They are both food and drink. The man who cannot afford to give up his beer, tea and coffee, yes, and tobacco, too, when strawberries are plenty and cheap, is a man to be pitied. — A. I. Root. Strawberries In Northern Michigan WE have called attention frequently to the large opportunities that are opening up to strawberry growers in the Northern states. The de- mand of our great metropolitan centers for fresh fruit is practically unlimited, and the man who can supply the delicious strawberry at any season of the year never need want for an opportunity to develop his energies. There are millions of acres in northern Michigan and Wisconsin which lend themselves naturally to the SOME NORTHERN MICHIGAN STRAWBERRIES development of great enterprises along this line, and many a poor man who to- day is working for a low wage, or finding it quite impossible to secure steady em- ployment at any wage, would find in either of these states chances to build up an independent business and a productive home that, even with his limited resources, he might take advantage of. We are showing on this page an illus- tration of what may be done in northern Michigan in the wa\- of growing beautiful strawberries. This illustration is sent us courteously by the publisher of our es- teemed contemporary, The Northwestern Farmer, published at Menominee, Mich- igan. You will nut find anything finer grown anywhere and you may imagine what it would mean if the enterprising growers of these northerly states should send several carloads of such fruit into Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Page 127 St. Paul, sometime about the 10th of July! We cannot too seriously urge upon our Northern friends the consideration of this subject, and that they develop this extra- ordinary opportunity. Late varieties, given ideal cultivation, ought to bring more money per acre than that received by our friends of the South. The picture indeed is a suggestive one, considered from this point of view. '^ ^ ONEfeatureof the strawberry business that is most favorable to its larger development is the ability of this popular fruit to adapt itself to almost any environ- ment of soil and climate. Away up on the sides of the Alps, where snow lingers until the summer suns are at their hottest, the strawberry thrives and yields generous crops of delicious sweetness. And when we go down to tropical Cuba we find that there the strawberry grows and thrives. It grows and prospers in the sandiest soils and yields large crops in the heaviest of c 1 a y . It abounds where the rain- fall is excessive and manages to maintain ex- istence on the drought line. Under these cir- cumstances, it must be clear to all that where proper cultural methods are given, where moist- ure is conserved in the soil, or on the other hand, where the low grounds are thoroughly under-drained — w here these proper conditions are furnished to strong and vigorous plants, suc- cess is bound to follow. One correspondent recently called at- tention of The Strawberry to the inter- esting fact that vast fortunes may not be made in strawberry culture, but that a comfortable fortune is insured to the man who grows them successfully. This is an ideal life. "Give me neither poverty nor riches" was the prayer of the wise Hebrew of old. It is the true phil- osophy of life, and he who eomes in daily touch with nature and finds in the tilling of the soil and the cultivatioh of its crops a source of support is indeed most for- tunate, and should consider himself blest above all others. A DOCTOR in Buffalo declares that ■*^ strawberries and cream and short- cake made from the fruit are responsible for the summer increase of insanity. He must take his "berries" in liquid form. BURNING OVER THE STRAWBERRY FIELD FOR THE SECOND CROP Some of our friends are skeptical about the burning over of the field, fearful that it may be done only with danger to the plants — Preparing the Bed for the Second Crop JUNE is the month of realization to the strawberry growers of the more northerly latitudes. All the epi- curean dreams of strawberries and cream, of strawberry shortcake, and all the other delicate and delicious com- pounds into which this rare fruit enters, is in this month brought to complete and satisfactory realization. Now that the fast express trains connect the North and the South so closely that but a few hours of time are spent in bringing the fruit from the Gulf to the northerly lakes, the strawberry has become an every-day af- fair ere this, but this fact does not lessen by one jot the delight we experience when the home-grown article comes to grace the table and lend its own inde- scribable charm to the meal of the rich and poor alike. That's a fine quality of the strawberry — every son of man can have them because they are as plentiful and as inexpensive as they are delicious. And so the months of preparation and an- ticipation are fully compensated in the joys of actual realization. June also is the month when the straw- berry grower must take a long look ahead, for it is the time in many localities when he must consider what is to be done in the way of preparing his bed for the second crop. Just as soon as the last picking of berries is made, the entire field should be mowed over. If grown on a large scale, the best way is to take a common two-horse mowing machine, allowing the horses to walk astride the row, mowing off one row at a time. If berries are grown in a small way, a common scythe or sickle may be used. There is little dan- ger of mowing the vines too close to the crown, as the crown, which is the most vital part of the plant, is well protected by the surface of the soil. Before mowing the plants off, the growers should watch weather conditions with an aim to get this work done while there is not much danger of a heavy rain before the field is burned over. As a rule, thirty- six to forty-eight hours will thoroughly dry the vines after they have been mowed off so they will burn very readily. Should a heavy rain come after the mowing has been done and prevent the burning over for several days, a new growth would start and then it would be dangerous to burn the plants. If a day is selected when the wind is blowing quite briskly, there will be little if any danger of the fire doing any damage to the plants. In setting the patch on fire, the grower should go to the side from which the wind is coming and set the entire bed on fire just as quickly as it can be done. We often have burned over four or five acres and the entire time required to do so did not exceed fifteen minutes. If the patch of plants is close to an orchard or fence, the first thing to do is to go to the op- posite side from which you intend to burn the bed and set the last row on fire. This is what we call back-firing. This would make it burn slowly near the fence or orchard, thus preventing any danger from injury in that direction. Then when a few rows are burned in this manner, the entire bed should be set afire on the side from which the wind is coming as above stated. If the mulching has been put on quite heavily, it is best either to remove part of the mulching, or loosen it up. Where a large acreage is grown, the loos- ening can be done with a hay tedder. This will stir the straw up, causing it to lie very loosely, and the fire will consume it without any danger to the plants. If the patch be small, the loosening can be done with a fork. After the burning has been completed, the next process is to narrow down the Vige 128 rows. This can be done by taking a common breaking-plow or bar-shear, and throw a furrow from each side of the row into the center. When this is done, there will be a ridge left directly between the rows, which can be leveled down or thrown back to place by the use of a one- horse five-tooth cultivator. After the cul- tivator has been run through, a reversible harrow, with the teeth thrown slightly backwards, drawn across the rows, will level it nicely. It also will draw the fine soil over the crowns and bury them com- pletely. This is very important, because after the plants have fruited a crop the roots are entirely exhausted and have be- come wiry and lifeless. By covering the crowns the new root system will start rapidly. This new root system is estab- lished just above the old roots and beneath the crowns of the plants. If the soil is not thrown over the crowns of the plants, they will grow meagerly, . and will send out no runners. The leaves will be small and the plants almost useless, but where the crowns are covered the plants will come up through the soil in a few days, and in a short time the foliage will have a bright, glossy appearance and the plants will look as vigorous and healthy as a newly set bed. They also will send out very strong vigorous runners. Just as soon as the plants come up through the soil sufficiently to detect the good plants from the weaker ones, they should be gone over with a hoe, sorting out all the weak plants and leaving noth- ing but strong healthy ones which are to act as mother plants. These mother plants should be left about sixteen inches apart, and each one of them allowed to make four or eight runners, according to the system you intend to follow. These runners should be layered the same as those which come from a newly set bed. THE SAME FIELD EXACTLY SIX WEEKS AFTER IT WAS BURNED OVER — But this illustration is graphic proof of the fact that the burning-over process clears the way for better things in the life of the plant In cultivating this bed for the second crop, the same plan should be followed as in cultivating the young plants. Cul- tivation and hoeing should be continued until early fall. Then keep the runners in check and the weeds and grass under control, and your second crop will be assured. Handling a bed in an orchard requires special care, and it is dangerous to burn the bed over. One of the best crops of berries we ever raised was grown in a young peach orchard, and after the crop of berries was picked, it being too haz- ardous to the trees to burn the bed over, the vines were mowed ofF and the litter raked up and hauled away. Then the rows were narrowed down and the same plan followed as in the bed which had been burned over. Whether the bed is burned over or not, it is always best to mow the old foliage off before trying to prepare it for the second crop. Many readers ask us as to the number of crops that profitably may be grown from the same bed of plants. It seldom pays to grow more than two. Just as soon as the second crop is picked, the bed should be mowed over and the plants burned, as in preparing the bed for the second crop. The burning is done here for the purpose of destroying all fungous spores and insects. After burning, this bed should be broken up and thoroughly prepared, then set to some leguminous crop like cow peas or vetch. As a pre- caution against attacks of insects and fungi, it always is best to manure this bed and plant some other crop, such as pota- toes or corn, and then, after that crop has been harvested, the ground will be in ideal conditiori for strawberries again. Insects and fungi always are more trouble- some where fields have been continuously grown to strawberries without rotation. There is no better preventive for these troubles than the rotation of crops. The renewing of the soil, the "freshening up" it receives from such treatment, is appre- ciated by no other plant more highly, nor will any other respond more generously with bumper crops. The Propagating Bed The widespread interest among straw- berry growers in the subject of the propa- gating bed is reflected in the large num- ber of letters received by The Strawberry during the past few weeks, and the fol- lowing instructions will answer innumer- able questions, directly and indirectly asked concerning this important and interesting work. We trust they may prove of interest and value to every reader of this magazine. The first thing to be considered is the thor- ough preparation of the soil, and this should be done at least one year in advance of setting the plants. First, give tlie ground a good coating of stable manure. This should be well incor- porated with the soil, and as soon as all danger of frost is over, six pecks of cow peas should be sown to each acre. These in turn should be plowed under and worked into the soil just as soon as they become thoroughly ripened or woody. If the peas ripen in time so that they inay be turned under and the field sowed to rye (five pecks of rye to the acre will be enough) this will prevent the 'surface of the soil from puddling during heavy rains in the winter. It also will hold the plant food in reserve for the use of plants the following spring. In the spring this ground should be replowed and the cow peas and manure again thoroughly mixed up with the soil before plants are set. This will fill the soil so full of humus that it will hold laige quantities of water. It also will make it possible for the plants to develop a large root system, which is essential. The roots and crown are requisite to a good plant, and these may be attained only where soil conditions are Vehicle Ba-rga-irvs Not mail order house bamains. We manu- facture everythinti we sull from the raw materia! and sell direct to you from factory ON 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL We cut out all profits of agents and local dealers and Ruarantee to give you your money back any time within three years if your vehicle fails to stand the test. We fur- ther Euarantee that the veliicle you Ket from us is the equal of any you can buy from a local dealer at double our price. A couple special jobs right now at extremely low prices. Write today for free complete vehicle catalogue. The Progressive Vehicle MIg. Co^ Dept. V. Fl. Wayne, Indiana. 33 Years Selling Direct. ^^^^^^^^^ Our vehicles ano.JO. As yood a:s tulis lor$:io. mort;. ELKHART CARRIAGE i HARNESS MFG. CO., ELKHART, INDIANA. Page 129 THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 ideal. The way to get a well-developed crown is by layering the runners, and this is done by plac- ing soil on the runner wire just hack of the node. This soil will hold the runner wire in place, preventing it from being moved about by the wind. It also will hold moisture which will encourage the roots to start more rapidly, and will also encourage them to start directly from the crown, while if the soil is not placed on the runner wire, the wind will keep the young plant moving back and forth and when it does take hold of the soil it is almost sure to send roots from one side of the crown only, which makes a one-sided plant. The number of roots that start from the crown is what determines the value of a plant, and the more roots the plant makes, the more chances it will have when reset. By filling the soil with humus, these roots that start from the .crown will send out a large number of laterals which will feed the plant abundantly, causing the crown to develop not only large but strong plants of high fruit producing power. Another advantage of layering the runner is the fact that it encourages roots to start imme- diately, thus enabling the runner plant to draw part of its existence from the soil which lessens the strain upon the mother plant. Just as soon as these roots take hold of the soil they begin absorbing the moisture and plant food from the soil grains. This, with the aid of the mother plant, keeps the young runner plant in a vigorous condition. When the roots of the young plant get well established in the soil, nature provides a way which weans the young plant from the mother plant as is done in animal life. At this time the young plant will send out runner plants, becoming itself a mother plant, and so on until several other runner plants will be made from it. The luother plant also is kept in a strong healthy condition, which enables it to start more runner wires, which in turn should be treated in the same manner as the first runner we have men- tioned, that is, place soil back of the node. These runners should be so layered that they will not crowd each other. This is done by spreading them in all directions. If they grow closely together the roots of one plant interfere with others, which prevents all of the plants from developing large root and crown systems. In marking tlie rows for a proi>agating bed, they should be four feet apart, and the distance the plants should be set apart in the row will depend entirely upon the runner capacity of the variety. Such varieties as Excelsior, August Luther, Michel's Early, Bederwood, VVarfield, Tennessee and Senator Dunlap make large num- bers of runners, and these should be set at least thirty-six inches apart in the row. We often set them as much as four _feet apart, especially if we get the plants set real early in the season. But if it is late before the plants can be set, then they should be set somewhat closer because they will not make .so many runners. The plants in the propagating bed should be cultivated and hoed more fre(iuently than in the fruiting bed. Not a weed should be allowed to grow. The plants should be given every possi- ble advantage and they should have full access to all the moisture the .soil contains. After every rain, just as soon as the soil will crumble, the cultivator should be started; likewise the hoes. A sharp-pointed hoe is best. This can be worked in between the plants, thus breaking every particle of the crust which is bound to form as soon as the sun shines on the soil after the rain. Breaking up the soil holds the moisture which has been placed there by the rain. It also opens up the pores of the soil, furnishing air to THE BEST AND GtiEflPE&T. UNIVERSflLLV ADMIRED. NATIONAL BERRY BOX IN ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY N Patented Nov. 17. 1903. O skinned fruit; no nailing; no mildew; no warping; no splitting; no waste; no loss. A fruit preserver, folded in an instant. A dean, glossy, substantial package, aiding in the sale of fruits. Made from Smoottl Paper Stock, coated on both sides with odorless and tasteless best parafine wax. First Year's Results: Sales in 29 States and communication with 44 States of the Union. LESLIE STYLE GREATLY IMPROVED— double reinforced on bottom edge, which gives also EXTRA support for bottom on all sides. Folded-up sample sent on receipt of ten cents Unlnitrntuli WRITE FOR CIRCULARS AND PRICE-LIST AND READ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS. NATIONAL PAPER BOX CO. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. the bacterial germs, causing them to work more earnestly. The bacterial germs work up the plant food so the moisture can dissolve it into available form for the plants' use. The humus in the soil will also increase the bacterial germs and make them more active. A propa- gating bed should be cultivated until quite late in the fall. In fact, the cultivation and hoeing should be continued until heavy frosts come. Runners which form after October 1, should be clipped off with a runner cutter or with hoes, as a runner which starts at so late a date seldom will have time to perfect itself. These are what we call tip-runners or alley-plants, and this is why we discourage the practice of taking plants from a fruiting bed. When this is done, the alley-plants only are used so as to leave the larger plants for fruiting purposes, and where this practice is continued, it is only a short time until the variety will be much changed in its characteristics. This is what a great many growers call running out. We call it poor management. After cultivation has been discontinued in the propagating bed— and the time this should be Page 130 done depends entirely upon the season — the bed should be quite heavily mulched immediately after the first hard frost. This will hold the plants entirety dormant until setting time the following spring, and the mulch should remain on until it is absolutely necessary to remove it. The way to tell when the mulch should be re- moved is to closely watch the plants from under the mulch, and if they show any signs of bleach- ing, then it shows that the soil has warmed up from under the mulching, forcing the plant to start into a new growth; then the mulching should be removed, lest the plants bleach and become tender. However, it always is best to take up the plants and set them out while they are in a per- fectly dormant condition, although it sometimes happens that this cannot be done. If the plants must remain in the propagating bed until the buds start or the bloom opens, be sure and re- move these buds and bloom before the plants are reset. If the plants are entirely dormant when transferring to their permanent place, the entire foliage can be removed and the roots can also be pruned back one-half. & ■- IB.. yA. ^jj. "aPk^ ^^L A ^ « ii i ■^ If i^ WW-', ^ ^ »" HIBI ^ ^r^»> IP" ^- c ^1* mm i y" - &4 w* /' W mBKt' b M H ' '^^H '■ ' ■ . ^^ij ^M p i 1 :: ,r^^^S ■*"^. ' ""■- ^ «»:' \ PICKING STRAWBERRIES ON THE FARM OF H. R. WAYMAN, PRINCETON, MERCER COUNTY, MISSOURI Shipping Strawberries by Thousands of Carloads BECAUSE of the vast number of berries shipped from that section of North Carolina of which the city of Wilmington is the center, it has become known as the "Nation's Straw- berry Patch." And a marvelous thing it is that from so small an area, compara- tively, comes such a supply of the deli- cious fruit. It is said that ten thousand people are directly interested in the busi- ness of producing and shipping straw- berries in that section, and the total output for the season reached more than 3,000 carloads. Perhaps we may in no better way convey to our readers an idea of the magnitude of this interest than to quote the account given by the Wilmington Messenger of May 6 of the way in which the work went forward for the week ended May 5, as follows: "Yesterday was the biggest day for the shipment of strawberries out of this sec- tion ever known. Two hundred and twenty-six cars are reported by the Ar- mour people for yesterday. The week has also been a record-breaker, 1,168 cars of berries having gone forward. "It was said last night at the offices of the Armour line, in this city, that the shipment was the greatest ever known in the history of the berry industry. It is said that the high mark of the season has been reached and that there will be a gradual dropping ofF in the number of cars from now on to the end of the season. The record of shipments for each day last week was as follows: Monday, 184 cars; Tuesday, 193; Wednesday, 185; Thursday, 182; Friday, 189; Saturday, 226. These with ten cars which have gone out from the short cut section, be- tween Florence and Wilson, bring the total up to 1,168 cars. The report of H. T. Bauman, busi- ness agent of the Eastern Carolina Fruit and Truck Growers Association, of the number of cars to pass through South Rocky Mount was 190, distributed as follows: New York 42, Newark 8, Philadelphia 18, Boston 29, Providence 8, Cleveland 5, Buffalo 11, Pittsburg 13, Albany 5, Washington, Scranton, 4 each; Baltimore, Worcester, Bridgeport, Har- risburg, Columbus, Schenectady, Syra- cuse, Montreal, 2 each; Springfield 3; Brooklyn, Keen, Fall River, Reading, Wilkesbarre, Logansport, Erie, Burling- ton, Elmira, Canton, Portland, New Britain, New Haven, Bingampton, Rochester,- Troy, Norristdwn, Hartford, Hornellsville, Amsterdam, New Bedford, Utica, Hazelton, Pittsfield, 1 each. "To appreciate the magnitude of the berry business one has to go through the great berry belt and see the large fields where hundreds of people are at work picking the luscious fruit. And when it is considered that the enormous business is handled in the period of only about three weeks it can readily be seen how enormous is the task. If the crop gets much larger facilities for taking care of it will have to be increased enormously. One of the greatest troubles seems to be that of getting cars iced. "An enormous amount of money is now pouring into eastern Carolina and the banks located in the different towns Page 131 in the trucking belt are kept busy day and night. Saturday is a big day for paying off and yesterday morning a Wil- mington banker was seen going to a near- by town on an early morning train with a large bag of money, and ere this article is read it will be distributed among hundreds of people who are picking strawberries in the vicinity." In its issue of May 12 the same jour- nal, in reporting the work of the preced- ing week, said: "With shipments still going forward at the rate of 100 cars and upwards per day, the strawberry crop has already reached about the proportions it was esti- mated at earlier in the season, and the end is not yet. The shipments for the week ended last night were 902 refrigerator cars and express shipments large enough to run the total up again to more than a thousand cars. The shipments the pre- ceding week were 1,013 cars, according to the official bulletins sent out by Bus- iness Agent Bauman, so that it is seen that the season's shipments are already well up towards 2,500 cars. Shipments will continue at least a week or more longer and a grand total of more than 3,000 cars may be expected as the crop for 1906." On Wednesday, May 9, shipments from the Wilmington district reached the tremendous total of 212 cars — without doubt second only to the world's record breaker for a single day's business out of one strawberry district. But vast as is the business done by the .Atlantic Coast and Southern Railway THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 lines in the Atlantic seaboard region, that section by no means has a monopoly upon the strawberry business of the Southern states. And this season has more than realized the high expectations of our friends in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and others of the middle Southern states, where immense crops of berries of extra-fine quality have been and are being shipped to the vora- cious North. The gloomy predictions of the early season, when it was feared that frosts and heavy rains had damaged the crop to a considerable degree have not been realized, and the magnitude of the business from these states has been little short of phenomenal. An interesting incident, which brings the strawberry crop of Louisiana and the California earthquake into what may be termed pleasant juxtarelations, was the selling of the fruit for the benefit of the San Francisco sufferers. In one day $921.50 was realized from miscellaneous fruit sales and the New Orleans States thus describes what was to take place the next: "Luscious strawberries that will make your mouth water will be on sale Friday from 7 o'clock in the morning till they are all sold. Strawberries with tint as red as the lips of the fair Southern maids who will sell them for the benefit of the Frisco sufferers." Berries that serve thus to alleviate the sufferings of our fellows must indeed be doubly sweet. Not only has the South enjoyed a fine season with its strawberries, but from all over the Pacific Coast country come re- ports of unusual success in this direction. Out in the Hood River region of Oregon, the results have been something marvel- ous in the way of yield and fine fruit, and Idaho, Washington and California join in the reports of the most encouraging nature. A dispatch under date of May 5 reports that William H. Pastorious resid- ing near Findley, Washington, brought in the first full crate of strawberries on the 4th of May. This crate was sold for $25 as a mark of popular interest in Hallock's Two-Horse Elevator Weight 600 er PATSNTED AND PATENT APPLIED POO V>f\tQtf\ Crmi^Prcl We hear that our competitors' rUldlU VjlUWCl bl agents are defaming our O. K. Well, we seek a better acquaintance, and will be pleased to enter a field contest any- where east of the Mississippi river on condition that each and every competitor shall place $100 in the hands of the owner of the field, to be awarded to the competitor adjudged as having the highest degree of merit by judges chosen, one by each compet- itor, and three other men acceptable to all competitors. WHO WILL ARRANGE FOR SUCH A CONTEGT? Guaranteed as Good as the Best D. Y. HALLOCK & SONS, 8^1 YORK, PA. We have a Rich Field for Agents the receipt of the initial crate for the season. The Columbia Commission Co. of Kennewick, Washington, reports that 10,000 crates have been grown in that section this season as compared with 7,000 for 1905, and this notwithstanding the fact that the cold snap of March cut down the total \'ield considerably. The first quart of strawberries delivered into Kennewick brought $1.50. Perhaps nothing better could illustrate the ubiquitous nature of the strawberry LOADING CARS ON THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE RAILWAY IN NATIONAL STRAWBERRY PATCH plant and the ease with which it adapts itself to every climate and soil, than the illustrations which we show this month of strawberries growing from the North Pacific country to Cuba, and the univer- sal note of prosperity that comes to us from every section is of the most en- couraging nature. WHENEVER the railway managers prick up their ears and give partic- ular attention to any industry, it is a pretty good sign that the business in question is becoming of large importance. Railways are big themselves, and while, in the nature of the case, a multitude of little things make up the sum total of their annual business, the fact remains that to receive particular attention at their hands a commercial or industrial or agri- cultural interest must be of size. We have referred to the fact that the Atlantic Coast Line and the Southern railways in the seaboard South were giving special attention this year to the strawberry busi- ness of that section. We are advised that the Queen and Crescent route is running special trains from the Tennessee strawberry fields to Cincinnati on passen- ger-schedule time. One leaves Chatta- nooga at 5:30 each evening and arrives at Cincinnati at 5 the next morning; the . other leaves Chattanooga at 10:40 p. m,, and arrives at Cincinnati at 8:15 a. m. Pa«r 132 THE STRAWBHRRY JUNE 1906 m- ■4 Courtesy of The Cul»a Review miil Bulletin, New York STRAWBERRIES IN CUBA THE FIELD OF W. P. LADD, SANTIAGO DE LAS VEGAS. This field consists of Ihree-quarters of an acre. It comes into bearing before Christmas, and continues to yield for si.\ months, giving its owner a net annual profit of $800 This simple statement reflects the mag- nitude of the industry that thus can com- mand such accommodation. Selection and Preparation of the Field By J. B. Graves I HAVE been a grower of fruit for more than a dozen years. On my fruit farm I have forty-five acres of grow- ing strawberries. They are my favorite fruit. I take more delight in their culture than in that of any other. They are the easiest and quickest grown, the most de- licious and the most profitable. Then they are as sure to produce a crop as corn. This cannot be said of apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, or any of the other small fruits. In writing this article at the request of The Strawberry I shall limit myself to a brief treatment of the selection and prep- aration of the field. The commercial field should be selected with thoughtful care. For best results it should be rich. Land that would yield a good crop of corn or potatoes or cotton will produce a good crop of strawberries. For comfort in working it should be free from rocks and roots, yet in this locality large crops are grown on new ground full of rocks and stumps. To plow and pudge and pick and pack in such land is to put to the proof the practicality of one's piety. For early berries choose a south or south- west exposure; for late berries choose a north or northeast. Land is easiest culti- vated if it is nearly level or gently rolling. However, great crops are sometimes grown on steep hillsides. If the land be too level it will not drain well, and at times both the plants and the berries will be damaged by standing water. If it be too steep it will be difficult to cultivate, and heavy rains will wash away its fertility and form numerous gullies. The ideal site is roll- ing enough to drain well and furnish a good exposure, and not enough to wash badly. The field should be in course of prep- aration two or three years, growing such crops as will rejuvenate the land and ex- terminate weeds and grass. For example I sowed a field to clover, and kept it in clover three years. In the spring of the fourth year I turned under the sod and planted pota- toes. At the last cultivation I drilled cowpeas between the rows, harvesting the cowpeas for hay. When the potatoes were dug I turned under the cowpea stubble and potato vines, and left in the rough until spring. This spring I have planted it to strawberries and found it in fine condition. Another field 1 sowed to timothy, using the field two years as pas- ture for horses and cows. In the fall and winter I hauled manure from the barn and cowshed and distributed over this pasture as far as it \\ ould go. This spring I sowed it to oats and Canadian field peas mixed. Fhese 1 will harvest for hay. Page 13} Ths Fertlllier Question. ETerr farmer w,,n(rt ti> ktmw .ilmiit lertili/.iuy. Why not eond for biH iiHW Free ciiIali)K'iie of the American Manure Spreader It Itlla libout the bent Sprfudnr, tuadu iit a Ktyli^s ud<1 5 H zw'—8oldOn Trial and On'l'ime. FaireHtHellingphin. ex 'lusively our own. With catalog anc^ booklet, "The V 'liie. Care iiiid Application of Mimuro.'* Write now. American Harrow Co,, Detroit, Mich, P/VINT WITHOUT OIL A remarkable discovery that cuts down the cost of paint- ing 75 per cent. It is the cement principle applied to pjjnt, and produces a fireproof, weatherproof, sunproof and sanitary paint which spreads, looks and wears like oil paint, and costs 'i as much. Write to A. L. RICE, fnfgr.. 598 North St. Adams, N. Y. He will send you free sample, color card and prjce delivered. You can save a good many dollars. Write today. Fruit Packages of all Rinds Before ordering your supplies write for our Descriptive Catalogue and Price List. BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO., Erie Co. Berlin Heights, Ohio. Webster Basket Co., Manufacturers of the BEST WIRE-SEWED BERRY BASKET ON THE MARKET Get our Catalogue and Pricp before ordering elsewhere WEBSTER BASKET CO.. Bu" 40. WEBSTER, Monroe Co., N. Y. B EEBE'S SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORNS ARE THE BEST HEAVY TESTED LAYERS ^= ' - EGGS- . 15, $1.00; 20, $3.00; 100, $6.00. H. C. Beebe, • Route 5, - Canton, Illinois. / 1APABLR WOMEN ONLY— Opportunity for big money V and valuable, permanent positions. A lady's toilet article more necessary than talcum powder. Write for the Sanadora Proposition tn Women, oflFering an opportunity to earn at least $291 and become State Agent for Sana- dora. Winifred Darrow Co., Three Rivers, Mich, O^ VARIETIES of Poultry, Eggs and Fowls for sale on -JtJ short notice. Send 4 cents for catalogue which will give vou prices and descriptions of best fowls and eggs. W. SEIDEL, BoiS, Eleroy, 111. (46) riirnOOQ f'n Trial. )J*39 up. $5 down . Pipes etc. only rUMIuuu *:iaroom. Tools free sh<»winti; how easy it is. Youngstowii, O. Send for free book. Schafer Furnace Co., Box C, MICHIGAN FARMS Good improved farms, spleqdidsoil, ■ fine climate, selling cheap. Write for "list I". Benham & WiLCOX, Hastings, Michigan. ■STRAWBERRY LANDS ^ The most profitable locations for raising str'awberries are in the South, where the ciiuijitt' and soils produce lai-ge crops and where the berry ripens early, so thalitRoes to the markets of the country at the time when the highest prices are obtained. The variuiis sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orcliards and gardens. LHn(is may be obtained at extremely low prices Good shipping facilities tnall mar- kets at rates w'lii<-h encimrage tbe industry. Finest vegetable growing (ippnrtunities. Write the nearest agent fur information abuut desirable locations, lands, etc. M. V. RICHARDS Land and Industrial Agent Washington, D. C. Chas. S. Chase, Agent. 622 Chemical BIdy., St. Louis, Mo. M. A. Hays, Agent 225 Dearborn Si. Chicago. III. THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 The land will then be broken and sowed to cowpeas. If I am short of hay I prob- ably shall harvest the cowpeas also for hay. If I do not need the hay I shall turn them under for fertilizer. If the hay should be made, the stubble will be turned under. During the coming winter the savings from stable, sty and shed will be carted to this field. Next year when I purpose to set this to strawberries, I shall expect to find it in good mechanical con- dition, clean of weeds and tilled with humus. The best crop immediately to precede strawberries is cowpeas. They nitrogen- ize the soil, render it friable, free it from weeds, and make it a comfortable home for the young plants. They are a better fertilizer for strawberry land than the clovers. They will do the work in ninety days; clover in two years. Besides doing the work a year quicker than clover they will not fill the soil with noxious seeds to interfere with the growth of the plants and increase the labors of the planter. Whatever the preceding crop may be the field should be plowed to a moderate depth in the fall. All vegetation turned under will then have time to begin and partly carry forward the process of decay and thus get under way a copious supply of available plant food. The spring fol- lowing, as soon as the ground is dry enough to work well, it should be made ready for planting. It need not be broken again with a "turning plow." If the ground is clear of rocks and stumps, a disc harrow is a good implement to use. , Disc the ground lengthwise five inches deep. Har- row and drag that the cross way. Then disc it the cross way. Harrow and drag that lengthwise. If you do not have a disc, or if your field is too rough for its use, then use a two-horse cultivator or a double shovel. With these cultivate lengthwise and crosswise, and harrow and drag, or roll, until the field is as fine as a garden bed and as firm as a field for wheat. In such a foundation plants can be Do Your Doors Rattle? Of course they do. 99 out of every 100 rattle and slam with noise enough to drive anyone crazy =Stop It!= with one of our Anti-Door-Rattle Attachments. Anyone can attach them to the door casing. They last forever. Self-adiusting. The best thing you ever saw. They all say so Agents Wanted; No Has Beens Price: 10 Cents Each, or 75 Cents per Dozen state whether light or heavy door The American Anti-Door-Rattle Co. 4 15 Perrin St. YPSILANTI, MICH. Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on IJ days Jest trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factor^' to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Liice This: Lyons Kngine Company, Lyons. Mich. Gentk-men;— I am about to purchase agas or gaso- line engine for purposes and wi.sh vou to send me full particulars al>out your approval offer as advertised in The Straw- berry. Yours very truly, Nanie^ Town State Street No. or P. O. Box R. P. D When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. LYONS ENGINE COMPANY, Lyons, Michigan. :^ set at a regular depth and easily firmed. Fixed in firm, moist soil, they will begin at once to grow, and their growth will be rapid. If the ground be broken too deep- ly in the spring and be too loose, the plants cannot be properly firmed in, the ground will not retain its moisture so well, the sun and winds will dry it out, the plants will not start to grow so quickly or grown so rapidl\, and many are likely to die from drought or from being covered too deeply when settled by a hard rain. Whether ground be fall or spring broken, fige 134 it should be thoroughly worked down and made firm. With this preparation of the ground take a marker and mark oft the rows one way. I use one similar to a corn marker. It marks five rows at a time three feet apart, and is drawn by two horses. A corn planter is the best implement I have ever used to mark the ground the other way. It leaves the mark smooth, firm and distinct. Take now your dibbles and hump it. Neosho, Mo. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL, ;^0F STRAWBERRY CUUURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WE only wish that the members of this school could get all to- gether at one time and in one place — what interesting times we should have! But it would take a big place to hold them all, and would require a megaphone if all would hear the bright and helpful words that surely would be spoken could such an assemblage be had. Sometimes we wish that all the other members might see or read or hear the good things that come to us, but which can here only be "boiled down" to the cold questions and answers of the class-room. One thing is certain; there never was a meeting of a horticultural society in this country that could compare in interest and value to such a session as that would be. The letters that come to us reveal how universal is the love of nature and how deep the desire of man today to return to her simpler ways of obtaining a livelihood. One city man writes: "I want to know just how to do the work in the best pos- sible way, so that I may indeed win suc- cess." The wife of a Buffalo policeman has gone seventeen miles out into the country with her children and through strawberry production hopes to make a home self-supporting so that her husband may give up his employment and jom her in her rural home. A Wisconsin man writes: "My wife has read The Strawberry through two or three times, and we both wish to thank you for the courtesies you have shown us. You can- not fail to succeed." An Indiana man says: "Every time I go into the house I pick up The Strawberry and read again and again the instruction and advice and interesting matter it contains. I'm com- ing to be called The Strawberry crank." Then the rich experiences we receive, and the interesting way in which they are told. Here is one from away down in Indian Territory, typical of many an en- tertaining account of experiences with the strawberry. Can any one read this sim- ple narrative and think that the writer is . lonesome in her home out in the South- west, with her strawberry patch giving her such fine mental and physical em- ployment.'' Mental occupation is the sure and only cure for lonesomeness, ennui, dissatisfaction with surroundings, and all that long list of psychological distempers that wear so many people to a frazzle and leave them in old age, if they survive at all, dried up, withered, uninteresting and non-interested in anything on earth but their own petty ailments — every one of which would disappear in the sunshine of honest effort and kindly fellowship with man and with nature. But this is not a lecture on mental diseases, but sim- ply an introduction to a very interesting account of an experience with strawber- ries that didn't propose to quit business until they had shown what they could do: Mrs. H. M. F. , Coalgate, Ind. Ter.— I would like to give you the history of my straw- berry bed, as it seems tomeoutof the ordinary. I put out some plants in the fall of 1903, and in the spring of 1904 set out more. Did not let them bloom or make runners. The summer was unusually hot and dry; no water here to irrigate, and the plants looked fire-swept, so I supposed they were gone, and did not mulch in the fall. Last spring they came up here and there — about one-third. I worked among them faithfully to save them and they grew, but bore scarcely any fruit. They put forth runners and I worked for a double-hedge row, having six rows about seventy feet long. They grew so fast they got ahead of me; I could not down them. They took the whole space between the ridges. (I was obliged to raise the rows, as the bed is on a slope to the north and washes badly duringour heavy spring rains.) I mulched slightly last fall, and this spring they bobbed up so fast and so thick I stood helpless, and they were in bloom before the ground was in condition to cultivate. The bed was white with bloom, and now I never saw so many ber- ries; it looks as if every plant would bear a box or more. I have plucked many buds off, too. Some of the fruit is very large, though not ripe, however. Now I would like to know if I should destroy that bed this fall.' We should not think of destroying a lot of strawberries that had shown such persistence. There is no doubt that the patch is in such vigorous condition — that there is such a preponderance of 1905 plants there — as to insure a bumper crop in 1907. Your experience only confirms our oft-repeated claims for strong and thoroughly developed plants. They are so lusty and vigorous that it is impossible to discourage them by any treatment short of actualh' digging them up. The combination of good plants, good soil, good cultivation, renders strawberry pro- duction the safest and most dependable of all the fruit crops. Mrs. M. H. B.. South Vernon, Vt. What can I do to kill out wheat grass and grubs? We have explained before the manner of handling grubs, but take pleasure in repeating the information here. The best preventive is ro break the ground in the fall, which subjects the grubs to the freezing, also to the attacks of birds. But Page 135 as your plants are already set in ground infested with grubs, the best thing to do is to keep a close watch while hoeing and cultivating the plants, and at first sight of plant being attacked by a grub, which is easily detected by the wilting of the plant, if you will dig around the plant you will locate the grub at about half an inch to an inch and a half below the surface, and if the grub is killed before it has destroyed too many of the roots, the plant often may be saved. The grub is difficult to get rid of because of its underground habit. In regard to wheat grass, we assume that you mean what is more commonly known as cheat. The best way to get rid of cheat when it appears in the fruiting bed is to go through the field with a sharp hoe and cut the grass off just below the surface, or if the ground is wet from rain, the better way is to pull it up by hand. We have just completed in our own fruiting field the work of removing all weeds and grass, which will develop in the spring, no matter how excellently the field previously has been cared for; and we followed the methods here described. W. H. S., Rock Stream, N. Y. How can I get rid of chick weed in a strawberry field, and can a success be made raising strawber- ries on ground badly infested with this weedi" Please note the instruction given Mrs. H. B., South Vernon, Vt., in this depart- ment and this issue. The fact that the soil is infested with chick weed will be no hindrance to the successful growing of strawberries, provided you keep the soil well cultivated and hoed, as the frequent stirring of the soil will prevent the seed from germinating, while it also will force the plants into vigorous activity. L. A. L. , Waterloo, N. Y. Should we stop cultivating among our plants after the fruit buds are set? It is unnecessary to cultivate the fruit- ing bed unless you wish to do so, but last year we cultivated our fruiting bed with splendid results. In doing this we raked the mulching up close to the rows of plants, then cultivated the bare space between the rows. Any weed that made its appearance directly in the row was pulled out by hand after a rain. Then the ground is moist and the weeds pull very easily. If you start cultivation of the fruit bed, it must be continued through THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 the entire fruiting season and the cultiva- tor should go through after each picking, as the pickers trample the soil firmly. Cultivating will cover the tracks and avoid any danger of waste through capil- lary attraction. <^ ^ F. M. R., Bridgeton, N. J. For the last few years I have been very much annoyed by a small bug which stings the stem just below the blossom, causing the blossom to drop off, wither up and die. Does not affect the rest of the stem. There will be a good stiff stem — but no fruit, compared with what there should be. Do you know of any preventa- tive to remedy this trouble? The insect is the strawberry weevil. It is a small black snouted beetle. They deposit their eggs in the buds of straw- berries and then gnaw partly through the stem, a short distance below the buds, causing the latter to wilt and droop. Their eggs hatch into little grubs which develop in the bud, becoming full grown in a few weeks. They pupate in the buds, and emerge as a perfect beetle. The beetle then migrates to flowers of other plants. About the only remedy, or rather prevention, is clean cultivation. Then after the fruiting season mow off the vines, burn the bed over and narrow down the rows. Full instructions for this work are given in this number of The Strawberry. The April issue of this magazine gives complete in- structions in the treatment of insects and fungous growths. Never take plants from an old fruiting bed. Keep the fence rows near your plants clean. G. W. G., Clinton, Mo. Would it be ad- visable to spray for rust now? The plants are all in bloom. Certainly not. Never spray while plants are in bloom or in fruit. Spraying materials are deadly poison; if they were not, they would not be effective. All spraying must be done before blooming and after the crop is harvested. '^ ^ J. M. C, Fresno, Cal. I have a number of chickens, enough with my hogs and horses to furnish about all the nitrates I will need. I mix my wood ashes from the house with the barnyard manure and apply that to the ground and with my chicken droppings. I use land plaster under the roosts. Now what I want to get at, does the land plaster contain any potash and, if so, about what proportion is available? The manure from your chickens and hogs will be ideal for your strawberry field. But it should be applied very lightly and thoroughly incorporated into the soil. Either of these manures can be scattered on the ground before plants are set or afterwards, whichever suits you best, and they will furnish all the nitrogen the plants need. \'ou should never mix the wood ashes with the manure of any kind, as the lime in the ashes will set the nitrogen free which the manure contains. This is the most costly part of the ferti- lizer. The best way is to apply the manure and ashes separately. In regard to the land plaster: it con- tains a very small percentage of potash. Its principal advantage is to improve the mechanical condition of the soil. Land plaster is one of the best things you can use in your hen house, as it will absorb moisture and hold it in reserve for the use of the plants. G. R. E. , Alba, Texas. I have an acre set to strawberries; half of them are runners taken from thoroughbred plants set out in the spring of 1905. I have a propagating bed of 500 plants put out at the same time. I let this bed bear a crop of runners last year and they are fine ones. Will the runners from this bed the second year be as good as those grown the first year? 2. In layering the runners, when is the best time to do so, or what time of the year do you stop cutting them off when you mean to layer them in the double-hedge row? 3. 1 have a few roots set in the twin double- hedge row. My rows are eighteen inches and thirty-six inches apart, and the plants are set twenty-seven inches in the row. I intend to layer two plants between each hill and they will be nine inches apart. Will this be too close to set Lady Thompson? 1. The runner plants in your propa- gating bed grown from plants set in 1905 will be ideal for this year's setting, but it is bad practice to take runners from a two-year-old bed. If you wish to grow your own plants for several years you should take some of the plants produced from your 1905 setting and start another propagating bed for next year's setting. Please read complete article on "The Propagating Bed" in this issue of The Strawberry. 2. In layering runners the physical condition of the mother plant should be considered. If the mother plant is strong and bears a large foliage, showing vigor and activity, it is in prime condition to permit its first runners to be layered. In order to get a good plant the first con- sideration is a well-developed crown, and this can be had only by giving the plant all the advantage possible. Just as soon as the node forms throw some soil with hoe or hand on the runner wire just back of the node. This soil will hold the runner in place, preventing the wind from moving it about. It also holds moisture, which encourages the roots to start from the crown at once, and just as soon as the roots take hold of the soil the runner plant is fed from two sources — from the mother plant and through its own roots. In a short time the roots of the runner are able to supply an abundance of food Put 136 GyPFERLflWN MOWER GO. DIXON, ILLINOIS Manufacturers of HAND and PONy MOWERS; also MARINE GASO- tlNE ENGINES, 2 to 8 H. P. No. t 12 in Mower S 5.00 No. 2 15 600 No. 3 18 •■ - 7.00 No. 4 21 " - 8.00 Pon» 24 " - 18.00 THF MnWFR That Will m\ all the Weeds In 1111^ /IIWWLU your lawns. If you keep the weeds cut so they do not go to seed, and cut your grass without breaking the small feeders of roots, the grass will become thick, and the weeds will disappear. THE CLIPPER WILL DO IT Please Send Draft or Money Order or Registered Letter ; FINE I £0f J2 Sis IN ONE OUR '"^r. ^,r No. 2 3d Ave. '''A The Northland Shop SION OP «OOD WORK Designers, Illustrators and Engravers Let us figure with you be- fore placing your work NO. 11 SRD AVE.. THREE RIVERS, MICH. The Crescent Engraving Co KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN Engravers, Electrotgpcrs ©ataloguc /IBaRcrs Landscape and Nursery Work A SPECIALTY Only house in the West making Steel Elec- trotypes. For durability and definition these practically equal original engravings Samples and Estimates Cheerfully Furnished THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 and moisture, at which time nature has provided a way to "wean" the runner from its mother. 3. Your method of growing the twin double-hedge row is correct, and the Lady Thompson should give you good results. The Lady Thompson does not build up a large crown system, and its fruit stems are long and the berries are borne in clusters similar to cherries. We mention this fact to indicate that the plants will not crowd one another. W. H. C, Kinross, Iowa. Would it be all right to put fine manure on top of the ground after I have the plants set out and work It in the soil? 2. The varieties I have are the Texas, Warfield, Parson's Beauty; are they all good kinds and do they mate all right? 3. How is the best way to grow them — in single or double-hedge rows? After enough runners to form the hedge row are made, should I keep all the other runners cut off? There is nothing you could do that would be better than to spread fine ma- nure between the rows after the plants are set. While cultivating the plants this manure will be mixed in with the top of the soil and the rains will cause the liquids to leach down where the roots can make use of it. Of course, the liquids from this manure will ha\ e a tendency to cause the plants to send out more runners than If the manure were absent, but if the runners are restricted, the crowns or bud systems will grow relatively strong. 2. The three varieties you grow will mate well together. Set Warfield in rows between Texas and Parsons' Beauty; the flowers of both of these bisexuals are exceedingly rich in pollen. 3. The varieties named will give good results when grown in single-hedge rows. After enough plants are set to make the single-hedge row, treat the runners that come after as you would weeds. W. E. A. , Glouster, Ohio. I am starting a small strawberry plantation. It is high oak- ridge, or clay, soil. I can get plenty of stable manure at 25 cents a load by hauling it from one to two miles. I will give local quotations on commercial fertilizers: Bone meal $2 per cwt., potash, $4 per cwt. and Canada hard-wood ashes, $15 per ton. Now for the questions; 1. Are those prices too high? 2. Would it be necessary to use all three of the fertilizers and manure at the same time on the same ground? 3. Would one load of stable manure be too much to the square rod? 4. Would it pay to ship straw- berries to a city like Columbus, a distance of seventy-five miles? 5. How many pounds constitute a bushel of hard-wood ashes? L The quotations you have on com- mercial fertilizers are very reasonable. 2. As you can obtain stable manure we would advise you to apply a light dressing of that first; the commercial fer- tilizer may be applied afterwards. Both manure and fertilizers should be well in- corporated into the soil before plants are set. 3. We are not clear as to just what you mean by one load of stable manure to the square rod; but if you mean one two-horse load, it will be entirely too much. A wheel-barrow load will cover a square rod as thickly as it should be applied. There is such a thing as getting too much manure, causing an over supply of foliage at the expense of fruit. 4. It would certainly pay to ship your berries to Columbus as it is within a distance of seventy-five miles. We have shipped our berries from forty-five to 200 miles from the farm. 5. It is rather difficult to say just how- many pounds a bushel of wood ashes will weigh, as they vary quite a little. A bushel of unleached, hard wood ashes WE WANT A PHOTOGRAPH of your strawberry patch, be it little or big — and this means every reader of The Strawberry. We offer $10.00 in cash prizes, as follows: First Prize Photograph, cash - - - $5.00 Second Prize Photograph, cash - - - $3.00 Third Prize Photograph, cash - - - $2.00 All photographs submitted to be the prop- erty of the Kellogg Publishing Co. THE STRAWBERRY would not weigh more than from forty to fifty pounds. Apply wood ashes at the rate of forty bushels to the acre. H. B. W., Olathe, Kan. Where can I get a small hand sprayer, or some form of sprayer that can be easily handled and yet will do good work? There are a number of sprayers of this order made, and reference to our adver- tising columns will indicate where they may be obtained. One very convenient "knapsack" sprayer is mady by the Lenox Sprayer Co., 1298 1-2 Broadway, N. Y.. and this company is just now making a special ofFer of a very attractive nature. * it G. Q., Theodore, Sask. I set out some straw berrv plants this spring. They were in fine condition when I received them. They were set out the same day they were received in well-prepared soil. The day after they were planted there was a good rain, but about a week later we had some heavy frosts, which pretty well wiped the plants out. Should I have covered the plants over until the weather became settled? It is scarcely possible that frost has in- jured your plants. We have had the ground freeze three and four inches deep immediately after plants were set, and while the hearts of the plants would look P»ge 137 quite brown after the freeze, yet they would come out all right and develop into thrifty plants in a very short time after such an experience. We would advise you to continue cultivating and hoeing these plants, and you will be sur- prised to see what they will do in the way of producing big red berries. C. F. P., Tecumseh, Mich. Will millet hay make a good fall and winter mulch for straw- berries? Am looking for something that may easily be grown upon my own place, and have known of its use frequently in onion mulching. Please give me the benefit of your experience on this question. There is no question but millet hay will make an ideal mulch for strawberries provided it is cut before the seed ripens, and this should be done before it heads out, because millet makes a large amount of seed and would cause endless trouble at fruiting time if not cut before maturity. We also wish to say that millet is very exhausting upon the soil and often leaves the soil in a lifeless condition. However, cutting before it ripens lessens the demand upon the soil's resources. Sowed corn makes an ideal mulching also, and leaves the soil in much better condition than does the millet. Sow about two and a half bushels of corn to the acre, which will make the corn so thick that the corn will grow spindling, thus making it easier to handle. ^ '^ J. A. S., Columbus, Ohio. When you mow over your strawberry patch, do I understand that you use an ordinary lawn mower, or what do you use? 2. When you burn over the field after the mowing is done, does that de- stroy the plants, or what benefit is it, other than destroying the insects likely, to be pres- ent? 3. You say one ought to pick off all blooms the first year of bearing for new plants, in order to make them the more pro- lific and vigorous fruit-producers the next year. That will necessarily deprive the grower of one season's entire output, will it not, unless he has another and older patch? 4. How long are plants supposed to be good for bearing? 5. What is the very best mulch? 1. In mowing over the strawberry patch an ordinary hay mower is used. 2. Burning over the plants after the fruiting is done does not destroy the plants but simply burns ofF all the dead and use- less matter that has accumulated about the crown, leaving the crown clean and free to do its best. 3. Picking all bloom the first year does not deprive the grower of one sea- son's crop because he would not receive a crop the first year if they were allowed to fruit. The best he would get would be a very small quantity of berries, while the strength used in producing those few berries would so weaken the plants that THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 he never would get a large crop from the plants. It is necessary to give the plants one year in which to develop vigor and strength and making them capable of pro- ducing large crops of big red berries. 4. Plants will easily bear two large crops; sometimes the second crop is even larger than the first. A third crop may be grown if the best of care has been given the bed, but there will be a lessen- ing in the quantity. We advise the grow- ing of but two full crops, plowing the old plants under and growing some other crop on that particular piece of ground. 5. The very best of all the mulches is wheat straw. ■*. ^ C. W. M., Narrowshurg, N. Y. I put out about one thousand plants last August — plants sent me by a friend. They were cul- tivated until late fall and then were put under a heavy stable manure mulch until May 1. They look to be in good condition, many that appeared dead last fall looking well and thrifty now. Please advise which would be the better way — allow them to fruit, or pick off the blooms? Have read The Strawberry since its first issue, and desire to follow the business in the best way possible. Plants set in August of last year should be so well established in the soil that they may produce a small crop of berries this season without injury to the plants. We say this with the understanding that your plants are vigorous and thrifty. T. McD., Cable, Wis. Will runners have to be kept off plants during the fruiting season? 2. How often should the fruiting bed be cultivated? 3. Which is the better way to have the rows run — north and south or east and west? 4. In single-hedge row should not all runners save two be removed? 5. In shipping berries a short distance is it better to do so by night or by day? 6. Should any berries be picked while yet wet with dew or rain? 7. Should the berries be fully ripe when they are to be shipped a distance of 150 miles? 1. You need not remove your lunners during fruiting time. 2. The fruit bed is better when not cultivated at all, provided there is a good mulch between the rows, as there should be. Of course, if there is no mulch be- tween the rows, the tramping of the pick- ers through the rows would pack down the soil and affect the growing berries. If, therefore, there is no mulch between the rows, you should cultivate after each picking. 3. It makes no difference which way the rows run so far as the points of the compass go. They may be set east and west, or north and south, or obliquely with equally good results. 4. You are right that there should be but two runners from the mother plant when the single-hedge row system is followed. 5. Night shipping is always the best for berries, of course, as the sun's heat causes them to fall down badly when shipped in the day time. 6. Pick no berries while they are still wet with morning dew or from rain. 7. Berries that are to be shipped a distance of 150 miles should be just a little under ripe. F. H. M., Roswell, N. M. Our soil here is loose and will grow anything we plant if a sufficient quantity of water is supplied. Few strawberries are grown here; we get a few green, knotty ones from another part of the Southwest, and I am confident some of the old-timers here don't know how a good strawberry tastes. I. When should we have berries from plants set this spring? 2. If they bloom early and first blossoms freeze, will it have any bad effect on later blooming? Your soil being loose, we would advise you to roll it very firmly before setting the plants, because if it is left in too loose a condition, it will allow an over-supply of air to come in contact with the bac- terial germs, which will cause them to become too active; this will work up all the humus and manure into available form, while if it is pressed tight, it will allow just enough air to keep the bac- terial germs in normal condition. There is no reason why you cannot grow straw- berries as well as any other kind of fruit. We trust that you will get some very fancy fruit so that you can show these old timers that you understand your business. 1. Plants which are set out this spring should not be allowed to fruit until the spring of 1907. Just as soon as the buds open, pinch them ofT; this will throw the strength to the mother plants, and they will develop a large crown system, which will produce a big crop of berries next season. 2. As only part of the bloom opens at one time it is not likely that one or two frosts would injure the crop to any great extent. L. H., Neenah, Wis. We have decided to try the twin double-hedge row and would like some information: 1. In setting the plants twenty-four inches apart in the row would you let one runner set between this space, and should we cut it loose from the mother plant as soon as it is set and started to grow? 2. How late in the fall should we work the ground? 3. Is it good to cut runners off during fruiting time the second year? 4. Would you spray the young plants during the summer? 5. Should we cultivate the ground in the spring when the plants are old enough to bear fruit? 6. Would you advise us to put manure between the rows in the fall before covering them with straw? 7. When you take the straw off in the spring would you let it lie between the rows? 1. In setting the plants twenty-four inches apart in the row, we would allow each mother plant to make four runner plants, layering these directly in the row. 2. The cultivation depends upon climatic conditions. If the fall is late and the weather continues Warm and nice, you can continue cultivation until the lat- ter part of September, but if the fall comes early, the cultivation should be discon- tinued accordingly. 3. It is unnecessary to cut the runners from the fruiting bed, but it will do no harm to do this. In^fact, it will help the plants to produce larger berries. Of KFRUITBOOK ■ 44 pages 9x12 inches; 22 pages showing in natural colors '216 varieties of Fruit, with concise description and season of ripen- ing of each; 64 half-tone views of Nurseries, Orchards, Packing Houses, etc. Send 50CtS. for book (post-paid) and Rebate Ticket permitting return of 'book by mail within 60 days and we refund the 505*. Or, mail us within 1 year, Rebate Ticket with $12 order for nursery stock and we will credit $1.00 in part payment on your order and you KCEP THE book free. WE PAY THE FREIGHT. YiT n C* « weekly and want more home and traveling salesmen. OUTFIT 11! 6 r 3.y VttSIl FREE.— Stark Bro's, LOUISIANA, Mo., Atlantic, Iowa, Fayelteville, Ark. PIONEER GUARANTEED NURSERY STOCK AT WHOLESALE PRICES. I All stock guaranteed disease free and true to name. Hart Pioneer Stock is pure bred and produces lieavy crops Value received for every dollar sent us. No Agent's Coniniission. WRITE FOR COnPLETK PRICE LIST. WE WILL SAVE YOU HONEY. HART PIONEER NURSERIES, Established 18(55. Fort Scott, Kan. Page 138 THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 course, this would be expensive if you are growing berries on a large scale. 4. Inasmuch as your plants come from propagating beds that are thoroughly sprayed, it will hardly be necessary to spray the fruiting bed, unless some insects attack the plants. 5. It will be all right to cultivate the fruiting bed, provided you did not start cultivator until all danger of frost is over. In doing this, you should rake the mulch- ing up close to the plants, and then cul- tivate the space between the rows. You should cultivate once each week, except when the plants are in bloom. Then you should not cultivate unless the ground is moist enough to prevent dust from flying. When you start picking the berries the cultivaror should follow each picking, as the pickers will tramp the ground down solid, which will make it possible for water to escape by capillary attraction. 6. It will be all right for you to put manure between the rows in the fall be- fore covering the plants. This manure should not be put on until all growths stop. If it is put on too early in the fall, it will stimulate too much vegetative growth and stop the plants from making fruit buds. When you put it on late in the fall after growth stops, the rains will wash the juices from the manure and the soil grains will take these up and hold them in reserve for the plants' use in the spring, just when they need it most. 7. In removing the straw from the plants in the spring it is best to take a common fork and merely part the mulch- ing from over the rows. In doing this make the part just wide enough so the plants can come up through it. .^ ^ E. T. G., Campbellton, N. B. My soil ha? been cropped until it is not very good and manure is hard to get. There are three shal- low ponds on the place and there is from one to four feet of soft mud on the bottom, which, when dry, looks like ashes. Would not that answer the place of manure? Some say it is very rich, but I want to be sure; for I want the best plants and to give them a good start. We would not advise you to use this mud on your strawberry ground as it would have a tendency to bake and would be of no benefit to your plants. If this muck soil was thoroughly dry before tak- ing up and applying it to the soil, it would be all right, but do not do this while it is wet or pasty. J. W. M. , Arispe, Iowa. Does the strawberry bed have to be reset every third year? If so, shall I reset the old plants or the new ones? 2. Should I keep the rest of the runners cut off every year, except those it took to make the single or double hedge rows the first year. 1. No Strawberry bed will give you the proper amount of fruit for the space and trouble required after the second crop is grown, therefore you should arrange to have a new crop growing all the time, plowing out the old one after the second crop and planting to something else. This tends to kee|i the land free from insect and fungous pests. 2. Never set an old plant; the new plants should be grown in a propagating bed. You should cut off all the runners in excess of those \ou have permitted to grow to form your double or single hedge row. M. T. U., Albert Lea, Minn. What is the customary price paid per quart for picking berries when the pickers sort them, as you have suggested in The Strawberry? 2. How many pickers per acre is necessary to take care of a good crop? 3. About how much per acre is it worth to pick the blossoms from a newly set field of plants? 1. The customary price per quart where strawberries are sorted by the pickers as we have outlined, is 1 1-4 cents a box. Where this sorting is not done, prices for picking are customarily fixed at 1 cent per box. 2. The number of pickers required would vary greatly. The size of the crop itself, the number ripe at a given time, and many other conditions would enter into the matter, but from twelve to fifteen good pickers should do the work with ease. 3. It would be almost impossible to answer. The nature of the work would make it necessary that it be done by "time" rather than by "the piece", and the labor would vary in different fields. J. H. F., White Rock, Me. Would like to ask in regard to applying phosphate — do you mean to apply it broadcast over the whole piece and work it in with harrow, or sow it along the rows? All commercial fertilizers are preferably sown broadcast. This should be done after the ground has been broken up, and it should be thoroughly worked into the soil bofore plants are set. Another good way is to make a deep furrow where each row is to be set, and then scatter the fer- tilizers along in this furrow, following this with a five-tooth cultivator so as to incor- porate the fertilizer with the soil. Then the plants can be set where the furrow was made after it has been filled in. J. G. R., Bryantville, Mass. Would like to know the best .system of irrigating strawber- ries, and any information will be very much appreciated. The only successful way we have found for irrigating the strawberry, is by making a furrow between the rows and running the water through the rows until the soil is well filled with water. If the water is flooded over the plants the soil will become baked so hard as to greatly injure the plant. While the strawberry requires much moisture it is a mistake to have the water about the crowns. When it is put in a furrow the moisture is taken up by the soil grains and the plant re- ceives it in a natural way — that is, by being absorbed through its roots. G. W. P., Clayton, N. M. I am a subscriber to The Strawberry, and think it the best pub- lication of its kind I ever saw — it can't be beaten, in my opinion. Please advise me if you consider sheep manure good for straw- berries. I have a place that was used as a sheep lot for two or three years; have had in it vegetables two seasons and grown fine ones there. What do you think of it? It should never be forgotten that the sheep has won in all ages the distinction of being the animal with the "golden hoof. This is but another way of say- ing that wherever the sheep are raised golden harvests follow as a result of the fertility they scatter. Your patch should be an ideal one in its present condition, and we shall expect to hear fine reports from the strawberries grown on such favorable soil in your wonderful territory. BERRY PICKERS IN THE HOOD RIVER VALLEY. OREGON. Page 139 THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY - Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY .... Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 1603 Manhattan BIdg., Chicago, III. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United Slates and Canada - - -$1.00 Foreign - - . . . 1.25 Entered as second-class matter at the PostofBce at Three Rivers, Michigan. JUNE, 1906 JUNE is here, with all its wealth of beauty, warmth and color, and we should make the most of it. With this issue. The Strawberry passes the first half-mile stone — a half- volume is complete. The event calls for just a word by way of recognition of the extraordinary results that have followed the establishment of this magazine. It is doubtful if in all history a publication has received a more cordial welcome from those to whom it especially appeals than The Strawberry has enjoyed. Subscrip- tions have flowed in in one steady stream, and this has led to phenomenal results for our advertisers. Our readers have expressed themselves as more than satis- fied with the instruction and advice given them, and many have gone so far as to tell us that advice given has changed fail- ure into success. WE should be lacking in appreciation of the good things our friends have said and done did we not acknowledge these fine courtesies, and we are confi- dent that the cordial relations thus created are to be firmly established by time. For it is the earnest purpose of the publishers to make the magazine better as the months pass and of increasing value to its readers. And our ambition it is to in- crease the size of The Strawberry family during these pleasant days of June. To that end we call your attention to the of- fers of cash prizes for those who send us in the largest clubs of subscribers during June and up to the 20th of July. What may not the bright boys and girls accom- plish in this way during vacation days? And the industrious housewife, intent upon securing some pin money all her own, may find here just the opportunity she seeks. Nor need the man of the house feel that he is left out, for the pos- sibility of getting $20 in addition to gen- erous commissions allowed on every an- nual subscription sent us is one large enough to tempt him to take part in the contest. Who will win that capital prize.' A ND we have another plan along this •*'• line also, in which we ask your per- sonal cooperation. If you are a regular subscriber to The Strawberry and are in- terested in its purpose, its work and its success, and find in your copy of this is- sue a subscription blank upon a perfor- ated card, will you not kindly read that blank and pass it on to some friend, ask- ing him to become a reader to this per- iodical? If each one of our subscribers should secure us just one other, it would double our list at once, and while we are interested in that fact because of the ad- vantage it would be to us, we also are interested, and we believe in this you heartily join us, in the spread of the gen- eral intelligence regarding strawberry cult- ure, strawberry production and strawberry marketing which this publication encour- ages. If we are right in this matter, and you are thus interested, will you not help us by presenting our special trial of- fer to your friends? SOMETHING of what has been done for our advertisers is indicated by the enthusiastic letters we are receiving from them. We can do no better than to quote from a few of them. The Wallace Machinery Co., manufacturers of spray- ing machinery, Champaign, III., in a let- ter dated May 12 say: "Your little journal certainly is a business getter. Without doubt, we have had more in- quiries from our adv. with you, with but one exception, than from any other source. Greening Bros., nurserymen of Monroe, Mich., write under date of May 5: The returns received from The Strawberry have been satisfactory to us. We received 107 inquiries from the 2-inch ad. in the March issue." In other words that little ad. cost them $4.20, and this makes the cost of each inqutry received as a result a fraction under 4 cents. It is to be doubted if any other publication on their list brought Greening Bros, so much business in proportion to the amount expended for advertising. Pretty good for a youngster, isn't it? 'T'HE cold snap of May 6-7 afl^ected a ■^ large section of the country, and re- ports from southern Indiana and Ohio and from Kentucky indicate that con- siderable damage was done to strawberries in sections where the plants were set on low land. Albany, Ind., reports heavy losses; Greenfield in that state reports the same. Marietta, Ohio, reports say that the most promising crop in the Ohio River valley suffered a loss of $75,000. Page I4D Secretary L. A. Goodman of the Missouri State Horticultural society, says the loss was very slight in his state, although it was due to prevailing winds that the damage was not greater. Regarding these damage reports, however, it always is well to remember that the strawberry is a remarkably hardy plant, that all the blossoms do not appear at the same time, and that fields which have been quite severely frost-bitten frequently give off a generous crop of fine fruit. A FTER all, the cold wave that swept '»■ over the South in March did much less damage than was at first reported. Just why people always will insist upon declaring that a fruit failure impends is worthy the investigations of a psycholo- gist. Years ago, when Delaware was headquarters for fine peaches, stories would start from somewhere that the fruit buds down there were killed, and the country lived in mortal fear lest its supply of peaches was to be curtailed. Then the eastern shore of Lake Michigan became the news center of the pessimists. Now it appears to be universal, and the strawberry fields of the South furnish the first stories of spring from these prophets of gloom. But just now the activity all over the South where strawberries are grown gives the quietus to such tales, and in many districts the crop has proved the mostextraordinary in history, as regards both quality and yield. ARE you looking for a convenient and econom- ical way to prevent fungous diseases and destroy the insects that threaten your plants? Something that you can pick up in a jiffy and go out to slay the foe with complete confidence of victory? just read the ad\'ertisement of the Lenox Sprayer Co. in this issue of The Straw- berry, and if you are not attracted by that com- pact and simple "knapsack" machine, that car- ries so easily and renders such effective service, we shall be disappointed. And it is worth while to note the bargain-counter offer that is made in connection with this time-tried machine. This magazine consistently has urged the need of a sprayer in the strawberry field as a measure of protection. The Lenox Co. offer a way to secure one under such terius as come within the reach of all. Write them at 1298'j Broadway, New York, if you would have further informa- tion. ONE of the biggest concerns of its kind in the world is the National Paper Box Co., whose headquarters is at Kansas City, Mo., but whose branch houses in other cities are af- fairs of large proportions. The berry box is one of the important factors in strawberry pro- duction. Upon its neatness, finish, ability to stand up under the tests to which it must be subjected in going from Held to market, de- pends in no sinall degree the price the grower is to receive for his product. The splendid bus- iness done by this company is eloquent testimony to the quality of its output. If you have not as yet put in your order for boxes, you will make no mistake in investigating the merits of the boxes made by this company. They are in luany shape* and you certainly will find some- thing there that will please you. c= SEASON IS LATE WE MUST UNLOAD YOU GET THES T^^ M Lenox improved Sprayers FOR ' ^11 ''(foi'l 'LlI I JJ^i^'itMlMkcAtm^^ S3 By sending to New York THIS IS THE REGULAR $5.00 SPRAYER Prompt Shipment Guaranteed. DELIVERY IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS It is the latest improved LENOX SPRAYER — a Woman can use it. It has a swinging agitator inside; swings and sweeps the bottom at every step you give, Iceeping the Bordeaux or Paris green from settling. Has a strainer cup like a milk strainer. Nothing can enter to bother you. Holds 24 quarts; built of Apollo Brand Galvanized Iron. Made to wear and to work. Press your thumb upon the bulb, you get your spray. Stop your pressure and you stop the spray. Pumps every drop out until empty. No air pump business. No stopping every few feet TO PUMP AIR— OR TO SWEAR. A Woman Can Use It! A Potato Field, a Cabbage oraStrawberry Patch, a Vineyard, can be sprayed easily and in less time than to get the big pump out. Lots of times you can use a Knapsack where you cannot a barrel #^^ pump. Handy at any place. Your man in the field will use it three times before he will rig a barrel and team once- With it a man gets into a tree and in a few minutes a good sized tree is sprayed, and he proceeds to the next one. This is the sprayer you get for $3. Regular price for this sprayer is $5, but season now a little late; we rather sell at $3 than wait until next season to get $5. You will never get a LENOX for $3 again. If you want one or more DON'T TALK LONG. Send in your express money order. No lengthy letters necessary. We will know what you want, and that you want it quick, too. But give us your address very plain. EXPRESS RATES FROM NEW YORK CITY ARE LOWER THAN FROM ANY OTHER POINT. A LOT OF BORDEAUX MIXTURE and BORDEAUX PAINT in gallon cans concentrated form, "LENOX BRAND", to mix with 50 to 100 gallons of water— $1 per can. Six- can case, $5. A small can, concentrated, "sure destruction" to San Jose scale, to mix with 50 parts of water, will be sent FREE with each sprayer. Remit by Express Money Order to THE LENOX SPRAYER CO., '''l'is,t*'' NEW YORK (^(^-^-t-->- ^■■^- ^-^'^^ $75 Round Trip to North Pacific Coast First-class round trip tickets from Chicago to Seattle, Portland, Tacoma and to California points will be sold at the low rate of $75 by Milwaukee EVERY DAY THIS SUMMER Liberal Return Limits and Stopover Privileges Tickets will be good on THE OVERLAND LIMITED via Omaha; THE PIONEER LIMITED via St. Paul and Minneapolis, or THE SOUTHWEST LIMITED via Kansas City. Why not go via one of these routes and return via another? Advance information about rates, routes and train service mailed to any address free F. A. MILLER General Passenger Agent CHICAGO rati R. C. JONES Michigan Passenger Agent 32 Campus Martius DETROIT July, 1906 THES ERRY "r/ie Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry — but He never did."" -HENRY WARD BEECHER PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN Are You Hustling For That $20 Cash Prize? It is Yours if You Only Hustle Hard Enough And keep everlastingly at it, for it is a Square Deal and an Easy Winner And You Make Money if You Lose! Because the commission you receive on every subscription you secure for THE STRAW- BERRY will more than pay you a good wage BUT TWENTY DAYS MORE The Contest will close July 20. That is, you have until that day in which to complete your work. Your letter with the last list of subscribers must be dated and stamped at your local postoffice on July 20. This gives all an equal chance HERE IS OUR OFFER: 1st Prize for largest club of subscribers to The Straw- berry received -...--- $20 2nd Prize for second largest club of subscribers to The Strawberry received $15 3rd Prize for third largest club of subscribers to The Strawberry received . . - - - $10 4th Prize for fourth largest club of subscribers to The Strawberry received $ 5 If you haven't hustled up to date, get up a mighty hustle now, and just see what you can do in twenty days of honest, solid endeavor Get That $20.00 If You Can THE STRAWBERRY. THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 7 Three Rivers, Mich., July, 1906 $1.00 a Year FROM many sources come the same old complaint this season about the small, green berries at the bottom of the box, and in some sections where commercial strawberry production is carried forward on an exten- sive scale, it is declared that the product of the entire district has been affected by the acts of a few unscrupulous growers who would rather make a nickel by cheating than build up a reputation and insure success by square-dealing. In one Ten- nessee district, it is said that this influence was sufficient to lower the price upon products there to the point where profit practically disappeared. One of the prominent growers and shippers of that district, asked by a newspaper reporter as to the probable effect upon the business as a result of that sort of cheating, is quoted as saying: "Of course, it hurts the market now, and gives it, in some measure at least, a black eye' for the future. The men who are practicing the trick may make some little tempor- ary gain by it, but they are sure to be losers by it in the future. But that does not relieve the situation; such methods hurt all growers and all local dealers. It is at the same time a great mistake and a great outrage." 1 he characterization is none too strong; indeed, it is not strong enough, for such cheating is a crime, working, as it does> mjury to both the consumer and the honest producer whose berries have fallen under suspicion through the false pretense and fraud thus practiced. But have the selling associations done their very best to eliminate this dangerous factor.^ This is a question of serious import. And has the selling association done its full duty to the public and its individual members until it has made impos- sible such an imposition upon all the members by one or a few of its members.' We believe not, and we urge that before another season arrives the associations all over the country will each for themselves adopt standards of excellence which shall result in the grading of the fruit and the casting out of every grower who declines to come up to the standard thus fixed. This is one of the very first things that should command the thought of every fruit growers' shipping or selling association. Good goods is the first pre-requisite to a strong and growing A BUSY DAY AT E. S. KATHERMAN'S FRUIT FARM, WARRENSBURG, MO. market, no matter what line of products is considered, and this may be said to be of even greater significance where fruit so sensitive and perishable as the strawberry is concerned. A reputation for quality means an immediate sale of the fruit, and that must be done in the case of the strawberry, or loss is in- evitable and comes swiftly. Years ago the California orange growers suffered just as the Tennessee gentleman says is true of his particular strawberry district this season. Oranges were packed by the individual growers according to standards each chose to adopt for himself. But the fruit had to go to market in carload lots, and the poor fruit and the bad fruit fixed the price for all of it. The condi- tion became intolerable, and after trying one remedy after an- other an organiza- tion was formed having iron -clad rules, one of which was that every orange packed had to undergo rigid in- spection and was graded with utmost care. Then the selling agents had something they could count upon in the way of quality, and the stamp of that association up- on the box was all the guarantee the Eastern buyer required. Firsts were firsts and seconds were seconds, and the prices were paid without looking into the box. That should be the place occupied by the strawberry growers of this country in the matter of their product. And when it becomes so we shall have no more talk about losing prices, because there is a demand in this country for every really good strawberry grown. Of course, if all the good berries grown were sent to one or half a dozen markets the glut would result in lower prices and consequent loss to the grower and the shipper. But add to quality a sane method of handling and a wide distribution of products, and every strawberry grown in the country that is worthy to go on the market will be taken and at a price certain to insure a profit to the grower and to give satisfaction to the consumer. Apropos to this matter is the following from the Chicago Packer, a leading produce-market journal: "Inferior berries serve to kill the demand among the consumers and when thev once give up eating strawberries it's hard to get them back until another season comes on. If growers would pack and ship THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 only the best it is believed that more money would be realized. It must be remembered that very few people will buy low-grade strawberries because of a low price. The fruit is either good or bad, and consumers prefer something else to bad berries. The dealers complain that much of the loss caused on their purchases has re- sulted from their buying good stock and having their orders filled with low grades by growers and shippers. A good many dealers who have heretofore bought assert that hereafter they will not handle straw- berries unless they can get them on con- signment. They claim they have been deceived too often to warrant taking fur- ther chances." Some Lessons From Experience By John Middleton IT is about ten years ago since we began growing strawberries. We secured a few hundred plants from a friend, who instructed us to "put them in a tub of water over night." We followed his directions and, of course, lost about half of them. The remainder, which we plant- ed, made only a feeble growth, but we succeeded in selling about $10 worth of berries the following spring. The succeeding fall we planted about half an acre of Bubach, fertilized with Sharpless, and the season being dry nearly all the plants died. About $65 was se- cured from the patch. Lip to this time our manner of cultivation was nothing like ideal. We plowed the ground and harrowed it once or twice, marked it and set the plants. Cultivation was given three or four times during the summer, and mulching was unheard 'of. Things were soon to take a change, however. I think it was in 1898 or 1899 that "Great Crops of Small Fruits" was sent for and studied from cover to cover, then we discovered some of our mistakes. During the winter we sent for plants of different varieties among which was the Crescent which was planted side by side with the Crescent we were then growing. The result was simply marvelous. People would ask what variety they were and, when told and shown the two Cres- cents growing side by side, could not be- lieve they were the same variety. It was certainly astonishing the way our new Crescent kept piling up beautiful big, red fellows, while the others were scarcely fit to pick. About this time we were experimenting with a number of varieties out of which we selected the Brandywine which had shown up well for two years in our trial beds. We planted about one and one- half acres of this variety and cared for them in an excellent manner with this re- sult: a dry season struck us, after a late spring frost, and the crop proved a total failure, while a few plants of Sample growing along side outdid the Brandywine ten to one. The following season the Brandywine again fell short of expectations with the Sample leading all other varieties we were then testing. This meant that the Sample must now be our leader, and in a short time we were growing berries that no one could get enough of. At the same time the stock of other growers wotdd be going begging while buyers would be literally falling over each other to reach our wagon. As the late R. M. Kellogg said: "It was more fun to sell strawberries than to play ball. As to yield I will say that in the season of 1904 we had about four acres in fruit, three of which being on low ground were completely wiped out by high water, leaving us only one acre, from which we picked 465 bushels of as fine berries as I ever saw. Last season from that same acre we picked over 300 bushels and we are look- ing for at least 200 bushels from this same acre next season. Just think, nearly 1,000 bushels of berries from one acre in three years at an average price of $2.50 per bushel (estimated for 1906). Now I don't tell this to every one. My reason must be quite evident to the publishers of The Strawberry, without whose help I would still be a back number. Our two money making varieties at present are Sample and Glenn Mary, although we also grow New York, Aroma, Pride of Michigan, Klondike, Wm. Belt, Climax, Excelsior, Dornan, etc. I have not given our methods of culti- vation as I have taken up too much space as it is. Sunnyside Fruit Farm, Port Jervts, N. Y. ' I "'HE question of free-seed distribution •^ is once more brought to mind by the action of the lower house of congress recently in insisting that the practice be continued. This was done in the face of the fact that the majority report of the committee on agriculture reported ad- versely, and the discussion led to some peculiar admissions. Driven to the wall for an excuse for continuing this "cor- ruption fund," one congressman said: This is the one piece of graft of which we can all get a piece!" Legislation which is brought about under conditions which call for such confessions of motives appears to be beyond comment. But as the matter is still to be acted upon by the senate, we refer to it here in the hope that readers of The Strawberry will write to their congressmen and semtors, urging that free-seed distribution be eliminated entirely from the Congressional appro- priation bill. Free-seed distribution has done more than any one thing to bring into contempt our great department of Page 142 agriculture. Every secretary of that de- partment for years has begged congress to stop it. The people should insist that it be stopped. Intensive vs. Extensive Strawberry Culture By M. N. Edgerton ONE of the more common mistakes made by those who make a start in fruit-growing only to make a failure of the undertaking is to engage too extensively at the start. Small fruit grow- ing is not a matter of arithmetical pro- gression! Were it so, then we might say, if one-fourth acre will give us a yield of 100 bushels four acres will give us a yield of 1,600 bushels. The reports of the wonderful results secured by some, and such reports are usually correct, are very apt to mislead the uninitiated. We read of some one who has sold $500 worth of berries from a single half-acre, and we say to ourselves, why not get rich growing small fruits.' Yes, why not! Very strange isn't it, that we are all, or at least the most of us, after money.' We want to get rich and we want to do it quick! Well, we want to say that it is possible to get (comfortably) rich growing small fruits. That is to say, we believe it is, for we have not as yet, in our own case demonstrated the truth of the proposition. However this may be, let us consider for a few minutes the causes that lead to the production of large yields, and the reason why these yields do not increase in a like ratio with the increase in acreage. The beginner should not fail to take cognizance of the fact that the growers who have been able to achieve these record-breaking yields are experts in the business and have, for the most part, be- come proficient through the school of experience. To be sure, there are those who reach great results in a short time and without any seeming efFort on their part; but, my word for it, there is a reason for their success and one that is not very difficult of discovery or hard to under- stand. If we should become intimately acquainted with those who have made such a (seemingly) phenomenal success of the business of fruit growing, we would find that they have a peculiar gift — a gift for hard work and the intensive applica- tion of the mind and energies to the work in hand. What wonderful results might we not attain to if we would but apply ourselves to the business of strawberry growing in that degree that characterizes Edison in the application of his energies to the science of invention! Here I have been engaged in the grow- ing of strawberries for some fifteen years, and the greatest results I can show is a record of a paltry seventy-one bushels from forty-one square rods of ground. Gross THE STRAWEERRY JULY 1906 receipts $243. We are dissatisfied! Look- ing into tile causes wliich have prevented us from reaching greater resuhs we have come to this conclusion: We are, after all these years, just beginning to give the business the study necessary to bring suc- cess in the highest degree, or, to bring the question down to a fine point, we failed, at the start, to make a study of details. So to the beginner we would say, go into the business in a whole-hearted fashion — go in to win! Get a definite and thorough understanding of the why and wherefore of plant life. Make the subject of soils and plant physiology a matter of careful study. By having a definite knowledge of the plant's con- stituent parts and general make up; by knowing how they get their food from the soil and how they assimilate it; why and how they breathe, and why they must have sunlight — by learning these things one will be the better fitted to sup- ply their needs and more zealous in car- ing for them. Hence, it may easily be seen that to just the extent we give our plants better care — apply our energies in a more intelligent, scientific manner, if you please — in the same degree will our profits increase. Exact knowledge, systematically, ener- getically, persistently applied, then, is the secret of big profits in strawberry growing. This being true, why is it that intensive culture can not be coupled with extensive culture with a corresponding increase in net profits.'^ There are several reasons why this is so. One is that the grower with but a small acreage under cultivation is able to give all the details of the work his personal attention, and we ha\e no hesitation in artirming that labor performed by one whi) is personally interested will be more efficiently performed than if done by hired help. Kven though the help employed be conscientious in their desire to do the work right — just as the "boss" wants it done— yet is there not something still lacking.? First, the hired help does not, in all probability, have the love for the work that is so characteristic of the most successful fruit growers — those who se- cure such wonderful yields, and who will say that he is as capable of doing the work as well as the one whose affections are centered in the plants! The strawberry plant may be compared to the feminine part of the human race in that it will thrive wonderfully with petting. The secret of the matter being this: loving the plants we are zealous in supplying their every need! Now how is it if we have twenty or thirty acres in strawberries instead of one or two acres:' Our whole time would be taken up in overseeing. Indeed, with that number of acres under cultivation we would need several foremen, and to get the detail work done to that nicety that characterizes the work of the enthusiast would be out of the question. For one thing, the soil of this large acreage must be put into the highest state of tilth and fertility. We will grant that this would be compara- tively an easy matter, and the ground fitted to the highest state of perfection; but when it comes to the setting of the plants we must dissent. Then comes the mat- ter of pruning and cultivation, and there is where the greatest deficiency will come in. And we also should take into account the fact that the grower of thirty acres can -^¥- ONE VIEW OF MR. EDGERTON'S STRAWBERRY FIELD ' '^x^i. SOME OF MR. EDGERTON'S WARFIELDS not dispose of his crop at the same high prices that the small grower receives for his fruit. He must frequently depend upon distant markets, and transportation charges and dealers' commissions that consume his profits. Now, please remember that we do not say that these larger acreages can not be grown at a profit. This question is one of capital and executive ability. What we do say is that when it comes to great yields and profits approximating ,$1,000 per acre, the extensive grower can not equal the results achieved by the man with the small acreage. Pctoskey, Mich. A MAN'S life is 1 lid in the loom of time to a pattern which he does not see, but God does, and his heart is a shuttle. On one side of the loom is sorrow, and on the other is joy; and the shuttle, struck alternately by each, flies back and forth, carrying the thread which is white or black as the pattern needs. And in the end, when God shall lift up the finished gar- ment, and all its changing hues shall glance out, it will then appear that the deep and dark colors were as needful to beauty as the bright and high colors. — H. W. Beecher. ONE advocate of organization, basing his statement on observation of what already has been accomplished in this way says: "Desired results in the strawberry business have come about largely as fol- lows: First — A strict organization, resuL- ing in practical uniformity of varieties, good cultivation and strict rules governing picking and packing. Second — Thorough inspection and grading. These conditions, well developed, have resulted in our putting up a strictly fancy product, and there being so little of this class of goods on the mar- ket, compared with the large amount of inferior quality, has brought buyers to us from the best markets in the country. We have always had more buyers than ber- Page 143 THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 ries, which accounts for our extremely high prices as compared with others. T o sum it up, a strict and thorough organization, managed by men whose successes are ap- preciated and encouraged by its members is what it takes, provided they are practical strawberry men and willing to give it care- ful attention and study." ^ <^ T^HERE'S so much good in the worst of us, And so much bad in the best of us, That I don't see why any of us Should find much fault with the rest of us." ^ '^ DON'T be an average strawberry grower. That word average has its proper uses, but when it is applied to a man or a woman it appears singularly inapt, if not positively contemptuous. We are striving to help our friends be- come leaders in the strawberry world, and we are confident that every one of them who carefully follows the instruc- tions given in this magazine will reach that distinctive and honorable position. An average man is one who never rises above the level of the mass. His s'raw- berries are "just average in quality and the same in yield. He gets the "average price," and has no earthly leason for get- ting any more than that. Don't stay in the "average" class; get out on the high- lands of quality and excellence. Grow "firsts" in strawberries and command "top" prices. Not only is it profitable in a money way, but it increases the joy of life, makes a delight of your business and wins for yourself and your family a CLIPPER LflWN MOWER GO. DIXON, ILLINOIS Manufacturers of HAND and PONY MOWERS; also MARINE GASO- tlNE ENGINES, 2 lo 8 H. P. No. 1 12 In. flower No. 2 15 No. 3 18 Ito. 4 21 Pony 24 S 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 18.00 THP AAHWPR That will Kill all fho Weeds In inC irHJWCI\ your lawns. If you keep the weeds cut so tfiey do not go to seed, and cut your grass without breaking the small feeders of roots, the grass will become thick, and the weeds will disappear. THE CLIPPER WILL DO IT Please Send Draft or Moner Order or Registered tetter place of honor and distinction in the community. Don't be an "average" in anything. Mr. Simpson's View of Things WELL, sir, I must say that this dry soil is a bit discouragin', although these rains we're get- tin' just now will help things out mighti- ly. Ye see, we didn't get no snow to speak of last winter; never saw so little in all my born days, an' Lve lived here sence I was knee high to a toadstool. Last winter we didn't have one hull day's sleighin', while the winter before we had a full hundred days o' jinglin' bells and smooth sleddin'. The result is, things ain't just as we'd like to have 'em. But it ain't so bad here as it is down south a bit. My wife's brother wrote a letter to me the other day — he's down near Albany, in Indiana — and he says that the strawberry business there is in bad shape because of lack of winter rainfall; berries just dried up in some sections. And things are even worse in parts of Ken- tucky and Tennessee. "What kind o' uses me up is the fact that my new bed o' strawberries is findin' it mighty hard to get a hold on the soil, and some of 'em have died, for surface moisture won't do the business like that which comes up from below. I ain't no scientist, and I can't tell you why it's so; but it is so. "But what's the use o' lookin' on the dark side o' things.' I just come acrost a little piece o' poetry that hits me; I be- lieve it's just the way to look at things that seem to get kitterin' an' crossways — things sort o' straighten themselves out, if you give 'em time. Just let me read it to ye, and see if it does you as much good as it done me. 'Scuse poor readin', my eddication's limited in that line; but here goes: JUST TRY SMILING Yj/^'HEN the weather suits you not, Try smiling. When your coffee isn't hot, Try smiling. When your neighbors don't do right Or your relatives all fight. Sure it's hard; but then you might Try smiling. Doesn't change the things, of course. Just smiling; But it cannot make them worse — Just smiling. And it seems to help your case, Brightens up a gloomy place; Then it sort o' rests your face — Just smiling." "Now there's Bunker; I wish he'd read a thing like that once in a while and take it in. He's in a stew all the time about somethin' or 'nother. He's had another time with his plants. Wanted to fill in some vacant spots and sent off late to a nursery to get some. Bein' late, the Page 144 STRINGFELLOW'S "NEW HORTICULTURE" This radical new book has aroused the horticultural world as no other book ever IHibli.sbeil has.Ittreat.sthe suliject from a new stand- point. Its methods are almost startling. Leading . nrchardists and fruit grow- ers endorse its principles. The nan who would gr()w, jrather, ;eep and shij) fruit with tlieprent est .-iuei-essat h-a.-it cost fmd.s thi.s book a regular Roldniiiie. No w.irk ever publi.-in ,1 on the sub- jectcontainsso much thatis new A and jiractical. It's sure to work a KEy01.Ul?I0NARY complete turSing AaJi,,..T.» over of old theories and meth- ORIGINAI, ods. K'-ad it and make every iSOOK tree and bush earn you more money, circular free. Book, postpaid m paper hindinK, 5rc; cloth, 75o. Order early, as edition is limited. Address Farm & Ranch Pub. Co., Dallas, Tex. ki plants were well developed, and the tops were green as grass, showin' vigor. But you know when the sap goes to the fol- iage and fruit it's bound to change the roots and, if you've ever noticed, they get as black as your hat when the sap rises out of them. The minute Bunker saw them roots, he flew into a rage, and without e\'er seein' to the crowns or look- in' at the fine foliage, he rushed over to see me about it, swearin' vengeance agin' that nursery house. But he didn't throw them in the scrap heap this time. 'Mem- ber I told you about his doin' that when the dormant plants he got last spring want as big and green as the catalogue picture showed 'em to be in summer time. It was fortunate for him he didn't, 'cause now he's got a pretty nice showin' o' plants. Bunker's comin' on, an' he'll get there yet. But I wish he'd just try smilin'. He'd be better off, and so would his family and his friends." IN his very interesting article, which ap- peared in Juneissue of The Strawberry, J. R. Graves, the extensive strawberry growerof Neosho, Mo., referred to the fact that there is no other fruit crop so safe as that of the strawberry. He declared that the crop is as safe as is the corn crop. When we recall the disastrous effects of various forms of scourges which sometime not only devastate the season's crop of peaches or apples, cherries or pears, but frequently take the orchards as well, we may gather some idea of the force and meaning of Mr. Graves' statement. To be able to grow, year in and year out, a crop of fruit for which there always is a demand greater than the supply, and to be as confident that the crop is to be suc- cessful as is the man who grows corn on the broad prairies of Illinois or Iowa — these are considerations which should in- spire the confidence of all in the future of strawberry production as a commercial enterprise of vast, of unlimited, proportions. -,~.':.--S.- STRAWBERRY PICKERS AND PACKERS IN A MINNESOTA FIELD July Work in the Strawberry Field JULY Work is much like that of June, as the cultivators and the hoes must still be kept busy lest weeds and grass get the start of your plants. This, of course, is not the main reason for cultivating the plants, for it is the vigorous growth of Conserving l i i i i Moisture ^"^ plants themselves we de- sire, and this we can have only when an abundance of moisture is present in the soil and plant food thus is made readily available. The only way to conserve moisture in the soil is by the constant stirring of the surface, which breaks the crust, forms a dust mulch and prevents the water from escaping by cap- illary attraction. And while the moisture is retained in the soil it dissolves the plant food, which the bacterial germs indus- triously are working into available forms, so that the minute cells of the roots may absorb this predigested food. T^HIS suggests how injurious to the * strawberry plants are obnoxious growths, as they not only rob them of moisture, but steal away their food, their fresh air and their sunshine. Let Plants ,,r . , Be Free ^ ^ '-^^ imagine that a straw- berry plant, after being freed from surrounding grass and weeds, feels like a bird just let out of an old and be- fouled cage into the fresh, delicious air, where it may enjoy life after its own nature. We urge that intensive cultural methods be followed throughout the summer months, and we shall try to give our readers the necessary advice and sug- gestions to the end that they may grow the ideal strawberry. On account of the light winter precipitation the lower sub soil is devoid of moisture to an unusual degree, and we wish every reader of The Strawberry to keep this fact in mind and to allow none of the moisture in the soil to escape — save every bit of it for the plants. Prof. Bailey says, "Irrigate your garden with a rake," and this is wise advice for the strawberry grower. It is the very best sort of irrigation. LAST month we told you all about preparing the old bed for second crop, and gave you some pictures of the burn- ing over of the bed. Since that issue went out we have received New''piants ™^^y '^"^rs asking why we advised covering the old crowns after plants had been burned over and narrowed down. One member of the Correspondence School called our attention to the fact that we had urged growers in the April issue to be careful in setting the young plants and have the plant's crown on a level with the surface. "Now in the June issue," says this mem- ber, "you advise covering the crown of the old plant with soil. Please explain this seemingly contradictory advice." Let us say that the difference lies in the fact that in one case we referred to a new plant, while in the other we were dealing with an old plant. Now just imagine the plant which has finished ripening a big crop of berries. Is has gone through the great strain of pollen secretion, seed pro- duction and the ripening process, and its vitality is almost exhausted. It has used up all the strength of the old roots as well as of the old foliage, and doubtless feels like the grower does after he has picked and marketed a big crop of berries. It is Page 145 in need of a tonic to restore it to its nor- mal vigor, and the only way this may be accomplished is to cover the crown with fine soil about a half-inch deep, which will hold it dormant for a time and then encourages an entirely new root system to develop just above the old roots and below the new crown or body. This virtually creates a new plant. The young plant, on the other hand, is already full of life and vigor, has experienced no strain, and is ready to start growing as soon as set in the soil. The crown, therefore, is placed on a level with the surface. B^' the time this issue of The Straw- berry reaches its readers their spring- set strawberries will be showing a desire to send out runners, and while many of our friends will know just what Runners '■° '-^" Others who have had little experience will not know just how to treat these newcomers. When the runner wire has grown about one foot in length a node is formed. This is an embryo plant, which in a few days will open out leaves, showing a desire to appear like its mother. Just as soon as the leaves start, it is no longer content to be tied to mother's apron strings, but pre- fers to go it alone, and the sooner you aid it to become self-supporting the earlier will it show its appreciation by develop- ing a large foliage and fruit-bud system. Now here is the way to help this ambitious little fellow. When hoeing first break the crust, then lay the runner wire on the loose, moist earth, and with the hoe place a little soil on the runner just back of the little plant. This will hold it in place THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 until it gets firm hold upon the soil. In a few days more it will be ready to say: 'Good-bye, mother; I'm going to leave you. I've an ambition to start a family of my own, and become the greatest fruiter in the row." Elements of Success By A. D. Stevens THE success of the strawberry crop depends first upon the plant breeder, for without him the crop must soon succumb to failure and defeat. While few recognize him to be of much impor- tance in their prospective success, he stands pre-eminently as the foundation on which growers must build their struc- ture of victory. In my experience as a plant breeder and plant seller I find that many people class all growers alike, but it is possible for anyone to be a plant grower and dealer, yet not have any knowledge of breeding plants. I have met hundreds of farmers that have classed all plant dealers alike because they have been swindled out of their money and labor by purchas- ing plants of some dishonest dealer who did not know how to breed plants up to a standard or did not care to take the trouble to do it. He was simply selling plants to get all out of it he coulJ, re- gardless of the purchaser. I have seen a great many farmers who say they would rather have plants taken from an old bed that had fruited one or two years, saying they made a much bet- ter bed. The only thing in their minds seemed to be to secure an abundance of plants, not comprehending that the old plants had become pollen-exhausted and put their entire energies into plants at the expense of next year's crop. We often hear people say that plants will soon go back to the wild berry from which they started, forgetting that plants may be so aided by man as to prevent "running out" as some call it, but which really is pollen exhaustion. The plant breeder not only brings plants up to a higher standard, but must work to keep them up to that standard. Everything in nature has the tendency to go backward, — has been placed here in a sort of crude, incomplete form. To man has been given the honcr of improving and developing standard varieties of fruit. I have two neighbors in mind that started out when both were young men in about like circumstances. One was very careful in every way in regards to raising a high grade of strawberries, never neglecting anything, sparing no pains, al- ways selecting the best plants, careful to put his land in proper condition, and giv- ing them proper cultivation. It was not an unusual thing to get an acre to net him $600 a year, and it is not surprising that he now may sit back, enjoying a large bank account, and a farm that is the envy of his neighbors. The other neigh- bor was not so fortunate. He nervously hurried about, neglecting everything, the only thing he thought about was haste, never figuring profits, but always trying to cut expenses to a low figure. This man still flies around in his nervous way; his land is poor, his buildings are tumb- ling down, he has no bank account, and prospects for life in old age are not promising. Attention to the details, from the selec- tion of the plants to the packing and mar- keting of the last berry, is at the bottom of all success in strawberry production. Bridgelon, N. J. THE ideal home is found where the husband denies himself for the sake of the wife and the wife for the sake of the husband, while both conceal their self-denial so skilfully that neither suspects it in the other. — T. P. Frost. INDIANA has great districts devoted A to commercial strawberry production. That they have the right idea of things is indicated by the remarks of A. Blaisdel of Broad Ripple, before the Indiana State Horticultural Society at a recent meeting. Among other good things he said: "Good berries will pay. Poor berries will not pay. What must we do? The answer is, raise good ones. But we find that the expense of picking, boxing and conveying to market is very great, and leaves to the producer a very small margin even on his good product. And, if I have only one acre of ground for berries what must I do to get a living out of it.? The answer is: Make your acre produce very abundantly. The only hope of success lies in inie ber- ries and many quarts. You must have these here in the Indianapolis market or go out of the business. You can have them if you supply the conditions. The plant will do its part, for the governing laws of plant force are as true and regu- lar as the rising and setting of the sun. If man will plant and cultivate, God will give him the increase." A CCORDING to the statements ■'»• made by Herbert Wallace in a tech- nical magazine an invention has been made under which an entirely new method of providing refrigeration for freight cars will be in general use. The scheme con- templates the use of mechanical refriger- ation. In each refrigerator car will be stationed a machine similar to that used in modern cold storage houses, which will be operated by connection with the axle of the car; thus while the car is in motion ample refrigeration will be pro- vided, and an oil engine will be used in case of serious delays which prevent the car being in motion. Refrigeration of this kind will be. it is claimed, an improve- ment over present conditions, because there will be no moisture as is the case where ice is used. It is claimed that any degree of temperature required can be ob- tained by means of this invention and that the machine is so nearly automatic that little attention is required. It is also said to be more economical than present methods. THERE may not be more than two inches of strawberries, but think of the size of the box with the lumber going higher every day ! is the gloomy admoni- tion of the Nilcs (Mich.) Star. A READY POWER AT ANY HOUR That's the kind of a power you want.- You do not have to wait for steam, or until the wind blows, before you can pump water, grind feed, saw wood or the hundred and one other jobs about the farm, if you have a Lion Gas or Gasoline Engine. Have you ever thought just what a saving of time, labor and money it would be to have such a prac- tical power al^vays ready to operate your various machines on the farm, in the shop, printing-office, or — anywhere? The LION Engine is such a power. It is simple in construction, practical in operation, and economical in the useof fuel. You do not require the services of an engineer, as anyone can operate it. We send the Lion engine Direct From The Factory on a ten days test trial and give explicit instructions and directions for setting up and operating it. Write now, stat- ing your power needs, foroureasy payment plan. Remem- ber, we send the engine, not the agent. LYONS ENGINE CO., - • Lyons, Mich. Pa«e 146 Strawberries and One Woman's Grit By Elizabeth Clarke Hardy WHEN Mrs. Lea was left to fend for herself her total assets con- sisted of a twelve-year-old son, who must be reared and educated, and a small cottage and three acres of land with a mortgage attachment of $1,000. To be sure, there was a small life insurance which would pay the doctor's bills and the funeral expenses of her late husband, with perhaps a few dollars left over to keep the wolf from the door until she could pull herself together aad provide for the future. This morning in early spring she was facing a rather discourag- ing situation, as she talked over their future plans with her young son. "I think we would better stay right here, Ray, and try to pay for the place. I am afraid we would not make a success of general market gardening, as yoi:r father had planned, and I think we would better make a specialty of strawberries. The half-acre your father set out last spring are in fine condi- tion, and will net us quite a little sum this year, and we will set out the remainder of the ground to the very best of thoroughbred plants just as soon as possible, reserving only the front lawn and a small plot for a garden for our own use. "And I will leave school and help you, mother. I can do a whole lot that will save hiring help, you know." "No, Ray, you must keep on with j' o u r school. We must plan for your education above everything else. It is fortunate that we are situated so that you can have the advantage of so good a school. You can help me mornings and evenings and during the picking season, which will be in vacation time. I shall send away at once for some of the best of both early and late varieties of plants, so as to make the strawberry season as long as possible, and we will begin business at once." With Mrs. Lea to plan was to act. A man was hired to prepare the ground, the plants were bought of a reliable grower, and in due time, and with plenty of back- ache, a plucky woman and a small boy had set out two more acres of fine straw- berry plants, and planted one-quarter acre to the garden stuff that was to furnish their table with home-grown vegetables during the coming year. And then how they worked, while the plants grew and thrived ! No pains or work was spared to keep down the weeds and give the plants a chance to do their very best, and it seemed to the watchful workers that their plants responded to their care with almost human intelligence, and meant to break the record. The half-acre of year-old plants was a magnificent sight, with its great clusters of glowing, red berries among the green leaves, and in picking time help had to be hired. Mrs. Leaattended to the packing and marketing of the berries, and this first year the profits from the half-acre of strawberries enabled her to pay .$100 and interest on the mortgage, with a small surplus to tide over the balance of the year. There was no time for extra work dur- ing the summer and fall, as the care of the strawberry beds and her housekeeping was all that one woman could attend to, but one thing Mrs. Lea did. She sub- scribed for a good strawberry journal and studied up strawberry culture, and every- thing pertaining to the profitable market- ing of the fruit, and she came to the second SUNNV.l;k(j()K 1 ARM, HOMII (Jl- MRS. E. C. HARDY, RED CEDAR, WIS. year better prepared in every way for her venture in strawberries. She did not feel quite satisfied wi'h the prices she had re- ceived the year before for her fruit, and she determined to keep her eye open for the main chance, and to let no opportun- ity escape to make more money from her second crop. The second year her strawberries were a revelation to her less painstaking neigh- bors. The vines were loaded with great, luscious clusters, and people passing by on the busy thoroughfare often stopped to purchase berries, and in this way she sold many at better prices than she could command in the city market. Early in the spring she had purchased a Jersey cow, which was pastured by a neighboring farmer, and every day during the strawberry season they reveled in strawberries and cream and strawberry short-cake. And to the strawberry short- cake was due a streak of good luck, or per- Pa«e 147 haps we might say two streaks of good luck, which fell to Mrs. Lea this second summer. One day in the midst of the berry season a large automobile, with the usual per- versity of these machines, broke down directly in front of the cottage. No amount of persuasion on the part of the men could induce it to move on, and at noon they were still tinkering perspiringly at the huge machine. Then one of the^men appeared at the d oor of the cottage. "We have broken down, and we are hungry," he said concisely, "Do you think you could give us a bite of dinner.'^" "Why,^yes," answered Mrs. Lea, hos- pitably, "dinner is just ready and if you will come right in you can eat before I call the strawberry pickers." In a few moments the four men were seated at the table in the cool, pleasant little dining room, and were partaking of a real farmer's dinner of fresh garden veg- etables, supplemented by coffee, strawberry short-cake and the most delicious Jersey cream. Evidently they had good appetites and en- joyed their fare, for Mrs. Lea served each with the second individ- ual short-cake before they finished the meal. As they arose from the table, one, an elder- ly, distinguished -look- ing man, turned to Mrs. Lea and said courteous- ly, "I do not know when I have enjoyed a dinner as I have this one. Your strawberry short-cake and Jersey cream take me back to my boyhood days. Allow me to thank you for your hospitality to my friends and myself," and slipping a bill from his pocket he laid it on the table. Mrs. Lea's face flushed. "You are very welcome to your dinner, but I do not wish you to pay for it. I do not keep a hotel," she said with embarrassment. "Oblige me by accepting it. It is noth- ing compared with the enjoyment of such a dinner" he said decisively. "And if you would only put out a sign 'Strawberry Short-cake and Jersey Cream,' I am willing to vouch for all the guests you would be able to serve during the berry season," and touching their hats the men took their departure. 1 hat evening Mrs. Lea took her son into her confidence as usual, and instead of picking berries Ray worked out a neat little sign, and in the morning it was tacked on the front porch. The first week there was a fair sprinkling of THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 guests, the second brought many more, and the third week the busy hostess had to hire help to serve her guests. Travelers, summer visitors and pleasure parties from the near-by city dropped in at all hours to partake of this unique treat, and the hostess enjoyed the experience quite as much as her guests. Several times the big red automobile stopped at the cottage, always with its four occu- pants, to partake of a regular farmer's dinner at "Strawberry Lodge" as they christened the little cottage, and at the end of the season Mrs. Lea found she was $60 to the good simply from serving her delicious strawberry short-cakes and Jersey cream. The other streak of luck came one day when she was serving a party of ladies who had driven out from the city. She had set on the dinner table a little fancy pot of strawberry jam which she had made for home use, and the ladies had tasted it and were loud in their praise of the de- licious confection. "I wish I could get you to make me a winter supply; I would be willing to pay well for it," one of the ladies said to the hostess, and before she knew what had happened Mrs. Lea had promised to make each of the ladies a quantity of straw- berry jam at a paying profit. Other orders followed quickly, as these ladies spoke of their find to their friends, and before the second season had closed Mrs. Lea had established a business of manufacturing strawberry jam for people living in town, who hereafter were to be her regular customers. When this second strawberry season was over Mrs. Lea was a weary and a happy woman. Beside the $60 from her short-cake venture she found she had sold $100 worth of strawberry jam, with un- limited orders for next season, and this was simply an aside from the great amount of berries she had sold in the city markets. The third year she cut out the short- cake business and gave all her time to the maKing of her now famous jams, jellies and marmalades. She had built up a remunerative business along this line, as well as a preferred trade in the city mar- kets, by careful grading and packing of her fruit. She could now command two or three cents more for her berries than her less careful competitors, and she had reason to feel that she was a reasonably successful business woman. But of course we cannot expect some- thing for nothing in this world, and the success that is really worth while does not come without a deal of hard work, and so there is no need to mention that Mrs. Lea and her son put in many da\s of hard, back-aching labor on their little strawberry farm, but it was a pleasant, healthful vocation, and they both enjoyed the work, and rejoiced in the success that crowned their efforts. In five years the mortgage was paid, and the little home was all their own, and a pleasant and profitable business was thoroughly established. Since then Mrs. Lea has purchased a few more acres to enlarge her berry farm, and has remodeled Strawberry Lodge into a comfortable and commodious home. Ray is now in col- lege and his mother is able to hire help to carry on her profitable little fruit farm. \Vhen people comment on her success as a business woman, Mrs. Lea very modestly declares that it is all due to strawberries, and those who know her best reply, "Yes, to strawberries and grit." Prof. Bailey on Selection FREQUENTLY the matter of seed and plant selection is a stumbling block in the way of horticulturists. Just as in animal breeding the type some- times is eclipsed by the beauty and fine form of an individual, and the former set aside by the breeder, only to bring him to grief later on because he deserted the real thing for a "sport," so do we see in horticulture the splendid history of a cer- tain line of plants set at naught by the fine appearance, extra size, attractive color, or what not, of an individual plant that has no heredity and doubtless will have no progeny similar to itself. Prof. L. H. Bailey of Cornell has something to say on this subject that goes to the heart of the problem, and lays down general principles that should be observed in all lines of plant breeding or production. He says: "When se- lecting seeds, remember that the char- acter of the whole plant is more important than the character of any one branch or part of the plant, and the more uniform the plant is in all its parts, the greater is the likelihood that it will transmit i's characters. If one is striving for larger flowers, for instance, he will secure better results if he choose seeds from plants which bear large flowers throughout than he will if he choose them from some one large-flowering branch on a plant which bears indifferent flowers on the remaining branches, even though this given branch produce much larger flowers than those borne on the large-flowered plant. Small potatoes from productive hills give a bet- ter product than large potatoes from un- productive hills. The practice of select- ing large ears from a bin of corn, or large melons from the grocer's wagon, is much less efficient in producing large products the following season than the practice of going into the fields and selecting the most uniformly large-fruited parents would be. A very poor plant may oc- casionally produce one or two very su- perior fruits, but the seeds are more likely to perpetuate the character of the plant than of the fruits." Related somewhat to this discussion is the remark of S. H. Warren, the veteran strawberry breeder of Weston, Mass., who said in The Strawberry for April Page 148 Strawberries Keep Their Prklrvr '" ^^^ Wide-Mouthed, Sure- IjUlUl Seal, Air-Tight ECONOMY JAR Fruit can't spoil in an Economy Jar OTRAWEERRIES never Cj fude when cauued in the Econuiuy Jar. The ELMinomy Jar is the only jar inadethat is real- ly hermetically, positive- ly, air ti^ht. That is the reason straw- berries canned in the Ei.-onomy keep theircolor. The air that filters through a rnbber rin;^ or S'*'-ps undfM- the edye of a hiMvv, biinirlesonie (zlass or ziiiL' t'lp, l.ileaches the bt-'i ry , fudus it to a muddy, furbiddinsr color and robs it of its delicious, appetiz- ini; flavor. The Economy Jar is wide mouthed. The Economy Jar seals itself with a tcold lacquered cap (acid proof) tliiit is as cleanly and as sure a barrier against the air and against bacteria as the crystal flint glass itself of wliieh the Jar is made. Use the Economy Jar according to the simple direo- tiiins and your strawberries will come onto the table as phirap and luscious and red as the day they were picked. S'^nd lis the name of your dealer and state if he sells til-' Economy Jar, and we will send yovi free a booklet of rccipt'S, containing tlie finest recipe for the caninng lit' strawberries known to the culinary art. KERR GLASS MANUFACT'RINGCO. 265 Hoyt St., Portland, Ore. Eastern Office, Dept. R, Philadelphia, Pa. (see page 81) that he had found the small tip-ender plants better plant-makers than the large and stocky plants. Sometimes the strawberry grower is greatly disap- pointed because his plants are small when set out, but he will find that if his plants come from a strain of heavy yielders, free from insect and fungous enemies, the size of the plant when it comes from the breeding bed will have nothing to do with its productiveness. Some Things Worth Knowing By James Charles AS many find it difficult to keep straw- berries in glass cans from the fact that the berries will rise to the top, leaving practically all the juice below, which is almost sure to cause fermenta- tion, with a mold on the top at least that ruins the flavor of the berries, I send you herewith a way to obviate this difficulty. Wash and prepare the berries as for any other way for canning, placing enough in the vessel to be sure of having enough to fill, say, a quart can after they are cooked. Then pour a teacup of granu- lated sugar over them and cover vessel to keep all the heat and steam in until the sugar is dissolved, over a slow fire, or with asbestos lid under vessel to prevent scorching before the sugar is all dissolved. Of course, the water must all be drained off after washing the berries before putting them on to cook. Then, just before tak- ing them off to can, mix one-half tea- spoonful of corn starch in just enough cold THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 water to make it about the consistency of thin cream and stir in the icettle of berries just enough to get the corn starch sohition all through the fruit, being careful not to mash the berries. Let it thoroughly boil, then promptly can, filling can to over- How'ing so that no air is left in the can. If Mason jar is used, be careful to tighten cover occasionally as fruit cools. You will find the berries will be held evenly all through a thick or almost jellied juice and they also retain their color and true berry flavor, and no taste of the corn starch is perceptible. Keep cans in a dark closet. Corn starch used in a similar way in cook- ing prunes for table use makes them much richer. Please pardon a correction in your quo- tation on first page of cover of your ex- cellent magazine. "Fruit" should be substituted for "thing." It was Henry Ward Beecher who said: "The Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry — but He never did." Of course the woman that He made to help Adam raise strawberries in his Eden patch (and "apples,") was a higher creation than the strawberry. Richmond, Indiana. We are under obligations to Mr. Charles for his valuable suggestions that will not fail to be read with interest and profit by our housekeepers, and especially grateful are we for his correction of The Strawberry's motto line. This for several reasons — one because we desire to have the quotation correct; another that the correct quotation is infinitely better Eng- lish and truer to facts than the incorrect one. However, our correspondent's statement that Henry Ward Beecher is the author of the saying that "1 he Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry — but He never did," is not accepted by all of the authorities. One attributes the saying to Izaak Walton, the angling philosopher, another says that Thomas Fuller is its author, and the best authority we can find declares that the famous Dr. Boteler, the popular sermon- izer of the seventeenth century said, "Doubtless God might have made a bet- ter fruit than the strawberry, but doubt- less He never did." So it will be seen that the saying is quite ancient and comes from an excellent source. SOUTHERN nurserymen will meet on Lookout Mountain, Tenn., August 15-16, and talk "shop" for two whole days. The program is a long and inter- esting one, and the members are warned that no long-winded speeches will be permitted, but that five minutes will be given to everybody. 1 his rule doubtless will be broken in a good many places, however. We note that one of the sub- jects to be discussed is, "What is the proper treatment of the strawberry for growing of plants.^" This is a subject of importance alike to nursery folk and pa- trons, and calls for full and free discussion and an intelligent comprehension of the principles involved. The Southern Nur- seryman s Association is a growing insti- tution, and this year's meeting promises to be especially valuable. Orlando Har- rison, Berlin, Md., is its president. Reports From the Field WHETHER there are great changes going forward in the meteorological world that disturb the equilibrium of things and give us more irregularities than our forefathers sutTered from, is a matter we shall leave for the "oldest inhabitant" and the weather man to dispute about. That the removal of thousands of miles of timber — something which some day we shall recognize as a crime against both present and future generations — that this razing of the forests has had some considerable influence appears reasonable. But what- ever may he true in this particular, the fact remains that the present season has been an unusual one, and reports indicate that serious results ha\e followed a spring as remarkable for coldness in its early days as it was for its heat and drought later on. Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee — all these states report suffering and loss in the strawberry fields consequent upon the hot, dry weather of May and the early days of June. Michigan berries that were slow in developing early in the season came on with such rapidity that they were on the Chicago market — in limited quantities, to be sure — May 30, fully one week ahead of the record, we believe. One result of these conditions, however, was the stiffen- ing up of prices all along the line, which in some measure compensated for short- age in crops. The loss was not confined to the crop, however, as reports come from all over the field of the difficulty experienced in getting new-set plants to take a firm grip on the soil. The lack of winter precipi- tation is held to be responsible for this condition. IN our neighbor, whoever he be, lies hidden or revealed a beautiful brother. The neighbor is just the man who is next to you at the moment. This love of our neighbor is the only door out of the dun- geon of self. — George MacDonald. <^ '^ Why Jones Fixed the Fence JONES kept fowls; his neighbor Dixon had a promising garden. Jones did not think much of Dix- on's garden, and Dixon's opinion of Jones' fowls would not appear well in print. The fence was dilapidated, and a long, wordy warfare had v\'aged as to who should repair it. Dixon had repaired it last; but Jones declined to do so now. His chickens were getting too plump on Dixon's good garden stuff for him to in- terfere. Then the gardener resorted to strategy. He erected a row of nests in his garden, ptit a nest-egg in each and after a few STRAWBERRIES NEXT A FIELD OF COWPEAS, WHERE NEXT SPRING PLANTS WILL BE SET Page 149 THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 days the hens found them out. Then Dixon put a nice "New-laid eggs for sale here" notice in his v\indow, and a beau- tiful basket of eggs beside it. Within two hours of Jones' reading the notice the fence was repaired. How I Encouraged Home Strawberry Culture By DeWitt C. Wing IT is a reflection on the intelligence and enterprise of the American people to classify strawberries as a luxury. Nothing is a luxury which easily can be grown in almost every township in the United States. Strawberries should be a sure and regular crop on every farm. Every villager with a bit of soil ought to grow a patch, and there are many city dwellers who could derive health, recre- ation and gastronomic enjoyment from small plots devoted to this luscious, cheer-giving fruit. I love strawberries in the sense that I love poetry; and I love them as an article of food. A well-grown specimen of this fruit, matured under favorable conditions, appeals to the esthetic sense as well as to the palate. It is invested with poetry, art and an ambrosial tonic which pro- motes health. A shapely, finely-colored strawberry of big-mouth size is a beautiful object to behold. To produce this kind in abun- dance is an exceedingly agreeable task to one who looks beyond pecuniary consid- erations in working with animals and plants. An ill-shaped, sickly strawberry', lacking color and constitution, is one of the most depressing forms upon which a fruit grower may look. It is inexcusable to grow many of this sort, yet this is the kind which makes up the bulk of the crop grown on farms for home use. City people get strawberries; country folk eat the culls. This situation so im- pressed me early in my career as a farmer that I resolved to reverse it so far as our family was concerned. We usually had a mess or two of berries each season, but they were tasteless, apologetic masses of pulp and so insignificant in comparison with some which I had seen at the fruit stores in a small city that I became se- cretly disgusted with the whole berry family. Our "luck" with the fruit was better than our methods of growing it, however, so I decided to make another effort, following the advice of a practical grower who had described his methods in a horticultural journal. Get the soil right: that was the first step advised by my long-distance mentor. Our garden was a deep, sandy loam with great power to absorb water and heat. It was an ideal home for the strawberry, according to the books — and the books were right. I wrote to the professor of horticulture at our state experiment station and asked him what varieties he thought would do well in my locality. He recom- mended Bubach, Haverland, Crescent, Sharpless and Warfield, and some others which I do not now recall. I remember the Bubach above all others: it was my favorite both as a grower and producer. About one-fifth of an acre was set to plants in the spring. The ground had been plowed to a depth of nine inches the preceding November. During the winter the thin mantle of subsoil weath- ered as intended and before plowing the plot again early in the spring a dressing of well-rotted stable manure v\as applied. The effect of this fertilizer was not pro- nounced until the following year. When I was applying that odoriferous material I could at the same time imaginatively smell delicious strawberries. Three har- rowings put the soil in fine tilth for the plants, which were set about three feet apart each way. None of our neighbors grew straw- berries; farmers as a rule regard nearly everything as a luxury which requires a little more attention than hogs, corn, FIELD OF J. R.MORRISON, BURNT PRAIRIE, ILL. wheat and cotton. They live on pork, cornbread, molasses, potatoes and coffee when all the healthful delicacies of the land are within their easy reach. It is beyond comprehension that so many of us restrict our diet to the prosaic staples named. A farmer's table should be liter- ally burdened with fruits of his own grow- ing, and I would always see to it that the strawberry had proper representation. Now when my plants had begun to take hold of the fat soil and give evidence that they had started toward the fulfilment of their mission, the berry bed and its owner were roundly ridiculed by the neighbors who frequently called (perhaps for this- very purpose.) Of course they predicted a failure, but fearing I might actually grow some berries they sometimes added that Page 150 "no farmer can afford to monkey' with such things anyway." One of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in doing something worth while on the farm is the stupid opposition and advice of one's neighbors. But they are helpful nuisances, and we could not be happy without them. I had worked out a plan whereby every one of ours should be converted to the practice of growing strawberries. It were a waste of space to go into the details of my work following the setting of the plants; I had no patent methods and took no short cuts. The entire pro- cess was exceedingly ordinary and simple. This is why I would emphasize that the strawberry is not a luxury. My plants fruited generously. The Bubachs were immense and beautiful; the Warfields were a close second. The other sorts gave creditable account of themselves, and I was justly proud of my achievement. Being a "crank," I must play the part. I secured twenty strawberry boxes, quart size, and filled them with select berries. I then wrote twenty notes, personal to e:ich of as many neighbors, and placed them in addressed envelopes bearing the printed name of the grower and his farm and slipped an envelope in each box. A boy in a runabout was then commissioned to distribute the boxes. It took him a day to make the trip and present twenty of my neighbors with this educational fruit. In the notes I used this language: "Please accept this box of strawberries wtih the compliments of the grower. It was fun to raise them and it is a pleasure to give them away. I hope you will grow a patch next year. I'm ashamed to think that I never grew any before. Are we farmers making the most of our oppor- tunities? Let's grow some of the good things and learn how to live. Try strawberries any- way. Pardon my audacity and forgive me for tantalizing you with such a meager quantity of berries. I wish I could send you a bushel." Some of the recipients of these gift boxes declared me crazy and for that reason did not acknowledge the donations, but others were more charitable. My plan was a success; within three years I believe every farmer in the neighborhood had a patch of strawberries. Each farmer, therefore, became a wiser and better man. We had an abundance of strawberries every year thereafter, and inevitably began to grow many other varieties of fruit. One step compels another. The strawberry is a civilizer. It refines and cultivates. It brightens the home. It helps to grow strong children with sunny dispositions. It develops a love for nature. It is fruit for the gods. Chicago, 111. AS ye spray, so will fruit be given unto you abundantly, says Farm, Stock and Home. Strawberry growers may well accept this wise suggestion as particularly addressed to them. Followed consist- ently, it may insure them large success. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ;'?!%,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET )'- PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION THIS is the first issue of the second half of The Strawberry's first year, and as we look over the ex- periences of the past six months, we feel a sense of gratitude to our fellow- members in this school of ours for the inspiration their generous words have given us. Unlike the teacher in the school-room, we are not privileged to meet face to face with the members of the school, yet we have received from the kindly, cheery words of many of them quite as much satisfaction, perhaps, as does the teacher in the little red school- house or in the big city building devoted to education, from personal contact with his pupils. Here comes a fresh and breezy note from far-off British Columbia: "Tho June issue is a 'Cracker-Jack.' Wish you would send some sample copies to my friend ." And a New York clergyman writes: "The June number came today. The Strawberry seems to improve with each succeeding number. I find myself anticipating its arrival, not- withstanding my table runs over with periodicals of all sorts, religious, secular, scientific and special. The Strawberi-y is a beauty and a winner every way. Suc- cess to you. Dollars are important; they supply the materials necessary to the publication of the magazine. But you couldn't pay us a good many dollars and be privileged to deprive us of the pleasure and gratifica- tion such messages bring. They assure us that the efforts we are putting forth in behalf of better methods and more good fruit in the strawberry world, no less than for the building up of our friends' best business interests, are appreciated and that our suggestions are being followed to success. Let us all, every member of us, see that we do our part to make this work more effective still ^ ■*. A. E. S., Chippewa Falls, Wis. Can one raise plants the first year, if no berries are al- lowed to form, or is it better to keep o^F all lunners as well as berries the first year? 2. Will I have mora and finer berries if I never allow the runners to form? 3. How many seasons will the plants bear? Would it be better to get a fresh supply of plants than to try and raise plants from what I have? 1. If you intend to raise fruit it will be proper to allow each mother plant set this spring to make from four to six run- ner plants. Layer these aloiig in the row, and after they take root all the rest of the runners should be cut off. This is what we call restriction. Every time you cut off a runner the plant from which that runner comes will gain more strength, and this in turn will assist in building up a heavy crown system. The crown pro- duces the buds which makes the big crop of berries the following summer. 2. A few varieties may give larger berries by keeping them in hills and pre- venting runners from growing. But most varieties will produce just as large berries and many more of them in single or double-hedge rows than they will in hills. 3. Two profitable crops may be taken from a bed of strawberry plants before it is discarded. F. B. M., Piqua, Ohio. I send you under separate cover a berry plant, having blossoms and berries, the name of which I have lost. Can you tell me what it is? Shall set about three acres to this variety if I may learn its correct name. It is rather difficult to describe a va- riety from a plant that has come a long distance, but as the plant you have sent us has berries attached, it is easy to dis- cover its identity. This plant was taken from the Clyde variety, which has proved to be valuable in most localities. It is a strong pollenizer, and you will make no mistake in setting largely to them. J. F. , Bliss, N. Y. I notice about my plants some small insect, bright red in color, and about as large as the head of a pin. Will they harm the plants? From the description you have given us of this insect, we are led to believe that it is the little red spider. They con- gregate on the lower leaf surface, spin- ning a very fine protective web, and suck out the juices of the plants. They are distantly related to ordinary spiders and, like them, have, when fully developed, four pairs of legs. They multiply be- neath their silken webs where one may find colonies of individuals so small as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, in all stages of growth. The young have but three pairs of legs. The egg is very small and nearly colorless. The infested leaves take on a yellowish hue, and many of them finally drop off. Now for the remedy: The red spider flourishes best in a dry atmosphere. It is seldom troub- lesome where the soil is saturated with moisture. The plants should be sprayed with soapsuds, tobacco tea, or kerosine emulsion, or they can be dusted with fine Page 151 tobacco powder or insect powder, as soon as the plants show signs of the presence of the pest. S. A. S. , Mediapolis, Iowa. Please advise me how to get rid of the ants that infest my strawberry plants. How shall I spray them? Give me directions for making the spraying solution by the gallon, so that I may know just what I shall need. I have wide paths through the garden and the ants are there in large numbers. The presence of ants about your plants indicates that there are plant-lice working about the roots of your plants. We never have found any spray material effective in dealing with the ants. One of the best preventives is thorough cultivation and hoeing. Ants always prefer to work on ground with a hard surface. I his is why you will find them so numerous in your garden paths, while cultivating the ground disturbs them so much that it drives them to other fields. Another preventive is to dip the strawberry plants in a tobacco tea before setting them out. Full directions for this were given in April Strawberry. A. E. B., Center City, Minn. Please tell me through The Strawberry how I can put a five- acre piece in the best possible condition for strawberries next spring. The soil is black loam with clay subsoil; it was fertilized with manure and planted to potatoes and the year after it was seeded to clover and timothy with wheat as a nurse crop. This crop averaged twenty-eight bushels to the acre, and it has been cut for hay now for two years. After the hay is cut this year I intend to plow it up for strawberries next spring. As your soil is black loam with clay subsoil, be careful and not use manures too freely, as soil of this kind generally contains a large amount of nitrogen and is apt to produce large vigorous plants without emnloying fertilizers. As this land is now in hay, and cannot be broken up in time to grow any leguminous crop, it will be best to break it up after the hay is cut and sow to turnips, and if the seed is not too thickly sown there will be a good profit in this crop. Then in the winter this ground could be covered very lightly with manure — about eight tons to the acre. Next spring disc this groun.l rather than replow it, as the disking will keep the sod on the under side and thus prevent it from interfering with cultiva- tion. The disking will also keep your soil more firm than if turned up before THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 setting to plants It always is best to keep black loam packed quite firmly, as this will assist in holding moisture and preserves normal conditions for the bac- terial germs to work under. We believe that by following these suggestions your soil will be in ideal condition for plants next spring. S. S. W., Chittenango, N. Y. Is it better to put phosphate on in the mark when settnig plants, or wait till early next spring and hoe the plants after putting on the phosphate? We always have found it better to ap- ply the phosphate in the spring before the plants are set. This season we made a deep furrow where the rows were to be, then scattered the commercial fertilizers lightly in these furrows, after which we worked it thoroughly into the soil with the five-tooth cultivator. After this was done we rolled the ground for the second time, then ran our marker directly over where the furrows had been made. Fol- lowing this the plants were set. Please note that all commercial fertilizers should be handled in this way — that is, thorough- ly incorporated with the soil before the plants are set. H. S., Cheyenne, Wyo. How can I protect my strawberry patch, six rows fifty feet long, from hail, during the blooming and fruiting season.? Hail storms are frequent here at that time. There is no practicable way to protect the strawberry from hail, and this is true of any crop grown. Crops must have sunshine and air, and any obstruction strong enough to withstand hail would not admit these to the plants H. P. H., Shelby, Idaho. I wish to com- mend your paper. It certainly fills the object for which it was gotten up, and I eagerly peruse its pages for information. I have al- ready had answers to questions which I in- tended to ask. through your correspondence department, but one or two questions I wish to ask which I hope you will see fit to answer through your valuable paper. 1. I have one patch of strawberries which has borne one year, but has become so matted that I fear the berries will be rather small this season. Could I not thin them out, or would it do to plow up between the rows so they would form a single-hedge row? Would the plants from this patch which I would take out, do to set out a new patch with.^ It was a mistake to allow your plants to mat thickly, but as it is done the best way out of the dilTiculty is to leave the plants as they are. To disturb plants near fruiting time is not a good thing to do. We have always discouraged the idea of taking plants from the fruiting bed because you are sure to disturb the roots of the plants that are left for fruiting when taking up plants for setting. An- other objection to this is that one is too apt to take the alley plants, which never are as good as the better developed plants. It is certainly bad practice to take plants from a bed that has borne one crop of fruit, and this for severa,l reasons. One is that the plants are weakened by pollen exhaustion, and second there is danger of transferring insect pests or fungous dis- eases with the plants. This practice has encouraged infection in localities where plants have been grown for any number of years. Therefore, our advice is to leave your bed just as it is until the ber- ries are picked, and as this will be the second crop, the vines should be mowed off and when dry burned over, then broken up and sowed to some other crop. Where this is done there is little danger from dange-ous insects or fungi. W. B. E., Fort Madison, Iowa. For irrigat- ing strawberries or any fruit or vegetables is it safe to use the water pumped out of a well or drive well and flood it down between the rows, or is it too cold? Irrigating should be done by running a trench in the middle of the space between the rows and flooding into that trench, allowing the water to seep through the soil to the roots of the plants. Never flood the surface of the strawberry bed with water. This will answer your ques- tion with regard to the temperature of the water, as the water run in a trench of this kind will be warmed by the sun long before it reaches the roots of the plants. However, the best way to conserve mois- ture in the soil is by persistent stirring of the surface of the soil with the rake or hoe. This breaks up capillary attraction, forces all the moisture to come up through the plants and, except in rare cases, will preserve a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil without recourse to irrigation. the ripening fruit would be almost cer- tain to absorb some of the tobacco flavor, which might not be acceptable to your customers. Pleased to know that you are getting so much good from The Straw- berry. \V. J. K. , Macleay, Oregon. Will it be pos- sible to cultivate strawberries successfully on a hill sloping east, and should the rows run east and west? 2. Will plants propagated for two seasons, in order to obtain enough sets for several acres, be damaged in their producing qualites or tendencies? 3. Is it common that fruit buds are out when plants are taken up for resetting? I reset them about April 15. 1. An easterly slope will give good results with strawberries when the rows are run north and south, as this will over- come the danger of washing during a heavy rainfall. 2. The plants taken from the propa- gating bed the second year would not be equal to the first year's runners. See article on the propagating bed in June issue for reasons why. 3. Plants always bloom at the proper season, and in your locality plants un- doubtedly will be in full bloom April 15. This will not injure the plants to any great extent, provided you pinch the buds and blossoms from the plants before set- ting out. It always is best to set out plants while they are dormant or at least before they bud out. W. E. C, Ingersoll, Ont. Is liver of sulphur the same as common sulphur, fiour of sulphur, etc? No, liver of sulphur is a preparation for use in prevention and cure of mildew, and is most excellent for that purpose. Your druggist should be able to get it for vou. G. J. K., Norwich, Conn. I am a subscriber to The Strawberry and got my dollar's worth of information from the first number and am eager to get more. I read every word in it. I am just starting in strawberry culture and would like to know if you advise tobacco stems for winter protection or mulching? We never have used tobacco stems as a mulch, but in our judgment it would not serve the purpose with any degree of satisfaction, as when the berries are ripen- ing they would lie on the tobacco and Page 152 R. L. B., Creston, B. C. When my plants came I trenched them in at once in damp black loam, and will keep them there until they make a start, when I shall set them out in proper place. Will you tell me if I did right? 2. Do you think the hill system — say 30x18 inches— the most profitable way to set out strawberry plants? Or do you think the double-hedge better? 1. You followed the proper method \n trenching or heeling in your plants, provided your soil was not ready for their permanent home. One never should heel a plant in unless to hold them in good condition until the soil is ready, as it always is best to get the plants set out as early as possible. However, we often have kept heeled-in plants for several weeks, and when set in their permanent home 95 per cent of them grew and gave large results. Twenty new varieties have come to us from France this season. They arrived in February when our ground was frozen solid. We placed a large box in a building and secured soil from under a shed where it was not frozen, and the plants were heeled in in this box, and kept there until April 5, when they were set out; and a prettier lot of plants it would be difficult to find to- day, though they were a pretty sickly looking lot when they went into the THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 ground. Their appearance, however, did not keep us from giving them needed care and attention, and we look for fine results from them. 2. We have tested both the hill and the double-hedge systems, and there is no question but that most of the varieties will give larger results by the single or STRAWBERRIES IN CALIFORNIA- No. 1 Valley and mountain make a picturesquely beautiful site for the home of the grower, which is located between the city of Los Angeles and the ocean double-hedge row than when set in hills. Such varieties as Parker Earle will thrive best in hills because it stools up so abun- dantly that it requires plenty of room in which to make its natural growth. i^ <^ W. D. H., DeTour, Mich. There is a small fly that is doing a great deal of damage in both the vegetable and flower gardens. It eats off the leaves of the plants as soon as they come up. All the beets are eaten up and nothing is left of the sweet peas. It is hardly probable that it is a fly that is doing the damage. We think the enemy belongs to the beetle family. One reason we think so is that the beetle is very fond of beets. However, your des- cription is hardly sufficient to form a clear judgment. But as it is an eating insect, it may be controlled by the use of Paris green. Any leaf-eating insect may be destroyed by the use of an arsenical spray on the leaves, as they eat the folinge, while a sucking insect must be killed by contact with the spray. M. S. S. Elida, Ohio. I set plants of the Warfield variety, using Excelsior on one side and Pride of Michigan on the other side, with the third row from them, Senator Dun- lap. Should I get good results from setting them that way without the Senator Duhlap? The Excelsior would supply the earl)' pollen for the Warfield, and Pride of Michigan would amply supply the later pollen, and you would secure perfect mating without the presence of the Sen- ator Dunlap. Flanking your pistillate — Warfield — with an early bisexual and a Jate bisexual you not only have secured perfect mating for the pistillate variety, but a long fruiting season for it as well. H. E. R., Eugene, Ore. I set some plants this year many of which, owing to conditions that were unavoidable, failed to grow. I wish you would tell me how to fill in where the plants are missing. 2. Is ground bone good for fertilizing the soil for strawberries? 1. The best thing for you to do is to take good care of all the plants that are living, cultivate and hoe them often, which will aid them to vigorous growth and put them in good condition to send out lots of strong runners. And if you will lay soil on the runner wires just back of the nodes it will hold them to place and encourage the young plant to take root immediately. Early in the fall after a heavy rain, these young plants may be taken up with a trowel or spade and trans- ferred to the vacant places in the bed. In doing this work you should leave a large amount of soil on each plant, which will prevent checking of growth as a result of transplanting. By following this plan you should have well-filled rows before win- ter sets in. While we do not advocate fall setting, it is better to do so in this case than to have so many vacant places in the bed. These fall-set plants will yield some berries the following spring and also will give you a continuous row for the second crop. 2. Ground bone contains a large per- centage of phosphorus, and makes a good fertilizer for strawberries when used in connection with potash. About four hundred pounds of bone meal and two hundred pounds of muriate of potash will be sufficient for each acre. H. M. S., Omega, Okia. I wish to set about two acres of strawberry plants next spring and would like your advice on the preparation of my soil. This land has been put to wheat for several years. After harvest I will put the land to cow peas. This fall I will manure it heavily before plowing, and in the spring manure and plow again. 2. As my nearest market is about twelve miles away what var- ieties should I grow? 1. We could hardly improve upon \our method of preparing your soil in the main, but would suggest that you leave out the second dressing of manure which you purpose to put out in the spring be- fore setting plants, as too much manure tends to heavy foliage at the expense of fruit. The cow peas and one coat of manure will furnish plenty of humus and plant food to produce a big crop of berries. 2. As you have a long distance to haul your berries, it would be well to set varieties that produce firm fruit, such as P^xcelsior, Texas, Warfield, Aroma, Gan- dy and Klondike. Even such varieties Pa«e 153 as Senator Dunlap, Haverland, Brandy- wine or Sample could with safety be hauled twelve miles. All these varieties produce firm berries provided they are picked before they get over-ripe. A good spring wagon is an essential in hauling berries so great a distance to market. >^ ^ E. G., Cohocton, N. Y. Would I receive any benefit by sprinkling phosphate around new plants set out this spring? We should not advise the sprinkling of phosphate around your plants with any view of getting benefit this season. Phos- phorus is unlike nitrogen in that it does not become quickly available as plant food. If you were seeking quick results it might be well for you to give your plants a dressing of nitrate of soda — about forty pounds to the acre — just as soon as growth starts, and another forty pounds just before the buds open. Mrs. E. S., Snowflake, Ariz. What is the cause of our strawberries withering after being fully set and nearly grown? All that touch the mulch go first, while some on the same bunch that are up seem to develop. 2. What is the cause of the seeds being taken off of many that are nearly ripe on the side that is next to the mulch? 3. Is there any disease that causes the foliage to look pale? The Strawberry is a welcome visitor and we hope through its teachings to succeed in raising this most delicious fruit. 1. The symptoms you name in your letter indicate that your plants are suffer- ing from excessive heat and dryness of the soil. The berries that lie on the mulch are heated both by the sun's rays and by the stored-up heat in the ground, the straw acting as a reflector. 2. You do not state whether the seeds were once formed and then removed or STRAWBERRIES IN CALIFORNIA No. 2 Another view of the same patch. This photograph was taken January 16. The grower writes: "The picking trays hold six boxes 4x4x2 1-2 inches. The price at this date was 25 cents a box, *and send more if you have them.'" A charming winter experience. whether the berry failed to develop seeds. If the latter is the case, it is because they lack proper pollenation; that is, they were THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 not set near some bi-sexual variety which bloomed at the same time. 3. Lack of potash in the soil would cause the foliage to look yellow and sick- ly. We think the pale foliage to which you refer is due to lack of moisture. E. McT. , Hatzic, B. C. There is a little black insect doing considerable damage to the foli- age of my plants. There also is a small grub one-eighth to one-fourth inch long feeding on the roots. What are they and what is the remedy? The black insect of which you speak belongs to the beetle family and the grub is their larvae. The beetle is a very lively insect; it hibernates under decayed grass and other rubbish. It is easily controlled by spraying Paris green or any kind of arsenate. They feed upon the tender leaf- tissues, eating the leaves full of holes. By killing the beetle you will soon des- troy the source of the larvas. * * J. J. B., Wirt, Ind. Would it in any way prove injurious to this spring's setting of plants to permit them to put out one or two extra runners more than the number for either single or double hedge row, then set those plants either late this fall or early next spring? It would not injure the mother plants to make one or two extra runners after either the single or double hedge row was formed. While we do not approve, as a general thing, of taking any plants from the fruiting bed, in this case it will do no great injury provided the extra plants are taken up the latter part of September and set in another bed. In doing this work take them up carefully with the trowel after a heavy rain, leaving quite a little soil on the roots of each plant. We al- ways discourage fall setting because that is the season when the strawberry plant is building up its fruit-bud system, which requires much of the plant's vitality; but when plants are removed from one part of the garden to another the strain is not so great, of course. F. M., Sussex, N. J. Will you please inform me in next month's Strawberry whether it would be safe to leave my one-year-old strawberry patch for another year or not? They seem to have a fair foliage, but have the appearance of being wilted; and the leaves are curling up, and the fruit stems and leaves have brown spots and appear as if they were stung by insects. Holes are eaten in the leaves. Vines are loaded with fruit, but ber- ries do not ripen. What shall I do? The leaves you send us are affected with mildew, which is a fungous growth and has a tendency to curl up the leaves, giving them the appearance of suffering for moisture; it also affects the stems by making spots. If you will take a magni- fying glass \'ou will see that there is a small cobweb-like substance on all plants affected in this way. This growth spreads by spores and you should follow the same method described in the answer to G. W. D., Winneconne, Wis. There is no reason why you should not get another crop from these plants, because when you mow the plants off and burn over the bed, it will destroy the fungous spores, and by spraying the fruiting bed next spring with Bordeaux mixture just as growth starts and again before buds open, you will prevent the mildew from making a second attack. D. B., Wheeling, W. Va. Will it be all right to spray my new-set plants with Bordeaux mixture after I remove my buds and bloom? 2. Will it be a good plan to cut the first runners from my mother plants? It will be all right to spray your young- set plants with Bordeaux mixture after buds and bloom have been removed. It would do no injury to spray young plants while yet the bloom is on, because they are not to be permitted to develop fruit. When we adviseagainst spraying the plant when in bloom we refer to the fruiting bed and not to young-set plants. 2. It is a good idea to cut off the first runner plants, as this is sure to strengthen the mother plants and get them in a vigor- ous condition and capable of sending out fine strong nmner plants. ^ i^ H. A. T. , Doylestown, Pa. Most of the Pennsylvania soils are sadly in need of humus; it seems wasteful, therefore, to burn tl.e mulch, as generally recommended, at any time in the life of the strawberry plantation. Can not the injurious insects be held in check by clean, systematic culture, supplemented, if need be, by spraying? 2. In a rotation in which strawberries are the chief crop, how long a break is desirable before again setting strawberries? What crops are best adapted to such a rotation? 3. Stable manure in this section is expensive — $2 per ton, and hauling additional — and cannot always be obtained then. If a high grade of fertilizer is used freely and green crops frequently plowed in to supply humus, can strawberry growing be prosecuted as profitably as when stable manure is used? 4. What leguminous catch- crop is recommended other than crimson clover? As your soil is so badly in need of humus, we would advise you to turn the mulching under after fruiting time. That is, when your bed is ready to be discard- ed. If you are preparing a bed of plants for the second crop, then only part of the mulching should be left on and cultivated into the soil. The balance can be re- moved and scattered over another piece of land and turned under. While this is not the best way, yet it is possibly the Page 154 best in your locality, unless you can grow cow peas or clover to furnish humus. When we recommend the plowing in of mulching, we also advise clean cultivation, as this will help to destroy insects and fungi. No bed of strawberry plants should be allowed to fruit more than two years. Longer than this generally is done at a loss. A new bed should be set out every spring so that you can keep a con- tinuous fruiting bed after the old ones have been exhausted. Even if stable manure does cost ,$2 per ton, it will prove to be a good investment and of greater economy and profit than the method you suggest. Five or six tons scattered over an acre will make a big difference in the yield of fruit. We use forty-five car- loads each year and it costs delivered on the farm $60 per car. The cars average about thirty to thirty-five tons. Any le- guminous crop turned under will give good results with strawberries, if commer- cial fertilizers also are used in connection. Cow peas or common field peas will serve the purpose. T. W. M., Redfield, Ark. I have a piece of ground 115 feet long and in April I set it to strawberry plants, as follows: One row Texas, one row Warfield, and one row Dunlap. The rows are four feet apart and the plants are eighteen inches apart in the rows. I have cultivated exactly as outlined in The Straw- berry, and the patch is beautiful. Will you please give me some suggestions as to how to handle these plants for single and double hedge row? You have set your plants properly, as we note you have made the rows four feet apart and placed the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. As they are only eighteen inches apart, each mother plant may make two runners for the single- hedge row, or four runner plants for the double-hedge row. C. E. S., Colmesnell, Texas. When should plants that were set out April 18th be allowed to make runners? Some of the plants have over twenty leaves and some not over four or five. 2. When and how should I use com- mercial fertilizer on plants that were set out this spring on poor ground, which had been given a dressing of commercial fertilizer? Your mother plants which have a large foliage are now ready to send out good strong runners. We note that you say some of the plants have only four or five leaves. For such as these it will be best to remove the runners until the mother plant builds up a larger vegetative growth. 2. It always is best to use commercial fertilizers before plants are set so that they may be thoroughly incorporated with the soil. If commercial fertilizers are applied after the plants are set out, it is rather difficult properly to mix it with the soil. If you can secure well-rotted THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 stable manure and scatter it lightly between the rows it will gi\e much better results than will any commercial fertilizer, as cultivation will mix it thoroughly with the top soil and the rains will wash the leachings so that the roots will feed upon them. (i. W. D., Winnecoiine, Wis. Imiosed are some strawberry leaves. Please tell me in The Strawberry what it is that affects them, and what I shall do to stop it on the plants that I set this spring. The leaves which you send us indicate that the plants are affected with rust. If these plants are in the fruiting bed, after fruit is picked, mow off the vines and then burn over the entire bed, as rust is a fungous disease and fire will destroy all the spores and thus prevent a severe attack in the future. Next spring it will be a good plan to spray your fruiting bed with Bordeaux mixture, repeating this just before the buds open. H. D., Heyworth, 111. Have a patch of Bis- marcks that has borne for three years. I think it long enough, and after I pick the present crop I shall mow it, burn it over and plow under, and then treat the soil as follows; Plow it up and sow corn for mulch for an- other berry patch, and let the corn grow un- til frost comes; then mow it and break the ground and let it lie until spring, when I shall put on some manure and plant to potatoes; then when I dig the potatoes, plow it up in the fall, and the following spring put into strawberries. Will that be all right? In the main, your plan is ideal. But in the fall after the potatoes are dug, sow to rye at the rate of five pecks to the acre; then during the winter when the ground is frozen scatter barnyard manure lightly, and in spring work thoroughly into the soil. A. E., Voungsville, Pa. Some of my neigh- bors tell me that mice or moles will destroy the plants under the mulch. Is this true? 2. Is it now too late to sow cow peas, and how many should I sow to the acre? I want to plow the cow peas under this fall. Should I then sow to rye and turn the rye under in the spring before setting plants? I cannot praise The Strawberry enough — so much help for a new beginner. 1. We never ha^■e heard of mice or moles injuring strawberries under mulch- ing. 2. We have sown cow peas the latter part of May and also the middle of July, and the late-sown always proved the better. This is because the cow peas thrive best in real hot weather and if .sown early while the soil is cold, it nearly always results in a stunted growth. Last year we sowed one field of peas the 1st of June and about the 10th of July sowed another field, and the latier sowing made a much heavier vine and also devloped more nodules on the roots. They also were entirely free from weeds and grass, while the earlier sowing was very fotil. 3. It is an excellent plan to sow rye for winter cover crop. In your state the rye should be sown about the middle of September. This will give it time to grow to sufficient size to make a good mulch for the soil during the winter months. The rye serves two purposes — it prevents the ground from puddling and also takes up the plant food and holds it in reserve for the following crop. If the ground were left bare, much of this plant food would leach away and be wasted. In the spring before setting plants turn the rye completely under, and if you have young stock it will be all right to turn them out on the rye, either in the fall or spring, when the ground is not too wet. ^ ■$■ Mrs. M. E. L., Brooklyn, Mich. In June, 190.S, I plowed under a piece of clover and timothy sod that previously had been well covered with stable manure, and sowed to cow peas. These were turned under and the groiuid sowed to rye, which in turn was plowed under this spring and the ground set to strawberry plants. Is the ground rich enough, and would you advise growing the plants in single or double hedge row? Would it be of any advantage to scatter fertilizer this season and work it in with cultivator and hoe? The fact that your soil previously was in clover, then cow peas and rye, and well manured, it will be unnecessary for you to use any more fertilizer. There is no doubt you will get better results by the double-hedge row than by the hill method. J. W. R., Paducah, Ky. Would nitrate of soda, raw bone meal and tobacco dust be a good fertilizer for my plants? What is the best way to apply them? We have had no experience with to- bacco dust and do not believe it would be of particular value to the strawberry as plant food. Raw bone meal contains a very large amount of phosphorus, which is of course, one of the essential elements of plant food. If you will look at the bottom of page 94 of April Strawberry, you will see how best to apply your nitrate of soda. T. P. W. , Monett, Mo. Enclosed please find $1 for The Strawberry for one year. Tell me what you know of carbonate of lime. Is it any better than phosphate rock or ground rock? The carbonate of lime will cost me $2 per ton, and the phosphate rock $8 per ton. Which will be the cheaper to use, consider- ing results? Carbonate of liine is ground limestone charged with carbonic acid and is a soil stimulant, rather than a fertilizer — that is, it tends to make the plant food already in Page 155 the soil more readily available, and this, of course, tends to exhaust the supply, while rock phosphate adds permanent strength to the soil, giving increasing re- turns for several years after applying. It should be yotir aim to make your soil permanently valuable rather than to seek for large immediate returns at the soil's expense. Thus it will be seen that the rock phosphate, or "floats" as it is com- monly known, is by far the cheaper of the two and in every way more desirable. W. B., Los Angeles, Calif. May berries be cut off more than one time without injuring plants? I cut the tops off last August to get winter fruit. 2. Will they bear the same treatment this year? ,^. I am keeping the buds off of the fruiting bed and setting two runners from each plant. Do they also need the fruit buds kept off? 4. Would they hear winter fruit without cutting off tops? 5. Do you think it necessary in this climate to keep the fruit buds pulled the whole season when plants set in January make big fine plants by the middle of May? 6. Will strawberry plants that are set in January bear fruit this winter without cutting off the tops? Have kept off buds all spring; plants are look- ing fine. 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. If you are keeping the buds off the year-old fruiting-bed you are making a mistake, as these are the buds that should give you the big crop of berries; but if these plants were set this spring, your course is the proper one. The young plants will not bloom until the proper time for fruiting, at which time they should be permitted to mature into fruit. In your latitude this probably will be late this fall. 4. They would bear fruit without cutting ofF top, but it always is best to mow the vines ofF and burn the bed over. 5. In your climate it would doubtless be safe to let the first bloom produce berries, as your plants generally are set in January and have the entire winter in which to grow. Of course, if any bloom appears shortly after the plants are set out they should be picked ofF. 6. Your plants which were set last January will bear a crop of fruit this winter without cutting off the tops. If we correctly read your cjuestion you mean to say that this will be the first crop they have borne. Big Money in Squabs Ready to sell when only fn«r wrfksoM. Write for our ln-auti- fiiUy illustrated Free Book. W'l- t"-neli Vint liow. Peupli':iU ■ .v.-r tin- r. S. iin- iniikiiiizni""- f y \vi t h <) u r stock of known ii'it > on ? hi;;-Ii <■la^■. MiMs, )■)■.. I fv. ln-eedinj;' (injilitieN. \VI JERSEY SQUAB CO.. GLASSBORO, NEW JERSEY Si[ii;il>s jiiiii srrawl»Tfi'-s l"' w.>I1 toircthor THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRA\!CBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published th= First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY - Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY .... Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 1603 Manhattan Bldg., Chicago, 111. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United States and Canada - • -$1.00 Foreign . . . . . . 1.25 Entered a.s second-class matter at the Postofflce at Three Rivers, Michi"an. JULY, 1906 OUR cover this month presents a scene of activity and interest in the great "national strawberry patch" of North Carolina, where more than 200,000 acres are de- voted to the production of the delicious fruit and between ten and fifteen thousand men and women take part in the work. It is strikingly suggestive of the remark- able evolution that has gone on in the South during recent years, where the change from cotton to strawberries and other fruits and garden truck has so al- tered the outlook of the people, given them new hope and assured them a pros- perous future. It is no less suggestive of the great change that has been made in the dietary of the American people and in their ability to buy and pay for fruits shipped so long a distance. pROM every point of view these •* changes are gratifying, and to no one else in greater degree than the strawberry grower, present and prospective. They indicate a steadily increasing demand for this fruit in the years to come, and serve as a firm foundation for the enterprise that is to supply that demand. What North Carolina has done may be repeated in many other states, North as well as South. Let it be remembered that wher- ever prices have dropped below the line of profit this season it has been due to one of two causes or to both combined — poor fruit or faulty distribution, resulting in a glutted market. It still remains true that there is never overproduction of first- class fruit, but a ten-thousand town can- not consume a supply big enough for a hundred -thousand town. High-grade berries, properly distributed, always will command a price that yields a fair profit. THE cover illustration is from a photo- graph taken for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and to W. J. Craig, pas- senger traffic manager of that company, we are indebted for its use. One who recently visited the North Carolina fields and studied the conditions under which the berries are grown there, notes two or three interesting features especially. He says the most extreme pains are taken in the proper use of special fertilizers for these berries and also to guard against any damage by frost. Along every few rows of berries there are open spaces where are long piles of what is known as the "straw" of the long-leaf pine, so abundant in that vicinity, while wide wooden forks are ready for use, so that when a frost alarm comes no time is lost in covering the berries with the slender needles of the pine, which form a won- derful protection against cold, and serve at once a double purpose by keeping the berries clean when used as a mulch. ^ '^ COMBINING the practical things of life with the pleasurable is an art of which Frank B. White's Class Advertis- ing Co., Chicago, is master. The gather- ing at the annual "round up" dinner at the Auditorium in that city on the even- ing of May 22 of agricultural newspaper representatives and the men who patron- ize their advertising columns to the total number of 575 was an event in the social and business life of each that will never be forgotten. The banquet was a charm- ing aff-air, the addresses were apropos and the entire evening one of rare enjoyment. On the day following the guests were taken by tally-ho coaches to visit the great factory of Messrs. Crofts & Reed, at 842-850 Austin Avenue, one of the mostsuccessful and reliable manufacturers of perfumes, extracts, soaps, etc., in the world. From small beginnings this house has been built up to its present magnitude. How great this really is may be judged from the fact that they give $1,000,000 in premiums each year to their customers. ^ '^ SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO., had ex- tended an invitation to the entire party to luncheon, and after going through the works of Crofts & Reed the entire party was driven over to the largest mer- cantile house in the world, now occupy- ing a plant of its own covering acres and costing many millions. A volume would be required to describe the interesting features of this establishment, which to- day is said to sell more goods at retail than any other house in the world. The central merchandizing building is the largest structure in the world devoted to Page 156 retail trade, and about this vast edifice is grouped notable buildings, composing the electric light and power plant, the printing house, the administration build- ing and factories. Beautiful parks and walks and drives are being constructed about the plant and the aesthetic and the practical go hand in hand, conditions highly appreciated by the 7,300 employes of the concern. Such sights as these only serve to increase confidence in the future of our country, and illustrate that growing trust among the people one of the other that makes possible such gigan- tic enterprises devoted entirely to the mail-order trade. Mr. White and his associates deserve and receive the hearty thanks of their hundreds of guests for such royal entertainment. ^ '^ A RE you trying to capture that $20 ■^»- cash prize The Strawberry is off^er- ing to the one who sends in the largest club of subscribers before July 20? Please observe it is a straight offer, with- out any other provisions than that the list you send in shall be the largest and that the last subscription shall be mailed from your postoffice July 20, 1906. Do not hesitate to take up the work because you fear you can't get the biggest list. You may win the big prize before you know it. And there's the $15, and $10, and $5 prizes as well, to say nothing of the generous commission allowed on each subscription taken. We want to add many thousands of subscribers to our list this summer, and a canvass of the straw- berry fields will accomplish it. If you are not already in the field get to work at once. A long, strong pull, and the big prize may be yours ! HORTICULTURISTS who for *■ A years have heard vague and unsat- isfactory discussion of the "Stringfellow method" of close-root pruning of orchard trees will be glad to learn that H. M. Stringfellow has put his method, as well as the results he has achieved, into a book that all may read. The title of the book is "The New Horticulture." It is pub- lished by Farm and Ranch Publishing Co., Dallas, Tex., and is a fine addition to horticultural literature. Whatever the merits or demerits of Mr. Stringfellow's methods, he has his say in this book, and it is an interesting and hopeful word he brings to those who grow tree fruits for market. The experiences he relates have abundant proofs of their authenticity, and none may be harmed by reading them and the conclusions Mr. Stringfellow draws. No man ever met Mr. String- fellow who after the meeting doubted either his intelligence or his sincerity. When such a man speaks the world owes him a hearing, no matter if he runs coun- ter to our accepted theories of horticul- ture and destroys many orthodox beliefs. TREES FOR 81 YEARS HAVE MAINTAINED THEIR RECORD— HIGHEST QUALITY, LOW PRICE. We otier the only GENUINE STOCK of the lewlruits: KING DAVID, DELICIOUS, BLACK BEN. "champion and SENATOR Apples; BANNER, SUNRISE, Grapes; 'GOLD Plum. FAME Pear, etc. Finest stock fTADK LOUISIANA, MO. in the U. S. of all leading commercial sorts. \|l«»Vc Rockport. Illinois CASH WEEKLY and wanjt^moxe /ill^fjflS Fayetteville, Ark. VUa PAY CASH WEEK YVG r/\l Salesmen. Pr ice-list, etc. FREE. 1 GENT IS ALL IT WILL COST YOU to write for our big FKKE BICVCLE catalogue showing the most complete line of high-grade I$ICVCLKS, TIKFS and SUNDRIES at FKICKS BELOW anv other manufacturer or dealer in the world. DO NOT BUY A BiCYCLE Irz/T"': or on anv kind of terms, until you have received our complete Free Cata- logues illustrating and describing every kind of high-grade and low-grade bicycles, old patterns and latest models, and learn of^our remarkable L.O\V PKICES and wonderful new offers made possible by selling from factory direct to rider with no middlemen's profits. ¥fE SHIP ON APPROVAL u-Hhout a cent deposit. Pay the Freight and allow 10 Days Free Trial and make other liberal terms which no other house in the world will do. Vou will learn everything and get much valu- able information by simply writing us a postal. We need a Rider Agent in every town and can offer an opportunity to make money to suitable young men who apply at once. $8.50 PUNCTURE-PROOF TIRES ^ "I ^l Regular Price $ $8m50 per pair. * To Introduce We Will Sell You a Sample Pair for Only 4 .80 Notice the thick rubber tread *'A" and puncture strips "B" and "D," also rim strip "H" to prevent rim cutting. This tire will outlast any other make— SOFT, ELASTIC and EASY KIDING. NAILS. TACKS OR GLASS WONT LET OUT THE AIR (cash with order $4.55) NO MORE TROUBLE FROiVI PUNCTURES. Result of 15 years experience in tire tnaking. No danger from THORNS, CAC- TUS. PINS. NAILS. TACKS or GLASS. Serious punctures, like intentional knife cuts, can be vulcanized like any other tire. Two Hundred Thousand pairs now in actual use. Over Seventy-five Thousand pairs sold last year. OESGRIPTIOM ! Made in all sizes. It is lively and easy riding, very durable and lined inside with a special quality of rubber, which never becomes porous and which closes up small punctures without allowing the air to escape. We have hundreds of letters from satisfied customers stating that their tires have only been pumped up once or twice in a whole season. They weigh no more tlian an ordinarv tire, the puncture resisting qualities being given by several layers of thin, specially prepared fabric on the tread. That "Holding Back" sensation commonly felt when riding on asphalt or soft roads is overcome by the patent "Basket Weave" tread which' prevents all air from being squeezed out between the tire and the road thus overcoming all suction. The regular price of these tires is $8.50 per pair, but for advertising purposes we are making a special factory price to the rider of only $4.>'0 per pair. All orders shipped same day letter is received. We ship C.O.D. on approvaL You do not pay a cent until you have examined and found them strictly as represented. We will allow a cash discount of 5 percent (thereby making the price $14.55 per pair) if you send FULL CASH WITH ORDER and enclose this advertisement. We will also send one nickel plated brass hand pump and two Sampson metal puncture closers on full paid orders (these metal puncture closers to be used in case of intentional knife cuts or heavy gashes). Tires to be returned at Ot'R expense if for any reason they are not satisfactory on examination. We are perfectly reliable'and money sent to us is as safe as in a bank. Ask your Postmaster, Banker, Express or Freight Agent or the Editor of this paper about us. If you order a pair of these tires, vou will find that they will ride easier, run faster, wear better, la'st longer and look fiuer than anv tire you have ever used or seen at any price. We know that you will be so well pleased that when you want a bicycle you will give us your order. We want you to send us a small trial order at once, hence this remarkable tire offer. ^g\ M OTn> DDAM^C^ built-up-wheels, saddles, pedals, parts and repairs, and O C/#IO M Cn'0/v/l ACOy everything in the bicycle line are sold by us at half the usual prices charged by dealers and repair men. Write for our big SUNDRY catalogue. nrt Af#>T" \AiAi'r ^"^ write us a postal today. DO NOT THINK OF BUYING a £/C/ fVC// Ww/*Ma bicycle or a pair of tires from anyone until you know the new and wonderful offers we are making. It onlv costs a postal to learn everything. Write it NOW. MEAD CYCLE COMPANY, Dept. "J L" CHICAGO, ILL. The Land of Big Berries ARKANSAS and TEXAS Choice locations along the IRON MOUINTAm ROUTE Full information Free. Write to H. D. ARMSTRONG, T. P. A. ELLIS FARNSWORTH, D. P. A. N. C. TOWNSEND, G. P.& T. A. IS6 Clark Street ST. LOUIS, MO. 88 Griswold Street DETROIT, MICH. CHICAGO, ILL. The Crescent Engraving Co KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN Engravete, Electrotspcre Catalogue /IRaftcrs Landscape and Nursery Work A SPECIALTY Only house in the West making Steel Elec- trotypes. For durability and definition these practically equal original engravings Samples and Estimates Cheerfully Furnished Did You Ever Use Press Clippings? r>0 YOU want to know everj'thin;^ possible about anything f Want rlippings of every article published on any topic in tin- Aiiii-rieau or Foreign press, weeklies, dailies, mag- a/.iii.'s and trade papers? Want tt» compile a scrap-book on a special subject? Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- iny; club or elsewhere; paper or essay in a literar>' club, or anything of that nature? The easiest, surest, quickest, most economical way is to secure tlie services of our larae staff of trained readers. Send $:i.00 for a special trial mouth. Viiited States Press Clipping: Bureau, 13th Floor Republic Bldg. Chicago, III. Send stamp for booklet. ^STRAWBERRY^ LANDS The most profitable locations for raising strawberries are in the South, where the climate and soils produce large crops and where the berry ripens early, so that it goes to the markets of the country at the time when the highest prices are obtained. The various sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orchards and gardens. Lands may be obtained at extremely low I)rir<»ve to you that this is true. You liiLve nothiujj to lose in writing me; will be all gain. C. J. UIBLE g:s?j^°''° The Land of Big Berries ARKANSAS and TEXAS Choice locations along the IRON MOUNTAIN ROUTE Full information Free. Write to H. D. ARMSTRONG, T. P. A. ELLIS FARNSWORTH, D, P. A. N. C. TOWNSEND, G. P,& T. A. SSGriswold Street 186 Clark Street ST. LOUIS, MO. DETROIT, MICH. CHICAGO, ILL. Page 1S8 IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF JACOB PHEND, NAPPANEE, IND. Here Childhood, Youth, Maturity and Old Age Meet Upon the Level, Each and All Finding Pleasure and Happiness in the Delightful Work August Work for Strawberry Growers AUGUST is a month in which every grower of strawberries should put in his best hcks,' because it is only a few weeks to the time when, tak- ing the whole field over, the plants will start to build up their Season for ,- • i i Founda.ion.Making ffUlt-bud syStemS Every grower should see to it that his plants receive the very best of care, thus insuring a large vege- tative growth. This will fill them brim- full of vitality and lay deep and strong foundations for a bumper 1907 strawber- ry crop. It isn't well to draw upon your bank account until you have made a de- posit, and the size of your draft must be proportioned to the amount of your credit. The size of the draft you may reasonably make upon your strawberry plants next spring will depend almost en- tirely upon what you put into them this fall. We want every reader of The Strawberry to be able to make heavy drafts on his bank next season and still have a generous balance to his credit. 'T'HE reason we urge forcing the plant * in August is that the first require- ment is a large vegetative growth, and it is unsafe to delay this work until the time for actual bud-building. Preparing Plants for » . ,-11 Bud Development ^t the time of bud- making the plant should not be forced, but all its energies should be expended in the single line of bud development. And here again we urge intensive methods of cultivation. Every time you cultivate and hoe the plants you give them an extra "boost," and by de- stroying all weeds and other noxious growths, there will be little trouble with them in after months. It is our practice to give the plants on The Strawberry farm at least four cultivations during the month of August and two thorough hoe- ings. This stimulates the plant into great activity, to a certain extent lessens attacks from fungi, and keeps a perfect dust mulch, which insures to the plants a regular supply of moisture. IF our readers have followed former instructions as to layering runners, they doubtless have their ideal row already formed, but if there are still some vacant places between the hills, ^Runners ^ where Other plants may be set without crowd- ing, it will be all right to place runner nodes so that they will fill in these vacan- cies. Then there is the work of remov- ing the runners after the rows have been filled according to the system you have adopted, and we safely may say that it is during the month of August that the runners will get the start of the grower if he "don't watch out." And it must be remembered that it is not only the mother plant that is now making runners, but the young runner plant is setting up a family of his own and is trying to monop- olize a large amount of space, and appears to be making a special effort to extend the sphere of his influence into the other fellow's row. JUST how to remove the surplus run- ners with the least labor and expense requires some forethought. We find the rolling runner cutter a very valuable im- plement in clipping of! the runners that P«ge 159 How to do the Work extend into the open space between the rows, but of course it does not afFect those remaining directly in the rows. The lat- ter best may be removed with the hoe and the hand. Many in- quiries are received as to whether there is any advantage in cutting the runner off close to the plant. The work will be equally effective whether the runner is cut close to the plant or just back of the node. However, a better appearance is secured where the runners are closely cut. But don't take a handfull of runners and jerk them off, as this is apt to injure the plants. Take one runner at a time and give it a quick pull, at the same time pressing with the thumb nail, which will se\er the runner with little shock. THIS is the month when the second breed of leaf-rollers puts in its ap- pearance, and if you are located in a sec- tion where this insect is found, we advise spraying with Paris green at once. If the leaf thoroughly is coat- ed with poison at the time the eggs are being hatched, it will be much more effective than if it is applied after the roller has become sufficiently matured to start drawing the edges of the leaf to- gether with his web. When this is done not only is the leaf injured, but the roller is securely ensconsed in the leaf, making it difficult to reach him with the spray. As August is the month in which fungi is apt to develop, we may better than not kill two birds with one stone. This may be done by adding Bordeaux mixture to Spraying in August THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 the Paris green, and spraying with this solution. In combining the two we have found that ten ounces may be used without injury to the plant. IN order that our readers may be fully advised, we repeat here the formula for making the spraying materials to be used in the work above outlined: Put four pounds of blue Formula for ■ ■ i • i o , ,,. . vitriol into a coarsely Bordeaux mixture -^ woven sack ; suspend this in a vessel containing twenty gallons of water, arranging the sack so that the bottom will set on the surface of the water. This will allow the air to come into coni;act with the vitriol, causing the latter to dissolve in a very short time. Then take four pounds of lump lime and pour over this three or four gallons of hot water, enough so that it will slake with- out burning, constantly stirring while slaking, which aids to prevent burning. When slaked the lime will be quite de- void of its granular quality. When the lime is slaked add enough water to make twenty gallons. Take one pound of lump lime, sprinkling over it eight or ten ounces of Paris green. Over this pour two gal- lons of hot water, and stir to prevent burning. Now we add the twenty gal- lons of vitriol solution to the twenty gal- lons of the lime solution, also the Paris green and lime solution, and we have the Bordeaux mixture and Paris green combined in a total of forty-two gallons of liquid. Note that we have advised more Paris green than usually is given in the regular spray calendars, but as the Paris green here has been dissolved with the lime, the acid has been neutralized, and you may with safety use the quantity named. Best results will be obtained by allowing the lime and Paris green solu- tion to become thoroughly cool before adding to the blue vitriol solution. Fall Setting of Plants By Frank E. Beatty JUST now we are receiving so many inquiries about the setting of straw- berry plants in the fall of the year that we are convinced an article on the subject will be timely and suggestive. We always have discouraged fall-setting of strawberries because at that time the plant is building up its fruit-bud system and it should be left undisturbed until this process of development is completed. By the time this is accomplished it is entirely too late to do the work. In fact, the development of the fruit bud is carried on in the plant until growth is checked by the coming of frost. Consider for a moment what it means to the plant to disturb it at the time when it requires all its energies to carry it through the strain of development, and it will be seen how detrimental to the plant's future power as a fruit producer such disturbance must be. In the fall, too, the plant is green, full of sap and immature, therefore lacking in vitality. And as the plant must live for many days after being taken up on the vitality it contains, it is important that its vitality at setting time should be at its highest. Thus, a plant in the fall, before it is perfectly developed, has not sufficient stored-up vitality to overcome the shock of transplanting and carry it through the work of taking firm hold upon the soil of its new home. Some years ago when I was engaged in strawberry growing in Indiana, an Illinois friend came to me to get several thousand strawberry plants for fall-setting and I advised him by all means to post- pone the work until spring, fully explain- ing to him why this was the better way. His reply was that he wanted to get started in business right away, and was determined to have the plants. But I showed him that fall-set plants would not hasten the day of fruit-picking at all, and said to him: "I would like to fill your order, but if I do I'll get all the benefit and you will not get your money's worth." "I am willing to take all the chances," replied the neighbor, and the upshot of it was, I sold him the plants, and they were beauties, too. I had no patent process for putting vitality into plants more than nature herself could do, and the result was as I had outlined. A large percent- age of the plants failed to take hold, the neighbor became discouraged and quit the business, and to this day doubtless looks upon strawberry production as a poor way to increase fortune. And the fall setting of plants is quite unnecessary. Even from the South, where for years it was believed that spring-set plants would not live, we are now receiving letters from members of our school speaking of the success of their plants which were set in the spring. One of these correspondents' letters ap- pears in this issue of The Strawberry, and he is an enthusiastic believer in the posi- tion taken by this journal on the subject. His own fields in Florida are a living testimony to the value of spring-set plants in that semi-tropical state. To be sure, ir the extreme South and other localities where there is no winter worthy the name, and where the plants continue to grow throughout the twelve- month, strawberries may be successfully transplanted during the early winter months. And in the North, circumstances frequently arise where some fall-setting is necessary. For instance, plants set in the spring having missed in places, or where insects have destroyed certain plants — in such cases as these plants may be taken up from a row to fill the vacan- cies thus created. But even in this work, great care must be taken to do the work just after a rain, and while the soil is full of moisture so that a considerable quan- tity of soil may adhere to the roots when removed, which, to a certain extent, will prevent a check to the growth of the plant. But to take a plant from its bed and ship it a long distance during this period of its existence would be very hazardous, indeed, and we know it to be poor horti- cultural practice to set plants in the fall — a practice sure to bring disaster, sooner or later, to those who follow it. Just a word to those v\'ho are in a rush to get into the growing of berries: Em- ploy the energy you purpose putting into the fall-setting of plants in scattering manure and getting the land in fine shape for the reception of plants next spring. This is the true and practical way to rush things. <^C^Q For a Genuine $125 "Schafer" Furnace ?:^i:^s^^z:^^';:^,^':. %\j\Jx^ '"I" "iii'-h Voiiii'zstowii is filinons. H;is rivi'fr-d joint-^ aii'i a >! iii'-h tliii-k lifetime Are box which iie\ "^ riii h'lt . Tliat 's whv it npv<-r L'ets dirty, nevrr srts tirr to a liouse and nn'ver i-uuses weak lunirs by 1 in Anierit-a still made'of old fashioned ived steel) never frets burning the •life" out of the air. Terrific capacity. Fuel record. '2c a room, a day. Ontrial. $5 downi. Tools ree. Save^SO. 6et np your own job. A book showing; how easy it is, and why cast iron heaters cause consumption, free. Schafer Furnace Co.. BoxC, Yonnirstown, Ohio. TREES FOR 81 YEARS HAVE MAINTAINED THEIR RECORD— HIGHEST QUALITY. LOW PRICE. We offer the only GENUINE STOCK of the superb new fruits: KING DAVID. DELICIOUS, BLACK BEN. 'champion and SENATOR Apples: BANNER, SUNRISE, Grapes; GOLDPlum, FAMEPear,etc. Finest stoclt TTADK LOUISIANA, MO. in the U. S. of all leading commercial sorts. Xlft'l.c Rockport. Illinois ' CASH WEEKLY and want more fiULoiV* Fayetteville, Ark. "rice-list, etc. FREE. V/ bRU" Dansville, N. Y. U/o PAY CASH WEEI TTC r/\I Salesmen. P TRAWBERRY FARM FOR SALE s k f HAVILAND FRUIT TARM— Three miles from the great strawberry center of ^^"^ Durant, Miss. (Jood roads; free delivery of mail; splendid 'phone service. Good well and spring water; ample for large amount of stock. FARM comprises 156 acres of fertile land; 39 acres in cultivation, 5 acres in plums, now yield- ing a revenue annually; 9 acres in berries, which are very successful; 1 acre in apples. BUILDINGS — One nice six-room cottage; one large barn; two tenant houses; two large packing houses; one chicken house; one pig pen — all of which are new. In short, an up-to-date farm, well fenced and in a high state of cultixation. Purchaser can make money from the start. Address I. W. SAXON, DURANT. MISS. Page )60 How Colorado Celebrates Strawberry Day By H. G. Overbeck STRAWBERRY' DAY was cek- brated for the ninth annual time at Gienwood Springs, Colorado, on June 16. Out here in the Centennial State it has become a custom for the various agricultural districts to hold a sort of harvest festival, each named after a principal fruit product of the district. Thus, on the v^estern slope of the Rocky Mountains, which produces most succu- lent and delicious strawberries, Gienwood Springs has chosen Strawberry Day for its annual e\'ent. The 1906 program v\as characteristic not only of Strawberry Day, but gi\es some idea of the nature of these celebra- tions in general. The leading attraction was a big free feast of strawberries and cream with cake made by the very best bakers in the world — Colorado women. A hundred and fifty crates of berries were prepared, the ladies' committee in charge of the work spending the entire previous day, assisted by \olunteers from among the school children, in hulling and washing the berries. Cream was fur- nished b\- the general executive commit- tee, seventy-five gallons being provided. Cakes were furnished by the housewives of the town to the number of 450. Long tables, built of trestles and planks on the floor of the opera house, were ap- propriately decorated with freshly gathered wild flowers. Plates v\-ere placed along both sides of these tables, filled with ber- ries ready to be eaten, and at frequent in- tervals were great platters of cake and pitchers of rich cream. The great crowd PART OF THE STREET DECORATIONS AT GLENWOOD SPRINGS The dead tree standing in the enclosure came from the territory in which President Roosevelt hunted last year, and was the refuge of one of the bears captured on that occasion of participants was admitted through the main entrance of the building until all the benches ranged along the tables were filled. Then the gates were shut, to be reopened whenever a table had been de- serted and replenished with fresh supplies, .those having been served retiring through another door. This manner of serving prevented confusion and also helped to contiol the rush of small boys who would overwhelm everything if not restrained in THE BIG OPEN-AIR SWIMMING POOL ON STRAWBERRY DAY This pool accommodated over 1,000 people at one time on this event There were 500 people in the water when this picture was taken some such way. And we wouldn't give much for a boy who didn't want his share of strawberries. The feast lasted three hours, and in that time over 5,000 persons had been helped to a liberal por- tion of the juicy fruit and its accompani- ments. There was enough for all and no single guest was disappointed — a char- acteristic of Rocky Mountain hospitality. A fine orchestra discoursed appropriate music throughout the duration of the feast. The dominant idea of the general ex- ecutive committee which had the day's program in charge, was "everything free." No entertainment was allowed at which an admission was charged, with the single exception of a baseball game between the local club and a team from one of the neighboring towns which sent a large delegation of visitors. All the brass bands in the surrounding country were engaged for the day and concerts were given hourly on many street corners. One of the show places of Gienwood Springs is the big swimming pool which is kept filled by the flow cf hot water from the mineral springs from which this city takes its name. This pool was thrown open freely to all visitors during the afternoon and many hundreds accepted the invitation to take their "annual bath" at Gienwood Springs? The day was rounded out with two dances in the even- ing, both free. One was an out-of-doors affair, the floor being a large canvas spread on the town square. The other was at the opera house, where the large tables used for the strawberry feast had been removed and the floor waxed for dancing. The town has adopted one annual Page 161 THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 feature which might well be copied by other places with similar celebrations. Colorado maintains an Old Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Monte Vista. Every year ten of the best crates of berries grown in the valley, a number of the best cakes, and sufficient money to buy the cream, are sent to this home from Glen- wood Springs so that the old "boys in blue" who are passing the last few years of their tempestuous lives at this quiet retreat may feel tha: out in the busy world they are still remembered and may help to celebrate Strawberry Day even if they may not be present in person. An interesting, and we think entirely appropriate, feature of the day has grown in recent years. The time has been seized upon as apropos for a honeymoon tour by the lads and lassies residing in more remote parts of the district, and now every year on this occasion there are from eight to ten marriages performed here. One young man, thinking the day was a legal holiday and that the county offices would be closed, but determined that his great purpose should not be frustrated, wrote to the county clerk in advance, asking that officer to leave a marriage license at some convenient place so that there would be nothing to hinder the welding of the golden band at Glenwood Springs on Strawberry Day. Glenwood Springs, Colo., July 10, 1906. TOADS are not things of beauty; their graceful lines inspire no artist's touch or poet's verse. But if 'handsome is as handsome does," the toad is more lovely than many a pet of nature whose beautiful form or glowing colors hide an enemy to man. Next to the birds — in some points equalling quite the best of our bird- friends — the toad serves the gardener and fruitman in most practical ways. The grub, the slug, bugs that fly and worms that crawl, form his piece de resistance, his ambrosial delight; and he feasts upon STRINGFELLOW'S !» "NEW HORTICULTURE Thirt r;t)lic:il new biM.k 1k13 :ir overof ^dd theoriesand nieth- ORIGINAL ods. Read it and make every BOOK tree and bush earn you more money. Circular free. Book, postpaid in paper bindinj', sue: cloth, 75c. Order early, as e0 VOU want to know everj-thing possible about unythingf Want clippings of every article published on any topic in the American or For«gn press, weeklies, dailioa. mag- azines and trade papers? Want to compile a scrap-book on a special subject! Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- inu club or elsewhere; paper or essay in a literary club, or anrthlngof that natnre? The easiest, surest, quickest, most economical way is to secure the ser\ices of our large statf of trained readers. Send *:i.00 for a special trial month. lUiited Stat<;w Press Clipping Bureau, i:!tli Floor Republic ItUIS. Cliiraeo, III. Send stamp for booklet. STRAWBERRY FIELD OF R. STRIMPL, NETWORITZ, BOHEMIA. friends and little children. Ihen in the sunny days all would be happiness." If Marshal Oyama would engage in straw- berry culture he could round out to the full his circle of happy occupations. . * * Strawberries in Bohemia OVER in Bohemia is an enthusiastic reader of The Strawberry, and he contributes a good word to this issue of the magazine as well as a fine picture of his strawberry fields on his farm at Networitz, Bohemia. The farm is named "Chlistov" and the owner is R. Strimpl. On his letter heads he announ- ces his principal products to be Strawber- ries and Raspberries (Jahodarstvi und Malinarstvi), and a glance at the picture shown here, together with another view sent us of his great raspberry orchard, indicates with what care and thorough- ness the work is conducted in both lines. The photograph shown herewith is of the strawberry bed and was taken about April 10. Mr. Strimpl writes: "To the right you see the field rolled and marked. About thirty-two inches apart are six trenches in which we set the plants. The girls have been called to the front by the photographer. To the left the field al- ready is set. Behind the barn there are last year's strawberries just peeping through the mulch. They now (June 10) cover almost the entire field. They are in single row. Observe also the water furrows. We wonder how many of us C3uld acquire so good a use of the language employed in Bohemia as Mr. Strimpl has done with English! It is interesting to know that American plants and American methods are employed with such fine success on the European continent. W are under obligations to Mr. Strimpl , his thought of us, and trust we are to Page 163 have more information concerning fruit- growing and fruit-selling in his country. Strawberries in Missouri THE summer meeting of the Mis- souri State Horticultural Society was held at Moberly in June, and the strawberry was given due attention, as befits an interest so rapidly becoming of large commercial importance to that state. Speaking on the subject of marketing the crop. Secretary Goodman laid stress upon the necessity of greater care in put- ting the fruit in attractive shape on the market. The difference in the way fruit was packed and shipped by various grow- ers was referred to, the secretary declar- ing that some growers always will get their fruit into market in good condition and form, while others seldom do so. The loss to all as a result of the failure of the latter is not to be overestimated. It was declared by another speaker that growers in Missouri were glad to sell their berries this season at from .$1.10 to $1.15 per crate. It would be interesting to know to what extent these low prices were due to indifferent picking and packing. Cj. T. Tippin, speaking from exper- ience as a shipper extending over eight years, considered it of first importance that the grower study the market and discover the niche he desired to fill, and then drop in there. On another point he said: "In packing either for carloads or express, the best way is to have a printed set of rules covering points of color, size, how to pick and box, etc., remembering the least possible handling is the best. Field foremen should thoroughly under- stand these rules and enforce them. The three most important stages to note is ripening, care in removing from the \ ines, THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 and packing first-class fruit, leaving the rest in the patch. Have pickers grade as far as is possible. As a rule fruit is al- lowed to get too ripe for long shipments." Dr. J. C. Whitten, horticulturist of the Missouri E.xperiment Station, referred to an instance of successful strawberry grow- ing achieved by a negro at Columbia in that state. This man, who formerly \\as a day laborer, used his plat of three-fourths of an acre of ground in raising strawber- ries, mainly Warfield, Bubach, Clyde and Gandy. The berries were all sold in home market, and the crop for three \'ears, on the same ground, has brought o\er $1,000. He uses the matted row, and when plowing is done turns out all the row but one edge. Sows bone meal for fertilizer, and works the soil in good shape. Grades carefully, only marketing the fine fruit. The rest is made into preserves by his wife, who is working up a good trade in this line. Some Plants for a Dry Climate I INTEND to set some plants next spring, and I thought best to start now and get posted on the subject and secure information as to the leading varieties for this locality. Will you please suggest three good varieties each of extra-early, early, medium and late. Also please give me information as to how to mate them so as to get largest yields. Coyle, Okla. A. R. THE list of standard varieties is a long one, and there are many good varieties. Strawberries are a good deal like friends — we all tliink more of some than we do of others, though we like them all. Every grower has his pets, and doubtless it will be only a short time before you, like the rest of them, will fall in love with some particular varieties which you will make your lead- ers. And this is the thing to do, because when a man falls in love with his work something will soon "be doing." In order to get you started on the right track we suggest that you start with well- known and thoroughly tested standard varieties — that is, set largely to these, though, if you would like to try some of the newer varieties, do so on a small scale. Then it will be time enough, when they have approved themselves, to set out a large acreage. For the three extra-early varieties we should suggest Excelsior, Climax and Texas. As all of these are bisexuals, it will not matter in which order they are set. For medium, we would name Par- son's Beauty, Senator Dunlap and Wil- liam Belt; all of these also are bisexual, and may be set in the order that best suits you. We should like to name Haverland in the list of mediums, but fear it would not be suitable to your hot, dry climate. For late varieties we recom- mend Dornan, Sample and Brandywine. The Sample, being a pistillate, should be set between rows of the two late bisex- uals; that is, three rows of Brandywine, three of Sample and three of Dornan until all are set. Of course, there are many other good varieties that would do well in your locality. In making these selections we have chosen those that are deep-rooters and will do well in a dry climate. We are sure it will be difficult to choose a better lot than is here named, your soil and climatic conditions considered. The Fendall Strawberry ONE of the readers of The Straw- berry who is an enthusiast in all that pertains to strawberry pro- duction is Charles E. Fendall of Towson, Md., who sends us a photograph of a new berry that originated in his garden and which he is encouraged to believe is destined to take a high place among pop- ular varieties. We have reproduced the photograph for the benefit of our readers. v\hich appears herewith, and we quote from Mr. Fendall's interesting account of the berry itself and the estimate he places upon it: "This berry originated in my garden at Towson. The plant was found in the spring of 1905, in a row of Wm. Belts; therefore it is either a seedling or a sport of the Belt. When I first saw the stran- ger I immediately marked it. When it bloomed I observed that the blossom was imperfect, while the Belt, as is well known, is perfect. It fruited a few ber- ries in 1905 and they proved to be large and attractive — so much so that at the end of the season I carefully moved the plant to another part of the garden. From this plant I succeeded in getting enough plants to set out a row thirty feet long. This was done during the months of August and September of 1905. The plant is an exceedingly strong grower, from twelve to fifteen inches high, and throws out a great many runners. The berry is early — in fact, a week earlier than any other very large variety. Its color is H ] InCMT IS ALL IT WILL COST YOU ■ f^ ■■ I to write for our big FKKE BICVCLE catalogue %«^B|lv ■ showing- the most complete line of high-erade - — - BICYCLES, TIKES and SUNDRIES at i'KlCES BELOW any other manufacturer or dealer in the world. 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DO NOT THINK OF BUYING a £/C/ fVC/' WWfkia bicycle or a pair of tires from anyone until you know the new and wonderful offers we are making. It only costs a postal to learn everything. Write it NOW. MEAD GYGLE COMPANY, Dept. "J L" CHICAGO, ILL Pa«e 164 THE STRAWEERRY AUGUST 1906 A FENDALL STRAWBERRY PLANT IN FRUIT a deep red, when fully ripe, and it is shaped somewhat like a lemon — large, to very large — with a very large, showy cap. It is very prolific, the ground on each side of the rov\' being literally covered with berries. "I am more than pleased with the con- duct of the berry, many single berries measuring from eight to nine inches around. I have in my garden many of the popular varieties, but I can say that the Fendall excels them all, although all are cultivated and located alike. The truth is, it is the most beautiful berry I have seen in twenty years of experience. Strawberries in the North By E. E. Read 1HAVE been an interested and much benefited member of The Straw- berry family since its start, and wish to express my thanks to you for giving us such a good paper and thorough training in strawberry culture, which I think is the most ideal of all agricultural pursuits. I live in the famous Park region of Minnesota, where there are lakes on nearly every square mile of land. Our home is situated between two fine lakes and the soil and climatic conditions are ideal for strawberry raising. 1 started a small bed of thoroughbred plants last spring and am now about through harvesting my first crop of berries. I>ast year was a very wet season, so that it was next to impossible to keep the weeds out and the runners restricted, so mine were nearly all too thick in the rows. I mulched them in the fall and uncovered them this spring, and they grew nicely. All did well at fruiting time with one exception, the Warfields, mated with Bederwood, doing the best. 1 he Michel's Early are the ones that failed and 1 wish to ask the reason. They had the same care and soil as the others, but this spring, after the mulching was removed, I noticed that a good many of the largest plants, mostly the mother plants, were dead. I could find no rea- son. The roots were all right, and there were no grubs or insects of any kind to be seen about them. Some of them that appeared dead at first still sent out a few weak leaves and fruit buds which did not develop fruit. The bloom was scarce on the best of them and consequently there were very few berries. The plants are now very rank and are sending out run- ners by the hundreds. What do you suppose was the fault.? Our soil is sandy loam, very rich in humus, nitrogen and potash. There was no rust or mildew apparent and the only thing that I noticed last summer was a very few green lice on some of the plants. I had no way of spraying them, so I let them go as they were not numerous. The Warfields did wonderfully well, as we have picked at least 100 full quarts from a row 220 feet long, in which were set about 110 plants, and there are still berries on the vines. I am giving my new-set plants care exactly as taught by The Strawberry, and 1 expect to be able to tell some astonish- ing tales when I pick my one-half acre next year. We sell our berries as fast as we can pick them for 15 cents a quart, and could sell ten times as many at the same price. Vining, Minn., July 8, 1906. Your case appears to be rather a pe- culiar one, and we have studied the case of the Michel's Early variety with inter. P>«e 165 est. We note what you say about the presence of green lice on some of the plants. This convinces us that the lice have drawn the juices from the mother plants, this work being done, doubtless, after the first runners were formed, and your rows were filled in by the runner plants. It would be possible for these mother plants to live until mulching time, but they did not possess sufficient vitality to live throughout the winter. If your soil is infested with these aphides, we would recommend dipping the roots .of all plants in tobacco tea before setting them out. While we never are affected by these lice, we dip every plant in to- bacco tea before setting out as a precau- tionary measure. As we have said many times, and perhaps cannot say too often, it is far easier to keep the farm clean of all enemies than it is to rid the farm after the enemies onco have gained a foothold. The fact that Mr. Read was picking his strawberries on the 8th of July, sug- gests the great possibilities, often pointed out in these pages, of growing late berries for market in the northern tier of states. The opportunity is past estimating in its importance. The late berries, as Mr. Read indicates, bring the best prices of the year. <^ ^ Success Despite Discouragement By Elmer Smith IN the spring of 1905 I set a straw- berry patch on a vacant lot adjoining my residence. I knew very little about strawberry culture, but concluded to try to raise some of this luscious fruit. I often had read what others had to say about the yields they realized from beds or fields of strawberiies, and it always seemed to be out of proportion to the amount any other crop world produce. My lot had for several years been cov- ered with a heavy sod. This was turned under and the soil worked into the best possible condition, but I was almost per- suaded to give up. The sod would work to the top of the ground and neighbors told me it would be useless to plant beriies on this sod. They said: "The grass will soon sod it over," "they will dry out with all that grass turned under," etc. But I worked away, procured my plants and when my bed was completed I had thirteen straight rows, three feet eight inches apart and 100 feet long, arranged as follows: one row Senator Dunlap, two rows Haver- land; one row Senator Dunlap, two rows Enormous, one row Parsons' Beauty, two rows Bubach, three rows Parsons' Beauty, one row Haverland. Experienced grow- ers will, of course, criticise part of this arrangement, but at that time I hardly knew the diflference between pistillate and bisexual plants. Fortunately, the season was a rainy one. The plants grew from the start and I hoed and worked among them almost THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 ail my spare time. Just as soon as the ground dried sufficiently after a rain I commenced hoeing. When fall came 1 had a model patch, the only objection I could see was that some of the rows had too many plants. Just after working my plants the last time I mulched the space between the rows with stable manure. When freezing weather came I covered all with straw and felt that I had done my part and could at least expect nature to produce enough to repay me for my work. This spring, as soon as the plants showed signs of growing, I raked the straw between the rows. The season started out well and promised much. Bloom literally covered the plants. Sev- eral berry growers said they never saw a finer prospect for berries. But on the morning of May 7 the ground was white with frost, the ther- Mjometer registering 20 degrees. Hardly a live berry was to be found. Black eyes were everywhere. I supposed my entire crop was destroyed, but in a week or two new fruit stems appeared. Following the freeze we had two weeks of hot, dry weather which was unfavorable for any growing crop. At last we had showers and sunshine and soon the berries began to turn red. On Monday, June 25, we picked the last berries preparatory to re-working the patch for another year. We kept an accurate account of the berries picked and found we had gathered 906 quarts from less than one-eighth of an acre. Considering that the freeze and drouth destroyed and damaged the crop to a very large extent this appeared to me to be a pretty good yield. Urbana, Ohio. Pluck and perseverance, accompanied by a fine faith, are requisites to the man who trusts to the soil and to the caprice of climate and weather for his livelihood. Our correspondent has shown these qual- ities in the way he continued "to labor and to wait" in the face of discouraging conditions. And his patience was abun- dantly rewarded, just as would have been the case in countless instances where men have impatiently given up in despair be- cause nature did not smile continuously upon their efforts. Mr. Smith's descrip- tion of the conduct of his plants following a severe frost is directly in line with our own experience. Plants that were black from frost April 20 one year yielded one of the finest crops of fruit imaginable six or seven weeks later. The moral is, stick to your strawberries even though the outlook at all times may not be as bright as you would like to see it. Everlast- ingly keeping at it will bring larger results with strawberries than anything else we are acquainted with. — -Editor Strawberry. <^ ^ Selecting a Location T WISH to locate where I can do two things well, viz. , grow and sell strawberries. Kind- ly give me helpful directions and answer the fol- lowing questions: 1. How should land lie as to elevation and slope? 2. What kind (com- mon name) of soil, and subsoil is best? 3. Would it pay to have soil analyzed, as a means of knowing whether suitable for growing berries; and if so where could it be sent for analysis? What should be the ingredients and how much of each? Understand that I am not tied down to any locality and wish to go where conditions are the most favorable. Hanover, III. R. F. E. IF we were looking for an ideal loca- tion for strawberry growing for mar- ket, we should select a place near a thriving little city of from twelve thousand upward, and, if possible, should locate between two good cities in order to have a choice of markets, so that when prices THIS BEAUTIFUL PATCH ILLUSTRATES ELMER SMITH'S VICTORY OVER DIFFICULTIES ^STRAWBERRY^ LANDS The most proHtable locations for raising strawberries are in the South, where the climate and soils produce large crops and where the berry ripens early, sothat itfroes to the markets of the country at the time when the highest prices are obtained. The various sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orchards and gardens. Lands may be obtained at extremely low prices. Good shipping facilities to all mar- kets at rates which encourage the industry. Finest vegetable growing opportunities. Write the nearest agent for information about desirable locations, lands, etc. M. V. RICHARDS Land and Industrial Agent Washington, D . C. Chas. S. Chase, Agent. 622 Chemical Bldy., St. Louis, Mo. M. A. Hays, Agent 225 Dearborn St. Chicago, 111. were low in one city, berries might be sent to the other. The next consideration would be suit- able soil. We should not want this sit- uated too high or too low; if possible, have one section sloping to the south while the other slopes to the north, so that conditions would be favorable for both early and late varieties. In seeking a location for fruit-growing it is well al- ways to choose land a trifle higher than the surrounding country, for purposes of water drainage and frost protection. As to soil, if it were possible to secure our favorite after the conditions already named were fulfilled, we should choose a sandy loam with clay subsoil. We should like to have the loam about one- third clay and two-thirds of a sandy na- ture. We should not object even though it were half clay. However, it will be difficult to find all these ideal conditions in one place, and that is why we name as the first condition a good market; second, the situation of the land, and third the nature of the soil. We do this because we can make our own soil conditions by fertilizing and proper handling of the soil. A convincing proof of the fact that the nature of the soil — whether clay, sandy or black — has less to do with success in strawberry growing than the manner in which the plants are fed, we have tried the same varieties on nearly every grade of soil and observed no appreciable dif- ference in quality and yield. Of course, the different grades of soil were carefully studied, and each handled to bring out its best. As to soil analysis, we think that quite unnecessary, for while a good chemist could inform you as to the content in the soil of the several elements, he could not tell you the percentage of those elements that would be available as plant food. Remember, that the strawberry is a very hardy plant and quickly adapts itself to almost any kind of soil or other condition. Page 166 OUR COIESPONDENCE SCHOOL; Sk^OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION I ONLY wish I had known The Strawberry sooner," writes one of our more recent subscribers, "for if I had had the benefit of its teachings in the spring I should not have made the fatal mistakes I have done. I already have learned many things from the maga- zine, and it is invaluable to everybody who grows strawberries." And the associate editor of the famous Breeder's Gazette of Chicago, De^Vitt C. Wing, who has the whole range of the agricultural and horticultural press at his command, writes us: " The July Strawberry is a strong number, especially the Correspondence School Department. This feature is capable of great enlarge- ment and educational efficiency. No other publication has anything like it. ^'our Mr. Beatty clearly is a pastmaster in strawberry culture, and he has the knack of presenting information so that it will go to the spot." From all along the line come encourag- ing words of this nature, and The Straw- berry steadily forges to the front as the only representative of the strawberry in- terest, an interest growing year by year to be among the big and splendid industries of our country. One grower of small fiuits wants to know if we can tell him of a publication so helpful to raspberry and blackberry growers" as is The Strawberry to the man who grows that popular fruit. Sorry we couldn't tell of such a one, but the fact is, The Strawberry is unique, not only in its chosen field, but in its character and style, and this fact members are month by month coming to appreciate. And we do not forget for a moment that it is to our interested and interesting members of the school that much of the value of the magazine is due. Let us, instructor and member together, work to make it of increasing value to its large and growing constituency. G. R. E. , Alba, Tex. I have a strawberry patch set out this spring, and I am thinking of fertilizing it with stable manure this sum- mer. Would this be the right time to apply the manure or should I wait until some other season of the year? 2. Will Pride of Mich- igan do well where Lady Thompson does? I have a piece of land that I have taken hickory timber off of and it is virgin soil. Will Pride of Michigan do well on it? As a rule, it is very dry in Texas at this time of the year, and for this reason it would be entirely safe to scatter well- decayed stable manure between the rows of plants in August. This should be thoroughly worked into the soil with the cultivator. The plants would receive no benefit from the manure until the rains had fallen in sufficient quantity to leach the fertilizing elements out of it. In a country where there is much rain in August we should not recommend the application of manure because the plants would start feeding upon the liquid ma- nure made by the excessive moisture, and as this is rich in nitrogen it would start a new vegetative growth, which would discourage the formation of fruit buds. In short, the central purpose should be to encourage fruit-bud devel- opment at this time of the year, and to do this vegetative growth should not be stimulated. 2. Pride of Michigan is a very vigor- ous grower and has an adaptable disposi- tion which makes it easily accommodate itself to any. locality. One Mississippi grower wrote us when the Prides of Michigan were in bloom on his farm that his bed looked more like a flower garden than a strawberry patch. It may be well to test it on a small scale before setting largely to this variety — advice to be fol- lowed with advantage in the case of any new variety. S. B. G., Viroqua, Wis. We have a bed of berries set last year, and while we did the best we could to keep the weeds down they got the start of us. Is there any way we can get rid of the weeds? We do not dare mow close and burn on account of so much growth of weeds and berries, for fear it will kill the plants. Will it harm the plants to throw some dirt over them with cultivator after I mow and rake otf? We have 1,000 set this year that look well and are clean as a whistle to date, but I cannot see how the ordinary land can be kept clean of weeds after runners start unless the land has been cultivated until there is no weed seed in the soil. The best plan to follow is to mow off the strawberry vines and weeds after the fruit is all picked. After this has been done, if you think there is too much litter to make burning safe, you may rake it up and haul off the larger part of it and burn the balance. One reason we urge burn- ing in this case is because it will destroy a large amount of weed seed, but if con- ditions are such that you cannot burn at all, then the litter should be raked up clean and hauled away. After. this is done narrow down the rows with a com- mon breaking plow. This will leave a row of plants about six inches wide. Page 167 These plants will set on a ridge and you should go over them with a hoe, cutting out all the weeds and thinning the plants so the hills will stand about sixteen to twenty inches apart. Now take a five- tooth cultivator and run it on the ridge the plow has made between the rows. This will level the soil hack to its place. After this has been done the fine soil can be drawn up close to the plants with hoes or garden rakes, and the light soil should be thrown over the crowns of each hill. We prefer doing this work with the hoe, as the cultivator sometimes throws clods or too much soil on the crowns. It is an easy matter to keep all weeds and grass out of the plants after the runners start, providing you do not allow them to g t the start of you. Frequent cultivating and hoeing will keep them perfectly clean. P. R. S., Machias, Me. This spring I set out some strawberry plants. If I allow these plants to make four runners each, next spring at fruiting time shall I allow the mother plant only to produce fruit, keeping all blossoms off the four runner plants? If this is the way, I will get only one crop of fruit from the runner plants and two crops from the mother plant. Both the mother plant you set this season and the runner plants which spring from it will produce berries next season, and it will be unnecessary for you to re- move any of the bloom. The removing of bloom is done only in the season in which the plants are set. E. L. L. , South Easton, Mass. I am growing an early variety of strawberries for home mar- ket, and though it pleases my customers, yet the berries are very soft and inclined to rot badly. Now if these were grown in hills fifteen by thirty inches apart, instead of single- hedge rows, would it not overcome this diffi- culty? If so, would not the yield be fully as large, and would not the berries ripen earlier? What you should do with such a va- riety as you have mentioned is to grow it in hills and keep them far enough apart so that the sun's rays may be beat upon every leaf and air circulate freely all about the plants. A dressing of wood ashes — forty or fifty bushels to the acre — thor- oughly worked into the soil before plants are set, would add much to the firmness of the berries as well as to their flavor and color. Berries will very seldom mil- dew or rot if the sun and air have free THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 access to them. By making; your soil quite rich and ijrowino; them in hills as you propose, this method will give you nearly as much fruit, if not quite, as when grown in the single-hedge row. And the berries, as you suggest, would ripen earlier. E. D. G., Rochester, N. Y. I wish to know how buckwheat straw will do for mulching strawberries. Have you seen it tried? I have some bees and am about to sow some buck- wheat. As straw is $10 per ton here the buckwheat straw will be quite an object to me if good for the purpose. I see no reason why it should not be excellent. Buckwheat straw will make a splendid mulching, and in your case it will serve two purposes: that of furnishing nectar for the bees and cover for the strawberries. B. V. W., Billings, Mont. I noticed the re- mark of G. Q. , Theodore, Sask. , that the frost wiped out his strawberry plants. Our loss is quite heavy from light freezes if plants are set out when plants arrive here. Plants propagated here are the same way if set out too early. I do not understand why a freeze does not hurt them in the East. We are 5,000 feet above sea level here. Can you solve the problem? Some varieties frost does not injure much. 2. Does too much water make benies soft and sour? 3. Will fruit buds freeze when not mulched so as to weaken and kill them? The reason your early set plants suffer from frost doubtless is that you are located so high above sea level where the atmos- phere is light and dry. We have proved by experiments that plants will stand much more severe frosts where moisture is abundant in the soil than where the soil is dry. There is nothing more in- jurious to the plant than alternate freez- ing and thawing in a dry fall. In view of this fact we would recommend later setting of plants. We have been through VOL"- section and are somewhat acquainted with its climatic and soil conditions. 2. Too much water during the ma- turing and ripening processes will make berries both soft and sour, and it may be well to explain here why this is true: We all know that moisture dissolves the min- eral matter in the soil, and during a wet season, or where large quantities of water are used for irrigating purposes, the exces- sive moisture is sure to dissolve nitrates in excess of potash, and as potash is the element that supplies the fibrous quality and flavor of the berry, the lack of balance in these elements causes the berry to be- come soft and insipid, while the color will be less brilliant. 3. There is no question but the fruit bud would be injured by failure to mulch, and the plant would be much weakened because the alternate freezing and thaw- ing causes expansion and contraction of the soil which would weaken the plant, if indeed, it did not loosen the roots from the crown. 1. S. v., Independence, Pa. What was the cause of many of my berries being round and flat, not pyramidal in form, the blossom end being undeveloped; they contained a core? We had late frosts last spring — had this hurt them? The ones that were nice were real nice, but half or more of them were such as I describe to you. I had removed the mulch- ing from the top of the rows about the middle of April. There were several frosts afterward, but I tried to recover my plants with the mulching before each frost, but possibly did not get it done. 2. In the narrow-row system should plants be allowed to grow closer than six inches to each other? ?:. Then after the plants are established at the right distance, should all runners be pinched off as long as tlie bed is in use? This I know would mean much labor, but I don't expect to have more than three-fourths of an acre in strawberries and I want to make them pay me $2.50 per day for each day's intelligent labor put on them, and can I do this? 4. Our market will be local and mostly ''among private customers, and I have some rivalry in the business. This stijrs one's ambi- tion to grow the best for which there is the best demand and they command the best price; and as I am an amateur I need the best of advice from experienced sources, for by having good advice and following it I hope to learn in a short time what it took others years to obtain. 5. I know that my plants were much too thick in the row this year, and after gathering the berries in June, I lifted and transplanted many of the most healthy, stocky plants, trimming the tops all off but one young stalk. These appear to be growing nicely. What are my chances for a crop from these next spring? I will giv3 them the best of atten- tion and manure them late this fall. 6. During the early and middie part of June the rose bugs are here in such numbers that they are almost a plague to us. They eat all kinds of vegetation, even occasionally, weeds. Can you tell me the way to prevent their attacks upon our fruits? Spraying at this time injures the fruit (as I have learned at much expense) and still does not make any visible eflfect upon the countless numbers of bugs. 7. Can you tell me of a publication that is as valuable to the raspberry and blackberry grower as The Strawberry is to the straw- berry man? If so please do so, giving ad- dress. 8. Would it be a good plan to scatter wood ashes on ground-the right amount-soil a little sandy, this fall just before I plow and sow to rye, which I would plow under next spring, then set strawberry plants out, then follow with a good coating of manure in the fall? There is no doubt that frost was the cause of the poorly formed and hard- cored berries. The petals of the bloom Page 1(8 Strawberries Keep Their 0^\r\f In the Wide-Mouthed, Sure- LOlOr Seal, Air Tight ECONOMY JAR Fruit cant spoil in an Economy Jar STRAWBERRIES never fade when canned in the Economy Jar. The Economy Jar is the only j ar made that is real - ly hermetically, positive- ly, air titiht. That is the reason straw- berries canned in the Economy keep their color. The air that filters throuu'h a nibber rin^; or seeps under the eAvhere 7 The LION Engine is such a power. It is simple in construction, practical in operation, and economical in the use of fuel. You do not require the services of an engineer, as anyone can operate it. We send the Lion engine Direct From The Factory on a ten days test trial and give explicit instructions and directions for setting up and operating it. Write now, stat- ing your power needs, foroureasy payment plan. Remem- ber, we send the engine, not the agent. LYONS ENGINE CO., > • Lyons, Mich. Page 170 THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 the row, after which the ridge between the row may be leveled down with a five- tooth cultivator or harrow. Fine soil should be drawn up close around the plant and a small amount of soil placed over the crowns of each plant. This work can best be done with the hoe or garden rake. The bed should be burned over within two or three days after the plants have been mowed off. If left longer than this new growth will start and there will be danger of the fire injuring the plants. In a few days after the plants that are left in the row have been covered with soil, they will send up a new and vigorous growth, and these plants will make runners from which a double-hedge row can be formed to furnish the suc- ceeding crop. As to burning over re- tarding runner making, that depends some- what upon weather conditions after plants have thus been treated. In making ex- periments with plants that were burned and others that were not, we find the plant that never has had its foliage mowed or burned, starts runner-making much the earlier.^ In fact, runners are starting while fruit is ripening. However, the runners on these plants are not nearly so strong as those which are mowed off and burned over. We would not advise al- lowing any bed of plants to fruit more than two seasons. F. M. M., Gurdon, Ark. In April, 1905, I set out 1,500 plants, consisting of Texas, Glen Mary and Dornan. They were grown in single-hedge row, two feet apart by hand cultivation. Now, this 17th day of April, my plants have an immense foliage and liter- ally are covered with green fruit and blossoms. At present it looks as if the Glen Mary and Dornan will ripen before the Texas. Why is this so? It is sometimes true that atmospheric and soil conditions will develop the fruit buds of some varieties earlier than those of others, owing to the abnormal condi- tions of the particular season, and this phenomenon has been unusually observ- able this year. ^ '^ J. L., Coshocton, Ohio. I have a garden, the soil of which is mostly composed of street sweepings, and I have been manuring it with stable manure every year for three years. My strawberry plants make an immense growth, but are not as prolific as I think they should be. The ground is very loose and filled with humus. What shall I do with it to make the plants more prolific.' The trouble with your plants appears to be that you have been overfeeding them. Street sweepings of the kind you speak of are especially high in nitrogen, and too much nitrogen causes an over- development of foliage at the expense of fruit. You appear to have so encouraged your foliage growth as to lessen greatly the fruit-bearing capacity of your plants. We should advise you to refrain entirely from putting on any more fertilizer and to cultivate only when necessary to keep down the weeds and hold moisture in the soil C. L. C, Skaneateles, N. Y. May I take from my strawberry bed, set out in April last, runners for a new bed to be planted the first of September next? As we understand your question, you are intending to allow these plants to fruit this season, and after a strawberry plant has produced a big crop of berries it is pretty well exhausted, both from pollen secretion and seed production, and to take runners from plants that have fruited is contrary to the nature of things. If you intend to set plants in September, you should take the plants from those set this spring. G. W. F. , Wohurn, Mass. I have some Massachusetts Klondike strawberries. They now have some green berries on and I note that the leaves are curling up some. Is it leaf roller that causes this? The variety you name has a very ten- der leaf tissue, which makes it subject to mildew. This is a fungous growth which can be controlled by Bordeaux mixture, but we would not advise you to do any spraying while plants are in fruit, as the vines undoubtedly will carry the crop through to ripeness without loss. The leaf roller does not roll the leaf, but draws it together in a flat fold. I.. A. H., Blenheim, Ont. Is there any dan- ger from curl-leaf or does it affect plants to any extent? 2. Will lime be all right for spraying that has been slaked with water and kept covered, or does it lose its strength? 3. What is your opinion of the wax-lined paper berry-box, and would you advise it to be used in preference to the wooden ones? And at what prices may they be had? 4. Can you give me any advice concerning the Ke- wanee water-supply system in the country, and what would be the cost of installing this svstem? The fact that the leaf curls up indicates that the plant is affected by a fungous growth called mildew. Anything inter- fering with the foliage is bound to affect the development of the plant, because the leaf of the plant is both the lungs and the digestive organs of the plant. The pre- vention is Bordeaux mixture. 2. As your lime was slaked in water and kept well covered it has not lost its strength, and will still ser\e the purpose as part of your spray material; but be sure and stir thoroughly before using. 3. The wax-lined paper box is un- doubtedly a success. It is a matter of Page 171 individual preference as to whether the wooden or the paper box is the better. For prices please write those manufac- turers whose advertisements appeared in The Strawberry. You may depend up- on any one of them in every respect. 4. As to the Kewanee water-supply system, we are assured it is a complete success. Readers of The Strawberry now having the system in their country homes advise us that it is all its manufacturers claim for it. The Kewanee Water Sup- ply Co., Kewanee, 111., will be pleased to furnish you all information as to prices, cost of installation, etc. J. R. B., Belvidere, 111. I am not clear as to your recipe for using both Bordeaux mixture and Paris green in cases where both insect pests and fungous diseases are to be attacked at the same time. Am I to understand that we are to add to the Bordeaux mixture an- other mixture of forty gallons containing the Paris green, or to mix the Paris green and one pound of lime in two gallons of water only, mixing this into the fifty gallons of Bordeaux mixture? 2. I have one-fourth acre of strawberries which has just been fitted, according to your methods, for second crop. I have applied between the rows 100 pounds of fertilizer which analyzes as follows, the figures representing percentages: nitrogen available, 2.50; equal to ammonia, 3.00; phos- phorus, total (from bone) 10.91; phosphoric acid, total 25.00; equal to bone phosphate of lime, 55.00. My land is a heavy clay and had been seeded to clover the year before these plants were set. Does the analysis in- dicate a well-balanced fertilizer for ray soil? I am a member of your Correspondence School and think it the best training for a strawberry grower to be had anywhere. Mix the Paris green and lime in two gallons of water, adding this to :the Bor- deaux mixture, making fifty gallons in all. (jlad to have you call attention to this, as we desire that every point shall be made perfectly clear to each reader. 2. The fertilizer you have used makes a very well-balanced plant food, and we have no no doubt will give you excellent results. The value of this, as well as of any other fertilizers, will depend upon the mechanical condition of the soil. Com- mercial fertilizers always give better re- sults when used in connection with stable manure. Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 50 to 100 paees, its writera are the moat successful Poultrymen and Women ia the United States. Itia .The POULTRY TRIBUNE, u can't afford to be without it. Prire. 50 cents per vear. Sendatonce for free Bam pie and SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU. R. R. FISHER. Pub., Box 86 1 Frceport, 111. THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Motith by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY ■ Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY .... Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN, Advertising Manager, 1603 Manhattan Bldg., Chicago, 111. United S Foreign SUBSCRIPTION tates and Canada PRICE: $1.00 1.25 Entered as second-class matter at the Postofflce at Three Rivers , Michigan . AUGUST, 1906 THE cover-page illustration this month represents an Iowa straw- berry patch with a background of orchard trees that gives to it a scenic effect at once unusual and beautiful. This is a scene in the fields of George A. Schurk of Fort Madison, Iowa, who, when he learned the use to which his handsome picture would be put, wrote: "I didn't think it good enough for The Strawberry," a de- gree of modesty quite uncalled for in such a case, we are sure our readers will agree. Such a picture as Mr. Schurk has contrib- uted will not fall to encourage others to take up the work of strawberry culture. Suc- cess inspires, heartens, helps others to win success. The moral responsibility that rests upon us to succeed is not wholly personal to ourselves; we owe it to the world to succeed, for a good ex- ample, like the pebble cast into the sea, extends on and on to the very confines of the sea of time. So let us succeed both for our own sake and the sake of others, and make two strawberries to grow in 1907 where but one grew in this year of grace. A ND while we are speaking of pic- ■**■ tures, let us remind our friends that the photographic contest still is on, and will be until tjie close of the growing season. We very much wish to have photographs of the field prepared for second crop. That is, after you have mowed and burned over the patch, and the new and green plants are once more filling the space allotted them, a photo- graph should be taken to show just what that second growth has been. And be sure to make a note of the day the burn- ing was done, and the date the photograph was taken, so that we may see just how quickly the mar\el of nature has been wrought and the old bed, with its dead leaves and perhaps its insects and fungi, has been renewed and a start made for a bumper crop in 1907. WE doubt if any publishers in the world ever received more hearten- ing words from their readers than come to us by each day's mail. From far away Australasia they come, from British Columbia, from the continent of Europe, and from our friends who claim the dis- tinction of being Americans we receive such cherry inspirations as make light the burdens of the day. But we are not al- together satisfied, because that list of subscribers is not expanding to the 50,000 size as rapidly as we desire, and we won- der if our friends could not help the good work along if they were to try a little. We are just one big family, and we be- lieve every member of it desires to enlarge the family circle in order that the in- fluence of The Strawberry may be ex- tended in the interest of better horticulture and more and better fruit for the people. Please be ready to respond when we take up the matter of definite plant with you a little later. HAVE you had moments of disappoint- ment this season, when it appeared at times that the strawberry crop must go t In some sections the dry winter, in others, the dry spring, in still others the torrential floods that pounded the young and tender plants into the soft earth, created conster- nation in many a heart, and hope gave place to despair. In many instances, however, the results were better than the outlook promised, and many a man awoke to the consciousness that a crisis was call- ing for his best thought and effort and, stirring himself for the conflict, fought off the threatening evils and won the day, having as a result his strawberry field in good condition for next year's crop. But even the man who lost should remember that the man who goes into partnership with nature sometimes will be o\er- whelmed by her caprice; he should re- member that the corn kings have won their thrones and held them by conquests most heroic; that wheat kings and cotton kings and fruit kings have their gray days and their seasons of disheartenment. Don't let a little thing like that disturb the serenity of your life. Keep smiling, and keep at it everlastingly, and success will be your portion. LATE strawberries grown in the North have proved their right to considera- tion this season as opening up an attract- ive commercial opportunity. We find this item in a journal published in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan under date of July 5: "Daniel Nehmer & Sons, of Ontonagon, are picking strawberries. They have twenty acres of bearing plants, about double the acreage of last season, P»ge 172 and the yield is expected to be fully 2,000 bushels. They say that conditions so far have been favorable for a good crop this season. The plants are loaded with berries, which are now beginning to ripen." Reports from DeTour, Mich., also advise us of the splendid success that is crowning the work of strawberry grow- ers in that part of the state. Strawberries by the carload should be grown in that vast region of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota popularly known as the "Laice Superior region." Coming into market from July 1 to 10 they always could bring the banner prices of the season. ^ '^ THE strawberry season may be ex- tended, says S. H. Warren of Weston, Mass., by setting the earliest varieties on the south side of a fence or of a hill; where the sun warms the land early, therefore producing an early growth. Such land will produce fruit a week or ten days earlier than other localities. To extend the season at the other end set some of the latest varieties on the north side of a fence or on a northern slope. By so doing the season can be lengthened a week or ten days at the latter end. THIS is the day of the trained man," says President Henry S. Pritchett, of the Boston "Tech." "In competition with him, the untrained man, or the poorly trained man, cannot maintain himself. Do not be afraid of too much theory. Never was good practice which was not pre- ceded by and based upon good theory. Let your theoretical training be broad and deep. It is your only sure foundation for the best work." ONE is hardly apt to be thinking about fur- naces at this time of the year, when mer- cury ranges up among the nineties, but it is right now that you should be preparing for the cold and stormy days ahead, and so we call your attention especially to the Schafer Furnace Co.'s advertisement in this issue, confident you will find it to your interest to takeup this matter now. This company makes an unusual offer. They will ship a heater for $10 down and ask no profit until the user is satisfied. The com- pany issues an illustrated instructor free. We suggest that you write for it at once. The Schkfer Furnace Company is located at Youngs- town, Ohio, and a postal card will bring you full information and the booklet. THE season for the sprayer is with us, and during the next six weeks it should be used with great frequency in the strawberry bed to the end that the plants may go into winter quar- ters free from any insect pests or fungous spores, thus to reach frniting time with vitality unim- paired and capable of producing big crops of luscious berries. For this work it would be dif- ficult to conceive a more convenient sprayer than the Lenox Knapsack, which our readers will find advertised in this issue of The Strawberry. Read carefully what the manufacturers say about it. Whether you have a big field or a little patch, the spraver is an essential, and the Lenox is just the thing to fill the bill. Address the Lenox Sprayer Co. , 1302 Broadway, New York. SEASON IS LATE WE MUST UNLOAD Lenox ""p™™^ Sprayers Two for $5.00 Ai^'lilsf'jfBiiti'wSii GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE SEASON This is the Regular $5 Sprayer. Prompt Shipment Guaranteed DELIVERY IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A\Y^nman f^ort The spray in the vineyard is not exag- W Ullldll V>clll gerated— it is actual and the truth. U^ T #1 ^3de to wear and to work. Press your thumb upon oC 1 1, the bulb; you get your spray. Stop your pressure and you stop the spray. Pumps every drop out until empty. No air pump business; no stopping every few feet to PUMP AIR or to swear. THIS IS THE SAME SPRAVER we had a whole page in the June Strawberry about, and the Kellogg people will tell you so. Order two if you are able, if you are not, order one anyway. It is the regular $S. Just now you get two for $5. A potato field, a cabbage, or a strawberry patch or a vineyard can be sprayed easily and in less time than to get the big pump out. Lots of times you can use a knapsack when you cannot a barrel pump. Handy at any place. Let JOfltl oling it on his back, with strained lime milk, whitewash the hen house. the spray will gel into all crevices and cracks. The old hen, the rooster and the whole chick family wjll crow and bow to you with thanks. They will pay you back with nice fresh eggs and several times over. Spray the cow, the stable- in fact, anywhere cleanliness pays. During July. Ai'fustsrd Sepifmber, when the cattle are suffering from the sucking pest, the constant biting, and sucking of the blood, keeps the cow poor. Spray spray- use our "Sure Destruction" which we send free, intended to kill the San Jose scale, but ex- c-llent to destroy all infesz-ation of livestock. Use one pa rt to fifty of water every other day for a spray over the cow at this time of the year; it is invaluable, particularly around and between the horns and in the hair of the cow where the lice breed and suck the blood. The cow after a few treatments will lick your hand and give you more milk and better quality. Tliese Kittle Blood Suckers breed by the millions. Could the poor cow talk she would tell you a pitiful story about her agony, about her scratching, and about her trying to reach with her teeth her itching sides, why she scratches so much against the fences, and why her udder is half shrunken, and why the people complain so much about her milk. But poor Betsey, she can't talk. During July and August, when the cow turns her head, looks at you pitifully, switches her tail, speakingly, it would mean, "Can't you help me?" A SMALL CAN "SURE DESTRUCTION" to San Jose scale, to mix with 50 to 100 parts of water, will be sent free with each sprayer. Used as a spray it will destroy all living nuisances in crevices and cracks, whether in the trees, stable or hen-house. This is the Sprayer You Get Just Now for $3.00, or Two for $5.00 Actual price is $5, but season now a little late,'we rather sell at $3 than wait for next season to get $5 You will never get a Lenox for $3 again. If you want one or two, DON'T TALK LONG. Send in your Express Money Order. No lengthy letters necessary; no explanations needed. We will know what you ^g want and that you want it quickly, too. But give us your address very plain. EXPRESS RATES FROM gH'-||ft NEW YORK ARE LOWER THAN FROM ANY OTHER POINT. Remit by Express Money Order. No checks if you are in a hurry. LENOX SPRAYER CO. 1302 Broadway Herald Square) NEW YORK DEEP RICH SOI MEAIMS LESS TOl The Land of Plenty.... Rich soil, a mild climate, and abundance of water have made South Daliota one of the best ag- ricultural states in the Union. The soil of Lyman county is unusually rich. It is a black loam with yel- low clay subsoil. The extension recently built through Lyman County by Milwaukee Has opened up a part of that state hitherto sparsely settled. South Dakota is long on wealth but short on people. The total population of the state is 455,000. Bank de- posits on January 29, 1906, amounted to $35,287,274, or an 'average of $77 for each man, wo- man and child in the state. There are golden opportunities for the homeseeker and the small investor. Good land can now be bought at $10 to $15 an acre. Homeseek- ers excursions — one fare plus $2 for the round trip to South Dakota points every Tuesday this year. South Dakota literature for two cents postage A. MILLER General Passenger Agent CHICAGO R. C. JONES Michigan Passenger Agent 32 Campus Martius, DETROIT September 1906 THES BERRY 'T/ie Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry — but He never did."" PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN ONE LETTER OUT OF THOUSANDS LIKE IT Beaver Dams, N. Y.. Aug. 10, 1906 Kellogg Co., Three Rivers, Mich. Gentlemen: In April, 1905, I set out one-thirteenth of an acre to strawberries. One-third of this patch was set out to Armstrongs, Brandywines and Samples, taken from an old run-out patch of berries that had been fruited for several years. The remaining two-thirds were set out to your Thoroughbred plants. The varieties were Parson's Beauty, Sample, Aroma and Klondike. The soil was moderately rich clay loam, the plants were cultivation, kept free of weeds, and grown in the single-hedge system. I plants in August by white grubs. THURSTON'S PATCH OF "PEDIGREES" given good lost about 100 In November I scattered eight wheelbarrow loads of well-rotted horse-manure on this patch, then mulched with oat and buckwheat straw. Removed mulch from top of row in April, and soon after the fruit buds started, we had a freeze that I thought had put me out of strawberries for this year at least. The fruit stalks were frozen so badly that they all turned black, and withered up just below the blossom buds. But in a few days up came more fruit stalks, and the crop looked promising again. Then just as they were getting white with bloom, we had two more frosts in succession. During the frost I had part of the patch covered up and kept fire around the plants that were not covered, but with little success, as nearly all the blossoms turned black and dropped off. At this time I felt quite discouraged, but after a week of good weather, I noticed a large number of new fruit stems starting from the crowns and I began to think there was no such thing as downing a Thoroughbred strawberry plant. The remainder of the season was very favorable. We picked our first berries June 16; last picking was July 10; in all 518 quarts, which sold for $51.60, all disposed of at our door, and we were unable to supply half the demand. Just sell a quart of those big red fellows, and the next day the purchaser would be back and want a bushel. Seeing that this is my first experience with strawberries, and that I only had a few minutes to devote to their care, morning and evening, as I am a railroad man and work twelve hours per day, Sunday included, I feel very much encouraged by the results obtained, and have one- fourth acre set out this year to Thoroughbred plants, and at present writing they bid fair to be record breakers. And now a few words about Pedigree Plants. The eight rows of my patch that were taken from an old bed were fully double the care that the sixteen rows of Thoroughbreds were. The former seemed to make a good foliage growth and as plant makers they surely never had an equal. In fact, keeping the runners off those eight rows was the worst of my trouble. They put forth very few fruit stalks, especially after the frosts. And then when it came to picking they were plainly outclassed. From the sixteen Thoroughbred rows we picked 408 quarts, and we did not even sort them until the last picking, and the 110 quarts from the "other kind" of plants were nearly all of an inferior size and quality. I would not attempt to raise strawberries without your Pedigree plants and your very interesting and instructive and helpful magazine, any number of which is worth the yearly subscription price. Yours truly, F. A. Thurston. Beaver Dams, Schuyler Co., N. Y. THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 9 Three Rivers, Mich., September, 1906 $1.00 a Year SUCCESS is the goal to which the steps of every man possessed of interest in life are directed; it is the ban- ner, ever waving aloft, that inspires him to new en- deavor when the days of doubt and uncertainty come. Not long ago the editor of one of the leading agricultural periodicals in this country sent u,s a letter from a Montana sub- scriber, in which the latter asked: "Why don't you tell us of some of the failures — you are always describing the work of the fellows who make a success of their imdertakings.''" That letter of inquiry is worth thinking about. Suppose that for one single issue the thousands of publications in this country should consent to give up their pages to the lugubrious narratives of the fellows who have made a failure of their undertakings. Try to imagine what the ef- fect would be. It is safe to say that insanity and suicide would be the direct result of such a happeninu- This be- ing true, what may we learn from this supposition and its possible results ? Certainly this, at the least: the impor- tance of looking toward suc- cess, of thinking success, of acting success, if we would actually achieve success. And what right has failure to a place in our thought.'' What are its claims to our consideration? Why, in other uords, should that editor give a second thought to his Montana subscriber who was dissatisfied because his sort of people were not recognized in the columns of that paper? T hink it over and you will see that failure is the worst form of negation — it is the outcome of a negative character; one who always says "don't," and always fails to do things that ought to be done. Success, on the other hand is positive, vigorous, uplifting, in- spirmg. It takes hold of the wavering and the discouraged, and say to him: What has been done you may do, if you will but do the right thing. Keep on, be patient, act intelligently, work faithfully. Success is not of mushroom growth — it is of continuous development; it not only brings you joy and satis- faction in the ultimate, but makes you a stronger and better man in the very process of achieving it. Let us, therefore, r,.-fuse to give room for failure in our mind, persisting in our march toward success; and let us thank the editor who refused lo fill his columns with the tales of the men who failed. For had he done so he would only have made other failures inevitable. It is the mission of The Strawberry to inspire hope and con- fidence and courage, to strengthen faith and resolution, and help all who read its pages to attain that order of success that means not only material satisfaction, but deep and lasting pleasure in the things worth living for. It believes that no other line of work offers to the men and women of limited means so wide an opportunity, one that lies so close at hand and is within the easy reach of the ones who must earn a live- lihood, as does the production of strawberries for market. And it knows from long observation and broad experience that no other avocation will give more joy and satisfaction to those who take up this work for recreation during the hours when the daily toil is laid one side. To bring to its readers, therefore, the successes, and sometimes the mistakes, of strawberry growers; to point out the way in which the mistakes may be corrected and success be ac- complished— this comprehends in great part the particular work of this periodical. What this has meant to the men and women in the straw- berry fields of this country we are now, happily, given some opportunity to realize, for the letters that come to us from every state in the LTnion and from other lands as well, speak of the encouragement and prac- tical help this periodical has been to them. They tell us that some- thing The Strawberry had to say helped them to turn what por- tended failure into complete and gratifying success; that the cheery word, reaching them just at the moment of their need, pointed out the way to meet and overcome threatened disaster, transformed the entire outlook and gave them new hold upon the world. In one very large and important sense there ought to be no such thing as failure in this splendid world as ours. No one may be said to be a failure who has done his part, kept good faith with his opportunities, made the most of his chances, and through it all has kept himself in tune with the higher harmonies of life. To amass a fortune may not be called success. We have seen during the last year that the greatest failures on record have been made by those who are called multi-million- aires. Let us remember that no matter what it be, no evil thing may be success, and no good thing may be failure. We are just beginning another season in strawberry culture — for it must not be forgotten that the preparation of the soil in autumn is one of the most important first steps to success with strawberries next season. Let us begin right and do right all the way through. From the putting of the plow into the soil until the last berry is marketed, let us follow the best methods THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 we know or may learn. Then, may we, as a result of actual experience say, in the matchless eloquence of Cardinal Richelieu: "In the bright lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail!" '^ ^ Getting a Home of One's Own ¥ AM a young man of twenty-three years, in ■* very moderate circumstances and possessed of limited education. I want a home of my own, and have been thinking that if I could get ten acres of good berry land near a good market and get started in the strawberry line, I would have the problem solved. What do you think of it, and wliat would you advise one in my situation to do who is relying on your most valuable publication for advice? Pellstown, Mich. G. W. R. SUCH a letter suggests a vast field of possibilities, and we should not do our full duty in the premises if we failed to impress upon you how great are your opportunities. First, we must take note of two facts: you are only twenty- three years of age, and you are possessed of but limited education. One having your native intelligence and foresight ought not to let his first great opportunity pass, and that opportunity is expressed in the one word Education, which really means Preparation for Life's Work. A young man at twenty-three is just at the moment of life when one year's training in the schools will be worth what two years at some earlier period would have been. And our first advice is that you go to some good school like the Michigan Agricultural College, for instance, and there study and practice those things that will give you the wide knowledge, the practical skill, the limitless power, that come with thorough training in some one particular calling. Let the hardship be great, the sacrifices many, the way be^et by difficulties — no matter. Twenty-three and in good health and spirits! It is a condition of fairest promise; and you should overcome every obstacle and win a splendid success. But to answer specifically the questions you ask. It is unquestionably true that one may look long and far before he will find another such a way to establish him- self in a home and in business as that afforded by strawberry production. And as you are now in Michigan, and in the northern part, we would call your atten- tion particularly to the opportunity for growing late strawberries for market in all sections of the Lake Superior region, which includes, of course, the northern end of Michigan's lower peninsula. Here is a clipping from a Calumet, Mich., newspaper of date July 18, 1906: The Lake Superior strawberry farm of Neh- mer & Sons near Ontonagon is an example of the opportunities for farming in the upper penin- sula. One hundred and fifty persons are em- ployed there now picking berries and from 200 to 400 crates are picked and shipped daily. Imagine what prices were paid for straw- berries in the markets from July 10 to 25! It is an opportunity of a lifetime. In the August issue of The Strawberry you will find an answer to some of your inquiries. (See page 166, "Seeking a Lo- cation.") Having determined where you will locate, look about for a good piece of land of say ten acres in extent, and arrange for its purchase. If you can't buy it because of lack of means or credit, lease it with privilege of purchase at a stipulated price within a certain number of years. But don't set out ten acres of strawberries until you are sure of your ground — sure that you understand how to grow big red berries and how to sell them; sure that your market is just what you need for such a field. Meantime, diversify your products by growing pota- toes and vegetables, at the same time getting your land in perfect condition for strawberry production so you may extend the area given over to the crop as you wish — for nothing is better than vegetables and potatoes in fitting the soil for straw- berries. Go in with intelligence, vim and enthusiasm, follow closely the in- structions given in this magazine, and success surely will be your portion; and you soon will be in a home of your own — one of life's best achievements. ^ <^ Growing and Selling Strawberries By Ralph Roberts THE first year of my berry growing is now history. I had about one- tenth of an acre in berries — some seven hundred original plants. From this patch we, my wife and 1, sold $35 worth of berries. Besides we and our visiting friends had all the berries we could eat for a period of time extending over two months. We gave away many berries, even as many as a crate at a time. Be- sides this was the worst season for berries that has ever been known. The first month of the berry season was one contin- ual rain-storm. Consequently crates of berries spoiled in the patch. Here is what the local paper says about our patch — hope the praise is merited, for we tried to deserve it: Mr. Ralph Robert's "Fancy Strawberries" are eye openers to every one who sees them. The berries he is now putting on the market at Bushby's store are exceptionally large and of fine flavor, and would attract marked attention in any market. We did some advertising, although the berries themselves were their own best advertisement. Here is one way we did it, using the home paper as our medium: Father — "Johnny, what is a miser?" Johnny — "A miser is a man who can pass Jiushby's store and not buy some of Roberts' Fancy Strawberries. " I will relate a little experience, show- ing what quality stands for even in the Page 174 S^jt- ~V^BI ^p ''^H l^^> ^ ^ fK m ilB^-»^> if R ■2 f0 im^'tip If '" ' "-riit ^'tlSM H i- iiiil jgjH HOME OF C. W. GORDON A Montville, N. J., Reader of The Strawberry local market. One merchant 'phoned up to the ho'use for berries and I asked him the price. He replied: "Ten cents a box." When I got to the store he had some other berries on sale. I took mine from the wagon and placed them on the stand in such a way that they would show to good advantage. Just then the merchant came up and when he saw them he stared. "How much do you want for them.?" "The market price." After reflecting a moment the merchant said: If I sell your berries for 10 cents a box, the same as these others, the others will spoil on my hands." So he sold mine at two for 25 cents and then they sold out before "the others." As he got a commission I thought in that instance, at least, it paid to raise "Fancy Berries." I could not supply one quarter the demand for my berries. I enjoy The Strawberry very much and think a strawberry patch without The Strawberry would be like Thanks- giving without turkey. Everson, Wash., July 12, 1906. Mrs. Hooper of the Strawberry Patch By Mabelle S. Hooper LET us leave Mrs. Wiggs and her cabbage patch and read about Mrs. Hooper and her strawberry patch, and a very profitable patch it has proved to be. My husband is a carpenter, and is away from home all day. and as we both enjoy out-door work, we decided to see what success we could make of a straw- berry bed, as we had good long evenings in which to take care of the bed, and I thought I could surely pick all the berries we should ha\e. So we sent for a famous strawberry cat- alog and after much deliberation chose the three varieties known as Kansas, Parsons' Beauty and Splendid. Our plants arrived in due season and my husband set them out as directed, and very soon they began to grow great handsome plants. My husband bought a wheel hoe as soon as the v\'eeds began to appear, and armed with this and a rake we would THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 "hiarch to our strawberry bed as soon as our supjier was over. Then the weeds had to catch it. We had set the plants in rows 100 feet long and had sixteen rov\s. It would take us three evenings to clean the bed. iMy husband with the hoe would loosen the weeds and I racked them up. We did not let one escape us. But they were as persistent as we were, and in less than a week we had it all to do over again. We kept at it, however, until late in the fall, when we covered the plants with straw for their winter's rest. Spring came, and we were ready and waiting. In due time the covering was removed and soon came the blossoms. Blossoms, blossoms, everywhere. If only I had taken a photograph of it! How anxiously we watched for the first ripe berry. It came, and was soon fol- lowed by others. And then we had to get busy. June 15 we picked one box which went to our own table. Next day six boxes, which we sold for 20 cents a box. They now came thick and fast and we found a ready market for every berry. From this on we got from one to two hun- dred boxes a day until at last they were all gone. I had kept strict account of every box, and how much it sold for. From June 15 to July 12 we picked from this bed 863 boxes of great luscious berries. For these we have received $83.20. We do not know whether this is doing exception- ally well or not. At any rate, we are ex- tremely proud of our summer's work. Certainly no more heathful work can be found, as our looks will testify; and we would not exchange the enjoyment we got from our strawberries, both in the field and at the table, for a great deal. We are full of enthusiasm for next year, and plan to do even better. Danvers, Mass. The Best Fertilizer WHAT is the best fertilizer.'' Is a question that comes to The Strawberry with frequent iter- ation, and we are glad to quote Prof. J. L. Stone, of Cornell University, on that point. He says: "It is not possible to state that a fertil- izer of a proper kind is certain of produ- cing best results with any particular crop or on an\' particular soil. This definite information can only be secured by ex- perimentation with the particular crop on the praticular soil. Certain broad principles, however, may be applied when the character of the crop and the nature of the soil with its recent treatment are known. For in- stance, a soil that has recentl\- had a good clover sod turned under is quite likely to be well supplied with nitrogen, and a smaller amount of this ingredient need be applied in the fertilizer. For general crop purposes, a fertilizer containing about 3 per cent nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphoric acid and 7 per cent potash would ordinarily be useful, and this is about the grade of fertilizer that can be made by the purchase of nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda and dried blood, phosphoric acid in dissolved rock, and potash in muriate of potash. A very good formula to follow m mixing these goods is to use 1,200 pounds dis- solved rock, 200 pounds nitrate of soda, 300 pounds dried blood and 300 pounds muriate of potash for one ton of the mix- ture." Moving Pictures of Plant Growth THE scientists in the Department of Agriculture are preparing to match in a practical way, by a new appli- cation of "moving-picture" photographic apparatus, the miracle of the Hindu fakir who plants a seed, and causes the tree, which springs from it, to grow and come to maturity before the eyes of spectators, says World's Work. Professor WiUett M. Hays, Assistant Secretary of Agricul- ture, is preparing a series of unique stere- opticon views with the idea that, in the near future, an "education train" shall be sent out to tour the country to tell by "moving pictures" and lectures what the government is doing for the farmers. To the human eye, plants are motion- less. Their life processess are so grad- ual that we observe the results, but not the action. Yet this action, this growth, can be reproduced by "moving pictures." If a succession of pictures of a quick- growing plant be taken at intervals — say, of one every hour — and are then run through a machine which throws them upon a screen at the rapid rate of sixteen or more to the second, the plant photo- graphed seems to be growing before one's eyes. In two or three minutes the machine will throw on the screen the life history of a plant which may require many weeks to mature. A cow-pea, for example is one of the most rapid growers of our lati- tude. Yet, after a pea is planted in a pot of earth, several days elapse before there is any sign of life. This interval is rep- resented in the moving-picture exhibition by several seconds. I'hen the first double- leaved shoot presses out of the ground. Two or three more days pass before these two leaves have shaken ofT their protect- ing envelope, and spread out. In the moving picture, a couple of seconds suf- fice to bring them to their full develop- ment. Then a third leaf is seen taking form between the other two. This spreads and grows before the eyes of the aston- ished spectator, followed by a fourth, a fifth, a stalk, increasing in girth and height, branches, more leaves and flow- ers. These are seen to fall and in their places the tiny seed pods take shape and grow. These ripen and are picked; the plant dries up and dies. It has all hap- pened— all the changes of a season — in three minutes. Considerable ingenuity is required to get the pictures to show this process. The plant whose picture is taken must be in a green house, where it will not be subject to the disturbances of wind or other causes. An arc-light burns day and night to furnish light for the exposures. Finally, the moving-picture apparatus is connected with the mechanism of a clock in such manner that a new picture is taken every hour. Thus twenty-four pictures record the history of a day's growth There is a general demand in all farm- ing communities for more information about plant breeding. Accordingly, Pro- fessor Hays has had the moving-picture camera turned upon the work at the Minnesota Experiment Station, where his assistants are carrying on the work he in- augurated in breeding new varieties of wheat and flax. The views show the STRAWBERRY FIELD OF C. W. GORDON AT MONTVILLE, NEW JERSEY Paljc 175 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 men dropping seed in the little checker- board test plots; the test plots in bearing; the process of reaping the test plots; the the special miniature threshing machine at work; the process of emasculating the blossoms of the wheat; the men in the act of fertilizing one flower with the pol- len of another variety; the method of ty- ing and labelling; and, finally, the results obtained. These views will, with others, be used to illustrate the lectures delivered from the "education train. " The Saving that Wasteth By Walter E. Andrews ONE day last spring I called upon a neighbor and found him hard at work digging strawberry plan's from an old patch on his farm. "Back-aching work, isn't it?" I re- marked casually. "Yes," said he, "but this bed has fruited for three seasons and I guess it's about done for. So I'm going to start another patch and see if 1 don't have bet- ter luck. Somehow I never seem to do well with strawberries — never could ac- count for it nohow! Neighbors all around me are making money, but mighty little of it comes my way. Queer thing, that. This soil is good enough and the plants grow pretty well, but they seem to lack fruiting qualities." Of course, right there I made a few remarks. He listened politely, but I fear the suggestions I offered were as un- fruitful as his strawberry plants. "Oh, yes," he continued, when I had finished my little talk, "I've heard tell of plant breeding and all those new-fangled theories, but I never put much stock in 'em; can't afford to; do you suppose I'm going to send away and pay three or four dollars a thousand for 'fancy' plants when I can get plants for nothing right here on my own farm.^" And that apparently settled the matter. I felt that no amount of argument could outweigh that fact in his mind. To his thinking, immediate saving was the most essential thing in the universe. However, I said what I could — partly from a sense of duty, partly because there was a like- able something in my neighbor's blunt frankness. I explained patiently and calmly, I hope, that like begets like or a little worse; that plants taken from an old bed never could have the fruiting vigor of plants from a new bed which had never borne fruit; that a farmer might as well plant little potatoes every year as to set new strawberry beds, with ofF-shoots from old, worn-out plants; that — "You said part of that before," he in- terrupted, not unkindly. Indeed, I de- tected a half-humorous, half-obstinate twinkle in his eyes as he continued. "Little potatoes, you say.?" "I always plant 'em myself. Can't sell 'em you ' Direct to You" *Kalaniazoos" are fuel savers. — They last a lifeiime — Economical in all respects — They are low in price and hich in quality — They are easily operated and quickly set up and made ready for business — Buy from the actual manufacturer — Your money returned if everything is not exactly as represented — You keep in your own pocket the dealers' and jobbers' profits ■when you buy a Kalamazoo. Wc Pay the Freight Radiant B^se Burner High Grade Parlor Heater fur Hartl Coal We ■want to prove to you that you can- not buy a bet- ^^^^^^^^^^^ ter stove or ^^^^^^^^^^^ range than the Kalamazoo at any price. We want to show you how and wKy you save from 20:^0 to 40'^ in buying direct from our factory. If you think S5, or »10, or ?40 ^^^^ worth Saving All Kalama- zoo stoves and ranges are guar- anteed under a Oak Stove Heater For all kinds of fuel All Kalaiii3.^oo conk stoves and r.injes are fitted with patent oven Thermometer whii.h makes baking and roast- in'T easy. binding, legal and thoroughly re- sponsible $2tt.000 bond to be exact- ly as represented. All stoves blacked, polished and ready for immediate use when you receive them. You won't need the help of an expert to set them up in your home. Royal Steel Rang^e For all kinds of fuel. SEND POSTAL FOR CATALOGVE NO. 348 Examine our complete line of stoves and ranges for all kinds of fuel; note the high quality; compare our prices with others and then decide to buy from actual manufacturers and save all middlemen's profits. Catalog shows 2o7 styles and sizes for all kinds of fuel. Write now. Sold on 3(.0 Days Ap- proval Test. Kalamazoo Stove Co. Manufacturers. Kalamazoo, Mich, Handsomely Nickeled Monarch Cast Iron Range. Forall kinds ot fuel. know. What else you going to do with 'em.'" "But the — the — " I stammered. 'Never mind any huts' said he. "The point is: How's a poor man going to make a living unless he sells everything he can, saves every penny possible and plants all the odds and ends.' No, no neighbor.' Theories are all right for some folks, but I've got to scratch lively to keep out of the poor house — Darn that I FIND most all of m y difficuliies ex- plained and remedies for them given | m The Strawberry. MISS ANN E HINSDALE. Princetfln, 111.. Aug. 8, 190t!. mortgage on my farm, anyhow! I never did have any luck with berries or I might have paid it off long ago!" Well, I gave it up and went thought- fully home. How strange it is that the saving of a few dollars on plants or potatoes blinds so many men to the higher economy and profit which comes from wise spending. They probably will alwa\s be poor; their mortgages in all likelihood never will be Page 176 paid; no doubt they will continue to plant little potatoes and run-out plants until somebody smarter than myself succeeds in convincing them of their error How I Renew The Old Bed By C. H. Krueger I HAVE read with much interest of many different ways of renewing old strawberry beds, but still think my way the best, which of course is natural. My plan is to use an elevator potato digger. This machine leaves the ground in as fine shape as it can be made, pro- vided there is no grass sod. The soil should be reasonably dry to do its best. After mowing and burning, hitch a good team to the potato digger, dig up all plants, leaving a narrow strip four to six inches wide, being careful to drive straight. If the soil is dry, the digger will shake all plants and weed roots out of the s-'il, leaving them on the surface. After drying a day or two rake with sulky rake, haul the rubbish off, and then with a sharp hoe cut all surplus plants out of the strips. Fertilizer may be applied at this time and cultivation begun. The result should be satisfactory. Holland, Ohio. CLEANING OUT THE FENCE CORNERS ON A LARGE STRAWBERRY FARM Suggestions for September Work With Strawberries Restricting Runners SEPTEMBER is the month in which the strawberry plant makes runners most profusely, and the grower must not lose sight of the fact that not only is the mother plant strong and vigorous and therefore the better prepared for this work than at any other time, but it also is true that the young plant that this mother has produced is at this time well-established in the soil and during the month will produce run- ners nearly as rapidly as the mother her- self. So we urge all growers to keep their best eye on the bed from now on till mulching time with a view to pre- venting too many runner plants from taking root. This is what we term re- striction. No runner should be permitted to take root after your ideal row is formed. By removing all of the surplus runners the plants which remain to produce the 1907 crop is greatly strengthened and its power to produce big crops of berries immeasurably increased. A PLANT cannot build up a heavy ■**■ fruit-bud system while a large num- ber of runners draw their sustenance from it. So many letters come to us from readers after it is too Keep Control , f i\ i t of the Field 'ate saymg, My plants have got the best of me, that we urge the importance of this matter. Some write that the plants are as thick as grass and want to know what to do to cure the evil. That is a hard ques- tion to answer, for this a case wherein prevention is infinitely better than cure, and if all will follow the instructions above given, it will never be necessary to call upon outsiders for aid. If through sickness or absence you may not do this work yourself, hire it done; for the im- portance of its being done just at the right time may not be overestimated. 'T'HE long and severe drought that •^ occurred during the period just fol- lowing the setting of plants this season caused some of the plants of many grow- ,,.„. , , ers to fail to take root. rilliny In the t^. • i Vacancies ^ "^ Vacancies thus cre- ated may be better filled in during September than at any other season. By selecting a day afttr a rain Fall Cultivation the soil will be full of moisture, and it will be easy to take the plant up with a large amount of soil adhering to the roots. Take a wheelbarrow and go down the row, taking up the strongest plants from places you may best spare them and reset them where most needed. We often have done this, and observed no check in the plant's growth whatever. The plant will feed from the adhering soil until its roots are thoroughly estab- lished in its new quarters. Although these reset plants will not yield so many berries as will the others, the work thus done will preserve the symmetrical beauty of the bed and also will put the patch in fine shape for the second crop. WITH the coming of fall the tendency of the plant is to send a large number of feeding roots up near the sur- face, therefore it is best to cultivate very shallow so as not to dis- turb these feeders which play so important a part in sustaining the plant during the process of fruit-bud development. The grower should take care also that he does not go too deeply with the hoe. Merely cut under the surface sufficiently to break the crust. Of course, if your soil is very hard and compact, it will be all right to go more deeply in the center of the space between the rows. For this work we use a five-tooth cultivator, having the shovels quite sharp and pointed, drawing them close together so that the outside shovels will not come nearer than one foot to the plant. This tearing up of the soil will make it possible for it to absorb a large quantity of water supplied by the fall rains. It also mixes the vegetable matter and fertilizers with the soil so that the bacterial germs may work it up for the plant's use. TH IS is the time when all fence corners and other nesting places of insect pests should be thoroughly renovated. This work is just as important as any other feature connected • I 1 1 ■ r Insurance with the production of .„„. , ,„,„„ ^ ^ . Against Insects strawberries, and if every grower will but see to it that his fence corners, creeks and all other places Page 177 where obnoxious growths are sure to be found, are thoroughly cleaned he will greatly reduce the danger of insects and their destructive habits. First mow off the weeds and grass and, where it is pos- sible, burn everything over when dry. If along a fence, take a time when the wind is blowing away from it and then it will be safe to set fire to the stuff. And even if the fence gets a little scorching it will not do so much harm as would the insects that breed and hibernate there. Just note, and you will see that the first attack of insects is made on the rows nearest a fence or creek or some other spot where obnoxious growths have been allowed to remain. And only a short time will be required for them to work their way to the remotest portion of the field. And even though you never have seen an in- sect on your farm, it will pay you big to keep every fence corner, driveway or other spot on the place perfectly clean. WE do not believe there is any other crop that repays the cost of extra care more handsomely than does the strawberry, and preparing the soil in ad- vance is an important ^ - c f 1 Preparing Ground feature oi successful (or i907 strawberry production. To those who have a piece of ground accessible at this time, we suggest that it be broken up and thoroughly prepared by several harrowiiigs until every clod is made fine and the soil is like a garden bed. Then the latter part of September, or even the first of October, sow rye at the rate of five pecks to the acre. This rye will become large enough to be a great protection to the soil during the winter months. During the winter when the ground is frozen, scatter manure thin- ly and evenly o\er the rye. The rye will take up the leachings of the manure that have been extracted by the winter rains and snows and hold it in reserve for the strawberry plants the following spring. Just as early as possible in the spring this rye should be turned completely under, when you will have as well prepared a bed for strawberry plants as one could wish for. For those of our friends who raise chickens let us say that the rye will be an excellent place for the fowls to get THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 THE WAY TO PREVENT FUNGOUS DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS their "greens" during the winter months. If you have the manure, and the time in which to do the work, it will be all the better if you will spread the manure and work it thoroughly into the soil before sowing the rye. IN many localities mulching materials are not always easily obtainable, and just now when the farmers are threshing their grain is an opportune moment to engage straw for the Arranging for ■ r \_ Mulching wmter covenng for the plants. A great many farm'ers will be very glad to dispose of their old stack of straw, now that the new crop of straw is in hand; and the old is much better for mulching strawberries than the new straw, as it lies better on the plants and is not so easily blown away. It always is best to engage this in ad- vance and then you will be sure to have it on hand when mulching time comes. As to preference, we would choose old wheat straw, but we often find it so scarce as to be glad enough to accept almost anything as a substitute. In some localities it is impossible to get any kind of straw, and where this is true we sug- gest that you make a special effort to se- cure the coarse manure from livery and private stables, remembering that anything is better than no mulching at all. '^ ^ SOIL CULTURE— some form of agriculture — is the elect calling of the future, and the boy who leaves the farm in these days, unless he have peculiar aptitude for some other line of work, is throwing away a great opportunity. As H. J. Waters, dean of the Missouri Agri- cultural College well says: 'The ex- perience a young man gains on the farm is a most valuable asset. He should not throw it away by entering some other profession in which this experience is of no special value. This is particularly true when we consider the extent to which most of the professions are crowded and the unusual opportunities now offered in agriculture. Every farm boy should sup- plement his farm experience by training in a college of agriculture, so as to be prepared for the greatest possible success." ^ >^ All in Good Management 10NCE asked a farm hand how his employer succeeded in doing so well when he only worked ten hours a day, writes Fred Grundy in Farm and Fireside. "It's all in the management!" said he. "If I had sense enough to man- age as well as he does I would be the owner of a farm now instead of working by the month. I think he is the best manager I ever saw. The work goes on as steadv as a clock on his place. There seems to be no rush at any time, but I know I am doing better work and more of if on this farm than I ever did in my life. He has every implement fixed to do the best work it will do, and I can tell you it is a great satisfaction to work with them. Then he is the best stock feeder I know. He feeds the horses just enough to keep them even. They are not fat as butter in winter and poor as crows in summer. When at work they have full feed, and when they stop, the feed is cut down at once. He seems to have more sense about these things than anybody I ever met. The fact is, he is a real cracking good farmer." This fact is getting plainer every day: that it is not brawn but brain — active brain — that makes the most successful farmer of today. And we should keep in mind the fact that active brains are not found in an overworked body. Look for Sunbeams Ida Gregory IF we look for sunbeams We can tint! them everywhere; Nestled midst the silken tresses Of an infant's sunny hair. Sunbeams resting in the fondness Of a mother's patient smile, Gaily romping in the glances Of each happy little child. There are just as many sunbeams AH around us, brightly fair, As shadows, and if we look We can find them ev'ry where. A READY POWER AT ANY HOUR That's the kind of a power you want., ■Vou do not have to wait for steam, or until the wind blows, before you can pump water, grind feed, saw wood or the hundred and one other jobs about the farm, if you have a L.ion Gas or Gasoline Engine. Have you ever thought just what a saving of time, labor and money it would be to have such a prac- tical power always ready to operate your various machines on the farm, in the shop, printing-ofBce, or— anywhere? The LION Engine is such a power. It is simple in construction, practical in operation, and economical in the use of fuel. Vou do not require the services of an engineer, as anyone can operate it. We send the L.ion engine Direct From The Factory on a ten d&ys test trial and give explicit instructions and directions for setting up and operating it. Write now, stat- ing your power needs, foroureasy payment plan. Remem- ber, we send the engine, not the agent. LYONS ENGINE CO., - • Lyons, mich. Page 178 How One Amateur Finds Joy in His Patch VIEW NO. 1 SHOWING NEWLY SET BED ABOU1" ten years ago my father had a big bed of selected straw- berry plants. It was my pleas- ure to get up in the morning at four o'clock and work till eleven a. m. hoeing, taking half an hour for breakfast. I had the idea the ground should be cul- tivated as soon as possible after a rain, waiting just long enough to get somewhat dry on top, but not letting the hoeing go a week or so, looking for another rain. I pinched off all the blossoms. (My father wanted some to grow, so he could see what they were like.) The runners were just getting started and I was won- dering how many to let set in the row, when my father told me there was no use doing anything further; that I had killed all the plants. His continual talk along that line discour- aged me and I did no more work on that bed afterward. In August of that year father hired an old man to go through the patch with a spade and garden line to mark out the rows. It looked as if I had killed everything, did it not.' Now I have a little place of my own and though it is rather a damper to have your wife ask you if you e.xpect the plants to come up through that dirt (after mow- ing and covering) still I try not to mind it, but just go ahead, following The Strawberry way as nearly as I can arrive at it. In the spring of 1905 I had a man By Robert Allen niiistratlons Fr..m PliutoLTulilis Tiikoii Hy th.- Author plow my plot for strawberry plants. After he was done, just for the curiosity of it, I e.xamined to see how many inches of loose soil I had. It was so very little that I went over the whole with a spad- ing fork, going the full depth. The plants did finely, many having eight crowns. I kept all blossoms and runners off. My soil was not so rich as I had thought, so the plants did not do so well as they might. Last fall I spaded up another plot, covering it afterwards with good manure. This I spaded in the spring, setting the plants sixteen inches apart, letting each plant produce another, then keeping off all runners. I wish now 1 had set even more plants, so they would have had longer time to grow and build up crowns, instead of depending upon half new plants to fill the beds. I dipped the roots in tobacco-stem tea before setting, so am not bothered with ants this year. But the currant worm was in evidence, eating holes in the leaves. I fixed them with hellebore. I find now the leaf roller. I sprayed once with Paris green, but must give them another dose. I use a pointed hoe and now cultivate lightly near the plants going deeper be- tween the rows. I believe that last year I injured the roots at times, though the plants did well and were never watered, except as it rained. I mowed last year's plants off June 26, and now the remaining plants are nice and green, most of them with good fo- liage, apparently starting crowns nicely, ,^^flH 1 W'k-^ VIEW NO. 3 SHOWING MOWED-OFF PLANTS With the youngest member of the family taking a hand ing time all the plants were sending out runners without end. My plants stand up about a foot high and look as big as most plants do in the fall or spring. I am sending you three views of my strawberry bed, taken by myself. It was set out in 1905 and 1906. I set four varieties last year, two rows each, in hills two feet apart each way. View No. 1 was taken in June, 1905. They were Texas, Wolverton, Midnight and Arizona. View No. 2 was taken the first week in June, 1906. It shows the old bed in hills, with the cornstalk mulch- ing, the newly set plants farther over. I set these in April of this year. View No. 3 shows two rows of last year's plants mowed off and dirt thrown over the crowns. They have not sent out runners yet (except one plant) but the crowns are beginning to show up well. My calculation was that each plant should produce one more plant, forming a single-liedge row. But some died out from the very dr\' weather. I am pre- paring to fill the by starting in berry These I near t h e plant and VIEW NO. 2 SHOWING OLD BED IN HILLS WITH CORNSTALK MULCHING but why is it that they are so slow in starting runners.? Only one plant (Texas) seems to be attending to business. It has half a dozen or so fine runners. In fruit- Pa£e 179 gaps plants boxes. imbed mother leave till the new plant is well devel- oped. It is then no trouble at all to transplant it to any place I wish, even in dry weather. I wet the earth in the box a few hours ahead, then break away the box and set the chunk in a hole THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 prepared for it. The roots have often filled the box completely. I used this method last year and every plant grew. Not one plant winter killed. I count the strawberry bed a success, even if we did lose many berries by hav- ing the hills too far apart. 1 succeeded in doing what I had undertaken to do — kept the plants restricted to the original hills. 1 took great delight in seeing the plants stool up — just as a woman delights in her geranium bed. I'his is our experimental patch. We may go into the business on a larger scale some day, but I hope we shall never be tempted to put out so large a field that we cannot take care of it properly. Odell, ni., Aug. 1, 1906. The Picker's Chariot WE present herewith a unique in- vention made by George Web- ster of Christiana, Pa., and which he has named a chariot. Certainly there is something royal in the notion that a strawberry picker may ride through the fields and gather the crop sitting in luxurious ease and shaded by the canopy of his chariot from the sweltering rays of the sun. Mr. Webster writes that his only objection to strawberry growing was the picking part — he couldn't get along well with so much stooping over. As a German employe on The Strawberry farms remarked: "Ich overstoops so much dot I cand't oopbend." This ap- peared to be Mr. Webster's trouble, and as necessity is the mother of invention, this chariot is the outcome of this difficulty. The engraving shows the chariot to be a bottomless four-wheeled cart, with seat for picker and a shelf for boxes. The picker loads up the shelf with boxes, takes his seat and by turning the wheels with his hands moves down over the rows, gathering the big ripe berries with both hands — for he doesn't have to carry a box in one hand. It will be observed that the sun is shining down on that can- opy good and strong, yet Mr. Webster appears to be enjoying his hatlessness not- withstanding the lack of protection at the WEBSTER'S CHARIOT FOR PICKERS MR. WEBSTER PICKING STRAWBERRIES FROM HIS CHARIOT UNDER A JULY SUN place where the hair ought to grow." He writes us that he is compelled to ad- mit his baldness, but doesn't want readers to think the darkness of face indicates a black friend and brother; it is so only be- cause he sits in so deep a shadow. By the way, Mr. Webster was celebrating Independence Day in his chariot when this photograph was taken, typifying, as it were, his release from back-breaking toil and the establishing of a new order of things in the land of the strawberry. The chariot as shown carries thirty-two boxes, weighs thirty-five pounds, may be lifted and carried with ease from row to row, and, as Mr. Webster points out, does away with the moving of boxes, the trampling of the vines and the crushing and loss of many strawberries. The vines come up through the frame of the chariot and really are in the lap of the picker, standing upright, so that the picker may readily strip themoftheirfruit, placing it in the boxes which, as fast as filled are placed upon the shelves, out of the direct rays of the sun. "I pick them in the shade, carry or haul them in the shade and do not get off the seat until the end of the row is reached," writes Mr. Webster. Comfort for the picker, safety to vines and fruit, and economy in all ways, is the strong claim made by Mr. Webster for his chariot. TM^OW that denatured alcohol may be ^ ^ manufactured by everybody without having to pay an internal revenue tax which up to this time has been prohibitive, we hope to see our friends in the rural districts take advantage of the opportunity and use up all the wastes of berry patch, orchard and farm in manufacturing a commodity that ought to stand for a very large economy. No individual may un- dertake this work, depending upon the w-aste of his own farm to supply the raw 180 material. It will require quite an expen- sive plant to distil the alcohol, and no one person in the community will care to undertaKe it. But at this point coopera- tion may be employed and the alcohol made at little cost that shall heat and light the houses of the farmers, run his engine, and in many ways serve as an important feature in farm economy. De- natured alcohol, as all know, is a non- drinkable, poisonous alcohol, and useful onlj' in the arts. By all means cooperats and make the most of this great oppor- tunity. Pointers for the Procrastinator THE easiest way of starting a planta- tion of strawberries in the home garden is to set young plants i:i early spring, the earlier the better. Of course, the ground must be rich and well prepared. A new bed invariably does, better than an old one, no matter how we treat it, for the strain of bearing a heavy crop of berries is a severe one and must necessarily weaken the old plants, says a writer in Farm and Fireside. For that reason also I would prefer to take plants for setting from a young bed that is just ready for bearing its first crop. But when one has been neglectful and failed to make a new plantation for home use, as I did this year, then we must do the next best thing. This I find to be the plan of taking up nice and thrifty plants in big chunks from the old bed after the picking season is just over, preferably in a wet season or shortly after a heavy rain, and set these chunks in trenches dug deep enough so that the plants stand on the level, the rows being of the customary (four feet) width, and the chunks set five or six feet apart in the rows. The chunks are car- ried from the old to the new patch prefer- ably on a stone or mud boat, or on the THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 wheelbarrow, never on the wagon, so as to avoid shaking them about and loosen- ing the dirt from the roots. On a wheel- barrow we can usually carry only about eight of these large chunks of earth to a load, and possibly not over fifty on a stone-boat. Consequently the job of mak- ing a new plantation in this manner is necessarily slow. But if it is done in a wet time, the plants hardly know they have been moved, and when carefully handled and planted, will throw out new runners abundantly, and make closely matted rows by fall, and a good crop of fine berries the following season. The plan will answer when we cannot do any better. If we have neither planted in the spring, nor have a chance to make a new bed by the "chunk method," then there is the third choice, to be found in setting so-called "potted plants." It is possible to raise at least a partial crop on fall-set potted plants the following berry season. Here at the North I have been unable to grow even a fairly good yield on such plants, no matter how carefully they had been potted off and transplanted. But even a small crop is better than no berries at all. Whether it be done in spring, summer or fall, the strawberry patch must be planted. We can't do without it. Women and Strawberry Culture I would like you to send me some advice and facts on strawberry growing. I read this week in a woman's journal that a delicate woman or girl could take care of an acre of strawberries by hiring help at picking time, and that a moderate profit above all expenses on the acre would be $500. Now I do not see how this can be and I want your advice. I am a woman, a school teacher, and not very strong. I want to plant an acre of strawberries on good ground sloping to the south, and would like to know how much of the work pertaining to it I might be likely to be able to do. The plowing of the ground in the fall, the manuring in the fall, the second plowing in the spring, the plant- ing, the subsequent plowing and mulching would have to be hired done by a man. Then suppose I managed well in attending to other matters: can you give me any estimate of what I might clear financially on a moderate crop from one acre.' I would be willing to undertake it on a smallprofit, but I do not want to under- take anything that I could not get back all money invested and a little extra for my efforts. I've never done any business except in a very small way, but I always clear myself and quite a bit more. Roodhouse, 111. E. P. WHAT may be accomplished by a woman in your situation is past estimating. Some of the very finest successes in horticulture have been made under just such conditions as you purpose to create, and even in animal husbandry women have achieved notable successes. So don't be influenced at all by the fact that you are a woman. The native chivalry' of man, where the individual is worthy of that appellation, makes him all the more careful to do his work well where it is done for a woman having the pluck and courage to work out her own destiny. So don't be in- fluenced by the fact that you are to de- pend for the heavy work upon masculine help. The opportunity in the strawberry field is excelled by none and equalled by few occupations, whether considered as to its adaptability to the feminine mind and physical powers or from the viewpoint of possible success and profits. Many of the most successful of The Strawberry family are women, and more enthusiasm and spirit will not be found among the masculine members. So rest in confi- dence upon the wisdom of your choice of enterprises. And the things which you, even though not a strong woman, could do in behalf of your plants would be beyond calcula- tion, and the success of your veuture might greatly depend upon the work done by yourself in the held. Strawberries are very appreciative of extra care and repay it in the most astonishing way, and it is just the little extra touches which one in your situation might give them — the vig- ilant oversight of one whose time is wholly given up to them, that make for large results at picking time. Now as to that estimate made by the writer in that woman's journal. We deprecate statements of that kind because they are quite apt to arouse hopes and expectations that may not be realized, and so be followed by disappointment and discouragement. Whether one may secure $500 or $400 or $300 from an acre of strawberries depends upon many things — soil, weather, markets, plants and how they are set out and cared for; the intelligence of the grower, her devotion to her work and the degree of "gumption" put into daily practice. But $500 and even $700 have been taken from an acre of strawberries, and each year the oppor- tunity to secure large returns increases because of the growing demand for the fruit. So we say, in conclusion, if you will follow the instructions as given in The Strawberry, adjusting them intelli- gently to the particular conditions under which you may be situated; set out none but the best plants, give them only the best of care; use the best of judgment in marketing, and seeing to it that the fruit is packed well, with scrupulous care in- sisting that the bottom of the box shall be as fine as the top — do these things, and we are confident you will in this instance, as you say you have done in others, "clear yourself and quite a bit more " COMPLAINTS of the injury being done by the grub come to us from strawberry folk all the country over. There is only one remedy for this pest, Page 181 1 .93 ^"y* ^'* '-^''9' Handsome Nrokd Trimmed Steel Range rloFct or reservoir. WiUi ti(t:ti wurm- iner cluwet, poicfluin lined ret-ervoir, just aa shown la cut, 813.yo;larye,S4iiarooven, eiicookiiiR holes. body mado of cold rolled eteel. Duplex frrate; burns ^ood or coal. Ilandyonie iiicl;el tiiuiminga- Litlil.vijolitlied. the most Ijberal ever Imnde. You can pay I aftcryou receive the ranpro, Youcantakft it into your home, J uielt Sudays. Jfyoudoi.'B find it exactly as represent- ed, the biggest bargain you ever saw, equal to stoves [retailed for double our . 'ice. return It to us. Wo will pay ireightboth waya. Write Today ^'^^ '^^^ beautnully illustrated Stove * Catalogue No.1123, a jio^tal card will do. ?.. scyk-s to s.-lcit from. Doat buy until you u'ct it. MARVIN SMITH CO., CHICAGO, ILL. Strawberries Are one of the nn tst protltable cro-9 and it pavs to ^vt plants in the fall. We turnithKloiulvke. Lady Thomp- son and other leading varletlfs at $1.75 per lOOO and upwards. A^k for onrspeeial priie lisLstatiug number of plants desiiod. Iowa Seed Co. Des Moinec, la. Make More Money on Fruit Crops Eveiyone who grows fniit, whether a large ct'ni- iiuTcial giiivver, or one wlio li;us only a lew fruit tices. a berry patch WER C(' .St. 1 a.T.[.t V'.nr FHLE tin fud ..f tlnvi-ninnibsl ^iJntli.' t^cripti-.ii .iriinttfy y<.utost"PI' theie is to be NO clmrge forVln -. -. Ineitherevcnt llirec month's trial. Route or P. O. Bux Number. To w n Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 50 to 100 pa^ea, it3 writers are the most suecessfu! Foultrymen aiidw«jmen in the United Stales. It is ThePOULTRYTRIBUNE, nicelv illuMlrated. brimful each month of information on How to Care for Fowls a d Make the Mnst Miney with them. In fact s^o good vou can't aff'Td to he without it. I'ri e.50c*-nt^ jut venr Send atouce for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU. R, R. FISHER, Pub., Box 86 • Freeporl, III. I'lease mt- uti^n The ftitrawberry wIk ii writi- tf THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 and that is to dig down to the roots of your plants, get the grub and kill him. But there is one prexentive that is most effective — plow up the infected soil late in autumn, bringing the grubs to the sur- face, thus exposing them to freezing weather and the attacks of birds. Every grower should practice this method who can do so. And remember that clover- sod land is particularly the habitation of the grub. Never put strawberry plants in any sod land without first carefully inspecting the land. If signs of the grub are found — set out your plants somewhere else. Overflow Question Box A. R. B., Manitowoc, Wis. Should the run- ners that sprout from young plants be allowed to grow? And when should the runners be covered up? The runners from the young plants are all right, but no more runners, either from the mother plant or from the runner plants, should be permitted to grow than will fill out your ideal row. That is, if it be single-hedge, let two runners form; if double-hedge, let four runners form. Of course, if there are vacancies in the rows you wish to fill, you may let one or two extra runners form to be transplanted later into these vacant places. You should place soil on the runner just back of the node or bud as soon as the latter forms. This will aid the development of the node into an independent plant, and also v\ill help to relieve the mother plant of the strain of nourishing her offspring, Idea A you have the ' fresh popcorn .and oiher neces- sary material, and ^••rt .^Ir /-k*« !--» ^1f 1 have the formula I J3CK6r- aCK formakingthemost healthful Cracker-Jack on earth. Now, what I propose to do is ro send you my formula wjih com- plete instructions for making Potter's Famous Cracker-Jack if you will send me 25 cents. Why pay a big price for a little bag of stale cracker-jack when you can learn howto make my famous brand at so small a cost? Send me 25c in silver or 2c stamps and I will forward my formula and full information by return mail. It will tell you how to make your own cracker-jack, and earn bjg money. Clark Potter, The Cracker-Jack Man, Three Rivers, Mich. \Vr v..ii.'Ii for Mr. Putt-T. — Kivi.u i..., Pi-pi.imiim, Cu, Did You Ever Use Press Clippings? DO YOU wuiit to know evevythin ttnythintc.' po-ssiblo about Want clippings of every article published on any topic in tlie American or Foreign press, weeiUies, dailies, niag- u/.ines and trade papers? Want to eonipile a scrap-book on a special subject? Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- ing dul) or elsewhere; paper or essay in a literary club, or anvthing of that nature? The easiest, surest, quickest, most economical way is to secure the services of our large staff of trained readers. .Send $;^.U0 for a special trial month. I'liitecl States Press Clipping Bureau, latli Floor Republic ISldg:. Chirasro, III. Send stamp for booklet. TV you iVHlit. str;iwberries frmn August to Novem- ber, try "Pan-.\merican" and '■.\utunin". Plants for .sale by Samm-I Cooper. Delevan, N. V. circulars Free. thus enabling her to give more strength to the upbuilding of a fruit-producing organism possessed of strength and \igor. O. R. L. , a member of this school located in a Michigan city, the name of vshich for obvious reasons is omitted, v^Tote us several weeks ago as follows: "Some old growers of berries here are working against me; that is, they are getting all the fancy store trade of our town so as to shut me out. I am not the kind of fellow that is going to beg dealers to handle them; that is sure. I have made up my mind to cut prices if worst comes to worst. Please advise me what to do in a case of this kind — tell me what would be the best way to market them." We advised as fol- lows, and give what was said for the benefit of others who may have a similar ditficulty: The best thing for you to do is to care for all of your berries as they are picked in the field, putting up the fancy select berries in boxes to themselves, then before taking the berries to market, arrange the top layer in each box attractively by pla- knock is a boost is true in a business way. A. L. E., Birmingham, Ala. My soil is of only medium fertility and I want to know what mixture of fertilizer is best and how to apply for best results. Will sulfate of am- monia, guaranteed 25 per cent nitrogen, be economical at $64 per ton as compared with nitrate of soda, 16 per cent at .$50 per ton, and will it give as good results? 2. Will plants require any mulching in win- ter in this (central Alabama) locality? .^. Can I use Alabama tjrown plants and set in tlie fall for a crop the following spring, or will it be better to get Northern grown plants in the spring and wait a year for a crop? If I wait until spiing can I wait until May 15 and set Northern grown plants? If I may, I can raise an onion crop by that time; not lose a year for a money crop. In this locality the onion crop is made between January 1 and May 15 and the heavy fertilization and cul- ture required for it leaves the ground in most excellent shape for any crop following. It is rather hard to give advice on STRAWBERRY FIELD OF L. E. SWOGGER, CARLTON, PA. IN a note to The Strawberry, Mr. Swogger says: "The size of my patch is 234 by 255 feet, ^ and from it I picked and shipped this season 7,900 quarts. In addition to this the family picked and sold and ate a great many berries of which no account was kept. This w.ts an extra- ordinary yield, as the season here was dry and hot when the berries were ripening. But the berries were fine, and sold at from 15 to 8 cents a quart." Good berries always get good prices cing the stem ends down. This will lea\e the glossiest part of the berry in full view of the customers which will make them hungry to get a taste of them. It is not a good plan to cut prices in order to get trade. It is best to whip the other fellow out by putting nicer fruit on the market than he can possibly grow. We admire your grit in not wanting to beg anybody for their trade. If the merchants do not want to handle your berries and treat you fairly in the matter, we would advise that you take them from house to house, showing them to the buyers of each fam- ily and convince them that your berries are honestly packed and fully ripened. It is also a good plan to leave your com- petitor alone. That is, never mention his name unless you are compelled to do so. It is always best to build up a trade on the merits of your goods, and if your competitors will try to injure your trade, they will be doing you good, and them- selves harm. The old saying that "every Paee 182 commercial fertilizers without first experi- menting with them and on your own soil. Sulfate of ammonia will be good, if not better, than nitrate of soda. 2. It is not necessary to mulch the plants in .Alabama for the purpose of pro- tecting them against the freezing and thawing, but it is necessary to mulch them to keep the berries clean. 3. While we believe that Northern grown plants will do better than those grown in the South, yet we realize that it is a long way to ship them from here to your state. You might get some of the Southern grown, and then get some of the Northern grown plants and test them side by side, and whichever does the better will be the plants to use. We hardly believe that it would be a success to grow a crop of onions and then set the ground immediately to plants, as it will then be too late for the plants to get proper growth before the hot, dry, summer sets in. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL, t%# STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION SEPTEMBER brings with it many interesting questions and much important work, and the Corres- pondence School is answering this month many inquiries that will exactly lit your case, v\e have no doubt. One subscriber who had not seen The Straw- berry until August writes: "The Straw- berry is received. I find in it just the information I need for this month." And this issue will take to him just what he will require for this month, and so on throughout the year. Month by month the people who grow strawberries are coming to realize the unique character of this magazine — to comprehend that of all the varied indus- trial lines none other has a publication which so thoroughly covers the field of practical instruction as does The Straw- berry, and they are taking a greater interest in adding to its usefulness by increasing its circulation. Writing from Asotin, Wash., one of our subscribers says: The Strawberry comes regularly and is a wel- come \ isitor. I read and re-read it and get a great deal of encouragement and information from its pages. Don't see how 1 could get along without it." We wish to call attention to the fact that each month several persons are apt to ask the same questions, although the form of the question will difFer somewhat. We therefore urge every reader to study questions and answers with care. If you fail to find answer to your particular ques- tion, read to see if that question is not answered in response to another's whose letter perhaps reached us earlier, or for some other reason was answered instead of yours. And again we urge >ou to ask questions without stint, if they are practical ones. It may result in solving your own vexa- tious problems; and you may be sure that others are to be benefited in the same way. Let us make this the great- est school, as it is the most unique, in the world. (). J. , Dawson, Minn. Our soil is so level tliat some of tile plants I put out last year died this spring on account of wet. I would like to get the best plan for draining a level piece of ground. The best thing to do in a case of this kind is to run a tile ditch through the lower place of this soil, draining it into some creek or place where the surplus water can be easily carried away. But if all the land around you is level and the drainage cannot be done, you can either make an open ditch to drain it into from the tile, or, if this would be too expensi\ e, you may make a slight ridge, setting the plants on this as they do in the South. This ridge is made something on the plan of a sweet potato ridge. Thousands of acres of strawberries are grown on ridges in this manner in Mississippi, and they grow very choice berries there. J. T. K , Wahpeton, N. D. I set 1000 plants last spring and they are doing finely where they are on good soil. A part of my patch is where coal ashes were thrown and that part is no good. In another part the soil is all gumbo and is not doing very well. Perhaps you folks do not know what gumbo in the Red River valley is like. It resembles cold putty in the spring then along in the summer it gets like a Milwaukee brick that was burned next the arch. So you can hardly blame a plant for not doing well in it, but it will raise great crops of grain just the same. We never advise anyone to use coal ashes, because there is no fertilizing value in them. However, they should improve your gumbo soil by preventing it from packing so firmly. (;. S. .'\.. Mahern, Ark. Are sorghum stalks, after the juice has been extracted from them, a good mulch for strawberries.' One of the very best, and in your sec- tion, where large quantities of sorghum are grown, it should be a favorite with strawberry growers. P. A. P., Jamestown, Pa. I set an acre to strawberries this season and have two more acres joining that I expect to set after I har- vest my first crop, provided it is satisfactory. But I have been having a hard battle with the grub worm. Now the adjoining piece of land is in oats this season and needed to Mammoth clover with a good catch, and I expect to plow under the second crop of clover in the fall of 1907, give it a good dressing of manure and set to strawberries in the spring of 1908. Will that do away w ith the grubs? 2. Put some manure on first piece direct from blacksmith shop that contained horses' hoof parings. Would that be likely to bring in the grubs? Setting strawberry plants will not do away with the grubs or help you in any manner in your fight against the pests. 'S'ou do not say whether the oat field is Page 183 now infested with grubs, but it is com- monly true that one of the most prolific breeding places for the grub is foimd in the clover field. We advise you to ex- amine with great care this field before setting to plants in 1908, as the presence of grubs in your patch in such close proximity to the clover field indicates that grubs may be present over the entire area, including the present strawberry patch, and the two acres you intend set- ting out in 1908. 2. We know of no reason why the manure taken from a blacksmith shop should be any more liable to be infested with grubs than any other. It is true that in bringing manure on the farm, one always runs the risk of having grubs brought in with it. '^ ^ S. B. H., Athens, Mich. Will it injure one-year-old strawberry plantations to pull the weeds and grass which may come through the mulch before the fruiting season and es- pecially when in bloom? 2. Some growers claim that only the plant nearest the parent vine on each runner should be set to improve the berries or keep planta- tions from running out. Is there anything in this? 3. Will keeping all buds picked on such plants cause them to produce a superabun- dance of runners? 4. When should fall cultivation cease in well established beds? Would you advise a cover crop when fruiting rows are well established to check runners? It will not injure your fruiting bed to pull the weeds that may come up through the mulching between the rows or in the rows, provided the work is done imme- diately after a rain and while there is plenty of moisture in the ground. It is always best to do this work before the plants come into bloom, but if it has been deferred until then, there will be no in- jury, provided you wait until it rains. 2. We never have found any differ- ence in the runner plants whether they were the fiist plants next to the mother plants or the third or fourth, provided the mother plant is in good physical con- dition, and that it has been carefully selected during the previous years. 3. There is no doubt that it increases the runner production of a plant to pinch the buds from the spring-set plants, be- cause this naturally relieves the plant of a great strain, and it starts at once to build up a large foliage. If the buds are not removed, the plants will be weakened so THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 they may not send out runner plants, and if the weather turns dry, it is quite likely to exhaust the plant entirely. The time to stop cultivation in the strawberry field will depend somewhat upon the season. 4. Ordinarily it is best to stop culti- vation the latter part of September in this latitude. If cultivation be continued too late in the fall, it has a tendency to en- courage a large foliage growth at the ex- pense of fruit buds. Mulching the plants would not check the runners. It would prevent them from taking root, which would be all the more detrimental to the mother plants. F. F. B. , Belmont, N. Y. Can you tell me of anything that will keep cutworms and wire worms from destroying my strawberry plants? The cutworms destroy the plants, and the wire worms destroy the runners by boring into them, and they also attack the old plants. The cutworms attack the roots of the runners as soon as they set. I would now have a glorious patch but for the worms. As the wire worm does most of injur- ious work under the surface of the ground, we hardly believe the damage done to your runners can be from this insect. We think it is the stalk borer. These insects bore into plants of different kinds and the plant soon wilts; upon ex- amining them you will find that the plant has been cut off inside the stalk. The stalk borer is a brown worm about the size of a wire worm. It hatches from an egg laid by a brown moth. The moth appears late in the summer and the insect apparently hibernates in its adult condi- tion. There is scarcely any remedy for this insect, but a good preventive is clean cultivation, as these insects develop in wayside woods and foul places. Nor do we think it is the cut worm that is cutting the roots from your plants. It is more apt to be the white grub. The white grub is about one inch long and as large around as a lead pencil, having a brown head. It eats the roots off of the plant about one inch under the ground surface. Fall plowing before setting the plants is a good preventive. There is nothing that can be done after the grub attacks the plants save to dig down and kill it. ^ <^ H. B. B. , Edge Moor, Del. Have some va- cant places in my rows of plants. Shall I till them in with runner plants this fall or next spring? If the former, at what time should the transplanting take place and under what conditions? The filling in of the vacant places in the rows should be done in the fall, the latter part of September preferably. Take a day after a rain has fallen, and while the earth is yet moist and soft lift the plants, being careful to have as much soil adhering to the roots as possible and reset them in the vacant spaces. Set in this way and under such conditions, the plants will thrive finely, and your patch made complete with symmetrical rows. ^ it A. F. B,, Cedarburg, Wis. The August num- ber of The Strawberry is very fine. The answers to my questions cover the ground thoroughly. I want still more information, however. I have three acres of corn land on part of which I wish to plant strawberries next year. This ground is badly infested with grubs. Is it safe to put out strawberries there under the circumstances? And is there any way of treating it to destroy the grub after the corn is cut? Can insecticides be used to destroy them while plants occupy the ground? The presence of the grub in the ground is a grave menace to the plants, and it will not be safe to set strawberry plants there so long as these pests remain. Grubs are not susceptible to treatment by the use of insecticides either when the plants are in the ground or at any other time. The remedy is to plow up your land this fall very late — just when the frosts are effective. Turning up the soil at that time will bring the grubs on top, expose them to the frost and the attacks of birds and thus they may be utterly destroyed. But be sure that you have accomplished this before setting out your plants. To set plants in a place, or near a place, known to be infested with the grub is an open invitation to failure. We may add that everyone should re- move his strawberry patch as soon as he can do so after discovering the presence of grubs, and get the patch as far away as possible from the infested section. J. W. K.. Woodstock, N. B. After the first node forms is it right to keep the runner cut off until the first plant gets well rooted? 2. Should the foliage be mowed oti plants set this spring? 3. In setting plants shipped from a distance should the dry tips of roots be pruned and should earth be pressed firm when setting? It is unnecessary to cut off the exten- sion part of the runner after the first node forms. If you will lay a little soil on the runner wire just back of the first node, a new plant will be formed immediately which will send its roots into the soil. During this process of development the extension part of the runner wire will continue to grow and it will also form a node which may be treated the same as the first one. And the second runner plant from the mother plant will be just as good as the first one. 2. It will not be necessary for you to mow the foliage off of your plants which are set this spring. The mowing is only TEXAS TO THE FRONT Is Coming so Fast You Can Hear It! No other section of the country offers such inducements to the Home-Seeker the Health or Pleasure-Seeker, or the Capitalist A Mild Climate Fertile Lands (and cheap) and Busy, Growing Cities I. & G. N. "The Texas Railroad" We shall be pleased to answer inquiries. Send 2c stamp for the Texas "Red Book," contain- in£ interesting Facts. With more than 1,000 miles of track, traverses the most favored sections of the state, operates through cars from St. Louis, Memphis, etc., in connection with Iron Mountain Route. D. J. PRICE. G. P. ®. T. A., Palestine, Texas 184 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 done on plants after the crop of berries has been harvested. 3. It is always best to cut the ends of the roots off of all plants before setting them out. Wherever the cut is made there a callous will form and from this callous numerous feeding roots will be sent out, thus making a much stronger root system. The soil should be pressed very firmly around the roots of the plant after it has been set out. By doing this you not only prevent air from coming in direct contact with the roots, but you also put the roots in close contact with the soil, so that the feeders can take hold quickly. E. O., Delaware, Ohio. We have had a very wet season, and plants are badly affected with leaf-curl. Have sprayed the plants with Bordeaux mixture, and wish to know if a second spraying is necessary; if so how soon; and how often should plants be sprayed? 2. Does it make any difference what time of day the spraying is done? 3. If it should rain within twenty-four hours after the plants have been sprayed, should the work be repeated? 4. Will it be beneficial to cut away the affected leaves of the plants? .S. Is it necessary to hoe under the heavy foliage of the plants? Leaf curl requires more Paris green in the Bordeaux mixture than commonly is used. To the fifty gallons of Bordeaux add ten ounces of Paris green, rather than the customary six or eight ounces. The second spraying should be within a week or ten days, depending upon the condi- tion of the plants and the effect of the former spraying. 2. Do not spray while the dew is on the vines in the morning. Any other time will serve equally as well. 3. Rain will cause some loss of ma- terial. If it be very heavy the plants should be sprayed again within four or five days. 4. Yes, it will be well to cut away the infected leaves. 5). Hoe under the foliage only when surface crust forms. Never permit a crusted surface in the strawberry field. H. F. C, Manchester, N. H. We have a small piece of land that grew heavy grass and clover this year that we want to set out to strawberries next spring. When we got through haying we put seven pigs on the land, and they are rooting it up in great shape. Now we want to know the best way to treat it to set the plants out next May. The first thing to do with the land is to break it up, seeing to it that the sod is completely turned under. Then sow rye at the rate of five pecks to the acre, which will grow into a fine cover crop. During the winter cover the plot with a liberal dressing of barnyard manure and, as early as the soil is in condition next spring, plow this under and harrow until the soil is thoroughly fined. This should make an ideal strawberry bed. Pigs are excel- lent soil restorers in more ways than one. C. T. W. , LaFayette, Ind. Please advise through The Strawberry how much straw is required per acre for winter mulching of strawberries? 2. How and when do you start a propagat- ing bed? Two and a half tons of good straw will cover an acre very nicely. 2. A propagating bed is started in the same way and at the same time as a fruit- ing bed. It is in the manner of runner- making and treatment of the plants that methods differ. B. B. F., Concord, Mass. I have a bed of strawberries which I want to plow up and plant to strawberries again for home use. I know it would be better not to use this for strawberries again, but I must do so or have none. I cannot get stable manure very well and so must use fertilizer. I want to set out plants in August; will you kindly advise me what kind of fertilizer to use? 2. If asparagus, after being cut, would make good mulch? While your plan is not an ideal one, yet it may be successful if you will first burn the bed over. This will destroy all insects and fungi. After the ground has been broken, prepare it thoroughly and sow to rye, sowing about five pecks to the acre. This winter, after the ground has been frozen, spread well decayed manure lightly over the rye. In the spring, replow this and work the manure thoroughly into the soil before setting the plants. If you cannot get the stable manure, we would refer you to Bowker Chemical Works, Boston, who prepare a special brand of commercial fertilizers for strawberries. 2. We never have used asparagus tops for mulching, and doubt very much if it would be of much value on account of its lightness. However, if it was spread quite thickly over the plants and well tramped down so the wind would not blow it off, it would serve your purpose. If you can get some kind of straw it would be much better than the asparagus tops. <^ ^ H. K. S., Xenia, Ohio. I wish to set out about an acre of plants next spring; the soil is red clay, well drained. If it is manured now and plowed and sowed to rye, will it need another coat next spring? It is an old or- chard, the trees having been cut down and ground cultivated three or four years. 2. Will the bisexual plants bear as well without the pistillates as with them? If you give your soil a very liberal dressing of manure before plowing this fall, it may not be necessary to put on any manure next spring. You will be the best judge of the condition of the soil. If it has been in vegetables for the last three or four years, and its fertility well ^STRAWBERRY^ LANDS The most profitable locations for raising strawberries are in the South, where the climate and soils produce large crops and where the berry ripens early, so that it goes to the markets of the country at the time when the hiphest prices are obtained. The various sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orchards and gardens. Lands may be obtained at extremely low prices. Good shipping facilities to all mar- kets at rates which encourage the industry. Finest vegetable growing opportunities. Write the nearest agent for information about desirable locations, lands, etc. M. V. RICHARDS Land and Industrial Agent Washington, D. C. Chas. S. Chase, Ajent. M. A. Hays, AEent 622 Chemical Bldy., 225 Dearborn St. St. Louis, Mo. Chicago, 111. The Land of Big Berries ARKANSAS and TEXAS Choice locations along the IRON MOUINTAIIN ROUTE Full information Free. Write to H. D. ARMSTRONG, T. P. A. ELLIS FARNSWORTH, D. P. A. N. C. TOWNSEND, G. P. 4 T, A. 88 Griswold Street 186 Clark Street ST. LOUIS, MO. DETROIT, MICH. CHICAGO, ILL. P&ge 185 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 maintained during that period, it should be in very fine condition for strawberry plants after the treatment you purpose giving it this fall. Hut if its fertility has been affected by cropping, it will be all the better if you will apply the manure liberally this fall and then during the winter scatter a light dressing on the rye and plow all under next spring. 2. Bisexual plants are in no degree affected by the presence of the pistillate varieties and yield equally as well when they are present or absent. ^ <^ L. W. F. , Penticton, B. C. As manure is hard to get here, what shall I do to enrich the soil in my new berry patch so that I may get fruit next year? Prices for berries are high here — no trouble to get 18 cents for all we can raise. The Strawberry certainly does "deliver the goods." It is the best ever. It is difficult to get soil into ideal con- dition without some manure, but if manure positively may not be had, we would recommend the growing of cow- peas for humus. These could be turned under in the fall and you should be care- ful to see that they are not too deeply turned under, as it always is better to have the vegetable matter sufficiently near the surface to cause it readily to decom- pose. Then in the spring the soil should be replowed, after which sow 400 pounds of finely ground bone meal and 200 pounds of potash to the acre. This should be incorporated with the soil be- fore the plants are set. The cow peas will be so thoroughly decomposed that they will work up into the soil and make a loose, spongy bed for the plants. The strawberry grower must never lose sight of the fact that humus is as necessary in the soil as is plant food. The price your berries bring certainly justifies you in setting out several acres. E. M. S., Thornvilje, Ohio. We raised over 8,000 quarts of strawberries last year. Xhey were large and well-shaped, but did not keep well. We have Clyde, Haverland, Senator Dunlap, Luther, Aroma, Sample, Dornan and a few others. Our soil is clay with con- siderable sand, enriched with stable manure. They were raised mostly in narrow half- matted rows. What can be done to make them firmer and better keepers.' Will keep- ing the plants thin and free from weeds alone do it, or is there something lacking in the soil or in the varieties named? The main causes of your berries' failure to hold up well appear to be an over- supply of manure and your plants being in a half-matted row. The manure fur- nishes nitrogen in excess of potash, which tends to make the berries soft. As your soil is a sandy loam we would recommend fifty bushels of wood ashes to the acre. This may either be scattered between the rows now and cultivated in, or you may spread it over the ground you intend to set to plants next spring after it has been broken up; then work thoroughly into the soil. We would also advise >'ou to grow your plants either in single-hedge row or in a wide double-hedge row. By the latter we mean to leave plenty of space in the row between plants. Either of these methods will allow enough sun and air to penetrate the foliage, which will aid greatly in firming up the fruit. Your varieties are all good ones, and by follow- ing these suggestions you will secure ex- cellent results with them. If ashes are not available you may use 200 pounds of either muriate or sulfate of potash and 400 pounds of finely ground bone-meal to the acre, applied in the same manner as are the ashes. But be careful that these fertilizers are not thrown directly upon the plants, as to do so would result in burning the plants. G. W. L. , Sioux Falls, S. D. 1 want to say for the benefit of other readers of your val- uable magazine that I have found at the horse-shoeing shops what I conceive to be the ideal manure — the winter accumulation of horse manure, free from all coarse hay or straw and weed seeds, and full of decaying hoof parings. I have visited all the leading shops in this city and found large piles of de- composed manure which I get for the asking and have hauled many loads of it. What do you think of this manure for strawberries? 2. I have one and one-half acres of raw prairie sod broken up this spring and planted to navy beans. Would you advise setting this to strawberries next spring, or would it be better to put it to potatoes next year and let strawberries follow? If put to berries next spring how can I best prepare the land? The manure of which you speak will be ideal for strawberries However, we would suggest that you use it quite sparingly, as it is very rich in nitrogen. The best way to apply such manure as this is to spread it on the surface of the ground after it has been broken up and mix it thoroughly into the soil with har- rows and discs before setting the plants. If tliis may not be done it will be all right to apply on top of the ground dur- ing the winter the same as other manuie, and turned under. When used as a top dressing four or five tons to the acre will be sufficient. 2. The fact that you have grown a crop of beans on this sod land is evidence that it will be all right for strawberry plants next spring. After the beans are harvested it would be well to break this ground up, and by doing this you will bring the old sod up to the surface so that the air will come in contact with it and cause it to decompose and thus to work up finely with the other soil. Five pecks of rye to the acre sown this fall will make an ideal winter covering. Then next spring replow the ground. This Page 186 will put it into fine condition for the re- ception of the plants. If you have other ground that is better than this piece, then plant potatoes where your beans were grown. In this case the soil should re- ceive a heavy dressing of manure this winter. The potatoes will take up the rankest part of the manure and add greatly to the mechanical condition of the soil. If set to berries a light dressing of manure spread this winter will aid to put your ground in splendid shape for them. F. H. C, Marston, IVIont. I have a small recently drained lake bed on part of which potatoes are growing, very rank and vigorous. I wish to set out some strawberry plants there next spring; .soil is very black, rich looking and retentive. What variety or varieties had I better set out? 2. Had 1 better grow them by the hill method, or single-hedge row? 3. Is there any early variety that would do well in the above described soil? It is more than likely that your land lies quite low, and in view of this fact we would recommend all late varieties. The Parker Earle, Mark Hanna, William Belt, Dornan, Pride of Michigan and Gandy should give you excellent results. The Sample also would do well, as it has a hardy bloom and is not readily affected by frost. 2. It also is likely that your soil is rich and will produce a large foliage, and for this reason we would recommend the single-hedge row. 3. The main objection to setting any early variety on a low piece of land is the danger of late frosts injuring them while they are in bloom. Excelsior and Texas make a very heavy foliage, which to a certain extent is a protection to the bloom from frost. Set only enough of the early ones to test them. T. E. H., Sedalia, Mo. Would an orchard about five years old be suitable for a straw- berry patch? 2. Am I to understand that after plants are set out all runners should be cut off the first year? It depends somewhat upon the class of trees you have set in this orchard, and the distance apart. If the trees are small and not closer than from twenty to twenty-four feet, two or three rows of strawberries may be set between the tree rows. One of the largest crops of straw- berries we ever grew was in a young orchard, and while cultivating the berries the trees also received the attention so essential to their success; thus we killed two birds with one stone. Not only will the strawberries pay all the expense of caring for the orchard, but will give you a handsome profit beside while the trees are coming into bearing. However, it is not a good plan to set strawberries in an THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 orchard where the trees are large enough to shade the ground. The roots of a tree always extend as far from the trunk below the surface of the ground as do the branches above. We mention this in order that you may judge of the condi- tions in your own orchard. 2. The cutting of runners depends upon the system of culture you intend to follow. If the bill system is followed, of course all runners should be cut off as fast as they appear; if the single or double hedge system, then leave runners enough to make the desired rows. D. F. J., Wichita, Kan. My soil is a rich loam, rather light. I am going to spread manure liberally this fall after plowing. Will not have it in time to plant a cover crop. Will this be sufficient? 2. What varieties will do b«st.> I want berries of quality rather than of quantity, as I am in a city of about forty thousand, and competition is keen, both from home grown berries and those grown in Missouri and Ar- kansas. I had thought of planting Haverland fertilized by Senator Dunlap and Parker Earle. The Senator has grown splendidly this last summer. Would the other two do all right in our soil and climate? It never gets very dry here. 3. How far apart should the rows be to be cultivated with a twelve-tooth cultivator.' How far apart should they be set in the row when grown in the single or double hedge or hill system? The size of the patch is an acre, and I am counting on it to take me through college. The first crop will be harvested just after 1 graduate from the city High school. Your rich loam soil should give fine results by spreading the manure thinly over it this fall. The manure itself will act as a shade and prevent the soil from puddling during the winter months. Of course, it would be still better if you could sow rye which would take up the manure leachings and hold it in reserve for the plants next season, but as you say you cannot do this, you must do the next best thing and let the barnyard manure act as a covering. 2. As quality is your chief aim, we would suggest varieties that produce large and highly colored berries, such as Texas, William Belt, Dornan, Pride of Michigan, Sample and Mark Hanna. Many other varieties produce fancy ber- ries, but these are among our leaders. If you will take pains to pack your berries, being careful to have them the same all through the box, and arrange the top layers of each box attractively, you need fear no competition. You will get splen- did results from all the varieties you name excepting Parker Earle. While this is an excellent variety, we would not recom- mend it for your state. 3. The distance apart the rows are to be made wHl depend upon the system under which you will grow the plants. If in single-hedge, three feet will give plenty of room. For the double-hedge row we would recommend three and a half feet. For the single or double hedge rows we should set the plants from twenty- four to thirty inches apart in the row, de- pending upon the variety. For hills we would set fifteen inches apart in the row. We believe that by careful management you can make your single acre of straw- berries pay your way through college, besides giving you first-class experience in plant culture as well as in a business way. And you may count on The Strawberry to help you through. 1^ ^ J. W. L. , Erie, Kans. In your answer to E. L. P. in August Strawberry as to the best method of renewing for a second crop a nar- row-hedge row, you say: "Then you should go along the rows with a hoe and cut out all the old plants, leaving the healthiest and youngest plants about sixteen or twenty in- ches apart in the row," etc. Do I under- stand you to mean that where berries are grown strictly by the single-hedge row, and first set this spring, that the mother or orig- inal plants should be cut out next spring? If this is true, how do you renew a patch grown to the hill system? If the plant set this spring to the hill system will produce a good crop the second year, why will one set and held strictly to the single-hedge row not do so? I have a nice patch that I am growing strictly to the single-hedge row, and my intention was to cut and burn off the tops next spring and let the plants come just as they stand now — about six inches apart in the row — and let no new runners take root next season. In other words, fruit the second year the same plants that I am now growing for the first crop. Do you advise against this, and if so why would not these plants fruit as well as those grown by the hill system? 2. I am growing some strawberries in my greenhouse with a view of fruiting them this winter. It is now stripped of its top, which is of ordinary hot- bed sash 3x6 feet, which I remove in the spring and replace in the fall. My plants are making a nice growth and looking fine, the beds being on the ground. Now should I place my sash on the house before any frosts fall? Will frost alone, with- out a freeze, damage the plants that I want to fruit this winter? Should these plants be grown vigorously until they fruit, or should they have a check of some kind, and if so what would you advise? 3. I also wish to spray these plants with Bordeaux mixture from now on to prevent the possibility of fungous disease after I close up the house. How often should I spray them, and how long should I continue the spray with reference to the fruiting season? 4. Please give formula of Bordeaux mixture alone. In the answer to which you refer we were considering an old bed that had fruited one year, and cutting out the old P*8e 187 $39 PIIDMAPE Wroiiiilit, not cast. Riveted, rUnnHUL iiotcom,.nt<.d. :t -ill. thick life tiiiif fii'c-liux. NKVKIl gotK dirty. On triiil. ^l.') down. Tools free. Can bo .setup by iiiiy one. lUuHtratcd boolc, «liowlnii liow simple it is, sent free. .Schafer Furnace Co. Box C, Youngstown, Oliio plants and leaving the strongest young plants, practically renewed the bed. However the mother hills would produce a good second crop. Where berries are grown in hills it is absolutely necessary to let the hills fruit the second year, as there are no young plants to raise the crop. Of course, you may leave the full single row to fruit for the second crop just as it is, but experience has taught us that where a bed may be prepared early for the second crop it is better to thin out the old and weaker plants and allow new runners to form. For a second crop it really is best to permit a double hedge to form. 2. It will be unnecessary for you to replace the sash before light frosts, as it is the nature of the plant to become some- what dormant befoie opening its fruit buds. It would be well to cover, how- ever, before freezing weather arrives. As to forcing your plants we would suggest the same treatment in the hot house as in the field. That is, do not continue for- cing them by excessive watering or by the use of nitrogenous manures at the time they are building up the fruit buds. They will start to do so anywhere from the 1st to the 15th of September. 3. Two or three sprayings of Bordeaux mixture should be ample to prevent any fungous growth. The spiaying in the greenhouse should be done at intervals of two weeks. 4. Here is the recipe for Bordeaux as asked for: Dissolve four pounds of blue vitriol in twenty gallons of water. Put in coarse sack and let the sack float on top of water. Now take four pounds of lump lime, put in separate vessel and slake in four gallons of hot water. Add to this enough water to make twenty gallons. When lime solution is cool, combine with the blue vitriol. For ten gallons, take one-fourth the amount, and so on for any quantity you wish to prepare. >^ ^ IT is never too late to be happy; It is never too late to smile; It is never too late to extend a hand And a cheerful word once in awhile. For all the sorrow and worry On all this green-covered earth Is followed soon, if we wait and hope. By a generous measure of mirth. Jeanelte Lawrence. ^ .^ MEN who are resohed to find a way for themselves will always find op- portunities enough. If they do not lie ready to their hand, they will make them. — Sanmel Smiles. THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY - Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY .... Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN Western Representative 315 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. S, E. LEITH Eastern Representative 1 50 Nassau St., New Yorli City Address Communications and make all Remittances to The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Mich. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United Slates and Canada - - $1.00 Foreign 1.2S Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Three Rivers, Michigan. SEPTEMBER, 1906 THIS month's cover is a photo-repro- duction of the strawberry field of E. E. Keever, Little Rock, Kan. In 1905 Mr. Keever set out 100 plants, composed of Senator Dunlaps, Crescents and Marshalls. He says that he followed The Strawberry "way," both as to the selection of only the best plants and the manner of cultivating them. He kept them perfectly free from weeds, which also means that he held the moisture in the soil, as both of these important per- formances are accomplished in a single operation. From the 100 plants and their progeny he picked in June 1906 berries to the number of 7,3."^ quarts and sold them for $81.50, or an average of 11 cents plus per quart. As he paid his pickers $8.46, and $2 for boxes, or $10.46 in all, his net receipts were $71.04, or a little under 10 cents a quart. From this one-fourth acre Mr. Keever gathered enough berries to pay ofF the last dollar of the mortgage on his home, and he is going to double the size of his field in 1907. "I think more and more of The Strawberry — it is up to date," writes Mr. Keever. The picture shows Mr. and Mrs. Keever, their three sons and three pickers; also Mr. Keever's statement of faith in the superior excellence of the strawberry, modified somewhat from the motto on the title page of this magazine. TN the August issue of The Strawberry * appeared an illustration and an account of the Fendall strawberry. Mr. Fendall, writing The Strawberry under date of August 7, says that he "picked a few ber- ries from his row of Fendalls May 25 and gathered a few on the 4th of July. In all I picked from a row thirty-two feet long thirty-eight quarts of berries. I had an engineer measure the ground allovxing a foot on one side for the pickers to walk, and he figured out that one acre, at the same rate of production as this row, would yield sixteen thousand eight hun- dred quarts." He adds that on either side of the Fendall were rows of two popular varieties, and all were cultivated alike, but that the Fendall yielded quite three times as heavily as either of the others. THE consumption of fruit in the United States grows rapidly with the years and quite out of proportion to the increas- ing population. No other fruit shows greater progress in this direction, so far as statistics in hand go, than the strawberry. More than $15,000,000 worth of them were consumed during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1905, while the quantities produced that never got into the statisti- cal reports at all is ."something beyond computation. Orchard fruits sold for $84,000,000, roundly speaking, the berry crops brought $20,000,000, and we paid $10,000,000 to the American sub-tropic fruit growers and $25,000,000 to the tropical fruit folk of the Spanish-American countries in the same year. The manu- facture of fruit baskets and boxes in which to handle the annual crops of this country represents an industrial product valued at $7,000,000. THERE comes to our desk this montn a new and handsome monthly per- iodical from the Hood River district of Oregon. It bears the suggestive title "Better Fruit," and starts out with intelli- gence and vigor upon the mission its name suggests. We do want better fruit and more of it, and it is weW that an organ of the fruit interests in the vast and splen- did fruit region "where rolls the Oregon," thus early in its history is established on these broad and helpful lines. We wel- come all such aids to better horticulture, and shall be glad to co-operate with this new candidate for public favor in the task it has set for itself. Beautiful half-tone illustrations and clear letter-press dignify this fine publication and give it a distinc- tion all its own. E. H. Shepard and E. A. Franz are its publishers, and it is printed at Hood River, Oregon. ONE of the unfailing signs of the ap- proach of autumn, notwithstanding the fact that mercury still climbs to lofty and discouraging heights in the thermom- eter bulb, is the presence of the advertiser in our pages. And we welcome him as the harbinger of a new season of business ac- tivity and as an expression of his satisfac- tion with the way in which The Straw- berry has brought its two friends — the Page 188 reader and the advertiser — together in the past. For both Stark Bros., who occupy a full page in this issue, and the Kalama- zoo Stove Co., who had a half-page in the winter and spring issues, and Mr. Cooper who, though not so extensive an advertiser, still is taken just as good care of — these are with us again, and we have the assurance that we are to have all our old friends and many new ones with us as the season advances. And what is most gratifying is the fact that all who have patronized these advertising friends have themselves become friends of theirs, because good goods and square dealing are the governing principles under which our advertisers operate. We also wel- come the new advertisers and are sure they also will find a cordial greeting in the thousands of homes into which The Strawberry goes as a welcome visitor each month. WRITING from Honolulu, Hawaii, under date of August 3, Jared O. Smith of the Experiment Station there thus advises The Strawberry concerning the situation in that country as it pertains to strawberry production: "The Chinese gardeners cultivate a very small fruited, soft variety which I believe to be a de- scendant from one of the French ever- bearing sorts, as there is a record of straw- berries having been imported from France some twenty or more years ago. What- ever the variety, the plants have the ever- bearing habit, so that we get three or four crops a year. The berries are of very good flavor but are rather tiny and too soft to ship. Strawberries grow very well in all districts on the islands at elevations above 1200 feet and many planters and farmers have procured plants of the best named strains. All varieties show a ten- dency to run out in this climate. The yields are smaller than in cooler countries." AND from Saltillo, Mexico, comes to •*»■ us a most interesting letter from J. R. Silliman, evidently a Yankee farmer, who has gone down there and established a Jersey milk farm, and guarantees in Spanish that his product is "absolutamente pura," or absolutely pure. Mr. Silliman also is interested in strawberry growing and has a gardener from Irapanto, which is known as the "Strawberry station" in Mexico, and this gardener follows 'his own ideas about plants," says Mr. Silli- man, 'and they are probably pretty much the same as his grandfather's father ob- served." Yet, notwithstanding the fact that no rain fell there from March until July 4, our correspondent says that fresh berries are offered for sale every day in the year, winter and summer, Sunday and Monday." Which suggests the adapt- ability of the strawberry to any conditions of soil and climate, and its persistency under the most discouraging environment. r $33 to the Pacific Coast From Chicago, every day from September 15 to October 31 inclusive. Only $33, Chicago to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, and many other points on the Pacific Coast. $30 to Ogden or Salt Lake City. Low rates to hundreds of other points. Name your exact route — the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and Union Pacific-Southern Pacific Line Tickets good in through tourist sleeping cars. Rate for double berth, Chicago to Pacific Coast points, only $7. Through tourist cars to California leave Union Station, Chicago, at 10:25 p. m. daily. For complete information (free) about rates, routes, tickets and reserva- tions write today to CHlCAQfj Milwaukee F. A. MILLER General Passenger Agent CHICAGO SIARKBROSHS^SSQ CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 .000,000— ALL PAID UP STARKDALE, MO. ROCKPORT, ILL. FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. PORTLAND, N. Y. DANSVILLE, N. Y. ATLANTIC, IOWA Write us at Louisiana, Mo., Desk 1 1, and we will send FREE, New Descriptive Fruit Book, Price-list, etc. LOUISIANA, MO. m For 82 Years §r have been the standard by which good nursery stock, is measured, and our sales have steadily increased until we are now compelled to maintain the largest nursery establishment in the world — conclusive evi- dence that Stark Trees are of highest pos- sible quality and sold at as low prices as such stock can be produced. Constant growth in any business during more than three- quarters of a century, is proof conclusive that customers re- ceive^honorable treatment and full value for their money. On no other basis could Stark Nurseries have built up their present trade. Success in the nursery busi- ness depends entirely upon the success of customers; and they can suc- ceed onlv with strong, healthy, thrifty, depend- able trees of the best up-to-date varieties, w^ell grov/n, well dug. well packed. We solicit or- ders on this ba- sis, and if you send them to us, WE GUARAN- TEE SATIS- FACTION; and our guarantee means some- thing— we are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow." A 5-YR. DELICIOUS IN OR- CHARD OF MR. C. S. MORSE, CHELAN CO.. WASHINGTON, FROM WHICH WERE PICKED FOUR BOXES '1;', BARRELS' OF PERFECT APPLES. »St^SUS^^yfM We Pay Freight on orders of $7.50 or more to any Raitroad station in Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Ohio On orders of $10.00 or more to any Railroad station in Alabama Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Georgia Indian Ter'ty Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey New York North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin On orders of $12.00 or more to any Railroad station in Arizona California Colorado Florida Idaho Maine Massachusetts Montana Nevada N. Hampshire New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wyoming Our Wholesale Price-list gives full particulars. (\vrk\ju \r\w\\^c^ that PAY the Producer VJI Uyy /A^ppiCO and Please the Consumer KING DAVID, DELICIOUS, LIEVLAND RASPBERRY, SENATOR, GIANT JENITON BLACK BEN, GRIMES, JONATHAN, Etc., Meet All Retiuirements. Ttien Why Grow Inferior Sorts? We are Headquarters for All that is BEST in Apple. Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Grape. Small-fruit Plants, Roses, Ornamentals. Etc. ■«■ October 1906 / . / a S^S^r^vvjy THES BERRY 'T/ie Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry — but He never did.'' PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN [? 1907 Reading for Strawberry Folk OUR CLUBBING COMBINATIONS FOR 1907 See These 3 Big Triple 3's The Strawberry The World Today American Magazine Breeders' Gazette Housekeeper Total Value $6.10 FOR ONE YEAR WHETHER we consider these clubbing propositions from the view point of their literary or practical value, or be- cause of their low cost, they are equally remarkable and attractive. To secure such a fund of fine, stimulating and help- ful reading matter at so low a price is, to say the least, unusual, and The Strawberry takes great pleasure in thus presenting its readers with the opportunity, feeling it is scarcely necessary to urge all to take advantage of it. Please note that in both $1.95 and $2.95 offers each reader has a choice of one selection. All new subscribers will receive The Strawberry from date of sub- scription in 1906 through the entire year of 1907. The Strawberry $1.00 Farmers' Voice .50 Breeders* GaEette—weekly 2.00 Farm and Fireside .50 Boys and Girls .50 Tlie Housekeeper .60 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value 5.60 } $2.95 { The Strawberry $1.00 World Today 1.50 Breeders' Gazette 2.00 Farm and Fireside .50 Boys and Girls .50 Choice any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value $5.50 List of $1 Magazines which may be substituted for any $ 1 publication mentioned on this page Gleanings in Bee Culture $1.00 Western Fruit Grower 1 .00 Success 1 .00 American Magazine 1.00 Little Folks 1.00 The Garden Magazine 1 .00 The Strawberry $1.00 World's Work 3.00 Delineator 1.00 McCiure's 1.00 Total Value $6.00 ONE YEAR The Strawberry $1.00 Farm and Fireside-. semi-monthly .50 Housekeeper .60 Western Fruit Grower 1.00 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value ■I $1.95 1 I F you want any publication * in the country and don't find it in this list, send to us for it, or make any combination you desire. We purpose to furnish our folks with the best and most desirable literature in the world at the lowest possi- ble price at which it may be had. 'The Strawberry Farmers' Voice Housekeeper Farm and Fireside Boys and Girls $1.00 •50 .60 .50 .50 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value $3.60 LIST OF FIFTY CENT MAGAZINES Which may be substituted as desired for any 50c magazine named in any of the combinations on this page Apple Specialist $ .50 Reliable Poultry Journal .50 Am. Poultry Journal .50 Poultry Tribune .50 Farm Poultry $ .50 Poultry Success .50 Green's FruitGrower .50 American Swineherd .50 The Strawberry $1.00 Review of Reviews 3.00 Woman's Home Companion 1.00 Success Magazine 1.00 Total value $6.00 FOR ONE YEAR ^^^^ "W" W ■ ^ /""> ^^n^ "W" ^ A ^^7*X I "^ ■ ^ ^l' "V ■ ^ "^ T" —One Hundred and Eighteen Portage Avenue — 1 Hh S 1 KA W DbKKY Three Rivers, Michigan THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 10 Three Rivers, Mich., October, 1906 $1.00 a Year WHAT CAN A WOMAN DO? is the suggest- ive title of a recent volume, and it is a question that millions of bright and aspiring women are today asking — women who seek independence on the one hand, or who, by force of circumstances, are com- pelled to self-support, perhaps, indeed, to be the support of others. It is a grave question with many of them, and the cor- rect answer to it would be to them such a blessing as none can know who has not been placed in their situation. Modern conditions and the modern outlook upon life, as it relates to the social and economic position of woman, have worked extraor- dinary changes and made necessary an entirely new departure for her. Even the wife and mother finds herself surrounded by quite different conditions fiom those her mother serenely lived among. What can a woman do.'' then is become a question of large im- portance to herself and to the world, and he who answers it correctly for one honest and sincere woman has per- formed a service of value to society in general as well as to the individual bene- ficiary. And what can a woman do? Think it over, and consider all the occupations women are now filling with no greater variations as to success or failure than those which obtain in the case of her brothers, and the question would seem more apropos if stated thus: What is there that a woman cannot do?" Yet when we go a little deeper into the question and observe the conditions under which she labors, we find that much of her work, as now performed, is repugnant to her very nature, deadens interest in life, destroys that sweet femininity which is woman's greatest charm and greatest bless- ing to the world as well, and takes her out of her sphere. The question, then, is rather: "What can a woman do to obtain a livelihood in work congenial to her nature, to her de- sires, and the tendency of which is to inspire, encourage, de- velop her along the lines of her own being?" Correctly to answer this question would indeed be a great world-service. As a primary postulate it may be laid down that whatever comes nearest to the home life in its nature will be the occupa- tion best calculated for woman. As she is the home-maker by nature, it must be in the shadow of the home that her ideals shall be achieved, her life lived out in its fullness. Therefore, we must place her in some occupation which, if it do not come within the actual walls of the home, with husband and children as objects of her first care and solicitude, yet shall be so con- nected with a sheltering roof as to bring her directly within the sphere of its influence and permit her to work out under its pro- tecting beneficence her own ideals. The mind is brought insensibly to the garden, with its flowers and plants and other growing things, when we reach this point in our search for the answer to the question. And whose hand is better shaped than woman's to give the touch that plant life so much appreciates, and to which it so eagerly responds? And whose mind enters with keener sympathy into the needs and nature of these genile friends of humanity than woman's? It is the world's experience that woman, whenever she has sought divertisement or gain along these lines of endeavor, has suc- ceeded well, and has found joy and pleas- ure in her achieve- ments. If the changes wrought in the social and economic life of woman have been revolutionary, other revolutions have gone forward synchron- ously, and if her ne- cessities have in- creased, so have the necessities of the world; and these she may help to supply. Today the great cities are unable to secure needful supplies of fruits and flowers — needful for their health, needful as offsets to the mode of living in crowded streets, the breathing of pol- luted atmospheres, the haste, the push, the scramble, the per- petual struggle. Here, then, is a field lying fallow to the hand of woman, and it is within the limits of this field that she may with assurance look for ample and complete satisfaction. What a woman can do in this direction is so large and so in- spiring a possibility as to render anything like an adequate esti- mate out of the question. Naturally, The Strawberry is inclined to consider in this connection the particular field it was established to represent, and yet it does so without undue bias, and whatever of en- thusiasm it may display is founded upon actual results already accomplished by women within that field. All over this great land of ours, and among them are women by the score who will read these lines with approval, earnest, intelligent women are finding in their strawberry fields and "patches" sources of revenue sufficient for their support and for the education of THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 their children. The work is healthful, refined, inspiring, profitable. It is one which calls for little manual labor that is beyond the physical strength of delicate women, and this heavier work may be per- formed, where necessary, by men. The life is out of doors, and the strawberry season is the most delightful one of the entire year, over a large part of the country wholly made up of those rare days of June of which Lowell sings with so fine rapture. Is there not here the answer to the question, the solution of the problem.'' Certainly the opportunity is present and none may comprehend its greatness. It only requires the energy, intelligence, a certain degree of skill in growing the strawberries and good judgment in mar- keting them, to insure success to any woman who will undertake the work. We believe that in no other direction may so large success be made, considered from the little capital needful to enter upon the work, and so little to carry it forward. Surely here is something that every woman can do; do with satisfaction to herself as a woman; do with a degree of success worthy of her capabilities as a business manager. A S yenrs come and go industries of our ■'»■ country will prosper and decline, fortunes will be made and lost, even government may change its form, but so long as the world stands agriculture will be the foundation of national wealth and prosperity. — Aaron Jones. Late Berries for The North By R. C. Sabin WE began in a small way'five years ago under the rules laid down- by the late R. M. Kellogg. , And when we heard of his death we took it, wife and I, as a personal grief and loss. For we felt sure that his work could hardly be carried on by any others. But the new catalogues came annually to hand and, to be frank, appeared to be more spicy than ever. But when The Strawberry came to hand we took it as a special act of Providence in our own be- half that the work had fallen into such able hands. For The Strawberry tells things in detail and in a style which can not be done in an annual catalogue. Long be remembered the old; long live the new ! We have discovered the truth of what you say, that none but big red berries are able to run the gauntlet of crate-dealer, picker, packer, local buyer, transportation, commission man and retailer. Our suc- cess has been only partial, but the fault has been with ourselves, as we could not, or did not until we got The Strawberry, realize the importance or profit in carrying out to the letter the rules laid down. Each year we have ordered some new varieties for test in our soil until now we are about ready to begin in earnest to grow the "big red boys." We find that there is no use trying for early berries this far north, for several reasons. We have no home market, and to ship our early berries to Milwaukee or Chicago means simply that they come into compe- tition with late berries from farther south. And here the early berry is either held back by late spring or is damaged by frost while in blossom. The late berry is our standby. Ludington, Mich. Cost of an Acre of Strawberries T HAVE been a reader of The Strawberry for the past four months. I like it very much, and think it will be a great help to me. 1 wish to ask a few questions. I wish to put out at least one-half acre, or perhaps one acre, in the spring, and with the help I receive from The Strawberry I know I shall be successful, al- though the work is almost new to me. What will be the cost of putting out one acre of strawberries on a sandy soil.' 2. How many plants will it require? 3. What month shall I plow under the cowpeas this fall? 4. After cowpeas are plowed under, what must I do then? Chandlerville, III. Mrs. R. L. IT is difficult to give the exact cost of producing an acre of strawberries, as it will depend upon whether you follow intensive methods of cultivation, with a view to securing the largest possi- ble yield, or just give them ordinary care, as the "average" grower is likely to do. So all that we can do will be to give the cost of the intensive methods, and you may cut down this cost at will, of course, with the inevitable lessening of yield and lowering of grade of the fruit. Here is a dependable estimate: Fifteen two-horSe-loads of manure at $t $15.00 Team plowing, }4 day 1.50 Preparing soil (harrowing, rolling, etc.) tL^am J4 tlay 1.50 Marking out rows, man }4 day .... .50 7,000 plants at S4 per M 28.00 Setting plants, one man 3 days .... 4.50 Sixteen cultivations; man and horse 3 hours each time at 17)4 cents' an hour f-40 Six hoeings 24.00 Mulching; 3 loads of straw at $2 per load 6.00 Spreading mulch, one man 1 day . . . 1..50 Parting mulch inspring, one man J^ da.y .50 With such in tensive methods fi.OOO quarts should be grown to the acre, whicli will require 250 i4-quart crates, costing 8 cents each 20.00 AndB.OUOquart boxes, at $3per M . .18.00 Making the crates; ouu man 2 days . . 3.00 Making the boxes; one man 3 days . . 4.50 Picking 6,000 quarts at 1 cont a quart . 60.00 Foreman and man to carry berries to packing house 25.00 Packing berries in attractive form . . 12.00 $233.90 RECEIPTS Out of the 6,000 quarts, 4,000 at least should be fancy selects, which prop- erly packed and A\'ell marketed should bring 10 cents per quart . .8400.00 2,000 quarts of medium berries at 7 cents per iiuart 140.00 Total Receipts - - - g340.00 Total Expense - - - 233.90 Net income for one acre - 83116.10 As we have said, the expenses may be cut down greatly — as much as one-half. Page 190 but in doing so the cash income will be much less, the pleasure will be lessened and you will not be building up a repu- tation that will insure you a ready market at high prices in the succeeding years. Tiie estimates here given are based upon our own farm experience, and in giving the yield, have by no means overestimated, as many of our readers report much larger yields than here are given. 2. You may calculate upon from 6,000 to 7,000 plants to the acre. 3. The time of plowing under the cowpeas will depend upon the season, but you should not turn them under until the vines begin to ripen and become woody. By so doing time is given the nodules on the roots in which to mature. The early days of October will, on the average, be the proper time. 4. After the peas are turned under it generally is too late to sow rye, and we do not like the idea of leaving the ground bare during winter; therefore suggest that you cover the ground with manure, which will shade the ground, keep it from puddling during winter rains and increase its plant-food content. The Farmers' Congress THE Farmers' National Congress will open its twenty-sixth annual session at Rock Island, 111., on the 9th of October. This organization is composed of delegates from the different states ap- pointed by governors or departments of agriculture. One of the subjects to be discussed before the coming meeting is business methods in farming — a very im- portant subject, as there is no business that we know of which, as a general rule, is carried on in a more unbusinesslike man- ner than is farming. David RaUKin of Tar- kio. Mo., and L. Whitney Watkins of Manchester, Mich., will discuss this in- teresting topic. Mr. Rankin is one of the half dozen most extensive and successful farmers in the United States. He started without capital and is now a millionaire, nearly all of which he has made out of farming. He has 23,504 acres of fertile land in actual and high cultivation. He puts 16,000 acres in corn, on the average, and feeds and ships each year an average of 9,000 cattle and as many hogs. He has never before consented to prepare a paper or address for any meeting. Mr. Watkins is a graduate of Michigan agricultural college, has served six years on the Michigan state board of agriculture; is president of the Michigan state associa- tion of farmers' clubs and president of the Michigan association of breeders of im- proved live stock. The Watkins farm contains 2,300 acres in the highest state of cultivation. The land was taken up by Mr. Watkins' grandfather from the government in 1834, and not an acre has passed from the ownership of the Wat- THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 kins family or been encumbered by debt, and a Watkins never has retired from farming. Some of the Season's Experiences THE season of 1906 has been a pe- culiarly difficult one for the horti- culturist, although the extensive farmer who grows the cereals has been blessed to an unusual degree with large crops. Strawberry growers have had a particularly hard time outside of the Southern states, and the causes have been varied. Frost, excessive rainfall, extreme drought — all three of these natural causes have operated in as many sections of the land, and the white grub has been partic- ularly active, if we may judge from re- ports received by The Strawberry. One thing is especially encouraging, however, and that is the universal state- ment that the conditions are altogether unusual, and that, for from twenty-five to thirty years, according to the exper- iences of different individuals, nothing approaching this season's conditions have been known. H. E. McGregor of Wis- consin, writing in the Racine Agricultur- ist has the following to say on the subject: "Last winter and this spring, up to straw- berry harvest, has been the most unfavor- able season for strawberries I have known in the twenty-eight years I have grown them. The vines went into their winter's rest in excellent condition, and the pros- pects for good a crop for 1906 were above the average. Thus matters stood until we got our big storm of rain and sleet in Jan- uary, which covered this whole section of country with about three inches of ice. This ice made splendid sleighing, but it smothered the very life out of our straw- berry plants, so that when spring came strawberry plantations that were so prom- ising in the fall were a sad wreck. Four- fifths of the plants were dead and the balance which were alive were so lacking in vitality that many of them succumbed to the cold, dry weather of spring that followed. There was scarcely any spring growth, and when blooming time came such blossoms as came out were on stems that formed close to the ground. "Since the berries began to ripen we have had excellent weather, which would have given us a good crop had the vines been in good condition. As it is, we gathered hardly one-eighth of an average crop of inferior berries. There were no fancy berries in this locality this year, and the berry boxes we prepared last winter for the expected crop will have to be car- ried over to another year." Mr. McGregor takes occasion in his report to deprecate fall-setting of plants, in which he aligns himself with the most progres- sive growers of the country. But notwithstanding the difficulties created by unusual meteorological condi- tions, the season has been a good one for (he men who practice scientific horticul- ture and "do things" in the right way at the right time. Of course, no one can can defeat Jack Frost when he comes at you full tilt, and it is hard to turn great floods of water to good account save by creating a perfect drainage system. Yet even Jack Frost and floods have had their influence for harm greatly diminished by the skillful and persistent work of the up- to-date strawberry man. And the latter fairly has laughed in the face of long-con- tinued drought; for with cultivator and hoe he has kept a dust mulch between his rows, and drawn his moisture from the depths, compelling all that did reach the surface to do so through the plants themselves. Altogether it has been a season of rare informing quality, and the man who has come out of it sound and whole better than ever appreciates two important facts regarding strawberry production — first, the hardiness of the plant itself and its extraordinary endurance when treated just right; second, the effectivess of in- telligent labor directed to the conservation of moisture in the soil, the feeding of the plant so as to develop its highest powers and to the general welfare of the fields. IT is a perpetual source of surprise and pleasure to the one who loves nature and her ways and finds joy in the straw- berry patch to try out different methods of growing them, to watch the conduct of different varieties under different meth- ods of treatment and, in general, not only cultivate the plants, but cultivate as well a knowledge of them and their ways and thus increase one's own store of informa- tion while enjoying the delights and profits of strawberry production. For instance, have you ever tried the hill-system of cultivation just to see what a quantity of large, luscious berries one strong, healthy plant, full of vigor and sap, will produce when relieved of all its runners? The satisfaction of one such hill, so beautiful and so marvelous in the results secured, is hardly to be imagined. Strawberry growing may be made as full of charm as is the growing of flowers, and the beauty of a fine patch of strawberries is not ex- ceeded by the finest flower garden. Thinning Out Strawberry Plants THE sentiment in favor of thinning seems to be growing stronger and stronger, writes L. R- Johnson in The Fruit Grower, for its advantages are too obvious to be overlooked. Thinning on the wholesale may be done with hoes, but it takes some nerve just as it does to thin fruit. To strike into the midst of a mass of fine plants is a heroic operation that is quite too severe an ordeal for many souls. And yet there is no manner of doubt that it will pay. The market is yearly paying higher and higher rewards for superior berries, and the grower who wants profitable returns for his labor must bestir himself to adopt improved methods. An easy way of thinning, and one that is fairly effective, but so mechanical and re- quiring so little judgment that common hired help may be employed, is simply to cut across the row every twelve inches with the full width of the hoe. The grower who has never employed any other method than the matted row should by all means try at least a few rods of narrow row with the runners spaced. Then let him compare the yield, taking into consideration size and color, with an equal length of matted row. What Mr. Johnson says meets with our approval so far as it refers to a grower who has permitted his plants to mat up. But how much better woidd it be to start right and keep right clear through A VIEW OF THOMAS HUNTER'S PATCH AT HOLMESVILLE, OHIO P»«e 191 THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 36 Montgomery Ward ®> Co.'s No. 75 SrJSy FREE Nearly 1300 large pages, thousands of pictures, 127,000 articles. The biggest bargain book ever printed. Beats all C^ataloguc records for nuantity, quality and low prices. Full of many things you want that you cannot buy near home and'multitudes of things of 'better quality and at lower prices than any other catalogue or store offers you. Send for Your FREE Copy Today. i^oO.OO a J'ear, at least, is easily saved by every one using this Ko. 75 Slontgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue to order goods from. Many write us of savhig hundreds by being our regular customers. It. pays others, it will pay y Co., Michigan Avenue, Madison and Washington Streets, Chicago Page 192 THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 the season. That is to say, either grow in single or double hedge row, and when either of these rows has reached the ideal state, restrict the plants by keeping ofF all surplus runners. When this is done it does not require the heroic treatment to which he refers and is in every way a su- perior method of carrying on the work. The advantage ro the remaining plants where the runners thus are removed is beyond estimate, and the process results in increased yields and vastly improved fruit. Mice in Strawberry Fields FROM so many sources are coming reports respecting the damage done by field mice, or ineadow mice, that we are impressed with the growing menace to successful horticulture, aye, even to field agriculture, from these ubi- quitous and increasingly numerous pests. How shall we get rid of these pests.? is a frequent inquiry now coming to The Strawberry, and it is a question of large importance. Prof. D. E. Lantz, for a long time con- nected with the Kansas Agricultural Col- lege, now assistant in the bilogical survey of the Department of Agriculture, has given much thought and study to this matter, and in the Yearbook of that de- partment for 1905 (a book, by the way, that every tiller of the soil should secure; and it may be had by asking your con- gressman or senator at Washington for it) Professor Lantz has a chapter on the sub- ject which gives some very interesting ex- periments and some very wise conclusions. On pages 373-374 Professor Lantz tells of a call he received in 1903 to an orchard and nursery in Kansas, and re- lates: "As an experiment, the writer placed some wheat poisoned with strychnine at the base of about 50 of the badly dam- aged trees. This was done late in the evening, and on the following morning a considerable number of dead meadow mice and white-footed mice were found. An examination of the stomachs of both species showed that only the meadow mice had eaten the bark of the trees. The poisoning experiment had proved so effective that the owner of the orchard set his men to distributing poisoned wheat throughout the orchard, with the result that within a few days nearly all the mice had been killed. "The ground in this orchard was liter- ally covered by a network of runways made by the prairie meadow mouse, and many of the runways extended below the surface for long distances. Examination showed that many twigs, 4 to 8 inches in length, had been cut from the trees by the mice and dragged into the burrows, where they were found in little piles and entirely stripped of bark. 'It is to be carefully noted that the A FAMILY CROUP IN THE STRAWBERRY PATCH OF F. TEETER, LUCAS, OHIO damage to this and other orchards in Marion County was due largely to neg- lect. On the greater part of the 480 acres mentioned corn had been planted the preceding spring, by listing it between the rows of apple trees; but a wet summer had prevented its cultivation, and the crop was abandoned, with the result that crab grass, sunflowers, and other weeds had grown luxuriantly. The weeds made a complete cover for the mice, and the en- tire summer was moist and favorable to the increase of the latter. The fall and early winter were very mild, and all the damage to the trees by mice had been done in this open period and not under stress of severe weather. "During the cold weather that followed the extermination of the mice, rabbits renewed their attacks upon the trees. Many were killed by distributing pieces of apple into which powdered strychnine had been inserted by means of a knife. As many as twenty dead rabbits were counted in a single morning. While they were not entirely exterminated, the ex- periment demonstrated the efficacy of the method, especially in winter. "An exceptional circumstance in con- nection with these poisoning operations was that no dead birds were found in the orchard during their progress. Remark- able as it may seem, short-eared owls, hawks, and crows fed freely upon the poisoned mice and rabbits without injury. Tree sparrows, juncos and quail were common, and it is strange that all should have escaped the poisoned baits. In dis- tributing poison too much care, however, can not be used to avoid the destruction of valuable birds. "In the use of strychnine for poisoning field mice an ounce of strychnia sulphate is used to each half-bushel of wheat. The strychnia is dissolved in a pint of hot water and a pint of heavy sugar sirup is Page 193 added. The combined wheat and liquid are then stirred until every grain is wet, when the mass is allowed to stand in the mixing vessel for twelve or more hours before it is distributed. He urges care in handling this poison and that it be so used that birds may not be affected by it. Several suggestions on this head are made by Mr. Lantz. In concluding his paper. Professor Lantz emphasizes the importance of rad- ical treatment of this danger and points out how grave a menace are these tiny animals that infest field, meadow and or- chard. And he indicates clearly how great is the responsibility of the individ- ual to keep nooks and corners clean, for foul and unkempt lands are the breeding places for these as well as for all the other pests that menace agriculture in all its branches. Professor Lantz concludes: "There is no escaping the conclusion that meadow mice are injurious to agri- culture. It has been argued that they are to a great extent inhabitants of waste lands, and therefore not very destructive to crops, but such assertions are wide of the truth. The value of these mice as tillers of the soil or as destroyers of weeds, while not to be overlooked, is very slight in comparison to their destructive- ness to grass, fruit, vegetables, hay in the stack, and orchard trees. Testimony of their recent ravages in foreign countries, is of itself conclusive as to their destruc- tiveness, and their depredations in Amer- ica, although less severe locally, have been nearly as great in the aggregate. The danger lurks in every swamp, copse, and waste corner, and the continued de- struction of hawks, owls, 5nakes, and small carnivorous mammals, together with climatic conditions favorable to multipli- cation of the mice, must inevitably resvdt in an outbreak of the animals. An inva- sion of meadow mice in this country, THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 where farming operations are on such an extensive scale, would be attended by ravages of crops such as have rarely, if ever, been experienced. Timely preventive measures are much wiser than corrective measures following an invasion. Among the more important preventive measures are: (1) The preser\ation, both by legislation and indi- vidual cooperation, of the natural enemies of mice. (2) The curtailment of the range of meadow mice by the drainage of swamps and the periodic plowing of grass lands for the rotation of crops. (3) The destruction of weeds, trash, and litter of all kinds about farm premises, gardens and orchards, to prevent meadow mice from obtaining the winter shelter neces- sary to their survival. (4) The burning of dead grass in meadows and pastures, to the same end. Care should be taken, howe\er, not to burn the grass in late spring or early summer, when prairie chickens, quail, and other birds that build on the ground are nesting." ^ ■$ Rotation With Strawberries TH E number of years that a strawberry field can be profitably fruited will depend upon the soil, the amount of fertilizers used, the cost and availability of labor when needed, and the amount of work put upon the berries each year. In the past I have been governed by the many conditions after the fruiting season. From three to five years tiave usually been the number of crops secured. Since, however, using a transpl.Tnter, which has done better work and at less expense than hand setting, I shall not in the future pick over two crops, as I find it will be cheaper and better to set out new plants than to clean and fertilize the old fields, writes Elmer G. Tufts in Rural New-Yorker. Clover is one of the best crops to turn under for a green manure. It adds the desired humus, and at the same time nitrogen, which is the most expensive element of plant food. I have adopted a four-year rotation, in which I secure four money crops and two crops to turn under to build up the soil and replace a part of the fertility removed. The first year the strawberry plants are set out a high- grade fertilizer is used. The plants are given frequent and shallow cultivation, to conserve the moisture. The second year the first crop is secured. The third year the second crop is harvested. Imme- diately after harvesting the second crop of berries the field is plowed, turning under the vines and what straw is used for mulch. After thoroughly preparing the ground it is planted to green stringless beans. This crop is harvested and used at the cannery, which is located on the farm. This gives us the third crop at the end of the third year. After the beans are picked the land is sown to rye as a cover crop. No land should be allowed to go through the winter without some covering. The rye will be turned under in the spring. While this crop will add little fertility to the soil it forms humus, and by its chemical action on the soil helps to make more available the plant food already in the soil. Tomatoes will be set out and given clean culture, a lib- eral amount of high-grade fertilizer used. This crop is also used at the cannery. At the last cultivation the space be- tween the rows is sown with hairy vetch and crimson clover. This crop does not interfere with the growth of the tomatoes, and the picking does not injure the cover crop. The clover and vetch will make a fair growth in the fall and early spring, so that by the time ground is in a condition to plow for strawberries we have a good crop to turn under. The crimson clover and vetch both being legumes of course add nitrogen to the soil. This is turned under in the spring of the fifth year, and strawberries set out to commence the rotation again. We thus have a rotation by which are secured six crops in four years, or a money crop for each of the four years, and two crops in four years to re- turn to the soil. We also have a rotation in which none of the crops is a soil ex- hauster, and we can improve our farm each year. Strawberries and tomatoes are both, as everyone knows, largely water. I use the tomatoes and beans as crops to rotate with strawberries, as they work well together, are easily grown and I can convert them into a finished product up- on the farm, so that they can be put upon the market in a condition that commands the highest price. Sweet corn is some- times used instead of beans to plant on an old strawberry field after the crop is harvested. In somere'pects this is better than beans, inasmuch as a crop of crimson clover can be grown instead of rye, and clover is worth more to turn under as a green manure than rye. It is sometimes difficult to get a stand of crimson clover. I use a high-grade fertilizer; one especial- ly rich rn phosphoric acid and potash, as clover increases the supply of nitrogen. Mr. Tufts certainly is following ideal methods, methods which give large re- turns for the present and are storing up soil-fertility, like deposits of money in the bank, for future drafts. We could do our readers no greater favor than to urge their careful reading and study of what he has to say. The only suggestion of a change that we would make is that cow- peas would be better than clover, provid- ed he could get his money crop off by the middle of July, which will give the cowpeas ample time to make a heavy growth. This for the reason that the cowpeas make so much more humus than does clover, and there is no question that it is a better soil-improver. We notice also that Mr. Tufts plows under his vines and the straw that is used Page 194 for mulching after his last crop of straw- berries is picked. We agree with him in this, provided there are no insects present and the vines are free from fungous diseases. — Editor The Strawberry. ROBU They live, grow, make money for you. Got our catalog? Jf not, send for it today. Millions of plants, trees, bushes — general nurs- ery stock ready. Free catalog tells all. Valua- ble spraying caler-idar in it. Order stock nov7 for fall setting. ARTHUR J. COLLINS Box 415, Moorestown, N. J. Peaches Pears Apples California Privet Dewberries One of the most profitable crops the small fruit- grower can raise Now is the time to plan for next spring's plant- ing. Write for information about plants and culture to R.O. 1. Box 5 T. H. Smaliwood, TakLT' Best quality. Goo(ihear-/S^^*.o^/^Teated era^Low pri-^es. Appk^^^x^^yP ^\Xs e e d a Trees, Plants & Seeds ><^'s THAT GROW yC«y^. 4c i Plum and Cherry v^Oi»^i^^for it today. Address ^:a<\/ GERlVtAN NtJRSERIES, Box 101 Beatrice, Heb. 850,000 GRAPE VINES G9 Varieties. Also Small FrulU, Trees, -tc Best root- ed stock. Genuine, cheap. 2 sample vines nnlled for 10c. Descriptive price-list tree. LEWIS ROESCH, FREDOHIA.N.V. JOIN OUR COLONY OF NORTHERN FOLKS WHY spend another win- ter in the cold North? Our lands are espe- cially adapted to the straw- berry, to poultry raising, to truck growing. Markets close by. Cheap rates to Eastern cities. Work for all. Easy terms. Honest Men Helped to Homes Free Schools. Free City Lots. Free Fuel Free from malaria, mos- quitoes and fpiflrniical dis- eases. Gr&nd opening in Jan- uary, 1907. Special excursion rates lo this place. Address 1906 COLONY COMPANY (WAUGHTELI FOLKSTON, GEORGIA CLEANING OUT THE STRAWBERRY FIELD PREPARATORY TO WINTER October Work With the Strawberries OCTOBER may be called the "home-run" month so far as cultural methods in the straw- berry field are concerned. A glance at the above picture will indicate the last work to be done in the field be- fore the winter comes on and the plants are put under their winter covering of mulch. Each of these men at work have a sharp-pointed hoe which is used to pick out any stray weeds and blades of grass that still remain in plant rows. As the corn men say, this is the "laying-by" pro- cess, and by removing all noxious growths at this season the danger of grass and weeds getting ahead of you during the picking season is greatly lessened. It al- so improves the appearance of the patch, and prevents the weeds from absorbing the plant food which the vines so much need in building up their fruit-bud sys- tem. Many growers neglect this work in the fall, leaving the plants at the mercy of noxious growths, and in the spring wonder why their berries are not so thrifty and so large as those grown by the folk who follow strictly the best cultural methods. This work is easily and cheap- ly done, and if the soil be moist, the grass and weeds readily may be pulled up by hand. While the grower is doing this he may continue to fill in the vacancies in the rows as suggested in the September issue of The Strawberry. /'~\NE cause of plant injury during the ^^ winter is the settling of water direct- ly on the plants in the rows. Possibly the ground has frozen so that the water cannot leach away, and How to Protect , , . Crowns from Freezing a Sudden and Severe freezing spell would re- sult in freezing the water about the crowns and thus, by shutting off all air, smother I lie plants. This easily may be prevented by making a furrow in the center of the space between the rows, which will make a place for the surplus water to lie until it may be carried off or taken up by the soil. We have followed this method for years and it has saved us from heavy losses. The furrow may be made by putting a small shovel on a furrowing plow or, if the grower has no furrowing plow, but does have a Planet Jr. twelve- tooth or Iron Age cultivator, he may attach a larger shovel at the point occu- pied by the back tooth on the center beam. This shovel need not be more than three inches wide, and the furrow should be made to a depth of about five inches. This is actually a drain between every two rows of plants. Many of our South- ern friends grow their plants on ridges because of the excessive rains and stiff soil of that section. With them, of course, these drain-furrows will be unnecessary. WE have received many letters from readers saying that their soil was not so rich as they would like to have it, and asking if it would be safe to apply manure as a top-dress- Top-Dressing ■ ,,, , , With Manure '"g- ^e WOuld say that this is a good time to do that order of work, and the grower whose plants have not made a satisfactory vegetative growth can take fine stable manure and scatter it lightly along each side of the row. After it has been scat- tered it will be well to take a small-tooth cultivator and mix the manure with the top surface of the soil. However, if this may not be done, the manure will serve a good purpose if it be left on top of the ground. Of course, the plants would get no plant food from the manure this fall, nor would we have them do so; but the winter rains and snows will leach the plant food from the manure and store it up for the plant's use the following spring, and this will make them fairly jump. If you intend to cultivate the manure inio the soil as above suggested, be sure and Page 195 do the work before making the drainage furrow between the rows. TN most localities good mulching is a A scarce commodity, and as it is such an important feature of successful strawberry production we cannot too strongly em- phasize the importance Securing the . 111 Winter Mulch of engaging the mulch- ing now so that you will have it on hand when the time comes to apply it. \Ve have ours all bought, and it amounts to 300 tons. This consists of wheat straw, oat straw, rye straw, old and new straw, besides forty acres of sowed corn. Thus you will see we practice on The Strawberry farm just what we preach. The November issue will deal more at length with the mulching question, going deeply into the reasons for its universal use and the large and varied benefits de- rived from it. The suggestions here made are for the purpose of getting you into action; to be prepared for the work that must later be done. pvOUBTLESS every reader of The '-^ Strawberry has decided upon the location of his field for setting plants in the season of 1907. The land may have been in potatoes or veg- etables this season, or it may have been in corn or wheat, or in clover. If the ground has been in a cultivated crop this season, it will be a good plan to break up the ground and sow five pecks of rye to the acre, giving it a light dressing of manure during the winter months. In the spring replow this ground and thor- oughly mix manure with the soil by har- rowing or disking before setting the plants. If it is clover sod, turn the sod under this fall and cover with manure; then in the spring go over the surface with the disc, mixing the soil and manure thoroughly togeth.r. By using the disc instead of Preparing for 1907 Setting THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 the breaking plow the sod will be kept on the under side where it will not be in the way in cultivating the straw- berry plants. If you are growing cow- peas, you should turn them under also this fall, replowing in the spring as di- rected above. The cowpeas, when re- turned to the surface by the replowing in the spring, come into contact with the air, and quickly decompose, filling the soil with rich vegetable mold. Strawberries in Spare Time T WOULD like to start in the strawberry bus- iness next spring. Do you think I could take care of one acre of strawberries in my spare time? I work in a store from 8 o'clock till 5:30, and I would not like to give up my position till I was sure it would pay. You say not to plant in ground infested with the grub. What I want to know is how to tell if it is, as I have had no experience in that line. Can get a few acres that have been in corn this year, and one other place now pasture land. Would fall plowing he sure to kill the grubs, and could I sow rye after that.' Davenport, Iowa. S. S. IT is a pleasure to receive such ques- tions as this, because we desire to see every young man seeking to get into an independent business of his own. Every- body can not, and would not care to, embark in the strawberry business, but we can truly say that no other business offers a broader opportunity to the intelli- gent and enterprising young man or woman. There is no reason why you cannot give the best of attention to an acre of strawberries during your spare time. We estimate that you will have two hours to work before going to your regular em- ployment in the morning, and that you will have about the same length of time to devote to your patch in the evening. During the morning and evening of one day you can give this acre of plants a thorough cultivating, provided you have a How to Paint Your House Cheap And Have it Look Better, Stay Brighter and Wear Longer Than Any Other Paint Made Try It Free of Cost Mr. A. L. Rice, a prominent manufacturer of Adams, N. Y., has solved the paint problem for us all by a new process he has perfected that reduces the cost ()f painting one-half. This process makes an oil paint which will wear twice as long as any other paint made, and stay fresh and bright for many years alter the ordinary mixed paint has faded and peeled. It spreads easier, goes farther, and is backed up by a guarantee to wear for eight years. The genuine superiority of Doublewear Paint can best be appreciated after a trial, and Mr. Rice hiis so much conlidence in the merit of his product that he will send a liberal sample, together with color card, free to an V person intending to paint. Address, A. L. RICE, 606 Main St., Adams, N. Y. cultivator and horse. If you use a hand cultivator, it will take the spare time for two days to cultivate the acre. This will leave you at least four days each week to hoe among the plants. It may be necessary for you to hire some little help after the ideal row is formed, because then there will be a great many runners to remove, and this work should not be delayed. Of course, at picking time you will be obliged to hire pickers, when the big crop of berries will justify whatever expenditures may be needful. We predict that you will be pleasantly surprised when you come to count up the cash receipts and net profits from your venture. More than that, we are confident that no doctor will be able to prescribe anything that will be of more benefit to your health than that which you will receive while working among your plants. Every blister the hoe makes on your hands will be repaid a thousand fold. It is rather difficult to tell whether the soil is infested with grubs. However, when the soil is broken up the grubs are exposed and easily may be seen. One should be careful to avoid using old tim- othy sod, as the grub is partial to the wiry roots of that grass. We have set plants this year on blue-grass sod never before broken and found it free from the grub, but the ground was broken last fall, which may account for that, as breaking sod at that time brings the grubs to the surface and exposes them to freezing and the attacks of the birds. We should pre- fer the ground that has been in corn. Break it up this fall, sow rye in the early days of October at the rate of five pecks to the acre. On top of this spread well- decayed manure; the manure may be spread during the winter months. Next spring replow it and work up finely before setting the plants. '^ ^ STRAWBERRIES suffer from aphides or plant lice unless the grower is careful to dip the roots of the plants in tobacco tea before they are set out. Be- tween the aphides and the ant exists a strange relationship which is thus referred to by Prof. E. D. Sanderson in the Gar- den Magazine. He says: "In their mi- grations from plant to plant the lice are often aided by their foster-mothers, the ants, for many species are carefully cared for and guarded by the ever diligent ants. A peculiar sweetish liquid called "honey dew" is secreted by the aphides of which the ants are extremely fond. To secure this they herd the aphides, much as if they were little green cattle. Frequently an ant may be seen tapping an aphid with her antenns, upon which a drop of the honey dew is exuded and quickly lapped up. Thus the ants are probably entirely responsible for carrying the young aphides, which affect the strawberry roots in Del- aware, Maryland, New Jersey and else- Fk«e 196 Your Son or Daughter Can acquire a practical Business Education during the winter months, at a price within your reach, at THE THREE RIVERS BUSINESS COLLEGE English branches, Standard Short- hand, Touch Typewriting, Actual Business Bookkeeping. GIVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE A CHANCE. It will mean dollars to them in the coming age of keen competition. Ask for catalogue GEO. L. GRISWOLD, Dept. B. MANAGER where, from the foliage down to the roots, and for carrying them from plant to plant, as the plants wither from their injury. The melon louse is similarly carried by the ants from hill to hill. But most re- markabls of all is the case of the corn- root aphis, which lays its eggs in ants nests in the fall, where they are carefully guarded all winter and in the spring the young aphides are carried by the ants to the roots of their favorite food plants. Just One Word By D. S. Copeland A Word may call a hidden smile ■^^ From laughter's fountain in the heart; And Sorrow chase away the while. Or check the tear prepared to start. A Word may open windows bright Where sunny Hope may love to stay; And store the Heart with blessed light, That Time can never take away. A Word may be the golden chain To link the soul to Heaven above; Where Pleasure never hears of Pain, Where all is Peace and perfect Love. IT is said by Ralph Waldo Trine that we cannot desire anything that we cannot attain to, writes Grace B. Faxon in the New York Magazine. That to have the power to desire gives us the power to attain. Desire awakens the power to do and dare. Now that you have the desire, realize that it is your will that can bring you the attainment of your aspirations. Will to be patient, coura- geous and firm. Live in the present. Act as though your whole life depended upon 5'our taking advantage of the pres- ent moment. A man's environment does not make him great. A great man is not restricted by his environment. He adapts himself to it and lifts himself out of it. He uses his environment as a means of growth. AN EXAMPLE OF PERFECT CULTIVATION- W. C. LANDIS AND HIS FINE STRAWBERRY PATCH AT SHOALS, IND. Growing Late Strawberries for Market at the North By C. F. Nehmer ANSWERING the query of the editor of The Strawberry regard- ing our strawberries, let me say that we first commenced growing them eight years ago seven and one-half miles from town, on a homestead. We started with about one-fifth acre, which we planted with a grub hoe, and as we had pretty good success with them we increased our area until we had eight acres in berries there. But, as we had a very rough road to haul over and were too far away from town to handle the fruit to best advantage, we bought forty- five acres within the village limits of On- tonagon, where we are located now, and started planting here in the spring of 1904 — about ten acres — off which we picked 1,939 sixteen-quart cases in 1905. We had a bad storm in the fruiting sea- son or we should have had even more. This year we picked about twenty acres and got 4,052 sixteen-quart cases that we have kept account of. Our principal market has been in the copper country so far, that is, Hancock, Houghton and Calumet. Last year they averaged us about $1.35 per case and this year we sold our surplus crop under con- tract to Hancock at $1.40 per case straight, f. o. b. Ontonagon, and at Ontonagon rind all other small places along the line FROM rhe first this magazine has urged the importance of cultivating late berries for marl^et, and the opportunity presented for this work in that vast district known as the Lake Superior Region, and comprising the northerly sections of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. We should add as territory available for this purpose the Dakotas. The story herewith of The Lake Superior Strawberry Farm, of uhich Daniel Nehmer & Sons are proprietors, is an account of a practical demonstration of the very point for which we have contended, and we pub- iish it with great pleasure in the hope that it may inspire many young men, and young women, too, who are seeking an independent livelihood, to study the situation and, perhaps, find in this field an entrance to a successful business ca- reer.—Editor The Strawberry. we received from $1.60 to $1.75 per case, purchaser paying express charges when shipped. Now about our yields: they could have been much larger if our ground had been worked up properly before planting and drained right (are going to underdrain all of our patch this fall). Our soil is a sandy loam with clay subsoil from one to six feet down. So far we have used barnyard manure and wood ashes only for fertilizer. We never have used commercial fertilizer, as we did not know what kind was best for our purpose, but would be glad to hear from Page 197 some one in regard to commercial fertil- izer for such land as we have. We have grown all of our berries in single-hedge row so far, but we are thinking of plant- ing the same in solid rows about twelve inches in the row and two feet nine inches between rows next year. It takes a few more plants to start with, but we think it more profitable the first year's picking than the single-hedge row. We raise our own plants in propagat- ing beds started from plants bought from Kellogg. We always manage to keep cultivator and hoe going all summer. Last year we put on mulch as soon as it froze up and left it on until we picked, but shall not do so again, as we find those cultivated in the spring do the best. Mulching may be all right in winter in places where snow does not remain, but we think it more profitable to put the labor it takes to put mulch on into hold- ing snow on the ground, as we find snow makes a better mulch in winter than straw. Of course, we mulch with straw and marsh hay in spring after the patch is well cultivated, just before the blossoming season, to keep sand off. In regard to planting, we find that early spring-set plants do best. We are now working up about eighteen acres to be planted next spring which is in far THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 better shape than anything we have planted yet. Ontonagon, Mich. MESSRS. NEHMER & SONS cer- tainly are pursuing an interesting work and doing it in a manner that in- sures success. Their way of enriching the soil by the use of barnyard manure and wood ashes will soon put their sandy- loam soil in ideal condition for strawber- ries, and there is no doubt but their yields, after the ground is drained and well fer- tilized, will be largely increased. The method of setting the plants twelve inches apart in the row is very good in view of the fact that they grow their own plants, but this would be decidedly costly for the man who purchases all his plants. 1 he intensive cultural methods this firm pursues calls for our commendation, as nothing else equals a dust mulch in its power to hold moisture in the soil. However, their method of mulching may be greatly improved by applying the mulch in the early winter after the first freeze, placing it directly on the rows of plants only. Then in the spring, when growth starts, this mulching may be parted, placing one-half on each side of the row, making an opening large enough, merely for the plants to come up through. The advantage of applying the mulch in this manner is in the fact that it will lie close to the ground and the fruit will set- tle down upon it, while if the mulching is put on in the spring, it will be almost im- possible to place the mulching so that the fruit will rest upon the mulching. We have experimented with mulching by ap- plying in the fall and also in the spring, and we find that fall mulching costs much less because it is done at a time v/hen other work is not pressing, and it also serves its purpose better in every way. Applying mulching as above will in no way interfere with spring cultivation, as the mulching will lie directly under the foliage of the plants, leaving about two I.^X steel ■Windmills Steel Toivers Steel Tanks Bteel Feed Cookers IJteel Tank Heaters Hteel Substructures "Wood Wheel Windmills "Woo I Towers ■W-od Tanks Tubular We.l t,uppUes WRITE FOR PRICES PHELPS & BICELOW WIND MILL CO. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN feet of bare space between rows. And by the way, we heartily agree with the Messrs. Nehmer in the matter of culti- vating the fruiting bed. Our own exper- ience in this matter is that fields so culti- vated show an increase over those not cultivated of more than twenty per cent, while the increase of fancy fruit and in the general quality of the berries also was quite twenty per cent. We note that the Nehmers set their plants in the spring. Our views on that point are so well known that they need not be repeated here, except to say that this firm never could have achieved such fine success had they planted at any other season '^ ^ The Overflow Question-Box E. G., Cohocton, N. Y. Would like to know the best way to prepare this patch for setting strawberries next spring. It is a light loam soil and level, about one-fourth of an acre. For two years it has had timothy hay and this spring it was well manured with cow and horse manure, and planted to potatoes. Can get plenty manure and wood ashes. 2. Does it do any harm to cut runners and hoe in the mornip.g when there is a heavy dew on the vines.' 3. Will runners set in September make good fruit bearers? 4. Competition here is very strong, but with the aid of The Strawberry think I will come out wiiuier yet. There is no cultivated crop better to grow in advance of strawberries than po- tatoes. From what you say we judge you have given this ground a liberal dressing of manure, of which the potatoes have taken up the rankest part, leaving it in splendid condition for strawberries. If the manure at your disposal is well de- cayed, it would be well to break up this 1 piece of ground this fall and sow to rye, spreading the fine manure on the surface over the rye. After the rye and manure are turned under next spring apply fifty bushels of wood ashes to the acre, then harrow this thoroughly into the soil be- fore setting the plants. Ashes contain about thirty per cent of lime, which will aid in making the plant food quickly available, while the potash in the ashes will add to the firmness of the berries and increase their fine color. 2. No. 3. Runners set in September in New York state have too brief a period in which to build up a heavy fruit-bud sys- tem. However, they will produce a suf- ficient quantity to pay. Even in your state it sometimes happens that growing weather continues up to December, and when this is true early September plants will develop size and strength. 4. Competition is the life of any busi- ness. The thing to do is to get into a class by yourself which lifts you above ordinary competition. Pack fruit honestly, Page 198 "The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM 'I'HE sixth edition of the book, "200 E'-'ps a Yr-ar A per Hen. ' ' is now reaily. KevlBed, enlarged, and in part rewritten, 00 pai;es. Contains amon^ other thinirs the method of feedini; by which Mr. S. D. Fox. of VTolfboro, N. a., won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition pjwder for the best egg record during the winter montlxs. Simple as a, b, c — andyetwe gunranteeitto start hons to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more e.;gs than any other method under the sun- Tin- book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used by Mr. Pox, which brought him in one winter day 6W ejrs from 72 hens; and for flvedaysin succession from the same flock 04 egi's a day. Mr. F. P. Chamberlain of Wolfboro, N. H.. ;-,ays; "By foUownng the methods oitlined in vour book t obtained 1.490 eggs from 91 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." From 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 eggs in one year — au average of ocer 214 eggs apiece It has been my ambition in writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the standard book on egg production and profits in poultry. Tells all there is to know, and tells it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or wilh a year's subscription to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 65 cents; or given as a premium For 4 yearly subscriptions at 25 cents each. Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 page:. 2r» cents per vear. 4 months' trial. 10 cents. .Sam- ple free. 0ATAX.OGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE 85 Hogan Block Syracuse, N. Y. give full measure, use a good label, pack the berries attractively, and very soon people will call for and insist upon hav- ing your brand of fruit. T. A. N., Woodstock, Ont. We are troubled very much with the grubs eating off the roots. Is there anything that can be done to destroy them? 2. Tell me the best way to treat or care for a patch the first season.' 3. What is meant by a double-hedge row.' Do you think it the best.' 4. Do you advise cutting off the first runners? You will find full information concern- ing treatment of the white grub in the September issue of The Strawberry. 2. The first season the strawberry bed should receive thorough cultivation and hoeing. The cultivator should run close to the row, going about two inches deep, and the work should be done at least every ten days and always cultivate as soon as soil will crumble after a rain. Hoe up close to the plant, bre.iking every particle of crust, but do not hoe deep enough to loosen the plant. The double-hedgerow means a double row of runner plants. The rows should be about three and a half feet apart, and the mother plants set twenty-four inches apart in the row; allow each mother plant to make enough runner plants to form two continuous rows, laying them in X fashion, the center of the X representing THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 the mother plant. It is an ideal way of jjrowing fancy berries. 4. Yes, it is best to cut od the first runners, as this will give the mother plant a belter chance to get strongly rooted. Of course, if the mother plant has made a very large vegetative growth at the time the first runners set, it will be all right to permit the runners to take root, although each year's added experience leads us to favor more strongly the re- mo\al of the first runners. M. M. P., Alton, N. H. My strawberry plants have done well. It is very dry. Will it injure the fruit buds if not kept watered? 2. Shall I scatter poultry dressing between the rows of my plants this fall and cultivate in the spring? We judge that your plants have made heavy growth, and the fact that the weather is dry is a great advantage, as the dry weather will check vegetative growth, thus throwing the energy of the plant to the building up of the fruiting system. When there has been a strong vegetative growth we always welcome a dry fall, because where such conditions prevail plants that have properly been cared for during the season are almost sure to pro- duce a big crop of berries the following spring. Do not, therefore, water your plants unless it is so dry they wilt during the heat of the day, and under no cir- cumstances put water on the foliage while the sun is shining. We take it for granted that you have cultivated sufficiently to maintain a dust mulch; if not, you should do so at once. 2. Scatter the poultry droppings very lightly between the rows of plants; do this the latter part of October and run the cultivator through lightly so as to mix the fertilizer with the soil. You may also cultivate it more thoroughly next spring. H. R. A., Newport, Minn. I write to ask if you can tell me what is the matter with my Gandys. I set the plants early in April on heavy soil, manured with sheep manure, about ten tons to the acre; land otherwise good — equal to the best. April, May and part of June very wet, and it was difficult to keep the ground loose. Since then cultivation has been constant and thorough. Runners are set in narrow-matted row. Most of the plants are making no growth, foliage is scanty and measly looking, leaves curly, ragged and purple. I expected to see large foliage, but it is more scanty than the Splendid or Clyde. I enclose sample of leaves, though they will be so dry as to be of little value to you. Now what is the matter? and is there anything I can do this fall to help them out? Not all are bad ; some plants are vigorous and all right. The leaves from your Gandy plants were very badly dried, but after close in- spection we are confident that the plants Wholesale Factory Prices on all Farm Utensils, Vehicles and Everything Else Meeded for the Farm and Home. A Larger Line of Labor and Money Saving Specialties for Stockmen and Others than was ever before shown .s„„pi;,indin«Miii, in any Catalogue. JUl sold direct i„,„.,riai.i)i«i,Ddiii.. from the Factory to You, by the big '' "^ KALAMAZOO SUPPLY HOUSE CASH SUPPLY &. MFG. CO., If you have not already sent for our new 400-paee caLiUogue send for It today before you order another tiling anywhere for P'all or Winter. It showe a com- plete line of hi^'hyrade Implements, farm epeclaltles. dairy and poultry Koods.v chicles, hariieBH.furnlt a re, stoves and miseellaneouB household articles, all ac- curately Illustrated and described and all Bold direct from the factory at the very lowest wholesale prices oi a bladltiL! Kiiarantee of satisfuctiun or money ref undi-d. This cataloKue will poslllvely s ive v.oi money If you are going to buy anythlni: at all .tylc.nUo Iiragjjj „|,ri|.|eof goods, for the famous K.4L AIM A ZOO ..,_-.... I.. ... SUPPLY HOUSE never takes a bacli seat for any- one In the matter of high quality aud low prices. Operating at comparatively small expense aud snip- ping direct from the factory, we are enabled to sell everything at the very rodc-liottom price. If you thinicperliapawe are exaggerating when we say that, ju;t compare our goods sind prices w itii the !roo-5 intelligently at theproper time hnds it the most profitable operation on the farm Send for illustrated catalog of the Eclipse Spray Pumps and Outfits MORRILL & mORlEY. Benton Harbor. Mich. Cracker-Jack Idea VOU have the ^ fresh popcorn aand other neces- sary material, and I have the formula for making the most crisp, delicious and healthful Cracker-Jack on earth. Now, what I propose to do is to send you my formula wjth com- plete instructions for making Potter's Famous Cracker-Jack if you will send me 25 cents. Why pay a big price for a little bag of stale cracker-jack when you can learn how to make my famous brand at so small a cost? Send me 25c in silver or 2c stamps and I will forward my formula and full information by return mail. It will tell you how to make your own cracker-jack, and earn big money. Clark Potter, The Cracker-Jack Man. Three Rivers, Mich. We vouch for Mr. Pnttor.— KEi,i.ou on How to Care for Fowls a d Make the Most M >ney with them. In factso good you can't aflFord to be without it. JTi' e.50 cent^ per year. Sendatonce for free sample and special offer to YOU. R. R. FISHER, Pub.. Box . Freeport, III. THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 best results and make them go farthest. 4. We do not like to use sawdust as a mulching as it tends to sour the ground. As your sawdust is well decayed and you purpose removing it after berries are picked, the danger of souring would be slight, but it would be a big job to re- move the sawdust, and a large amount of it would be tramped into the soil. If you can get anything else, do not use either sawdust or tanbark. E. D. J , Frederlcktown, Ohio. Do you think to grow su.anbe'ries all in the single-hedge row system would be a; good as to have part Id double-hedge system? I sm growing both ways this year, but like the .-ingle row tlie be. t, because I think it the easiei way to cul- tivate. What do you think about it.'' And what varieties would you recommend to grow that way in this locality' How far apart would you put the rows? As you appear to get netter results from the single-hedge row, and to like this system better than any other, there is no reason why you should not follow it with all varieties. All varieties grow well in single-hedge row, but some varieties will not do well in double-hedge or nar- row-matted row, especially those varieties which develop an exceedingly heavy foliage. There is no question that the single-hedge row is the simplest and easiest method to follow. It makes a little more work to keep the runners off, but when this is properly done the resuits are so large that one is well repaid for t^ie extra work. The distance apart to se. them will depend somewhat upon the varieties, those making a few runners only should be set twenty-four inches apart, while those which make runners abundantly should be set thirty inches apart in the row. One advantage of the single-hedge system is that you may set the rows closer together than under any other system. Three feet will afford ample space between the rows, and, if land is limited, thirty inches will do. Al- most any of the old standard varieties will do well in the single-hedge system. In your state the Excelsior, Warfield, Senator Dunlap, Glen Mary, Dornan and Sample give ample returns. W. D. C, St. George, S. C. How may I tell a bisexual from a pistillate plant? 2. I have one row of Texas (B) beside a row of Aroma (B). When I get berries next season what will they be? And will the plants taken up be a combination of the two varieties, or do the plants in each row retain the characteristics of the mother plant? There really is no way to tell a bisexual from a pistillate plant so far as the plants themselves are concerned. But it is easy to detect the difference after the bloom opens, as the bisexual flower has both pistil and anthers. There is a cone in the center of the flower which is sur- rounded by anthers. The latter extend beyond the cone or pistil, while the pis- tillate variety has only the cone, contain- ing the pistils. The bisexual flower always is larger than the flower of the pistillate. 2. The fact that you have set two bi- sexuals side by side will not change the characteristics of either fruit or plant. Keep the runners of each row from run- ning into each other, and then the partic- ular variety will bear the same character- istics as the mother plant and will, of course, bear the same name. J. J. H., Bellefontaine, Ohio. What kind of an idea would it be to plow under a crop of cow peas in the fall and then turn them up again in the spring for a strawberry bed? Would there be time after strawberries are picked to sow a crop of peas and have them for fei*ilizer as stated above? In an ordinary season you may sow cowpeas aftei berries have been picked and get quite a large growth of vines, and It will be well to turn the peas under in the fall, provided you sow about five pecks of rye to the acre after the cowpeas are turned under. The rye will act as a cover crop, protecting the ground from puddling during the winter rains and snow. This ground should be rebroken in the spring. This will thoroughly mix the vines up with the soil and put it in an ideal condition for plants. S. E. A., East Aurora, N. Y. I have taken the best of care of my berry plants and they are a picture — big healthy plants forming a double-hedge row from sixteen to eighteen inches wide, with an open space of about twenty inches between the rows. Now my land washes some, and it occurred to me that I could sow the whole piece to oats about September 15 and they would help to mulch and stop its washing. The freezing will kill them so there will not be anything left of the oats next spring. I shall cover the plants with bean straw and buckwheat straw. Will you kindly give me your opinion? It will be wise for you to sow oats between the rows of your strawberry plants about the middle of September, as we note from your letter that these plants have made a very large vegetative growth. The oats will not do any great injury and it is quite likely that they will prevent the ground from washing so badly during the rainy season. We also would sug- gest that you apply mulching quite heavily where the ground washes badly. The bean straw and buckwheat straw should make ideal mulching. As a rule we *♦ Direct to You 'Kalamazoos*' are fuel savers.— They last a lifetime — Economical in all respects — They are low in price and hiph in quality — They are ea-ily operated and quickly set up and made ready for business — Buy from the actual manufacturer — Your money returned if everything is not exactly as represented — You keep in your own pocket the dealers' and jobbers profits when you buy a Kalamazoo. Wc Pay the Freight Radiant Base Burner High Grade Parlor Healer for Hard Coal We want to prove to you that you can- not buy a bet- ter stove or range than the Kalamazoo at any price. We want to show you how and wKy you save from 20^ to 40.ij in buying direct from our factory. 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Forall kinds olfuel. Page 205 THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 would not advise the sowing of oats in the strawberry bed, but in your case it will undoubtedly serve some purpose. C. D., Hull, Iowa. I would like to ask you what to do with my strawberry patch. After the crop was off I plowed the rows down to about 8x12 inches wide, first mowing closely, then raking off after plowing I harrowed thoroughly, took out all weeds, and since I have been going through them with the Planrt Jr., once a week, every time the same way. Now the runners are begin- ning to run w ild. Shall I cut them off or keep them pushed to one side along the edges of rows? I kept them in this way last year and they got awful thick. So far you have been doing the work of preparing your strawberry beds for second crop properly, but as the runners are forming quite abundantly, we would suggest that you keep a large percentage of them from taking root. This may be done by pulling them off when hoeing and cultivating. If you keep pushing these runners into the row, the plants will form so thickly that it will make berries small next season. The plants should not set closer than six or eight inches, and by keeping them thinned this way will help you to secure fancy berries. E. W. N. , Colorado Springs, Colo. This al- titude is nearly 6,000 feet. Is this too high to go into berry growing as a business? Would it be better to buy some land in some of the state's fruit sections? I intend to raise squabs, bees and berries, and probably some other fruits. I prefer this city as a home and should like my business as near home as pos- sible. What do you know of berry growing as a business in or near Colorado Springs? Strawberry plants are very hardy and they will thrive and produce good crops of berries wherever vegetables will grow. We are sure that you will find that straw- berries, squabs and bees will make a good combination. Many readers of The Strawberry succeed well in high altitudes in Colorado; we know of no reason why you should not succeed in Colorado Springs. J. T. P., Crescent, Okla. Having purchased land at Artesia, New Mexico, and desiring to grow strawberries there, I ask your advice. The altitude is about 300 feet; rainfall, fifteen inches; artesian water at temperature of about 70 degrees Fahr. for irrigation. Immense crops of alfalfa and apples are grown in the Pecos Valley. Strawberries seem to do poorly. The new growths of leaves are white or very light, caused (I think) by alkali in the soil. Can this soil be made to produce heavy crops of strawberries? 2. How prepare it? 3. What varieties would do best? I read a// of The Strawberry. The soil in some parts of New Mexico does contain quite a little alkali. Where only a little of this exists strawberries successfully may be grown. The fact that alfalfa and apples grow luxuriantly on your soil is evidence that strawberries also will thri\'e there. We note what you say about the leaves of the strawberry plants being white, or a pale yellow. This might be on account of a deficiency of potash. If this is true, a light dressing of wood ashes will assist in getting a d.irker foliage. 2. The best way to prepare this soil would be to break it up this fall and scatter a light dressing of stable manure on top of the ground. Then mir. this thoroughly with the soil, and let it remain until next spring, when you should j.gain work the soil and manure thoroughly to- gether and get it ready for setting the the plants. 3. As to varieties for New Mexico, we generally recommend Excelsior, Tex- as, Crescent, Dunlap, Brandywine and Mark Hanna. These varieties are all Acting- on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days test trial. This engine is no experiment, but Jias been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DBREGT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This; Lyons Engine Company, Lyons, Mich. Gentlemen:— I am about to purchase agas or gaso- line engine for purposes and wish vou to send me full particulars about your approval offer as .Tdvertised in The Straw- berry. Yours very truly. Name Town State Street No. or P. o. Box R. P. D When writing, please stale definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. LYONS ENGINE COMPANY, Lyons, Michigan. ^ Page 206 THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 deep rooters and will stand a lot of dry, hot weather. And all are splendid fruiters as well. J. B. H., Stoutsville, Ohio. I have a piece of ground which is partly a black loam, the balance being a mixture of clay and sand, the clay predominating. This land has been in onions for two seasons. I have a part of it now growing to cov\'peas, which I shall turn under just before frost. Will sow balance of my ground to rye. What I want to know is: Would you advise me to plow my rye under late this fall or wait until next spring? I want to put some stable manure on .the ground during the winter months. The purpose served by rye is to take up the plant food which is bound to be leached out by winter rains and snows. Just as soon as the ground thaws during the winter the roots of the rye begin ab- sorbing the available plant food, holding it in reserve for the strawberry plants dur- ing the following spring. The rve also serves a valuable purpose in preventing washing and puddling of the soil. Spread the manure on top of the rye, and it will find its way up through the manure. ■*. ^ W. H. B., LaBelle, Mo. I have a plot of ground which is in garden truck this year and I want to set it to strawberries next spring if nothing happens. I had part of the ground in strawberries about three or four years ago, and this year is the second crop of garden truck since I had strawberries on it It had a tolerably heavy coat of stable manure on it this spring and I put in corn, potatoes, beans, tomatoes and truck, and these are growing on the ground now. I want to plow the ground this fall. Would you advise putting another thin coat of manure on it this fall before it is plowed? 2. Would you advise using commercial fer- tilizers on the ground next spring? Would you advise replowing the ground in the spring but not as deep as this fall, or work it down as it is left this fall? I have asked two or three travelling salesmen for wholesale drug companies about nitrate of potash, and they did not seem to know anything about it. So I would like to know where I can get it. I am always anxious for each number of The Strawberry to arrive, as there are always some very instructive and interesting articles in each issue. I don't see how anyone who grows strawberries can do without the paper. The fact that vegetables have been grown upon the ground is evidence of its good condition. Give it a light coat of manure this fall; then turn it under about four inches deep. If this work c:ui be done early enough so that rye still may be sown and grown, we should do so. Next spring plow this piece of ground, going about six or seven inches deep, and as the manure had been turned under but four inches, breaking it seven inches deep in the spring will leave it nearly in the center of the broken earth, and this will make it very easy to mix it into the soil with harrow or disc. 2. You doubtless meant nitrate of soda rather than nitrate of potash. The former may be obtained from any fertil- izer company. \Vrite Swift & Co., Chi- cago; 111., mentioning The Strawberry, and you will receive full information con- cerning it and all other fertilizers partic- ularly adapted to the strawberry. Barn- yard manure is the best thing for straw- berries, but well-balanced commercial fertilizers will serve you well if the stable manure is not available. S. B. R.. EUott, Iowa. I enclose herewith a sample of the leaves on my strawberry bed. This is the third time they have gone the way this sample has this season. I have sprayed them with the mixture of lime and Paris green four times; forawhileeach time they seemed to do well, but would get as this sample in from two weeks to a month afterwards. We have had an exceedingly dry August, the ground is very rich, and my wife says that I have killed them by too much cultivation. There are no weeds in sight anywhere about the bed. I know that it is not the fault of the original plants, for every plant lived till a mole dis- turbed a few and then this trouble came, or something similar, twice before. 1 did find quite a good many webs among the plants prior to the dry hot August, but none since the last spray. I have kept the runners as di- rected. Three times since the dry hot weather of August we have given them a good wet- ting down with the hose. Twice we have used the suds from the Monday wash to help them to moisture. I shall be very much obliged if you can tell me what to do. The specimen leaves indicate that your plants are affected with mildew and rust. We note that you have sprayed them with Paris green and lime. This would have no effect on the rust or mildew. This is a fungi and can be controlled only by the use of Bordeaux mixture, which is made by dissolving four pounds of blue vitriol in twenty gallons of water, and four pounds of lump lime slaked in three gallons of hot water. Then add enough water to the lime to make twenty gallons. After this has thoroughly cooled, combine the lime solution with the blue vitriol which will make forty gallons in all. Of course, this will not cure any leaves which are affected, but it will pre- vent the healthy leaves from being attacked by this fungi. It is so late now that we doubt if the spraying would do much good, and unless your plants are very badly affected, we would not spray until next spring. Then the first spraying could be made just as growth starts, spraying again before the buds open. It would be rather difficult to give straw- berry plants too much cultivation. We cultivate about five times a month and hoe about twice a month. We note that Pa«e 207 you have been watering these plants from the hydrant. It is all right to do this in the evening, but do not sprinkle the plants while the sun is shining hot, as this only encourages the fungi spores to spread. <^ ^ C. E. B., West Salem, Ohio. I have a two- acre piece of ground that I wish to put to strawberries next spring. I have it in corn now, but it is so full of the white grub that I am afraid they w ill take all the plants. They worked on the corn badly. Could you give me a plan to treat that ground so as to get rid of them? Would it be a good plan to plow the ground this fall? As your ground is infested with white grubs, we urge you to break it up this fall and let the ground remain in a rough condition during the winter months. This will expose the grubs to freezing and also to the attacks of birds. If you have pigs and chickens and your piece of ground is fenced so that you can turn them in on it, they will get most of the grubs by rooting and scratching. Either pigs or chickens will leave corn to eat grubs. This treatment should free your soil from grubs. WE HAVE A LARGE NURSERY STOCK Speeiiil inducements to those dpuliny direct. Agents wanted. J. WRAGG & SONS CO. WAUKEE, IOWA Make More Money on Fruit Crops Everyone who grows fniit. whether a laitfe ct-in- tnerei;il pi'.wer. or one who hiu* only a few fruit trees, a bci i V pntfU or ajjanlcn, should be interested in knowing how to get the most prulit from lus erups. ST JOSEPH. MISSOUR-r iF, the only niaprazine in AmenVa whieh is ticvufea exeh.sively ttj tlit- inteivsts of timse who prow fniit. Itishaniisuineiy illu^^t rated, and eoiUanis f i ..ni 3(j tj- 76 patjes eneh nuMith. It tells all about f rnit <>f all kinds— and nothiMir but fruit— how to market. Jm.w t-. \}Hc\i. cultivate.f^prny. prime, how to \I,VKE MCliE RioNKY fr maiiazines cannot be taken by any assent or added to any clnb at li'ss than the full list price. No clianse in this club allo^ved FOR ONE YEAR The Strawberry $1.00 Farm and Firestde--seini'nionthly .50 Housekeeper .60 Western Fruit Grower I.OO Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value $3.60 } $1.95 { T F you want any publication *■ in the country and don't find it in this list, send to us forit, ormalce any combination you desire. We purpose to furnish our folks with the best and most desirable literature in the world at the lowest possi- ble price at which it may be had. The Strawberry Farmers' Voice Housekeeper Farm and Fireside Boys and Girls $1.00 '50 .60 .50 .50 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value $3.60 LIST OF FIFTY CENT MAGAZINES Which may be substituted as desired for any 50c magazine named in any of the combinations on this page Apple Specialist $ .50 Reliable Poultry Journal .50 Am. Poultry Journal .50 Poultry Tribune .50 Vick's Magazine .50 Farm Poultry $ .50 Poultry Success .50 Green's Fruit Grower .50 American Swineherd .50 Boys and Girls .50 The Strawberry $1.00 Review of Reviews 3.00 Woman's Home Companion 1.00 Success Magazine 1.00 Total value $6.00 No <'liaii;ct? '!» tills riiib allow etl FOR ONE YEAR f I ^ f •»■ I ^ A^ ' I ^ 1 \ A '^"\7'7' T"^ ■ ^ T^ 1 — \ "^ T' —One Hundred and Eighteen Portage Avenue- THfc STRAWDbKRY Three Rivers, Michigan THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 11 Three Rivers, Mich., November, 1906 $1.00 a Year day! I'm aiwaj's sorry now, when apple time comes and I can't make out to eat more than one or two at the most. And then the stomach of a heahhy boy becomes chief of the things I envy. But do you know what calls up the most blissful remem- brances of all those youthful days — and it seems to me those look into the changing and picturesque figures, which nothing coals over on that side of the fire are just now reproducing the else makes to such perfection as hickory coals, with their won- scene as a human artist might do it? Well, sir, its that straw- drous brilliancy. And while we look and wonder at the kalei- berry patch that lay just between the house and the vegetable doscopic transformation scenes, memory recalls visions of other garden. You remember it, don't you? Just a little to one days in the old homestead, where another great hearth gave off side of the old well, with its long sweep always pointing off to (^VEMBLR'S winds are blowing out of the north, and the bleak landscape tells of winter's approach. In the light of the blazing hearth, with the music of the crackling hickory logs, winter seems a delightful season of the year. Stir up the fire and make it merrier, and let us its comfort and its cheer, and made us boys and girls long for evening and the family circle gath- ered in its warm and generous radiance. Ah! those days and those nights of filial and fraternal com- panionship— how the thought of them causes the incidents and scenes of those long days of youth and their myriad tender associations to limn themselves anew, and in the glowing coals we may fancy the "or- chard, the meadow -you'll find a patch of strawberries the rallying place for all the members of the family." the northwest. ^Ve boys liked the or- chard, and the barn, and to visit with Old Kit and Fanny, the best team you ever saw in all your life, if they couldn't make a mile in Dan Patch's time. And you haven't forgot- ten little Jerse\-, have you, that used to give such quan- tities of cream at one milking that I daren't give \()u the figures forfearyou'd doubt my truthful- ness. I can taste the cream vet. But that the deep-tangled wildwood, and all the strawberry patch — it was the one place that every member of the loved spots ' that made youth and home and the old farm family took an interest in, and we boys never growled any when sources of never-ending delight. time came to work there. I guess I was the one that "took'.' There was that immense hay mow in the barn that Father to the work more naturally than the others, but Dick and Lucy built in the year of the big fire. Don't you remember how we were always ready to help, because there was recompense for used to climb up there when tl'.e October rains were falling, every minute spent in that patch. Remember the Wilsons, and lie in the sweet-scented hay and listen to the patter-patter and the Crescents, and that old juicy Jociuida.' — makes a fel- of the drops upon its great broad roof? What hours for day- low's mouth water to just to think of them! And when I recall dreams and plans that never went beyond the dreaming, "^'et what that patch yielded in the way of the most delicious fruit ihere were plans made then that did materialize, and what v\'e ever grown — fruit that must have charmed the gods themselves are today and what we actually are doing relate themselves di- if ever there were any of those mythological chaps around having rectly to those hours spent in quiet reflection or in optimistic a respectable man's appetite for good things, converse beneath the generous shelter of the old barn! Surely Don't suppose yoti e\'er knew how I paid my way through "the child is father to the man." college did you? Well, sir, that little patch did the business; Then there was the orchard, "where good digestion waits on or, I might say that I did the business with that little patch, appetite, and health on both." And how we used to test our How big was it? I can't exactly say — used to look pretty big digestive powers when the Rhode Island Greenings and the sometimes when I had to go over it with the hand cultivator Northern Spies were a-gathering. Say, you wouldn't dare to and the hoe. But I suppose it was about two hundred feet tell how many of those great big juicy fellows you ate in one long and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty teet wide. THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 However, it didn't seem a bit too big when I came to count up my cash, after I had made up my mind to make it pay my way through the university. Fact is, I guess I used to be a little jealous that other folks liked that fruit so well. But, as I was saying, every member of the family liked that little patch well enough to take a hand in its management, and next to the old fireplace in the big living room, I believe it was the most popular place for family gatherings. Af- ter the fruit began to ripen in June there was a family convention in that patch every day till the crop was gone, and e\erybody took a hand in gathering the fruit. And when it came time for me to go away to college, and Mother put her hand on my arm and said to me, "Well, John, you've earned your right to a good education, but the lessons you've learned in the strawberry patch will be to you through life among the most valuable and helpful!" I felt repaid for every hour of time I had spent there. And now I un- derstand what she meant by her remark. These mothers of ours have a wisdom the depths of which we never may quite sound. That's why I have a family strawberry patch right now. It is an inspiration and a joy to every member of my family, and the hours we spend in it together draw us closer one to the other. Our boys and girls work together there, if you may call effort, every stroke of which is pleasure, work. If you haven't a family strawberry patch, don't let another year go by with- out one — that's my advice to everybody; and I don't care whether you live in a metropolis or in a hamlet or on a farm — you'll find a patch of strawberries the rallying place for all the members of the family. It is a feature of family lie you can't afford to neglect, no matter from what viewpoint it may be considered. As I say, it was an inspiration and a blessing to me, as well as a means to a broader intellectual life. How a Novice Compels Success By L. C. Stifler I AM a novice in strawberry culture. Bought a little farm here, and with my excellent guide. The Strawberry, under my arm I hustled out last spring to see what I could do. Fixed over an old patch of nearly one-half acre that was on the farm when I bought it last year. Result: took to our home market over ninety cases of big red berries for which I received the top price. The good price we received was the result of our careful picking and still more careful packing. That old patch was too weedy to suit me, so where the fine berries were there is now growing an immense crop of buck- wheat— the weeds are still there; under the ground. \N'e!l, 1 was busy in April and more busy first of May — could not find time to set the new patch, and May had almost gone by the time I did get at it. Had carefully plowed and fertilized part of my young peach and pear orchard and after a nice rain on May 23 I set the plants with a dibble made from a yellow pine hoard. I was short some 200 plants to complete my bed, so sent to a neighbor, who raises plants for sale; but he had none for me of the kind I wanted. He said to my buyer: 'He is too late plant- ing." Was I.'' ^Vell, Mr. Editor, come over to VanBuren county, Cjeneva town- ship, four and one-half miles southeast of South Ha\e:i, and see that strawberry bed of 1600 plants. Matted row? Not for me ! 1 tried your double-hedge row and it is simply a "beaut." And that fellow that said I was too late will have to put an electric battery to his bed to have it catch up to mine. We are now busy hoeing and cutting off the runners and the bed is certainly a "thing of beauty." We had lots of berries this sum- mer that measured seven inches around; from an old bed, too. South Haven, Mich., Aug. 20, 1906. Where Hasty Judgment Hurts SOME months ago one of the most distinguished authorities in the straw- berry world sent to The Strawberry a report of his experiences with certain varieties. In referring to one or two of the best known and most popular varieties he took occasion to criticise their perform- ance in terms that could not have failed to prejudice the unknowing concerning them while it would have worked great injury to those growers of plants who an- nually grow and raise hundreds of thou- sands of these favorites. When his at- tention was called to this phase of the case this distinguished writer and ex- perimenter promptly acknowledged the error involved in his act. This incident is referred to here because we so often receive from our friends like reports of their experiences — friends who neither have time or opportunity or incli- na:ion to test with scientific exactness the performance of any variety even on their own grounds, and who apparently forget that a variety which may do poorly under the climatic, soil or cultural conditions obtaining in the particular instance, may under different conditions prove itself a leader. As a general rule, and one to which there are few exceptions, no variety of plants is long offered by reliable nursery- men which does not possess distinct merit, and it is quite safe to conclude, when a variety fails you, that there is some local cause for the trouble. At least, it will be well to reserve one's condemnation until other grov\ers in other sections are heard from. If our friends who write us on this subject find we have omitted such refer- PaCG 210 ences from their contributions they will understand why the omission is made. The isolated experience of one grower, taken by itself, is not sufficiently con- clusive to aid others, while the denounce- ment of a variety, published in a journal like our own, might result in a general rejection of a worthy plant and in positive injury and loss to its honest and intelli- gent propagators. Recollections of a Veteran IN some interesting reminiscences, re- lated in Green's Fruit Cjrower, L. j. Farmer, the well-known strawberry specialist of New York, has the following, and his success in that field is partly due at least to his pertinacity and his deter- mination to stick to business even though his "best girl" had to suffer for it. ^Ve quote: "The first strawberry plants I ever set out were from grandfather's old Wilson bed and some Crescents that came from a bed that my brother set out. I remem- ber that my brother bought 100 Crescents for five dollars and set them in a little bed by themselves, not knowing anything about sex in strawberry blossoms. The Crescents, being pistillate, never produced much of a crop, although there were a few fertilized by wild plants. The most of the berries were nubbins. But when I set them out beside the Wilsons they produced wonderfully, and I never have seen them surpassed in productiveness. In 1886 I had rows 100 feet long that produced 100 quarts each to a picking. I have often thought that had my brother or even myself known the true value of those Crescents, we could have made a good thing from the 100 plants which we purchased for five dollars. "The first real acre of berries I ever set out was in 1883. The plants were mainly Bidwell with a few Crescents and Charles Downing. The plants were purchased from E. P. Roe, who was also a plant nurseryman as well as story and horticul- tural writer. I hired two men to help me set them and not knowing much about directing help, I found after the work was done that one man had set them very carelessly, merely, in some instances, covering a part of the roots with a handful of earth. However, most of the plants lived, but it was a big job for a boy of seventeen years, and they got pretty weedy, and when finally all were hoed and cleaned out it was pretty late, and they never made much growth. I did not cover them, and the winter being severe, many were frozen out. In the spring I rolled them as one would a meadow. This was the first and last strawberry bed I ever rolled. The gross receipts from this acre were about $100, and would not have been near this but berries were high, nothing selling under 10 cents per quart. "I used to do most of the hoeing my- THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 self, tend the pickers in the forenoon and sell the berries in the afternoon. 1 re- member in 1886 of seilinjj thirteen of the thirty-six quart crates of strawberries in one afternoon, all in lots of a few quarts to each house. 1 he people used to ex- pect me at a certain hour, and 1 have a pleasant picture in my mind of seeing the ladies of Jefferson street stand out by the sidewalk v\'ith their pans waiting for me to come along one evening. I happened to be a little late that day and they feared they were going to miss their strawberries. "My father never liked the strawberry business and wisel)' opposed my plan just enough to make me determined. I some- times think that had he "fell in" with my ways and tried to help it along, 1 never would have been so enthusiastic in the business as I have been. I feel that 1 needed a little opposition in order to fully show what stuff was in me. I remember a lesson he once gave me of learning to depend on myself. I graduated from Pulaski Academy in June, 1887. I did not attend school that spring as 1 was very busy with my strawberries. I had three acres to fruit and quite a large new set patch. There was a picnic for the graduates the next day after commence- ment exercises and I invited my girl' to go to the picnic. It was picking day that day and, on account of the extraor- dinariness of the occasion, I supposed of course that father would tend the pickers for me, but when 1 approached him about it early in the day, he very fiimly told me that I must tend them myself. It was a very bitter lesson for me, but I staid with the pickers, although I felt like kicking myself for disappointing the girl. A Noteworthy Strawberry Field ON page 197, October issue, is a pho- to-engraving of the strawberr\' patch of W. C. Landis, Shoals, Ind. It would be impossible to conceive of a more perfect piece of cultural work than is displayed in that patch, and more beau- tiful plants we have not seen. \Ve con- gratulate him upon his work and the results he has accomplished. Mr. Landis writes us that his patch is 70 X 90 feet in size, with rows thirty inches apart and plants twenty inches apart in the rows. '1 his patch was set April 15, 1905, to 500 iMichels" Karly, 500 Parsons' Beauty, and 200 Bubach plants, and they were grown in the double-hedge row. He has cultivated entirely with the rake and hoe. Mulched hi? plants with new wheat straw January 20, 1906; uncovered them April 1. First bloom was April 15 and first berries were picked May 19; last berries picked June 14. Mr. Landis sold his first box of berries for 25 cents, and sold sixteen boxes of the last picking for 20 cents a box. Of his total crop of 469 boxes 309 boxes were firsts and brought him 15 cents a box; 160 were seconds and sold for 10 cents a box. From which fact one may judge of the high quality of those seconds. How many would be pleased to have their firsts equal them! Mr. Landis' patch is not only a thing of beauty; it points out the way to all of us to win large success by doing every part of the necessary work in the best possible way, confident that the harvest time will bring a sure reward in cash and in that fine pleasure that the conscious- ness of having done the best we could must always bring. The Value of Ventilated Strawberry Boxes DISCUSSION as to the relative value of the ventilated strawberry box has not been altogether favor- able to the box made with that point in view; that is, the ordinary box has been found sufficiently ventilated to admit of the necessary circulation of air to preserve the fruit in good condition and flavor. Herewith is shown a box recently made by a citizen of Rockford, 111. It is made in one piece, and, as will be seen, is per- forated and the base cut out for purposes of ventilation. Anent the question of its superior value because of these perfora- tions and open base. The Strawberry ad- dressed an inquiry to William A. Taylor, pomologist in charge of field investigations for the department of agriculture at Washington. In reply Mr. Taylor says: "From such experiments as we have conducted we have found practically no difference in behavior of strawberries in storage in any of the commercial types of package yet tested. All strawberry boxes in commercial use known to us are 'ven- tilated,' i. e., none are too tight for free movement of air if the crates are given proper space when piled. "We have tested some comparatively tight special packages, however, and find that while the tightness secured by wrap- ping a crate with heavy paper or the in- dividual boxes or baskets in it with paraffin paper is deMr:ihle because it pro- tects fruit fr.-m disagreeable odors that may arise from other products in the storage room, it is quite possible to cause injury to the flavor of the fruit by enclos- ing it so closely as to prevent all move- ment of gases. In such case the exhala- tions from the fruit are retained and smother it so that it dies quickly and becomes tainted in flavor. ^ '^ NATHAN'S teacher, according to the Boston Herald, told the class to make a rough illustration of the poem, "The Old Oaken Bucket." Nathan's illustration consisted of a large circle, three buckets and a bunch of dots. "Nathan," said the teacher, "I don't understand this. What's the circle.'" "That't the well," replied Nathan. "And why have you three buckets.'" "One is 'the old oaken bucket' one is 'the iron-bound bucket,' and the o her is 'the moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.' " "And what are those little dots.'" "Those are 'the loved spots which my infancy knew.' How White Strawberries Were Introduced VAGRANT tales concerning the strawberry are frequently found in the newspapers, and the enterpris- ing authors are quite apt to be more inter- esting than veracious. But here is one that we risk clipping for the benefit of our readers, warning them that we assume no responsibility as to its authenticity. It is an account of the accidental manner in which the discovery recently vvas made that the white strawberry of Jamaica will thrive and yield abundantly in the rigorous climate of New England. According to the narrator the white berries reached Boston port as a private speculation on the part of a steward on one of the United Fruit Company's steamers, who took aboard a crate of them with the idea of working up a de- SPECIMEN OF A VENTILATED STRAWBERRY BOX Page 211 THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 Montgomery Ward (& Co/s No. 75 NoiSdy FREE Nearly 1300 large ]iages, thousands of pictures, 127,000 articles. The biggest bargain book ever printed. Beats all Catalogue records for quantitj', quality and low prices. Full of many things you want that you cannot buy near home anduiultitudes of things of better quality and at lower prices than any other catalogue or store offers you. Send for Your FREE Copy Today. .%">0.00 a year, at least, is easily saved by every one using this No. 7.5 Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue to order goods from. Many write us of saving hundreds by being our regular customers. It pays others, it will pay you. We are the originators of the Catalogue business. We have been square with our millions of customers for 35 years — we will be stjuare with 3'ou. This Big Book Just off the Press Valuable Premiums Free In this new No. 75 Montgomery Ward & Go. Catalogue is an en- tire section devoted to our new Free Prem- ium Plan, which il- lustrates and describes all the many valuable articles we give free to our customers, includ- ing Pianos, Buggies, Sewing Machines, Watches. .Jewelry, Dia- monds, Morris Chiir, Couclics, Chairs, Sad- dles, Books, Slioes.Car- pi'ts. Curtains, Tools, Scales. Harness.Stoves, Lamps, Violins, Gui- tar, Music Boxes, Sporting Goods, Cloth- ing, Furniture, Dinner Sets, and very many other choice articles, ail given to our patrons. It is worth yonr wliile to get this big No. 75 Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue for 1901) 7 just to see this wonderful Premiiiin Li.st of things that await your selection if you become our cus- tomeis. Send j'our name and address carefully writ- ten on a postal card or in a letter, or attached to your next order, or till out coupon in the picture ; either way that is easiest. Just say "Send me free and pre- paid one copy of your new No. 75 Catalogue." Do this before you for- get it, right now. We will then send it at once. We Make No Charge For This Great Catalogue We even prepay the postage. Ordering a copy of this large Free Booli puts you under no obligations to buy anything of us. We ask you to send for it, read it, look at the pictures and prices, and then when you find out how much money it saves you j'ou will be glad to order from it, for it means a saving of 20 per cent to 50 per cent on everytldng you wear, eat or use in anj' way. Remember this is no partial list or imitation of the Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue, but is the genuine, the latest, the complete, new, large Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue, Number 75, for fall of iil0(> and all of 1907, full of tlie very latest styles and newest city goods of every kind that you can possibly want or use DON'T DE- LAY— send for your copy today. It will go to you at once, by return mail if jios-'^ible, all prepaid and absolutely free of all cost. MonLgomery Ward (Sh Co., Michigan Avenue, Madison and Washington St>reet>s, Chicago rage 2U THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 mand at the fashionable hotels. His scheme fizzled almost as soon as the stewards of the local houses saw the ber- ries. No amount of persuasion could convince them that the berries were not green when picl;ed and subjected to a chemical process that would give them every other appearance of ripeness. In any event they refused utterly to have anything to do with them. And this resulted in the Italian venders getting the white berries at a bargain. They did their best with them from house to house, but the people of Boston were as skepti- cal as the hotel stewards. This did not bother the Italians, though, for they simply went to a vacant lot in West Roxbury, picked over their berries, and mixed the white ones with the red. In the process some of the leaves in which the Jamaica brand were packed fell to the ground, where they took root and thrived. A little girl removed them to the family strawberry bed, and this year they have yielded a crop that, plant for plant, makes their red sisters look small. The discovery is regarded as im- portant by horticulturists, who have for years regarded the Jamaica white berry as a standard so far above the ordinary red berry that it has been considered im- possible to reach it. Success Under Difficulties By J. M. Rimel NOTWITHSTANDING my fail- ure to get a stand of plants last spring I have them all reset three feet one way, twelve inches the other, with plants I raised myself for the most part. I commenced to reset in July and finished September 1. My plants ha\ e grown finely. I think this would be a good place to start a propagating bed to supply plants in the fall. By setting plants here in the fall we can have nice plants by the first of August. What do you think of the project — do you think it would pay."" I see a great deal in The Strawberry about the white grub. This summer, when I was culti\'ating what few straw- berries I had, I found the ground full of white grubs, and I thought they surely would get what few plants I had. I turned on the water and when the ground got thoroughly wet the grubs came up near the surface and the birds (mostly robins) found them out. The birds just riddled the ground; picked it so full of holes that it looked like a seive. 1 have cultivated my strawberries since 1 reset them and found but four plants eaten off and found only two grubs. The Strawberry is a welcome visitor and seems to get more interesting each month. Asotin, Washington. Mr. Rimel did not give up because of discouraging conditions in the spring, but kept right at it. The result is that he is to be rewarded, no doubt, with a bountiful crop of berries in 1907. Too many of us give up if things don't go off smoothly the first pop, and by so doing lose not only a crop of strawberries but the fun of compelling things to come our way. — Editor The Strawberry. One Way of Reducing the Cost of an Acre of Strawberries By Joseph Bolt I SAW an article in the October num- ber of The Strawberry on the cost of an acre of strawberries, which I think subject to modification. I showed that article to a friend. He read it and JOSEPH BOLT laid the paper down, saying; "Yes, I see; to raise fancy strawberries is a game for a rich man to play at, but a poor man bet- ter keep his hands off. Now I always claim it is a game for a poor man to get a start with, and so I said: "Let us see if we can't shave that down some and not lose any of the inten- sive part of it." And so the following dialogue took place: "Your land is rather poor; it needs building up.'" "Yes; too poor for strawberries." "Well, suppose you start next spring to build up one acre. You have a horse.^" "Yes, an old plug; but able to pull a plow." "Well, you plow one acre and plant it to peas; common cow peas. When they are ripe pick off the peas and plow the vines under. Then put on another crop of peas; pick the ripe peas and plow the vines under again. Now let us see about a manure pile. "Yes," said he, "that is a question. 1 have no straw and can't afford to buy it. Pa«e 21} "Well, can't you go into the woods and rake up leaves — any kind except pine —and keep your horse stable well filled? Then put a few posts in the ground and nail on some old boards, or rails, so as to make a pen or large box, and from time to time clean out your stable and put the manure in there. Then you have chick- ens.'^ "Yes, about twenty-five." "Well, throw a few shovelsful of earth under the roost, say once a week; and when you have a load put that on your manure pile. And what does your wife do with the soap suds from the weekly washing.'" "Throws it away!" "She does, eh.? Well, suppose you take that to your manure pile — it helps to rot it. Then what do you do with your ashes — you burn wood.? Put a barrel somewhere handy under shelter and de- posit the ashes in that, and you will be surprised to see what a big pile of manure and ashes you can gather in a year. Then after the second crop of peas is rotted spread on your manure and plow that under, and you are ready for your plants, except to put your ashes on and work this land a couple of times with disc or har- row. Then you can do all the rest of your work — a great deal of it before breakfast. You can nail up your crates at odd times; you can be your own fore- man and carry the berries in; your wife can do the packing. "Yes," said he, "I see you have been through the mill." So when we were done shaving down the cost stood some like this: Pickiiifj h, 000 (luarts strawberries .f hO.OO 250 crates 20.00 6,000 boxes 18.00 7,000 plants 28.00 Total outlay . . . $126.00 Sold 6,000 quarts at 9c . . . $540.00 Total outlay 126.00 Leaving cash balance of $414.00 To which add for the two crops of peas sold at least . . . .^5.00 Making grand total net earnings $449.00 Then my friend said: "I shall fix up an acre, or at least a half-acre; and when I want any shaving done I'll call on you! Certainly these figures represent the poor man's way of making money with strawberries." Brooklyn, Fla. Every reader of The Strawberry will read Mr. Bolt's clear statement with in- terest and satisfaction. The figures given in the October issue represented the case of those who employ labor in the work and pay for all the work done. Mr. Bolt shows how the man who employs his own hands in the work and is aided by his wife, can make a handsome rev- THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 enue from a small area of land and a lit- tle cash investment. It is a hopeful pic- ture Mr. Bolt presents of the large op- portunity to the man of small means thus opened by the limitless held of strawberry production. Nine Hundred Dollars from an Acre of Strawberries By H. Walter I LIKE The Strawberry very much, but in reading it I fail to find any reports from Canada. Perhaps your readers on the other side have an idea that we can't grow strawberries worth mentioning over here, but I think I can convince them that we can. I grew strawberries this year at the rate of $900 to the acre. Fifteen berries of the Wil- liam Belt variety filled a quart box, and some of them measured seven and a half inches in circumference. One plant had on it by actual count, 150 berries. For the first time I fruited Parson's Beauty this season, and they were a sight worth looking at. I felt repaid for all my labor and was very proud of the results. I grow plants by the hill culture, and have William Belts that measure thirty- three inches across, and Parsons' Beauty as large as from twenty-two to twenty- eight inches. I am compelled through poor health to quit my trade (shoemaker) and have de- cided to go into fruit and gardening. I have bought fifteen acres near one of the best towns in Canada. I am within a few miles of one town with a population of 13,000 and another about 4,000. I am greatly taken up with the growing of small fruit, especially strawberries, and I am quite satisfied that I will make a success in the business. Bright, Ont. There is no doubt of success! The man who lays down the hammer and dwl to go into strawberry culture and make such a showing as this correspon- dent has done, need not fear to leave any other line of work for the strawberry field. Such reports from the amateurs not only stir the professionals into greater activity and to adopt better methods, but they hearten everybody and prove what we so confidently repeat from month to month, namely, that there is no other field that offers so great opportunity to the person of limited means as does strawberry pro- duction. Mr. Walter indicates how great are the possibilities from one acre of perfectly developed and perfectly culti- vated plants. No one pretends he could have accomplished such results from poor plants that received scant attention. But it's worth while, from the doUar-and-cents viewpoint, to devote thought and labor to a line of work that will produce $900 from a single acre of land. And with two good towns within reach from his fifteen-acre fruit farm, we shall expect to hear fine reports from Mr. Walter. And that his health will be benefited by the change there is equal certainty. We hope that ten thousand of our good friends who are looking for a profitable vocation may follow this worthy example. — Editor The Strawberry. Spring the Time to Plant ONE of the readers of The Straw- berry recently objected with un- seemly heat and vigor to the po- sition taken by this magazine relative to summer and fall planting for strawberries. It is therefore with added pleasure that we quote from Franklin Brown, who, in replying to an inquiry from a subscriber to the Wisconsin Farmer, thus treats this subject: "The proper time to set strawberry plants is in the spring as early as the ground is in condition to be worked. Much has been said and written in regard to planting in the summer and fall, and many attempts have been made in this direction with the same almost universal result — failure. "The strawberry needs the whole sea- son in which to establish a good root sys- tem and build up fruit crowns. Plants set in the summer do not have this op- portunity and therefo.e fail to be pro- ductive. "The strawberry plant v.hich is taken up and set out has two functions to per- form, both of which it can do well if it has the entire season. The first function is to make crowns with which to bear fruit the following season. The other is to become the mother of other plants by means of its runners. A plant set in June or later cannot fulfill both these functions, and weak crowns and weak plants are the result. "As for using plants which have fruited, this should not be done. An old strawberry plant has a tough, woody root which cannot support the plant and allow it to perform its work. In digging straw- berry plants the old ones may easily be recognized by this condition of the roots, and such should always be rejected." Referring to failures made in the grow- ing of strawberries, Mr. Brown says: "From my own experience and observa- tion I can say that the cause of nearly every failure is the failure to observe some cardinal rule of proper berry culture. In this connection it perhaps would be well to lay down the precept that he who would raise strawberries should plant only strong young plants in early spring and give them the best possible cultiva- tion and attention." A KaaaiKvazoQ Direct to You "Kalamazoos" are fuel savers. — They last a lifetime — Economical in all respects — They are low in price and hit;h in quality — They are easily operated and quickly set up and ready for business — Buy from the actual manufacturer — Your money returned if everything is not exactly as represented — You keep in your own pocket the dealers' and jobbers' profits when you buy a Kalamazoo. Wc Pay the Freight *» nade Radiant ILise Burner HiiTh (".r.i^le Parl-.r Heater for Hard Coal We want to prove to you that you can- not buy a bet- ter stove or range than the Kalamazoo at any price. We want to show you how and wKy you save from 207^ to 40'u in buying direct from our factory. If you think $5, or 810, or 540 __^__ worth All Kalama- zoo stoves and ranges are cuai- anteed unde Oak Stove Heater For all kinds of fuel saving All Kalaiiia/oo cook stoves and r.'im;cs are lilted witli patent oven Thermometer whJLli makes l>akingand roast- ing easy. binding. let;al and ihoronghly re- sponsible S20.000 bond to be exact- ly as represented. All stoves blacked, polished and ready for immediate use when you receive them. You won't need the help of an expert to set them up in your home. SEND POSTAL FOR CATALOGVE NO. 348 Esamine our complete line of stoves and ranges for all kinds of fuel ; note the high quality; compare our prices with others and then decide to buy from actual manufacturers andsave all middlemen's profits. Catalog shows 2(>7 styles and sizes for all kinds of fuel. Write now. Sold on 300 Days Ap- proval Test. Kalamazoo Stove Co. Royal steel Ranpe For all kiEiiis of fuel. Manufacturers. Kalamazoo, Mich. Hanfl^omeh- Nickeled Monarch Cast Iron Kani;e. Forall kin. is ol fuel. Page 214 SPREADING THE MULCH IN A LARGE STRAWBERRY FIELD Autumn Work In the Strawberry Field WHERP2 strawberries are grown either in narrow or wide mat- ted rows there are always, at this time of the year, a large nimiber of the plants that are immature and poorly rooted. If these are allowed to remain in the rows Remove (he i -n , . , Weak Pian.s ^hey Will Only interfere with the development of good plants and prevent them from doing their best at fruiting time. Before you do your mulching, therefore, go over the rows and remove these unprofitable occu- piers of the land. In doing this work we have tried several methods. One is to run the hand through the row of plants, allowing the fingers to act as the teeth of a rake. Another is to take a common iron garden-rake and draw it gently through the plants. Plants that will loosen with this treatment are better out than in the patch, because if the plant is not sufficiently rooted to resist this mild treatment, it certainly is not well enough developed to make a heavy fruiter. In the matted row it will pay to rake good and hard and thin them out, even though a good plant once in a while thereby is lost. This method does not apply to either single or double hedge row. We would caution the grower against running the rake or the fingers through any part of a row where the plants are very thin or where a vacancy has been filled in by layering runners. In places of this kind, even though the plants are not extra-well rooted, let the plants remain, so that they may make a continuous row for the second crop. THIS is the month when mulching will be done over a large section of the country, and we shall give in detail here the reasons v\hy it should be done, Mulches and Mulching what to use for mulching, and the way in which to do the work. We have been experimenting for some years for the pur- pose of determining the best time to apply the mulching, and in mak- ing these tests small blocks were mulched just before the ground was frozen, while others were mulched after the ground was frozen to the depth of some two inches. Still another plot was mulched after the ground was frozen sufficiently hard to sustain a load of straw, and a fourth block was not covered until the latter part of winter. The result of this test experi- ment was that the strawberries mulched in November, before the ground was frozen at all, proved best of all, and this was true of the plants in every particular. These experiments covered a period of several years, and in every instance the early mulching proved far in advance of all the others. Of course, in a season where growing weather continues until into December, as has occurred, mulching is not to be done until the plants cease growing. This may easily be detected, as the plants will assume a ripened ap- pearance when growth ceases. AS in all other departments of work, individual growers must determine for themselves as to details. For instance, one's location and the climatic conditions prevailing must be con- "Mu'ich ' sidered, and sometimes even seasons differ suf- ficiently to make some changes of time, perhaps of method, necessary. If you are located in a state where the ground freezes solidly and the winters are severe, then the mulching should be applied over the entire surface of the ground as well as o\er the plants. The depth of the Page 215 mulching should be sufficient to cover the ground and all of the plants, except where the plants have an excessively heavy fo- liage, when it would be difficult to hide all of the tops under the winter covering. ON the other hand, in the case of those who dwell under warmer skies, where freezing is very light, mulch- ing may be deferred until some time in December, and it need ,,. , ^,. , 1-1 ) -1 Mild Climate not be applied so heavily Mu.ching as in the colder sections. And yet it should be sufficiently heavy to shade the plants so as to keep them dor- mant until the desired time for making new growth. Plants will not stand so much covering where the ground is not frozen hard, but will bleach and smother under a covering as heavy as that applied in the northerly latitudes. Remember, that the roots of a plant will continue to grow so long as the ground is not frozen to the depth to which the roots extend. In the extreme South, where it ne\'er freezes, some growers may think it un- necessary to mulch. But this is a wrong idea. While mulching in that latitude is not done to protect plants from freezing and thawing, it should be done to keep the berries clean. In such a climate mulching need only be placed along the side of the rows, but not over the plants. GIVEN a choice of materials we should take, first of all, old wheat straw, and if it were partly decayed, it would suit us all the better, and this be- cause it would be broken . , , lit- Materials tor up finely and would lie Muichins closer to the ground, and therefore would be less liable to the influence of the winds. But we never vet have been able to get a sufficient THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 **BcttCr Tlldll Gas," says this new yorker. ^^ "I have osed The Angle Lamp far beyond tfae time Bet for trial and find tbat one cannot be too enthusiastic over it/* writes Mr. Granville Baraurn, of Cold Springs, N. J. "it certainly gives the brightest and at tbe same lime the softest illumination one could desire. "We lived in New York City for some years and used all the latest and most Im- proved appliances, devices, etc. in connection wilb gas or electricity and yet I must sin* cerelyiirge the superiority of this simple yet wonderful method of illumioatloa. Ooe can hardly Siy too much Id its praise." THE Angle Lamp makes common kerf>sene the best, the cheapest and most satislactory of all lighting methods. Safer and more reliable tlian gasoline or acetylene, yet as con- venient to operate as pas or electricity. The Anjrie Lamp is' lighted and extinpaished like gaa. May be turned hicrh or low without odor. No smoke, no dantrer. Filled while lighted and without moving. Requires fillinir but once or twice a week. It floodsaroora with its beautiful, soft, mellow light that has no equal. Write for Our Catalog *a' * and our proposition (or a 30 DAYS' FREE TRIAI,. Write fornur catalog '■ 54" listing ^2 varieties ftf The Angrle Lamp from ti.80 op, now— before Jtm turn this leaf— tor it gives yuu tne benefit ot our ten years' experience with all lighting methods. THE ANGLE MFG. CO., 78-80 MURRAY STREET. NEW YORK. quantity of this material, and so we take whatever material comes most readily to hand. Rye straw is an excellent mulch, marsh hay makes a good third choice; oat straw is good, the principal ohjection to it being that it becomes matted together in such a way that it is very difficult to make an opening in it for the plants to come up through in the spring; coarse manure is another favorite. Shredded corn fodder is ideal as a mulch, but it is quite expensive. Thickly sown corn pro- duces a very fine stalk which answers the purpose excellently. The illustration at the head of the next page shows a field of sown corn being cut with a common wheat binder, which ties it in bundles, making it convenient to haul to the fields and place on the plants. An illustration of this work also is shown herewith, in which you will observe that the bundles are laid directly on the row, one just be- hind the other. WHEN the bundles are all placed in this manner, simply cut the strings and spread the corn out so as to cover the plants; also the space between the rows. You readily will see how easy it will be to part the corn stalks over the row next spring so that the plants may come up, and what a fine clean floor this material makes for the strawberries to ripen upon. Old leaves from a forest also may be used, the only objection be- ing that forest insects may be found in the leaves. However, this danger is so slight that we rather would use the leaves than let the strawberries go without a proper covering. Our Southern friends find pine needles a mulch of high quality, and leaves stripped from cane plantations serve them well. Buckwheat straw is away ahead of no mulch at all. LET us consider for a moment the ad- vantages of mulching, for there are few things of greater importance enter- ing into strawberry production than this. Applying the Corn Fodder Advantages oE Mulching Its principal object during winter is to pre- vent sudden thawing during bright days. Alternate freezing and thawing causes contraction and expan- sion of the soil, which results in straining and breaking the roots. A mulched plant re- mains undisturbed, thus allowing the roots to remain firmly fixed and in a per- fectly dormant condition. Then the roots will callous and remain so until it comes time for them to get into action in the spring. This insures a strong and powerful plant, capable of developing a heavy foliage and a bumper crop of big red berries. Mulching also prevents the dashing winter rains from beating directly upon the surface of the soil, and this keeps the soil from forming a hard crust. retaining its mellowness and avoiding closing up the air spaces so important to the life of bacterial germs. And don't forget that it is because of the industrious work of these little friends — these same bacterial germs — that the food is prepared for the plants, and nothing must be over- looked that will aid them to perform well this important task. The mulch also shades the ground and holds the plant food in the soil, or, in other words, retains fertility in the soil. It holds the snow, causing it slowly to percolate into the soil as it melts, thus filling the sub- soil with a great quantity of moisture like a reservoir, to be drawn upon throughout the growing season. MULCHING prevents the washing of the soil, which causes a great waste of mineral matter. It keeps the fruit buds from swelling during warm spells in winter, which , Mulching IS an important factor in ^ ^reat Economy preserving the strength and fruit-producing powers of the plant. It is a guarantee that there will be no weakened roots to check the rapid move- ment of sap when spring comes and na- ture sets things in motion. Mulching is an economy, rather than expense, isn't it.' Then in the spring, the foliage is in a healthy condition, green and full of strength. This aids in starting a vigor- ous new vegetative growth, which the plant must have before it can develop and mature a big crop of fancy berries. It holds the water in the soil so that it can- not escape except as the plant absorbs it. It plays an important part during the blooming period. When a heavy rain falls, if it were not for the mulching the APPLYING SOWN-CORN FODDER AS A MULCH THIS illustration makes clear our method of applying as a mulch fodder which comes from thickly sown corn. When this photograph was taken we used only a few bundles in order that the il- lustration might be as plain as possible. We are sure that all our readers will get the idea from this picture. It is evident that applying it in bundles is much easier than by any other way Page 216 ^l^cO^ HHHHH^fcitfijy^i^i^ - -"TfH i^y^. ./. 'Tf'T T/.-? . J, 'J^m^L i / ■'• ^'.'J ■' .".■■-•■ ■ / .I'-^n-iA^.': . « IP" HARVESTING A FIELD OF SOWNCORN GROWN FOR MULCHING drops of rain would beat sand and dirt in- to the bloom or flowers, destroying the influence of pollen. 1 his will make many blank blooms as well as knotty and undeveloped berries. It also keeps down the dust in a dry blooming season. And there is the weed problem: mulching is the best check on weeds ever discovered. Mulching forms a carpet not only for the berries, but fot the pickers. And then when you go to market with your fruit, your customers welcome you with a glad hand and cheerfully pay the price for a hrst-class product. Another great advan- tage of mulching is that after the fruit is picked you are able to burn the mulching off, which will destroy insects and fungous spores, and will furnish enough ashes to aid materially in growing a second crop of choice fruit. SINCE the above was put into tyje we have received from a Morenci, Mich., subscriber the following inquiry: 'Are sorghum cane stalks that have had the sap or juice squeezed out of them good for mulching strawberry plants.''" and ad- vising us that he can secure an ample supply of this material from a near-by sorghum mill. Nothing could be better; indeed, the sown-corn concerning which we have had so much to say, is very much like sorghum pomace as a mulch, and the latter will give our reader excel- lent satisfaction. It is wise thus to use the products that grow locally, and there are few neighborhoods which do not pro- vide some mulching materials. A MONG the pleasures of this life few ^^ are more enjoyable than visits from congenial friends. And, as everybody in the horticultural world knows, or ought to know, James M. Irvine, editor of the ^ruit Grower, published at St. Joseph, Mo., all will understand what a good time we have been having when we say that Mr. Irvine spent two days with us in October. Mr. Iivine is a fruit grower himself, a lover of flowers, and, most of all, a lover of his fellow-men, and he radiates sunshine and happiness wherever he goes. Mr. Irvine is not only winning success in his journalistic work, but as a Let Me Quote You b Price on the AMERICAN Manure Spreader We manufnctnre and sell the celebrated Amer" fcna Manure Spreader to the oonsumer direct from our factory — saving all the middle profits made by jobbere and dealers. Theee pronta are left out of consideration in the prices that I want to make yon direct from our factory oq an Ameri< can Manure Sproader. This means that you can buy from our factory at factory [■rices— be a Wholesale Buyer. And that isn't olll We don't ask yon to pay cash lo advance. We sell the American Manure Spreader ^Pi^^ liberal time payments — An I IIM A ^^ giving our customers easy nil I llllv terms to pay for their Spreaders— I etting th» Spreader real ly pay for Itself as i t eo rns for pou. We are the only concern in the United States manafacturing and selling Manure Spreaders direct to the ueer on time and on trial at low fac- tory prices. The American Manure Spreader has 40 per cent more exclusive features than any other Spreader. It is hiirh-clasa in every res pec t— made to last a lifetime. There is no question obout the American Manure Spreader being the standard Spreader of the world. 30 Days' FREE Trial To prove all of onr claims for the celebrated American Manure Spreader, we allow SO days' trial on every Spreader we sell. This permits the customer to use the Spreader on his own farm for a full month to be satisfied that it is just as represented. If not as represented it can be returned to us. We pay all freight both wav8-trial being FREE. The low price 1 want to quote yon on an Ameri- can Manure Spreader will be for the Spreader de- livered at your station. We Pay All Freight This price will be for the Spreader on time— this price will be for the Spreader on trial— and this price will be a price that is lower than dealers are charging for Spreaders that are not nearly eo Kood as the American. When you examine all the ex- clusive features of the American you will agree with me. Write for my price— and write for my catalogue and booklet. They will tell >nu all about the American Manure Spreader ttud give you a lot of fjoiid information on the question of ferti- lizing—a question that every farmer is i nterested in and wonts to know all about. Just write me today on B postal card. I will f;ee that yon (jrt our book and my especial price at once. W.W.COLLJER. Gen. Manager AMERICAN HARROW CO. 4541 Hastings Si. DETROIT, MICH. Start your orchard now. Fortunes have been made by it. Start right by planting hardy, well cultured stock, that will live anywhere— guaranteed— materially less than agent's price— ask for prices on 1,000 lots. Ulustrated Catalogue free. CHA.TTA.3VOOOA. IVlTieSEJieiEJS Box 10 CHATTANOOGA. TENNESSEK Page 217 THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 citizen, taking a leading part in those things that make for civic righteousness and true moral progress, his place is an enviable one in the community in which he lives. <^ ^ Concerning the Forcing of Straw- berry Plants in Pots By Professor S. W. Fletcher ^^HAT would be the best way to get a few " strawberry plants to fruit tile last of next September in pots.' Yours truly, Tylervillc, Conn. £• E. S. 1DO not know of any attempt to force strawberries in pots so that they will fruit in September, and doubt very much if this can be done expediently. They can, howe\er, be brought into fruit any time after the middle of November or the first of December. A fall crop of many varieties can be secured, however, by cuttino; ofF the blossoms in the spring. Briefly, the essential points are as follows: In July take the first runners from the young plants, set in the spring of that year, and layer them into three-inch pots k OR Buys This Large Handsome NIcM _Trimine(l Steel Range without ^^umIlIl^' closet or reservoir. With Hi g:h warm- ing closet, porcelain lined ' reservoir, just as shown in cut, 813. 95;large,Bquare oven, six cookiiip holes . body mado of cold rolled steel. Duplex prate; burns wood or coal. Handsome nickel trimmings, bit-'hly polished. sOUR TERMS ^t most liberal ever Imade. You can pay lafteryou receive th« range. Youcantakft it into your home, ; It SOdaya. If you don't d it exactly as represent- I ed, the biggeet bargain you ever saw, equal to atovea 1 retailed for double oup I price, return it to us. Wa will pay freightboth ways. Writs TodaV ^'^'^ '^^'^ beautirully Illustrated Stove I! * Cataloguo No. I 123, a postal rard will do. 7-'>i;tyIea to st-iect from. Dou t buy until you get it. MARVIN SMITH CO., CHICAGO, ILL. Cracker-Jack Idea vou ' fresh popcorn and other neces- sary material, and I have the formula for making the most crisp, delicious and healthful Cracker-Jack on earth. Now, what I propose to do is to send you my formula with com- plete instructions for making Potter's Famous Cracker-Jack if you will send me 25 cents. Why pay a big price for a little bag of stale cracker-iack when you can learn how to make my famous brand at so small a cost? Send me 25c in silver or 2c stamps and 1 will forward my formula and full information by return mail. It will tell you how to make your own cracker-jack, and earn big money. Clark Potter, The Cracker-Jack Man, Three Rivers, Mich. W.- von.-h for Mr. Pott.- -KEl,l.'iiii; PuBl.i.-^HiN'; BRICKLAYING The best of trades. Learn bricklaying and earn from .$5.00 to $6.00 per day WfUo for partit'ulai's CHICAGO SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL BRICKLAYING Adams St. and S. 42nd Ave., CHICAGO. ILL. which are sunk into the soil beside the plant. When the runner has filled this pot with roots, sever it from the mother plant and pot it into a five or six-inch pot in good soil which contains much fibrous material. That secured by the rotting of turf is good for this purpose. A sprink- ling of lime and of rotted manure should be added. The plants in pots should now be placed in cloth frames with four or five inches of cinders beneath them and packed around them. This keeps them cool and prevents worms from entering them. Water them copiously, shade them if nec- essary, keep the runners picked ofi^, spray with Bordeaux mixture for the "leaf spot and encourage in every way the growth of large forcing crowns. Put a sash on the frame to ward off the early frosts and keep the plants growing until the first of November. By that time they should have so completely filled the pots with roots that when a plant is turned out of the pot, no soil can be seen, simply a mat of roots. Now allow the plants to harden ofF gradually by leaving them exposed to cold weather. They may be mulched lightly with leaves or straw. By the first of December, or any time later, the plants may be brought into heat. Strip them of diseased leaxes, spray them with Bordeaux and place them in a tem- perature of from 40 to 50 degrees if pos- sible, but a warmer temperature will do. The idea is to raise the heat gradually to simulate the gradual approach of summer. Syringe the plants frequently with water to keep off red spiders. The blossoms will need to be brushed over every sunny day to distribute the pollen. After the fruit is set, water the plants twice a week with weak liquid manure. If possible, raise the temperature as the fruit becomes riper. Support the fruit from the wet soil in the pot by strips of wire netting or by sticks under the fruit stalks. Potted plants forced in this way should yield more per square foot of area occupied than plants in the field. A limited quan- tity of fruit will sell in large cities for $1.50 to $2.50 per quart during the holi- days, at Easter and other times during the winter. The plants are worth from 50 to 75 cents to use for table decoration, but of course the market must first be secured and only cities of considerable size furnish such a market. Ihe best varieties for forcing in pots are Brandywine, Cjlen Mary and Marshall, Brandywine being the best. A few plants can be forced in the win- dows of dwelling houses with considerable success. We have over 3,000 plants at the college which will be forced this win- ter in pots, in greenhouses, benches, in cold frames, in pits and in the field. Agricultural College, Mich. NOT by appointment do we meet De- light and Joy; they heed not our expectancy. But 'round some corner in Page 218 Sometliing BeaytituI for Xmas A STRAWBERRY SOUVENIR SPOON The Bi'iTV H;ini1sninrly Eii^-rnvcl IKJ A BOWC OF GOLD Neatly Boxed and Mailed for $1.50 Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed Ai SMITH, JeWGlGf, THREVmVERs'lVllCHIGAN \1:R -town uinri- .-xti>nsi\elv in Easti-ru North ('iui>liiia tlKiii anvulniv fl.sf iu the world. I.c'is tlKui tu.iuv Viirs :ii:ij this tcrritoiy br-sjaii sliippini; 1.. rri.v.'t" Niirthi-rn iimrkets. Slnf e thi-n I lie business lias steailily ^rtiwn until in 1900 ber- ries V. ere shiiii.eiltoth.- viilue of nOBVly $7,.'>00,- ()0(l. And vet the su])ply does not equal the de- niiind for the North Carolina berry. Finest of borrv land nniy lie bought ulons; the Hues of the Norfolk & Southern Railway at voi-j' low prices and on easy terms. Wliy not come Soutli now ami take advantaire at present low prices before real estate valnes are ail- vaneed.' For fnrther information, wi-ite to F. L. MERRITT, Land &, Industrial Agt. 302 CKIzens' Bank Building NORFOLK, Vi. /T'- ==\ Federal Meat Inspection Law On or after October 1st, 1906, all parties ibutchers, dealers or farmers' are prohibited, by the provisions of the law referred to above, from any interstate shipment of any carcass, or part of carcass, or meat product, of cattle i including calves, sheep, swine or goats,' unless and until a certificate is made and furnished by (he ship- per in one of the forms prescribed by the Secre- tary of Agriculture, as provided below, viz: When shipped by retail butchers and dealers, whose products have been e.xempted from in- spection, certificates prescribed by Regulation No. 55 will be required. When shipped by farmers, whose products are exempt from inspection, certificates as prescribed by Regulation No. 56 will be required. It required thai the certificate be made in duplicate. The original certificate will in all eases be retained on file in the office of the trans- portation company and the duplicate must be forwarded to the superintendeni of the division who will transmit it without delay lo the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C. These forms will be furnished by mail in pads as follows: One .Pad of 24 One Pad of 50 One Pad of 100 $ .20 .30 .40 V The Avery Press THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN J the streets of life they on a sudden clasp us with a smile. — (Jerald Massey. How Laddie Cured Father's Rheumatism By Edgar L. Vincent BEEN out to see 'em lately, Father?" Father had not. He had been too busy to spend much time fussing with berries. 1 hen, rheumatism had him fast by the legs these days. It was all he could do to get around and do the farm work that was actually necessary, saying nothing about such frills as Laddie was giving his spare time to this summer "They're dandies, Father!" Laddie cried enthusiastically. "Better come out and see 'em." Father did not hurry much, though. He was too lame for that; but some time that forenoon Laddie did capture him and march him down to the garden. He had been down there before and, in order to make the surprise he had in store for his father, he had covered the one plant upon which he had spent all his time and strength when he could be spared from other things, with an old newspaper. Now pulling this aside he triumphantly exclaimed, while Father smiled in spite of his incredulity. "How do they look to you. Father.? Didn't I tell you they were dandies.? 1 didn't stretch it any, did F?" tJh, no. Laddie had not told half the truth. Such a beautiful plant as it was that greeted Father's eyes! 'Fhe stems lifted themselves bravely, drooping under the tufted foliage. But the grandest of all was the burden of bright red ber- ries clustering about the splendid plant. Every berry seemed to be perfect in form. Many of them were now fairly ripe, while there were dozens still only half developed. Laddie had cared for his pet plant well. Father could see that. It looked so rich and well cultivated. " 'Twon't do anything on this soil, Laddie, he had said when his boy first spoke about setting out some of the plants. "No use to spend your time and strength fussing with such things. It will be all we can do, and more too, to take care of the corn and potatoes. You know I can't get around to help much. You'll have it all to do in a year or two, unless I get the start of this lameness." "Wish you could take a Jay-ofF a few months and go somewhere till that lame- ness went away." Laddie looked serious. It was a thing he and Mother had often talked over when Father was not present. I'hey hoped it would leave — that miserable rheumatism. Seemed as if Father might have been spared that. He had enough besides to trouble him. The debt on the place must be cleared off, somehow. He could not stop till that was done. At least, he would not feel that he could. It worried him and kept him from being quite his own old self. Dear Father! How Laddie would like to help him more! The shadow on his face was like a big cloud coming over the face of the sun on a fall day. It hid a great many things beside the smile on Father's face. "'\'ou wouldn't care if I tried just a few plants, would you. Father.? I'll take care of 'em. They shan't stand in the way of the other work." So Laddie sent a letter away to a firm that made a business of growing plants. He told them about the nature of the soil of the old farm and they sent him half a dozen good plants, adapted to the condi- tions as stated by Laddie. But a dry time came on after the boy had set out the plants. He did not know how much water a strawberry plant can use and had not heard the statement of one of our leading growers, made a good many years ago: "The strawberry needs three things to make it do its best. First, water; second, water; third, more water." So only one of the plants came through. But how he did fight for that one! He dug around it. He kept the weeds down. He put plenty of fertilizer about it. He loosened the soil about it and after he came to un- destand the noed of moisture he watered the precious thing two or three times a day, no matter how tired he was or what else might come in the regular work of the day. After that little exhibition, and espec- ially after they had all enjoyed a great feast from the grand old strawberry plant, it was not quite so hard work to convince Father that perhaps it might not be alto- gether wasted time to set out a few more plants. Two dollars was all Father felt that he could invest at that time for the lad's new venture. A.nother year the rheumatism might leave him, so that he could help some about it. The debt would be paid by that time, too, and things might brighten up a bit. He never knew just what Laddie wrote to the house when he ordered the plants. But Laddie told them about Father's rheumatism and how he hoped to be able to help him to take a trip away to the "Springs" for a few weeks and asked them if they would trust him for plants enough to set out a quarter of an acre. "I'll pay for every one of them," he wrote. "You needn't be afraid to trust me. We're good for it." And the firm took Laddie's word for it and forwarded the plants. A letter ac- companied the shipment, giving Laddie some instructions how best to care for the plants and assuring him that the house shared his hopes that Father would soon be all over his lameness. The berry patch was away down in the back lot. Laddie never said a word when father suggested that that land was Page 219 not good for much else. He couldn't afFord the best land for berries. That must be given to something that would amount to more. He just shut his teeth and buckled in the harder to bring that field up to the right state of fertility. "I'll plow it and take all the care of it. Father. Don't you think a single thing about it. When you're off at the Springs '11 be time enough for you to think about the berries!" Father smiled a bit. What a grand thing hope is! And there is no hope like the hope of a boy like Laddie. Father wished he were a boy again, just for the sake of knowing the joy of such a spirit once more. The next two years were pretty hard ones for Father. The rheumatism did not seem to get any better. More and more of the farm work fell on the boy. He was getting to be a big boy, though, as tall now as his father. Slender, but strong. Still, it was almost too much for him to do. Mother felt it, and often she went down to the berry field with him after the day's work with the other crops was done, and together the two toiled till the moon was bright in the eastern sky, weeding and otherwise caring for the berry plants. "Wish Father could see 'em now!" Laddie had half a mind to hitch up and bring him down, just to let him see what a glorious sight it was. For he never had been in sight of the field since it had been set out. He was too lame and too busy. It seemed to him Laddie ought to be resting when he was down there fussing with the berries. It did not seem to him anything would ever come of it. How many men have thought just that way about berries. Well enough for the men that make a business of it; but for farmer folks — why, it was just a waste of time. But there came a time when Laddie hitched up quite a while before day and slipped away to the city. He and Mother had worked a good deal later than com- mon for a few evenings before that. Father wondered what they could be do- ing so late in the field. But he was too tired to follow them. He was still sleep- ing when Laddie drove out of the yard. He and mother did the milking and other chores and most of the rest of the day he sat waiting and looking down the road for the boy's return. "Queer how we miss Laddie when he's gone, ain't it Mother.? It's getting to be so, though. He'll have to take the load on his shoulders pretty soon. If I could get rid of this lameness! But I don't suppose that'll ever be now." "Don't you get discouraged, Father! Things come 'round the way we don't always expect them to. I wouldn't a THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 bit wonder if you was down to the Springs inside of a month from now. Laddie's got his heart set on it." He hasn't said much about that lately. Guess he has about given it up. Might as well." Mother did not tell her husband how many times she and the boy had talked it over down in the field, watching the ber- ries grow. That was to be their secret. But she had come near to letting it out when she least meant to. The long day came to an end at last, though, and Laddie came running in from the barn after the team had been cared for. He jingled something in his pocket as he bounded out where Father sat on the porch. "Got your trunk packed, Father.''" "My trunk packed, Laddie.''" For the Springs. You're going, you know. This very fall. 'Wait till the threshing's done. We want you to 'tend to that. Then you're going, sure. Just look at that!" He poured out something less than a peck measure full of coins into the hat of the father, who sat there with eyes bulg- ing out. "Where in the world, Laddie — ?" That's the first of the berry money, Father. More where that came from, too, isn't there, Mother.?" And then the secret came out. Hopes were being realized. Fears were being swept away. New dreams were coming into the hearts that loved so truly. In spite of all the doubts, berries were indeed worth while! That quarter of an acre of strawberries did send Father away to the Springs. They did more. They cleared up the balance on the mortgage. They put a little money in the bank, all that one fall. Father would not have believed it. Awa>- at his resting place he received the letters every day telling him of the sunshiny times which had come to the farm. He was in a hurry to get back and take a hand once more; and when he did, the berries should have a better part in the farm operations than ever they had in the past. It had been a hard tug for Laddie; and how bravely he had gone about it, too! It made him ashamed to think of it. But they would not let him come back till the soreness was all gone out of his poor old limbs. It went at last, though, and just the evening before Thanksgiving Day Father came home. He sprang up the steps like a boy of sixteen. No more limping and groaning. The aches and the pains were all gone. It was indeed a joyous Thanks- giving time. How they liked to talk about it now! Such planning for the future! Such day dreams as there were that day. And most of all, the thanks- giving was for the beautiful berries that had made all the rejoicing possible. "The strawberries did it, didn't they Father.?" "The berries and Laddie!" Father's eyes were full of tears and they all thought for a moment that the Thanksgiving turkey had grown wonder- fully tough and hard to swallow. But it wasn't the turkey's fault! He was all right. It was the berries. Binghamton, N. Y. "VVTILL Brother Smith lead in prayer."' "^ said the leader of a revival meeting in Georgia. Seven men arose and began praying at once. This embarrassed the leader and he said hurriedly, "I meant Brother John Smith!" At this announce- ment one sat down and five more got up and began praying. The preacher saw his mistake, said nothing and let the eleven pray it out among themselves. $39 FURNACE Wrought, not cast. Riveted, not cemented. ;^-in. thick life time Jiie-I)ox. NEVER gets dirty. On trial. $].*» down. Tools free. Can be setup hy any one. Illustrated book, showintr how simple it is. sent free. Schafer Fnmace Co. Box C. Youngsto^vn, Ohio Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on IJ days lest trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your pmfits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This; Lyons Enhine Company, Lyons, Mieh. Gentlemen:— I am about to purchase a gas or gaso- line enpine for purposes and wish vou to send me full particulars about your approval ofler asailvertise«l inTheStraw- berr.y. Yours very truly. Name Town State Street No. or P. O. Box R. F. D When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the enjiine a^ent. LVONS ENGINE COMPANY, Lyona, Michigan. Pige 220 The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter I — In which is shown how Htgh Expectations Create Boundless Enthusiasm I HAVE always been impressed with one peculiar thing about mankind in general. I refer to his inevitable view of another man's business as offering greater opportunity for the dis- play of his powers, or as a means to a increased revenue, or greater pleasure; and to consider that whatever of success his neighbor has achieved as the result of some happy circumstance, never stopping to think that such success is the direct result of hard and patient toil and study to master the very difficulties which we ourselves are trying to overcome. We are so apt to think that the other fellow has reached his enviable position by a "streak of luck" and that while we must toil and struggle he lies on floweiy beds of ease. And many a life has been turned from success to failure be- cause, just on the eve of the favorable turn in af- fairs, the discouraged man has "lost his grip," given up and thereby sacrificed all the gain his work had made. And sometimes the thought that I, too, nearly became victim to my fears in that direction, sends cold chills chasing each other up and down my spinal column. In this and succeeding chapters of this biographical sketch, it is my purpose not only to present the ups and downs through which I passed on the way to what may be deemed a fairly suc- cessful career as a straw- berry grower, but to give also the manner in which difficulties were overcome and in such a practical way as to aid our readers to meet them with intelli- gence and success. And I am sure that the knowledge of the reader that he is not the only one who has had to meet obstacles with grit and determina- tion, with muscle and with mind, will inspire him with hope and courage and lead him on to success. Strawberry growers of this day have the advantage over me in one very important particular. Fifteen years ago there was no literature worthy the name upon the subject of strawberry culture; today les- sons it cost me thousands of dollars to learn are available to you practically at no cost whatever. Let it be remembered that many of the very important discoveries pertaining to strawberry culture and to the nature and habits of the plant itself have been made within that period, and it has been my good fortune to be able to contribute somewhat to this important work. It is my ambition to give to the strawberry world whatever of information these years of experience have given me. When I began in the business I knew no more about strawberry culture than a long-eared mule knows about umpiring a game of base ball, but had to dig my in- formation out as I went along, paying a high price for some of it, too. The first thing I did was to set about one acre of plants, and as the varieties used were principally Warfield and Crescent, and the plants were taken from an old run-out patch of the 'pennyroyal" strain, you better may imagine the cost of my first lesson than I would care to tell about. I was at the time a traveling salesman for a manufacturing concern, or, as some people say, a "runner." My experience as a runner was that the early bird got the order, and so adapted that rule to the strawberry business and set my plants early in April. They were put out on well-prepared soil and I gave them pretty good care. Everything went on as smoothly as the sleigh glides on sleet- covered snow until about the first of July. At this time it seemed as if some magic power had entered into the plants, causing them to burst out into a perfect mass of runners until it seemed to me that the whole world was going to runners. And that is when the sweat started to run. The next few weeks was not unlike a continuous Turkish bath. VVhen I first saw these runners 1 Page 221 thought they were great, and I rushed into the house and said to my better-half: "Well, wifey, if the firm I travel for can make big money with only a few "run- ners," we ought to make a young fortune in the strawberry business; because every plant appears to be sending out a hundred or more runners, and from the looks of things there must be a new runner born every minute. When all these are fully grown and get down to actual business, then is when you and I will shine with the best of 'em." But my wife did not catch my enthus- iastic spirit; she seemed to be more inter- ested in the bread she was making than in that g'orious strawberry bed, with its promise of a golden harvest. "Come out and see for yourself!" I cried; but the greater my excitement the faster she kneaded that dough, not thinking that 1 needed her more. "I can't leave now; the bread will spoil if I do." "Oh! that makes no dif- ference; one poor batch of bread won't give us dys- pepsia. Just come and take a peep at those fine, vigor- ous plants, and you'll begin to see that a few loaves of bread don't count when compared with the great thing? we shall realize from that patch of plants. After we sell the berries you won't have to bake any more bread or anything else. And I'm going to give up my job on the road and go into the straw- berry business right; no more traveling for this boy! So out to the patch we went and sur- veyed the sight together. "Well, Frank, they do look pretty good," admitted my wife, "and things seem to be coming our way. But I think the best thing for you to do is to hold your position until after the berries are marketed and then we shall know just how much clear money there is in an acre of strawberries. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, you now. "VVell, wifey, that sounds like good advice, but 1 know your eyes will bulge out when you see the results that come from this patch of berries. I just wish you could view that scene through my eyes. I fail to see any bird in the bush in this deal. There's money in it and lots of it." But she had not heard. That bread dough had come to mind and as I turned about 1 caught sight of her running THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 SAN JOSE SCALE AND INSECTS Are ensily killed by Takmiap Soft Naphtha Soap. Endorsi'd )iy U. S. Government and State Experiment StiitioMs. Write for Sample and particulars. TAKANAP CO., DARBY, PENNA. toward the kitchen door. "That's just Hke a woman," 1 said to myself. "They can't see moiity in anything till its right in their hands." 1 didn't like the road, and wanted to quit and be at home, where every man ousht to be. But "A bird in the hand's worih two in the bush" rang in my ears continually and — I held on to my job. "But I'll show her birds right in the hand next summer; big red birds, and bushels of 'em, right from these very bushes!" 1 declared to myself. "For these vines will be so chock full of the real genuine straw- berries that she'll find there's something else to do on this farm than make bread." (Continued in December Number) "VVTHEN Go\ernor Head was in office "^ in New Hampshire Colonel Barrett, says an exchange, an estimable member of the Governor's staff, died, and there was an unseemly scramble of would-be successors for the office, even while his bod\' was awaiting burial with military honors. One candidate, somewhat bolder than the rest, ventured to call upon Governor Head, thinking to ascertain the bent of the (jovernor's mind upon the important question. "Goxernor," he asked, "not to speak in a manner too positive, do you think you would have any objections if I were to get into Colonel Barrett's place.''" The answer came promptly, "No, I don't think 1 should have any objections, if the undertaker is willing." ^ ^ T'HREE RIVERS is famous for several of its * products, but one of them, now but little known, is destined to fill an important place in t!ie thought of the women of the country and in the domestic economy which is their chief con- cern. We refer to the Economy Kitchen Cabi- net, made by the Economy Cabinet Co. of this city, and whom we take pleasure in introducing to our readers this month. The Economy cab- inet is a marvel of coni enience and a labor and Uep saving device of highest value. As a piece of kitchen furniture it excels in its capacity, nhile its cost is so low that every housewife may afford to buy one; in fact, cannot afford to I e without one of them. Try one; your neigh- bors will quickly become customers of the Economy Cabinet Co., and will thank you for introducing it into your neighborhood. VW^F, are p!ca«ed to present again the Naylor '' Combination Harrow to our readers' at- tention this month. A year ago Mr. Naylor placed this harrow on the market, using solely as an advertising medium The Strawberry. The harrow \vas then manufactured at Moore- Economy Kitchen DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO YOUR HOME CsblllCt GREATEST LABOR-SAVER EVER DEVISED FOR WOMAN NOTHING LIKE IT TO BE HAD FOR THE SAME MONEY One Woman Writes: "/ would not know what to do without it - it saves so many steps." See the Conveiiieuees and tlie amount oi'ruoni it ouii tains: Description— Top Cabinet is 27 in. hii^h, 8 1-2 in. depp, and 42 in. wide; it has a .slielf above Sx40 in., with 2 lai-^e and 2 small drawers, and a lilace on either sidf for flavoring; extracts , towels . etc Top of base is 2(>s-l:."> in., made of whitewood: uliderneath this is a kneading, meat and bread- cutting boards; lias 2 drawers; 2 lar^re flonr bins, hdldine about ."jO lbs. each. This cabinet is made entirely of white maple, finished natural and built in the most sulistantial manner, makintr it one of the most convenient cabinets on the market References: Fiist State Sa\int:s Bank. K.Un^t; Publisliinir (.!,)., Three Rivers. Mich. ECONOMY CABINET CO., three rivers, mich. Shipped Promptly on Receipt of Price LEARN BooHKeeping WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS? ^?i^t&t;r„r^,ru';^ an incrcjisL- in sakiry? Would you possess the capacitj' that directs andc<)ntrols lartce business entei-prisesf A knowledge of accounts increases your opportunities a hundredfold. Our method excels all otliers You can learn quickly at your own lioiue without loss of time or money. We iiuarant.ee it. No trouble to master bookkeeping when a bookkeeper teaches it. The author of our works is an expert accountant; he has kept and audit'-d bonks fur the largest ctirporatious in the world. A f^rAQt Rnnk FrPPt **Ho\v to .Suc^ceed ill Rusiness" is the title of an extensive treatise on f\ VilCai UUUIV 1 1 ^L. . bookkeeping and business. It tells of the best system of accounts in the world. It explains liow yin can make more money and better your position in life. It is just the book for begin- ners. It is in\aln;ibie to bookki-epers and accnintants. To advertise our system and other books, we propose to give away H.OOO io].ir.s uf this bouk ultsolutely free. This offer is positively genuine and without any condition whatever. Simply send your name and address and receive the book without cost. A postal card \vill bi-ing it. Address COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS, 85 P, Commercial Bldg., Rochester, New York. ROOFING PER 100 SQUARE FEET $1.50 Most economicar and durable roof covering known. Easy to put onj requires no tiii'Js bat a biitehet ur a hammer. With ordmary care will outlast any other kind Thousands of satisfied customers everywhere have proven its virtues. Suitable for covering any building. Also best for ceiling and siding Fire-proof and wp.ter-proof. Cheaper and more lasting than shingles. Will not taint rain-water. Makes your building cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Absolutely perfect, brand new, painted red two sides. $1.50 is our price for our No. 15 grade of Flat Semi-Hardened steel roofing and siding, each sheet 24'inches wide and 2i inches lonjr. Our price on the corrugated, like Illustration; sheets 22 inches wide x9i inches long $1.60. At25 cents per squareadditional we will furnish sheets i5 and 8 feet long. Steel pressed brick siding, per square $2.00. - - - - . _ .. __ _ _ ., . ^ . , _.. mjj,ig seam or "\ " Fine Steel Beaded Oeilink'. per square $2.00. an also ■ standing ! fS^^ WE PAY THE FREIGHT TO ALL POINTS EAST OF COLORADO except Oklahoma, Texas and Indian Territory. (Quotations to other points on application. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. We will send this roofing to any one answering this advertli'eruent C. O. D.. with privilege of examination if you will Bend us 25 per cent of the amount of your order in cash; balance to be paid after material reaches your Station. IC not found as represented, yon do not have to take the shipment and we will cheerfully refund your deposit. Ask for Catalog No. W-733. Lowest prices on Roofing, Eve Trough, Wire, Pipe. Fencing. Plumbings Doors Household Goods and everything needed on the Farm or in the Home. We buy our goods at Bherlff's and re- Ceiver's sales. CHICAGO HOUSE WBECKtWC CO.» 3STH & IRON STREETS, CHICAGO MR. FRUIT GROWER, HOW MUCH IS YOURTIMEWORTH? You can save one-half of it when preparin^i the ground and culti- vating liy using our COMBINATION SPRING AND SPIKE-TOOTH HARROW Sperial Intl'', unless your plants are mulched, it will be necessary to water them every two or three days. Of course, the frequency of irrigation will depend upon the amount of water used each time. We are here to answer ([uestions, and never grow tired of doing so if it serves our friends. C. F. P., Tecumseh, Mich. Supposing a strawberry bed needs both cultivation and the removal of the runners — which woidd you advise doing first; or, in other words, which operation does the plants the greatest amount of good? 2. Should the buds and blossoms be removed from two-year-old plants, tlie same as the first year? 3. Should runners be kept off of two-year plants as industriously as the first year? By all means cultivate first, because if a crust forms the water in the soil will work up b>' capillary attraction and be wasted. The sooner you can get a dust blanket around the plants after a rain the better it will be for them. After culti- vating, remove the surplus runners. In doing this you will make tracks in the soft earth. These should be gone over with the cultivator, as always some moisture will be lost unless this is done. 2. No, because the plants are well established and are strong enough to pro- duce a big berry for every bloom, provided they have been properly prepared for second crop as suggested in this magazine. 3. As a rule, plants do not make as many runners the second year as they do the first, for the reason that the last pick- ing of the first crop is not made until about the 1st of July, and when plants are mowed over and burned ofF as we recommend, the second growth of plants does not begin to make runners until the first part of August. Unless the season is very wet, and therefore favorable to the multiplication of runners, the rest of the season will be required for the making of THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 sufficient runners to make a double-hedge row. When this row has been formed keep off the surplus runners as is done the first year. '^ ^ F. W. P., Ravenna, Mich. I wish to start a small fruit farm, and ask you for advice. The land I have for strawberries is a gravelly, sand and clay soil. Do you think this is good soil for strawberries? 2. Which is the best berry to raise — early or late, and the kind that brings the best price? I expect to set my plants in the spring. 3. What time do you set the plants? "S'our gravelly, sand an.i clay soil will be ideal for strawberries. It should have a light dressing of manure scattered over it this winter, then thoroughly worked into the soil next spring before setting the plants. 2. In selecting varieties, it is best to take some of the earliest, then some medium, and some late ones. This will gi\e \ou berries from the earliest clear through the season. 3. In this state it is best to set plants as early in April as your ground will do to work in. Mrs. G. D. B., Belmont, Mass. My plants are set out in the hill system, in rows thirty inches apart. How deep and how wide shoidd I dig my trench for wijiter drainage? Should the earth be banked up on only one side of the trench? 1. Some of the new leaves have become a reddish-brown around the edges. As I have sprayed these plants twice in September with Bordeaux, I do not know how to account for this appearance of the leaf. Other new leaves are pale colored around the edges with a dark- er shade of green near the center. What is the cause of this? The leaves at the same time have the appearance of not being able to ex- pand freely. 3. There are some tmy white flies on the under side of some leaves. Are these harmful? 4. Do crickets do any damage? 5. After one has obtained the first crop of berries from the hill system, are runners al- lowed to form in preparation for tlie second crop? The furrow which is made between the rows of strawberry plants may be made with a common cultivator shovel, such as is used on five-tooth cultivators. They are about eight inches long and three-fourths inches wide. Simply make the furrow the same as you would if you were preparing to plant corn or potatoes. This will leave an even amount of soil on both sides of the furrow. 2. It is natural for the leaves of some varieties to turn red at this time of the year. However, it may be that the leaves are affected somewhat with rust, but it is hardly probable that it is sufficient to do any injury. It may be that some insect is working on the roots of your plants. This will cause the leaves to be slow in developing. Sometimes undesirable bac- teria will cause this. 3. We hardly think that the white flies you speak of will do any great injury to your plants. 4. Crickets never do any injury to the strawberry plants, except sometimes they may work a trifle on the runner wires, but not enough to do any serious damage. 5. When growing strawberries in hills, after the first crop is picked you will get better results by allowing enough runners to form to make a double-hedge row. ^ '^ U. G. K. , Etters, Pa. I never tried to raise a strawberry until last spring, when 1 planted 2,400 planis, setting them three and one-half feet by thirty inches in new ground that never before had been broken. They grew finely and I cultivated until I could no longer get through the field on account of the. runners; then I kept them clean by weeding, and today it is a perfect mat all over the patch. Now what I would like to know is, how I should proceed to thin this mass, a^ I have learned my mistake through reading The Strawberry. If I had known of your magazine sooner, this condition never would have been. The plants are as thick as they can stand. Please inform me what I should best do. The best thing to do now is to go over the rows with a common garden rake, pulling the rake directly cross-wise in the row. By doing this the teeth will pull out all of the poorly rooted and weak plants, or you can do the work with your hands by allowing your fingers to act as the teeth of a rake, pulling them through and jerking out all of the small and weak plants. This will, of course, leave your rows rather wide, but it will thin your plants so that they will develop into heavy fruiters. G. W. S. , Sherman, N. Y. Our spring season is backward in this part of the state. At what time would you advise setting straw- berries? 2. Do you advise keeping all runners picked from bearing beds of strawberries until after the fruiting season is over, and do you ever thin the blossoms? Strawberry plants should be set in your locality just as early as your soil is in con- dition to work, but never attempt to plow and harrow your ground until it is dry enough to crumble. If the soil is wet enough to paste when rubbed in the "r/ie Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM ^PHE sixth e.lition of thf book. "200 Egtrs a Year i per Hen. ' ' is now ready. Revised, enlarired, tiiid in part rewritten, 9fi paijes. Contains amonjr other thinL'3 the method of feeding by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro. N'. H. . won the prize of ^100 in i;old or- fer-'d by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for tho best ei^^ record durint: the winter months. Simple as a. b. i- — and yet we guaranteeit to start hens t^ layimr earlier and to induce them to lay umre citl's than any otlier method under the sun. The book also contains n/cipe for egj; food und tonic used by Mr. Pos, which brou^lit him in one winter day 08 eijirs from 72 hens; and for flvedaysin succession from tlie same flock fj4 egtcs a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain of Wolfboro, N. H. , says; ' "By following the methods outlined in your book t obtained l.-iHO eetrs from HI R. I. Reds in the month of Januai-y, 190*2." From 14 pullet.s picked at random out of a farmer's Hock the aiithor Kot 2,9t)it efj:^s in one year — an average of over 214 etrtra apiece. It has been my ambition in wntinir ' '200 Eiri^s a Year per Hen' ' to make it the standard book on egg production and profits in poultry. Tells all there is to kuow, and tells it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscription to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 65 cents; or given as a premium for 4 yearly subscriptions at 25 cents each. Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 pa'.'cs. 25 cents per year. 4 months" trial, 10 cents. Sam- ple free. CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE 83 Hogan Block Syracuse, N. Y. Your Son or Daughter Can acquire a practical Business Education during the winter months, at a price within your reach, at THE THREE RIVERS BUSINESS COLLEGE English branches, Standard Short- hand, 'Pouch Typewriting, Actual Business Bookkeeping. GIVE THE YOUNG PEOPLE A CHANCE. It will mean dollars to them in the coming age of keen competition. Ask for catalogue GEO. L. GRISWOLD, Dept. B. MANAGER THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN. 850,000 GRAPEVINES 69 TarletiM. Alao Small Frultm Treri, Ac Best root- ed stock. Geuuine, cheap. 2 sample vtnce ma lied for loc Descriptive price-list free. LEWIS ROESCH, FREDONIA.N.f. ej-if" SWEET CHESTNUT TREE To get this valuable * * Blizzard Belt' * Chestnut quickly introduced and at same time grain new friends, we offer to send a Hardy Sweet Chestnut tree 1 year old. entirely Free to a limited number of property owners not already our customers. Mailing: expense Sets which send or not as you please. A postal -will bring the tree. Our Catalog: containing: 64 colored plates of our "Blizzard Belt*' Fruits, Orna- mentals, Evergreens, etc.. and a mine of valuable infor- mation for fruit-growers is free. Write today. The (inrdner Nursery Company, Box 803. Osage, Iowa. Page 224 THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 palms of the hand, it is too wet for work- ing, and will bake and become hard if worked when in that condition; it also will become flint-like and lifeless. 2. We have experimented some In' pulling rimners from our fruiting bed, and while it makes some difference, there is not sufficient increase to justify the ex- pense. ^ '^ P. S. , Clyde, Kan. I am in the habit of tear- ing off the runners. Does that hurt them? They did not do as well the second year as they did the first; is that the cause? 2. Is wheat as good as rye to sow where I am going to plant a new bed? Rye is hard to get in this country. 3. I have some neighbors who are trying to excel me in strawberries, and could you advise me a good plant for the second river bottom? It is quite likely that you have pulled all of the young runners ofT, leaving only the old mother plants, which are pretty well exhausted after producing their first heavy crop. We think another reason for your failure in getting a second crop is the fact that you ha\e not properly covered with soil the crowns of the plants still remaining, and they have not had a chance to build up a new root system, which is made just above the old roots and below the crown. 2. Wheat would answer the purpose for a covering crop just the same as rye, but the reason we suggest rye is the fact that it is more hardy than wheat and it is not so expensive, but if you can not get the rye, you need not hesitate to sow wheat. 3. The fact that your neighbors are trying to beat you in the strawberry busi- ness should only enthuse you to do better yourself. If you will take Texas, Sen- ator Dunlap; Dornan, Pride of Michigan, Glen Mary and Mark Hanna, you will keep the other fellows trying. H. M. W., Wate^^'liet, Mich. Worms ate my strawberry leaves this spring and in some places around here spoilt the crop. What can be done to prevent them doing the same thing next spring? Don't see any signs of them now (September). They commenced to eat when the berries were about half- grown, and they ate everything but the berries. The insect which has been eating your plants during the fruiting season evidently is the saw-fly. The saw-fly is a small worm of a grayish color. It is generally found on the underside or shady part of the leaves. It eats the leaves full of holes, which destroys the breathing and digestive organs of the plants. At their first appearance spray with Paris green; in this way they are easily gotten rid of. The first brood hatches in this latitude about the 1st of May, and the second Wholesale Factory Prices on all Farm Utensils, Vehicles and Everything Else Meeded for the Farm and Home. Jt Larger Line of Labor and Money Saving Specialties for Stockmen and Others than ivas ever before shown ^^^^^~^~^~~^w7i^7i!IZ!)!»iiir» In any Catalogue. JUl sold direct m»,.r.u,ji„.„d.i.,. f^^^ ffj^g Factory to You, by the big ^ -*" KALAMAZOO SUPPLY HOUSE If you have not already sent for our new 40i>pagre cat:iliigiie send for It tndiiy liefore yun order another ihliij,' anywhere for Fall or Winter. It showe a com- plete Hue of hlf^h grade hnplenients, farm specialties, dairy and poultry goods, vehicles, harness, furniture, stoves and uilscellaneous h(tusehuld articles, all ac- curately lllustr;iteil and descrllied and all sold direct fi-om the factory at the very lowest wlmippale prices on a lilndfni: jjiiarantee of Ratisfaction or money ref iiinh-d. '1 bis catalot^iie will positively save you niouL-y If j (niare going to buy nnv thing at all .!!l!rw".\!?-i.''**''i""f"'ienf go..«i>>.f<.rihe famous KALAMAZOO SUPPLY HOUSK ue\'er takes a back seat for any- one In the inatti'r of h!gh quality and low prices. Operatlni; at cninparatlvely small expense and ship- ping direct from the factory, we are enabled to sell everything at the very rock-bottom price. If you think perhaps we are exaggerating when we say that, just compare our goods and prices with the goods and prices of any other mail-oi'der house in the worhU Ymu will know then why we say we are entitled to your patronage. If there la anything you need forthe farm or hnme this Fail or Winter you will find It In our cataktgue. In many kinds and styles and prices, and all of guaran- teed quality, ^-end for this catalogue and we will mail it, postage paid, at once. This dues not put you under any obligations. We want you to have the catalogue. Address CASH SUPPLY & MFG. CO., 665 Lawrence Square, KALAMAZOO, MICH. Tor Sun Jt»"P Sralp, flp., th« Tpry KesI, At brood in June. These insects also are fond of raspberry bushes. You will not be troubled any more with them this season unless we have a very late fall. Mrs. O. J. McL. , Vallejo, Calif. My straw- berry patch is only a very small one, being about 40x40 feet. Strawberry growing is only a pastime, but I would like so much for it to bear well for me, if possible. I have plenty of household work, but it is a hobby of mine — working in the garden. The soil is adobe. The plants have all run together and it looks like a wild matted patch. I read in The Strawberry for September of mowing the tops off. I think I shall do that, and then take out some of the plants and make the bed more tmiform. I suppose four feet apart is near enough for the plants. Shall I take out the old plants and let the new ones remain or vice versa.' 2. The foliage of my plants is immense. It is not because of too much fertilization. It must be that I have set all pistillate varieties, and they have no bisexual to furnish pollen at blooming time. 3. My ground is flat. Would you advise me to hillock the plants, or is this necessary? It does us good to get a letter from a woman who is enthusiastic on strawberry culture. There is no work we know of which suits a woman better. Your meth- od of mowing the tops off of the plants and narrowing down the row is correct, provided the plants have fruited one crop; but if these plants were set last spring, it would be best not to mow them off. They could be thinned out with a hoe. This is done by cutting the hoe through Page 22S 45(M!00 TREES 300 vurletleB. Also OFBi>es*6maUFi>ultsetc Best root- ed etotk. Oenuine, cheap. 2 r:amT?!e currants mailed for 10c. Desc. price list frco. I,ewi9i;6csch, Fredoiila,N.Y. Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 60 to 100 paees, its writers are the most successful Poultrymen and Women in the United Stales. It is The POULTRY TRIBUNE, nicely illustrated, brimful each month of information on How to Care for Fowls and Blake the Most Money with them. In fact so good you can't' afford to he without it. Pri^e. 50 cpnt« per vear. Send at once for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU. R. R. FISHER, Pub.. Box ge. Freeport, III. -STRAWBERRY^ LANDS The most profitable locations for raising strawberries are in the South, where the climate and soils prfidiice large crops and where the berry ripeuH early, so that it goes to tlie markets of the country at the time when the highest prices are obtained. The vai ious sections along the SOUTHERN RAILWAY and MOBILE & OHIO RAILROAD Are especially suited for profitable berry culture and fruit orchards and gardens. LJinds may be obtained at extremely low prices. Good shipping; facilities to all mar- kets at rates which encourage the industry. Finest vegetable growing opportunities. Write the nearest agent for information abnut desirable locations, lands, etc. Al. V. RICHARDS Land and Industrial Agent Washington, D. C. CHAS. S. CHASE, Agent 624 Cht:mical Building, ST. LOUIS, MO. THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 the row every six or seven inches. This will leave the plants in hills, and it will give each hill plenty of room to develop fancy berries. 2. The immense foliage produced on your plants must be on account of your soil having a large percentage of nitrogen in it. Pistillate varieties would not make any more foliage than bisexuals. If your berries do not fruit, then it must be be- cause there is no bisexual to furnish pollen. You could set some bisexuals in among your plants where you have thinned out the others, but of course these would be so much younger than the plants you now have that they would not be able to furnish enough pollen to make a full crop of berries on the pistillate varieties, but it would help enough to give you berries for your own use. 3. We note that your ground is flat. If it lies low, and water stands on the top after a rain, it would be a good plan to make small ridges before setting the plants. Or you could set the plants on the level and keep a furrow between the rows to take up the surplus water. I. M. C, Hopkinsville, Ky. We are thinking of utilizing some four and one-half feet of ground lietween our rows of fruit trees in a young orchard, as follows; Plant two rows of strawberry plants three feet apart with plants eighteen inches apart in the row, thus making two hedge rows, each eighteen inches wide, with a space of eighteen inches between the vines. Cultivate with a compressed culti- vator with a pair of revolving cutters eighteen inches apart. Take off two crops then let the runners run over the space between the vines for the third year. After picking the third year plow out the bed vines and let the runners cover their space. After the fourth year's picking plow out the center. Thus we would have hedge rows for two years and a matted row for two years, with a change of plants every two years. How will this plan vvork.' Can you suggest any better? I take The Strawberry and like it very much. ^'our method of growing strawberries, also your way of handling them between the rows of young fruit trees, will give good results, but we do not approve of your method of allowing the plants to remain four years before turning them under. As a rule, two crops are as many as profitably may be grown on one bed of plants. Of course, we understand that you purpose setting these plants in the orchard, and that the ground would not be valuable for anything else after you had taken ofl the two crops of berries; and in this case it might be advisable to carry out your plans, for even if the third or fourth crop did not produce fancy ber- ries, you undoubtedly would get enough to more than pay expenses. And while you are cultivating the strawberries you are giving the trees the attention they re- quire. The principal objection to allow- ing your berries to grow a third and fourth crop is that the trees will by that time be in bearing; certainly this will be so if they are peach trees, and it is not a good plan to cultivate peach trees later than August 1, while it would be too early to discontinue cultivating strawberries. If cultivation is continued up to late in the fall it will keep the trees in a growing condition, which will throw their energies to grow- ing wood instead of maturing fruit buds. If they are apple trees, we do not think it would do any injury to them. ^ <^ C. H., Creighton, IVIo. I would like to speak a good word for your valuable paper, The Strawberry. It has been a great help to me. I am only an amateur in the strawberry busi- ness. I set one-fourth acre of plants last April and tried to follow your method of cultivation the best I could. I have a fine stand of plants with but few vacancies. I am growing them in single and double hedge rows, according to variety. Everyone that has seen them says it is the finest patch they ever saw. I have seen frequent mention in The Straw- berry about filling in vacant places in the row. I will give my method of filling vacant places, and would like to have your opinion of it, whether it is as good as taking plants up and setting them in vacancies. I will gi\e sketch below showing how I filled in the double-hedge row: O The Vflcanl Space • O O O • O O O O O O After the Runner Plants Grew The mother plant at each end of tlie vacant spot was allowed to make an extra runner which I layered straight in the row to fill in the center of row, and I let the other two runners from the mother plants extend down the row, filling the outside of row. I have filled in places in the single-hedge rows ten or twelve feet long by layering the runners .straight in the row from each end of the vacant space, and the plants seem to be as large and thrifty as the others. 2. When is the best time to apply wood ashes, and how much to the acre.' Yours is an ideal way when the vacant places are such that the runners from the mother plants will come together. In The Strawberry suggestions we referred to long-distance vacancies, where it was impossible to have the runners fill in. 2. The best time to apply wood ashes is in the spring just after the ground has been broken up. Forty to fifty bushels per acre would be enough. Scatter tliem very evenly and work thoroughly into I he soil befcre setting the plants. If your Page 226 STRENGTH DURABILITY ECONOMY ' These are the characteris* « » tics of Page Fence. vStrong because made of high car- . boa double strength Page ' Wire. Durable because it , will spring and not break. ■ Economical because it re- quires fewer posts, no , ' repairs and lasts. Our catalog tells all « ' about it. V7dte us. PAGK WOVEN WIRK FENCE CO. Box )0I, Adriao, Blch. *< asFf i^.^- '- ;;:i-.9?f ■^T:L=:i'^*^Cv~'I;!^t£;:r;yj UrCIITC UfAUTCn Profitable work AutNIO IfANlCUi Introducing our worthy goods into your own community. Employ all or part time selliuR monuments. Special inducemente. Do your friends a fa- vor and make some money. Investipate this t liberal offer at once. Make the winter count. UOORE UONl MENT CO., Dcpt. 64, Sterllo^, III. POWER SPRAYERS Tln^ most complete Hue Imilt. 1(1 styles — meet every possible requiromeiit. .\11 kinds of Bpraj-inu aeees- sories. Send for eataloiruo and prices, stating your re(juirements. Mention this paper. Wallace Machinery Company CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS We wouldn't say so if we couldn't prove it. THE Underwood Typewriter is the one real visible writer which has been unquestionably proved to be dependable under all conditions, adapted to all class- es of work, and free from ex- perimental defects. Underwood Typewriter Co. 31 State Street DETROIT, MICHIGAN. THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 ground is a black loam or a sriff clay do not use the ashes, but if sandy or sand- loam, the ashes will aid greatly in color- ing the fruit and in increasing the crop. ^. ^ R. S. T., Siisqtielianiia, Pa. What varieties of strawberries will stand frost best? 2. I have found a few of the white grubs in my new strawberry bed, but have not seen any signs of them for three or four weeks. Am I rid of them, or will they appear again next spring? .^. We have found a few grubs on a piece of potato ground which we would like to set to plants next spring. Will it be safe if it is plowed late this fall? As a general rule, one variety of plants will stand abcuit as much frost as another. Usually a pistillate variety has a hardier bloom than a bisexual, which is due to the fact that the flower of the pistillate varieties contains no anthers. We find the Warfield, Crescent, Tennessee Pro- lific, Pride of Michigan, Dornan and Mark Hanna good, safe varieties to set where there is danger of frost during the blooming season; but they are not frost proof by any means. 2. if the grubs have ceased working upon your plants so early in the season it is quite likely that your soil contained only a few of them, and that these few have been devoured by moles or by other animals that feed upon the grubs. 3. Your ground that has been in po- tatoes, and where you have noticed grubs, should be broken up at once and allowed to remain in broken condition during the winter. This will aid greatly in destroy- ing what few grubs remain. L. M., Eugene, Ore. I have a piece of ground near the house with quite a little small gravel in it, but I could give it more attention, it being handy, and probably irrigate, if you think it advisable. Also have soil with no gravel but not so convenient. 2. What is your advice in regard to turning under sand vetch as a fertilizer? Our neighbor picked six boxes of fine berries from a small patch of plants the latter part of September. If there is plenty of soil to make a good body for the roots to feed from, the small gravel is not objectionable. As a rule, berries color up highly in such soil as you describe. Of course, if the gravel is very coarse and covered with but little soil, we should prefer the piece of ground that is free from gravel, even though it be not so convenient to the house. 2. All vetches belong to the legume family, and there is no question but the sand vetch will improve the soil. Any vegetative growth turned under improves the soil by furnishing humus and improv- ing the mechanical condition of the soil. This is particularly true of all legumes, which add nitrogen as well as humus. VVe have been enjoying some late ber- ries ourselves. Some plants which came to us from France yielded some delicious berries in September; so your neighbor is not ahead of us in that respect. '^ <^ ¥,. n. G., Rochester, N. Y. I mowed my beds at close of fruit season, loosened up the straw mulch and waited two or three days, which were sunny and hot, then I set fire but they would not burn. I waited a few days more and tried again — the weather dry and clear all the while — but the fire would only progress a very little way and go out. I at- tempted the third time to burn them off after the new growth had made quite a start, but still failed. We had only very moderate and unsteady winds at any time during the spell. I think with a stiff wind I might have suc- ceeded. How do you think it would work to spray with kerosene oil, in such a case, and then set fire immediately? 2. I set propagating- rows five feet apart and having naturally good soil and this well ferti- lized, I have complete mats of plants almost five feet wide. They would have run across the lines had I not kept them apart. Al- though the season has been very dry here, cultivation, hoeing and weeding has produced this great abundance of plants. I raised a fine crop of onions (from sets) head lettuce (transplanted from hot bed) and early peas between these rows early in the season. Now I wish to transplant a lot of these plants next spring and I want to raise a crop of berries next season from this plat. I mean where my propagating beds are. My plan is this: mulch these beds with wheat straw and buckwheat straw at ground freezing, rake it aside in spring, first from one bed, stretch lines where I want single or double hedge rows, accord- ing to varietv, then take up all plants not under these lines, selecting the best of these to transplant, then bring back the mulch close to or against the rows, as advised in The Strawberry, so we can cultivate between. Now proceed to clear line and dig another bed and so on. I think I have plants thickly enough set to form a fairly good hedge any- where I may stretch a line over a bed. Do you think my plan may prove practical, i. e. , successful? 3. Would you advise digging up the line of mother plants? They were wonderfully large and vigorous but have had a heavy strain, producing so many young plants in a very dry season. 4. How do you apply nitrate of soda? I never have used it, but a friend tells me care must be taken that it touch not the foliage. Your mulching must have been quite damp on the under side, because we never have had any trouble in getting the straw to burn quickly, or it may be possible that there was not enough wind to drive the fire along. The spraying with kero- sene would not be advisable, because if the mulching was damp, the fire would merely take up the top where the oil had come in contact. The better way would be to take a common hay tedder which Fa«e 227 They live, grow, make money for you. Got our catalog.' Jf not, send fur it today. Millions of plants, trees, bushes — general nurs- ery stock ready. Free catalog tells all. Valua- ble spraying calendar in it. Order stock now for fall setting. ARTHUR J. COLLINS Box 415, Moorestown, N. J. — ^ i Peaches Pears [Apples California Privet One (if the most prolitable croiis the small fruit- j^rower can raise Now is the time Ici plan for next sprintjN plant- ing. Write for information ahout plants and culture to Dewberries R. D. t. T. H. Smallwood, FORT SCOTT, KANSAS Trees, Plants & Seeds ^^ THAT GROW /v-Vo-^, , , Best quality. Good lM';ir->^5X.*o$>^ I i'»li-'l er.i. Low prices. A|.pk>-/\Oi»'„< •/ very clicap IL'c: Peach 4c; all >^^Y,^>^ FreiKliL I'aid buJded; Con- >«^ * e%?^"n tr;;.-s C'.ita- coni Grapes ><*^Ae>-f Iokuc, r.iii;lis h or Tre. Serf- Ji^\v tu i)ack. cultivate.ppniv. prime, huw to M.\KK MOltE MnNEY fruni y..ur cr-ips. Sample copy will bt* stiit fne. H^irular prire is a dollar a year, and each BUlmcriber is entitled to a choice nf any one of our series of ten "Bio- Fiuit Buoks— the best in existenee. Three Months Free We fire so contititnt The Fniit-Orower will please y>iu that we will seiul it to yttu three InoIlUis abso- liittl.v tree ifyon will iiientioll paiier In w liieh > uu saw t liis juivertiseliifiit. If, after tliiee liioiitlis. you like tile pajier. we will liialco vol! a speeial oflerfor twelve 111.. iillis mine. If 1 oil ih'U't liUe it. notify lis and we will take your naioe i.lftluli^t Thethiee nionthswill lostyoii notliuii-'. We otTrr ('a.~h Fuzes for new siilisi riliei -^i— w i He for iinplnulais. Write voiirnanie anil address in hlanks helow and mail to Frcit-Grower Co., Box B, St. Joseph, Mo. ntl'lT r.RilWI'.lt CI ■ . .'^T.".l"SKl-il. Mo. Jaieeiityoiir FKLE tlovc monlh-s trial offer. At end of thieemonilis I williither pay forayear'ssnli- scriplion or notify you to stop paper. In either event there is to be NO charge for the three month's trial. Name- Koute or P. O. Bo.'C Number Town State. by one woman, with a girl or two to help in picking time. The carefully selected plants were set as early as possible in the spring in ground as rich as we could make it. The weeds were kept down, and the rows of plants thoroughly cultivated until autumn. 1 he first spring the blossoms were picked off and no fruit allowed to mature, in order that the plants might be perfectly devel- oped. Late in the autumn, when the ground first froze hard, a slight covering of straw was given to protect the plants throughout the winter and keep the berries clean when ripened. Then there was no more to do until the next spring, when we slightly removed the straw where thickest to let the plants push through. But there was indeed plenty to do when the season arrived, and bushels and bush- els of large, clean, luscious berries began to appear. By setting early varieties on a southern or eastern slope, and late varieties on a northern slope, the season may be much prolonged. But the main thing is to find the varieties that do the best in one's own locality. May women who need outdoor exer- cise and that excellent thing, a replenished pocketbook, try a strawberry patch and be as well satisfied with the results as we were. •^ .^ T^HE other day a neighbor and his son *■ were sent into eternity in an instant by the explosion of the boiler of his steam engine used in his farm operations. If we had a list of all such similar tragedies for the season of 1906 what a grewsome record it would be! And why should we have such disasters at all, in this age of gas and gasoline engines and with the day of free alcohol at hand.'' After Jan- uary 1, 1907, every farmer may make his own alcohol, provided the government attests the fact that it is denatured; that is, made non-drinkable by the addition of some poisonous substance. Gasoline en- gines are now run at such an economy of fuel as to be quite inexpensive, and if the farmers and gardeners will engage in a cooperative still in their respective neigh- borhoods, and enter upon the manufacture of alcohol, the vast amount of waste that annually receives no profitable attention may be turned to good account. Light, heat and power may be generated — is now generated in European countries — from this waste; and it is the best and al- together the most satisfactory light and fuel known. PARMERS are getting the "reading ■*■ habit," writes Mrs. Linda W. Loy of Effingham, III, in Agricultural Adver- tising. They read more and more and better books and papers each vear. Yes, and they read the advertisements. They Page 230 realize that many of the best and most useful things they have were brought to their knowledge through the medium of the advertising columns of their magazines and papers. . . . And farmers are fast learning that advertising is a game that they can play with marked success, and they are beginning to play it freely and with perfect confidence. They are reading the old school maxim in a new form thus: "We must advertise! Wt must advertise! or we must perish by our own indolence and indifference!" With the Funny Folks TT was at the close of the weading ■*■ breakfast. One of the guests arose and, glass in hand, said: " I drink to the health of the bridegroom. iMay he see many days like this." The intention was good, but the bride looked up as if something had displeased her. — Tit-bits. A N Irishman slept in the same room ^~*- one night with a Negro. His face was blackened during the night by a prac- tical joker. Starting off in a hurry in the morning he caught sight of himself in a mirror. Puzzled, he stopped and gazed, and finally exclaimed, Begorra, they've woke the wrong man ! THE climate here is salubrious, isn't it.^" inquired the tourist. "Say, mister," replied the native, "jest write that there word down fur me, will yei? I git tired o' swearin' at this climate in the same ol' way all the time, an' any- thing new in that line tickles me " — Catholic Standard and Times. A YEAR or two ago," said a young man to a friend, "I spent a fev\' weeks at south coast watering-places. One day I saw a machine which bore the inscription. Drop a penny in the slot, and learn how to make your trousers last.' As I hadn't a great deal of money I thought an investment of a penny to show me how to save the purchase of a pair of trousers would be small capital put to good use, so I dropped the required coin in and a card appeared. What do you suppose it recommended as the way to make my trousers last.^" "Don't wear 'em, I suppose." No. "What did it say.f^" "Make your coat and waistcoat first." THE caller was angry, and even belli- gerent. "I want an explanation and an apology, sir," he said. "In your paper this morning you had an account of the wedding at the Smithby's last night, and you spoke of 'the jay that attended the happy pair as they went to the altar.' Now, sir, I'm the" — "Not at all," said the editor calmly. "I wrote it 'joy.'!" — Chicago Tribune. With Your Name Printed on it Just the Thini^ for Valuable Papers FREE CHAS. E. ELLIS FIVE THOUSAND POCKET BOOKS / AM GOING TO GIVE THEM AWAY 1 PUBLISH the ereateat Farm Paper in the World— "The Metropolitan and Rural Home." Before I was a pub- lisher I was a farmer. Now I am intensely interested in buth . I b'-lirve fsirming and publishing are the greatest and best businesses going. Sometimes I even think farming beats putilishinir. And now — just to show you howl feel toward farmers, I want to tjive live thousand of them eaoh one of these Pocket Boitks If you are a farmer I want to eive you one. I want to triveyou one of these Pocket Books so you can show it to yuiir friends and say: "My friend Ellis, publisher of the greatest Farm Paper in the world, gave me this." Then you and your friends will think of me and my paper — The Metropolitan and Rural Home — that goes to half a million farmers every month — and you will say amons yourselves ' 'That Ellis nnist be all right. I want to read his paper and see what he says in it. " These Pocket Books I am eoing to give you are made from genuine Rubber Covered Cloth. They are just the thing to carry valuable papers — such as notes, contracts, tire insurance policies, weight receipts, etc., as well as money. They fold up flat and fit your inside coat pocket — just the kind of Pocket Bonk every man likes to own. Now yovi don't pay anything for the Pocket Book. It's FR£K. I send it to you postpaid and don't ask you a cent. But to sbuw that you are willing to be just as liberal with me as I am with you, I want you to send me '20 cents for The Metropolitiin and linral Home for a year. Nowdon'tsay, ''that's what I expected, ' ' Wait a minute and read the rest. You haven't L'ot to the most liberal part of my offer yet. Read this announcement all throUL'h. I would do as much for yon^ if you were me and I were you. If you will do as I ask, I will have your name and address printed on the inside' of your pocket book, so if it gets lost, it will be returned tu you at once. When I send it to you, I ■will also send you some sample copies of The Metropolitan and Rural Home and I will contiinie to send the paper to you for Three Mouths. Then, if you don't like it. just say so and I'll send you back your 30 cents and stop your subscription and y' n little if you want one. They are such irood Pocket Books that they'll iro like wildfire and vou oui_'ht to stop riirht here, fill in the order blank a"nd mail it to me at once, so as to be snre to get one of these Pock- et Books. I put that blank in here so you needn't hunt for paper and ink unless you want to. Use a lead pencil, fill out the blank, enclose twentj* cents (stamps or silver) and mail it to me just as quickly as you can. Do it right away, so the Pocket Books won't be gone when I get your subscription. CHAS. E. ELLIS, Publisher. 22 North Williams Street Metropolitan and Rural Home Subscription Department 264 New York City pppp POCKET BOOK BLANK X 1. V t ^ I -J SIGN THIS AND SEND TO ME AT ONCE C. E. Ellis, New York. Dear Sir: Send niu Tlie Metr(>l>i>litail aiifl Rural Home for a year unless I toll you to stop it at the end of three months. Also send me one of those FREE Pocket Books with my name printed on it. I enelose '20 cents ( silver or stamps) which you are to return to me if I tell you at the end of three months to stop my Rubseription to your paper. Yoiirs truly, iign. Address Stale THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Publiahsd the First of Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY - Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY . - . . Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN Western Representative 315 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. S. E. LEITH Eastern Representative 150 Nassau St., New Yor!^ City Address Communications and make all Remittances to Th2 Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Mich. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: United States and Canada - - $ 1. 00 Foreign 1.25 Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffiue at Three Rivers, Michigan, NOVEMBER, 1906 NOVEMBER is the month of the harvest home and of that extra- ordinary American institution, Thaniisgiving Day, with its hal- lowed memories reaching back to the bleak and cheerless time at Plymouth Rock, and into the less remote associations of our own days that are gone. It is fit- ting that this month The Strawberry should present its readers some special mark in celebration of the time, and we believe that the beautiful cover hat adorns this issue will challenge any other that may appear in beauty and significance. The artist's pen and brush have vied with the photographer's camera in pro- ducing features for this cover, and we think both have done themselves proud. The beautiful scene in the background is from the strawberry field of John Rucker, and is laid in a lovely valley of northern New York, not far from Buffalo, at the little town of Boston. To our readers one and all, we cordially extend the com- pliments of the season, and wish them a joyous day of Thanksgiving. CERTAINLY, The Strawberry finds in the good words and substantial testimonies that come to it in each mail abundant reason for joy at this time. And when we get a letter that says, You have made it possible for me to achieve success in the strawberry field," or one that cries out, "If only I had had The Strawberry to help me years ago!" we are made to feel that indeed our work is not wholly without benefit to our fellows and to find in that fact deep and lasting satisfaction. And then the way in which The Strawberry family circle is expanding! Nothing quite like it ever has happened before, and the rate of ex- pansion appears to increase with its grow- ing size. Many thousands have joined the happy circle during the past ten weeks, and every day's mail brings many new friends within its sphere. ■^ '^ NOW that the season is ended, we desire to announce that after Novem- ber 20 no more photographs will be ac- cepted in our prize competition. So let everybody who has a fine photograph of his field or patch get it here at once, or, if the frost has not as yet destroyed the natural beauty of your patch, have a pho- tograph taken yet and send it along so that it may reach us by the 20th of November. Prizes will be awarded and the cash sent to winners as near to Decem- ber 1 as possible. And we thank our friends for the beautiful pictures and con- gratulate them upon the success these photographs show them to have made in the strawberry field. In this connection, we wish to call attention to the fact that the beautiful scene on the title page of this issue is taken from the field of Theo- dore Detwiler of Brookville, Ohio. ^ '^ '^^HAT single feature in the domestic econ- " oniy is more important — contributes more to comfort, pleasure and good feeling all 'round — than good lighting? Consider that for a moment. Here you are, all about the even- ing lamp, each member of the family reading his favorite book or paper. What misery in a poor, or wealc, or ill-smelling lamp! Nobody can enjoy a moment of real pleasure, and every- body feels out of sorts. Now let some genii bring in a clean, sweet, brilliant, yet soft, light, and set it down in the midst of that family group — say, what do you think the answer to that question would be? Well, that's just what happens, without any genii, when you bring in the Angle Lamp. E\erything else in the way of a "light" fades at once into comparative gloom. We can't tell you here all the blessings that lamp brings to the user, nor why, but the Angle iVIanufacturing Co. that makes this modern wonder of brilliancy, safety and economy will tell you all about it if you will write thrm at 70-80 Murray street. New York, and ask for Catalogue No. 54. Don't stand that old lamp another night. Write them now. THERE have been times when we didn't have any particular use for a pocket book, but the American farmer and fruit-grower has been having the time of his life recently, and a good strong pocket book is a real necessity now. We speak of this because one of our advertisers of- fers you such a bargain in pocket books this month that vou can hardly afford to neglect the opportunity. The Metropolitan and Rural Home is filled to overflowing with practical ag- ricultural advice and interesting reading, and with the pocket book the offer made is pecu- liarly inviting. OUR readers who became acquainted with the Gardner Nursery Co. of Osage, la., last season will be glad to see the handsome ad- vertisement of that company in this issue of The Strawberrw The reputation of this company for square dealing and good goods is such that Piige 232 a customer once is almost sure to be a customer all the time. The evergreens of this company and the hard)' sweet chestnut trees propagated by them have a name the country over that in- stantly suggests beauty and quality when they are mentioned. ANOTHER old friend is Carl Sonderegger of the famous German Nurseries at Bea- trice, Neb. Mr. Sonderegger is of the solid German stock that finds greatest pleasure in serving his customers with the very best that careful selection, intelligent breeding and thor- ough cultivation may combine to produce. That is why his business has grown from year to year, until today it is one that commands the trade of substantial horticulturists all the countr> over. When you write to Mr. Sonderegger mention The Strawberry; it will please him and do your favorite magazine a good turn. AND the Chattanooga Nurseries folk are with us again, with a bright new an- nouncement of their business. The campaign for 1906-07 is a great one, and the strong nur- serymen who find the columns of Tlie Straw- berry fecund in business returns, are better pre- pared than ever to supply our readers' wants. A note addressed to this company at Box 10, Chattanooga, Tenn., will bring immediate re- sponse to Strawberry readers. EDUCATION is the keynote of the present generation. Practical education — the fit- ting of each one for some special work in life — is one of the most remarkable developments of the time. The introduction of labor-saving machinery has brought about marvelous changes in the social and economic life of the people. The boy is no longer "bound out" to learn a trade; indeed, it is becoming each year more difficult to learn a trade, in the way our fore- fathers w ere used to do, and this at a time when the world demands higher perfection than e.er before in some special department before the youth of this day may hope to secure position and achie\'e success. In view of tliis re\olu- lutionary change, how important it is that edu- cational institutions are now established that fit the individual for his chosen work. It is with no little satisfaction, therefore, that The Straw- berry calls attention to the several advertisements that appear in this issue of practical schools which aim to prepare the boy or girl so that each may be independent and find a way to a successful career. THE Three Rivers Business College is one of these, and of its merits and advantages we spoke in the October issue. This month we also present that long-established and worthy in- stitution, the Commercial Correspondence Schools of Rochester, N. Y., to the consider- ation of our readers, confident that any transac- tions had with that well-known educational es- tablishment wlli be in all respects satisfactory. And what may appear unusual to many is ti;e advertisement in this issue of the Chicago School of Bricklaying, which teaches the young man to do this important work with skill and insures him employment at a remunerative wage; not only this, but puts him in the way of progress and the upward climb. How many young bricklayers have become the master-contractors of the world? The young man without an ed- ucation that fits him for some special work is lost, in this dav of specialization, of stern de- mand and of fierce competition. Whether he lays bricks, keeps books, runs a typewriter or builds ships or locomotives, the only way to success is to know how so well to perform his alotted task as to bring his services into demand. Selling Hides to Butcliers is Poor Economy ANY a man has a cow hide or a horse hide which he sells for almost noth- ing. THIS IS POOR ECONOMY. Let him send the hide to us, place with us the same money he spends in purchasing an ordinary cloth overcoat or robe to last one and perhaps two seasons, and we will manufacture for him a FUR COAT OR ROBE which we guarantee will not wet through, will last many years, and for durability and warmth cannot be equalled. bo not think it is necessary to send us black hides; an even-colored red makes a tine robe; a horse hide makes a light robe — any color looks well. In fact, you will scarcely recognize your red, brown, gray, spotted, white and brindle hides after they have been through our process and the hair thoroughly washed and scoured bright. Don't sell your hides to the butcher; you are practically giving away a coat, robe or handsome Hoor rug. When You Furnish the Hide TITE can tan and manufacture a robe iiko this from a cow hide or a horse hide »▼ and make FREE a pair of Mittens from thf trimmintrs. The robe will be soft and pliable, as warm as a Buffalo r-ibe and lighter in weight: lined with the best sreen plush lining and heavy green felt border. PRICES: 40 lb. Hide and under. $7.00 40 lb. to 70 lb. Hide, $7.50 70 lb. Hide and over, $8.00 We Will Tan and Manufacture Your Hides and Skins into Any- thing Desired Calf, Goat, Dog, Colt Skins, etc., are tanned by us and made into Floor Rugs with felt lining and fancy border at prices according to size of skins and linings desired. We make Mit- tens and Gloves from small skins at very rea- sonable prices and do all varieties of Mounting and Taxidermy work. We Furnish the Skins, Manufacture to Measure, Our Guarantee: W^E GUARANTEE that the hides we tan and the garments we make, either from the hides you furnish us or from our own, will be soft and pliable, and will never get hard; will be moth-proof, water- proof and more nearly cold proof than any other goods upon the market. and Sell by Catalog Galloway CoatSy RobeSy Mittens, Gloves FUR-LINED COATS AND OTHER FURS /^UR Customers are Farmers, Physicians, Auto- mobilists and others of this class who desire fit, warmth, appearance and durability. Our fur coats and robes are not made from pieces, but cut to vour measure out of whole hides. To Our Readers and Patrons: — We are intimately acquainted with the National Fur and Tanning Co., its manage- ment, the quality of its own goods and the character of the work it turns out for others. We can most highly recommend its products and the honesty of its management. THE KELLOGG PUBLISHING CO. WRITE FOR OUR FORTY-PAGE CATALOG The National Fur & Tanning Company Three Rivers, Michigan When You Furnish the Hide 11 "^R can tan and manufacture for you aooat TT like this from two small hidea or from one lame hide, lined with the h'-st padded and quilted sitin bodv linin r: Lnsterine or ' 'Imu Cloth" sleeveliuintr. edi-esof r-f>at bound with Mohair Braid, black Elfony Olires and Mohair Cord Olive Fasteninizs: leather shields at arn. holes and Patent Wind Protectors at wrist, PRICES: Ladies' or Gents' Long Coat - $1 1.00 Ladies" or Gents' Short Coats - 9.50 ChildreD's (Boy or Girl) • 9 00 Hw^r^^i^r KwxT^i^c^ that PAY the Producer UrOW Appier and Please the Consumer KING DAVID, DELICIOUS, LIEVLAND RASPBERRY. SENATOR, GIANT JENITON, BLACK BEN.GRIMES. JONATHAN, Etc., Meet All Requirements. Then Why Grow Inferior Sorts? We are Headquarters for All that is BEST in Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Grape, Small-fruit Plants, Roses, Ornamentals, ^Etc. For 82 Years M have been the standard by which good nursery stock is measured, and our sales have steadily increased untit we are now compelled to maintain the largest nursery establishment in the world- conclusive evi- dence that Stark Trees are of highest pos- sible quality and sold at as low prices as such stock can be produced. Constant growth in any business during more than three- quarters of a century, is proof conclusive that customers re- ceive honorable treatment and lull value for their money. On no other basis could Stark Nurseries have built up their present trade. Success in the nursery busi- ness depends entirely upon the success of customers; and they can suc- ceed only with strong, healthy, thrifty, depend- able trees of the best up-to-date varieties, well grown, well dug. well packed. We solicit or- ders on this ba- sis, and if you send them to us. WE GUARAN- TEE SATIS- FACTION: and our guarantee means some- thing— we are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow." We Pay Freight on orders of $7.50 or more to any Railroad station in Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Ohio On orders of $10.00 or more to any Railroad station in Alabama Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Georgia Indian Ter'ty Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey New York North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin On orders of $12.00 or more to any Railroad station in Arizona California Colorado Florida Idaho Maine Massachusetts Montana Nevada N. Hampshire New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wyoming Our Wholesale Price-list gives full particulars. CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 .000.000— ALL PAID UP STARKDALE, MO. ROCKPORT, ILL. FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. PORTLAND, N. Y. DANSVILLE, N. Y. ATLANTIC, IOWA Write us at Louisiana, Mo., Desk 1 1, and we will send FREE, New Descriptive Fruit Book. Price-list, etc. LOUISIANA, MO. ,v the: 5 41 i^ i^i lO^ :n;^ BERRY -\^ A' ..y. .^^XivW^ '■^^v-:^ PUBLISHED BY \ THE KELLOGG PUB 00. THREE RIVERS. MICH Aspinwall Potato Machinery Aspinwall Potato Cutter Aspinwall Potato Planter No. 3 Aspinwall Four-Row Sprayer Aspinwall Potato Sorter Has stood the test of time and has the highest possible endorsement of thousands of successful potato growers the world over. We have made a specialty of the manufacture of Potato Machinery for the past twenty-five years; know the requirements and how to meet them. With Aspinwall Machines the cost of producing a crop of potatoes is reduced to the lowest possible point, greatly increasing the profits. If you are raising potatoes for mar- ket you cannot afford to do without an outfit of these time and labor-saving tools. We are acknowledged headquarters for Potato Machinery the world over and make a full line, consisting of Cutters, Planters, Sprayers, Diggers, Sorters. Our Free Booklet, "Potato Culture," gives full and complete instructions for handling the potato crop; preparing the soil; planting, spraying, and harvesting. Every potato grower should have a copy of this work. It is yours for the asking. Aspinwall Mfg. Co. 215 Sabin St., Jackson, Mich., U. S. A. THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume I No. 12 Three Rivers, Mich., December, 1906 $1.00 a Year GLUME ONE of The Strawberry is con- cluded with this issue, and the occasion properly may be taken advantage of to review very briefly the past, and to forecast quite as briefly the work of the coming year. We need not say that the extraordinary success which has met this periodical is matter of gratification, not entirely unmixed with surprise, on the part of its publishers. That it really fills that proverbial "long-felt want" it was given us to know as soon as the first issue was in the hands of the public. From Maine to California, and from the Florida keys to Puget Sound, came instant recog- nition of the youngster as the prophet of a better day in strawberry produc- tion and the guide, coun- selor and friend of every man and woman and boy and girl engaged in the delightful and satisfying work of growing strawber- ries. Some wrote that it was too good to last. "It's fine, splendid, just the thing — but — ah — can— can you keep it upr" they said, just like doubting Thom- ases will. Well, now let us ask in return, Have we kept it up? How does The Strawberry of December, 1906, compare with the is- sue of January, 1906? We believe that the doubting Thomas has no longer any good reason for doubting. But there were not many doubting Thomases, and we must say that in all our experience and observation we never have known a publication that en- joyed the hearty good will and the warm words of commenda- tion that it has been our good fortune to enjoy during the year just closing, and if ever there was a moment's doubt in the pub- lishers' minds it must have vanished as quickly as it came in the sunshine and glow of such friendliness and helpfulness as it has been our happy lot to receive at our readers' hands. The Strawberry stands not only for more strawberries and better strrawberries; for better methods in growing, packing and marketing them. It stands for good morals and clean literature, for home influences that are uplifting and for business methods that can endure the most rigid scrutiny. In its advertising matter it has endeavored to be as choice as in its reading matter. ••'^k. THIS illustration shows a Dornan plant, measuring 22 inches across plant was set last spring by Fred M In the initial issue of The Strawberry we promised that no liquor advertising, no "get-rich-quick" advertising, no patent- medicine advertising, should be allowed in the pages of The Strawberry. With respect to the last-named we have had oc- casion to congratulate ourselves, as well as our readers, upon that plank in our advertising platform. The revelations which have been made within the past few months concerning many of the most popular and widely used "patent-medicines" show them, in many instances, to be composed of poor whisky for the most part; that others are composed of opium in various forms, and that children's remedies are found to contain sufficient poisonous matter to ruin the health of innocent lit- tle ones, often proving fatal to them. We need not attempt to characterize the men who engage in this nefarious traffic. If it were merely fraudulent, it were bad enough; but to attempt to demoralize a whole people by palming off on men and women "sure cures" composed of whisky and opium; to feed ittle babes rank poisons in the name of soothing and harmless remedies — m e n who do that are worse than the murderer who slays his fellow in cold blood. We are indeed glad that The Strawberry never has en- couraged these physical and moral destroyers by permitting them to reach the eyes or the pockets of its readers through its advertising columns. It hardly will be necessary to renew our pledge in this respect. As a demonstrator of practical methods in every department of strawberry production The Strawberry has been accorded first place by the consensus of opinion of the strawberry world. Old growers have written us that they had learned new and better ways of doing things — ways that had led them to win success in 1906 where failure had been their portion in other years in which the same conditions existed. Beginners have written us that the result of their first year's work had been lit- tle short of the marvelous; and they attributed their extraordi- nary achievements to the fact that they had followed the meth- ods laid down by this publication. The Correspondence School^ department has been in very truth a school of instruction This Burton of Halifax, N. S., and is a fair illustration of the success achieved in that land of the North, when only first-class plants are used and first-class cultural methods are rigidly observed THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 many a pupil has entered upon a success- ful career as a result of his attention to the details taught therein. The whole strawberry world has felt the influence of this magazine's devotion to that interest. We say this in no boast- ful spirit; indeed, we do not say it of our- selves at all — it is the unanimously ex- pressed sentiment that comes to us from friends at home and from friends over sea. But if we have accomplished the win- ning of these kind words in the year that is past, we have plans that surely will win for The Strawberry even warmer words of encouragement and cheer in the year to come. There are many larger and better things promised for the year to come than we have been able to secure in the past. It takes time to get a magazine like The Strawberry under way; to lay its course, to get in touch with the infinite ramifica- tions of the interests it represents. We shall make no attempt to outline the good things that are to reach our readers in 1907 — we don't know half of them our- selves. But we think that the steady im- provement of the magazine since the day of its birth is a guarantee that the same upward course will be followed. One feature which will be of interest and value to all will be "The Autobi- ography of a Strawberry Grower." This story will give in helpful detail the ups and downs of one who began as an amateur strawberry grower and became the best known grower in his state, and so famed as an expert as to become the head of one of the most remarkable horticultural in- stitutions in the world. Another feature will be a series of "lectures" by the head of the Corres- pondence School. This series will begin with the January issue, and will deal with "The Preparation of the Soil," the foun- dation of all successful strawberry culture. In following up this course, we shall aim to anticipate each step of the grower in his work by at least two months, so that every grower, — he whose home is under tropic suns, or on 'the Coast, or he whose bed cf strawberries hibernates un- dsr the Ni rt'iern sroA's — so that every grower shall be fully advised in ample time to prepare his work along lines that scarcely could fail of success. A member of the stiff of The Straw- berry, as this is written, is in the strawberry fields of the South, gathering data that we expect to be of large value to the general work and of especial value to that section of the country whence strawberries are shipped by the thousands of carloads. Concerning everything that pertains to the work this magazine is alert, ready and anxious to serve. For the beautiful illustrations which have been so important and helpful a feature of the magazine we have to thank our readers for the photographs so gener- ously sent us, and we trust that even more of them are to come to us during the coming year. How great a stimulus THE ANGLE LAMP Is not an Imorovement on the old stvle lamp but an entirely new method of burning oil which has made common kerosene (or coal oil} the most satislactory ol all llluminants. And when we say satisfactory we mean satisfactory — not an illuminant that merely rives abrilliant llKht, but one that combin-'s brilliancy with soft, restful, pleasing quality, that is con- venient as gas, safe as a tallow candle, and yet so economical to burn that in a few months' use IT ACTUALLY PAYS FOR ITSELF The ordinary lamp with the round wick, generally considered the cheapest of all Hcrhtinff methods, burns but about five hours on a quart of oil, while The Angle Lamp burns a full lo hours on the same quantity. This, even where oil is cheap, soon amounts to more than its entire oricinal cost. But in another way it saves as much — perhaps more. Ordinary lamps must always be turned at full height, althouRh on an average of two hours a night all tliat is really needed is a dim lij:ht ready to be turned up full when wanted. A galloiv of oil a week absolutely wasted, simply because your lamps cannot be turned low without un- bearable odor. All this is saved in The Angle Lamp, for whether burned at full height Of turned low, it gives not the slightest trace of odor or smoke. You should know more about the lamp which for its convenience and soft, restful light might be considered a luxury were it not for the wonderful economy which makes it an actual necessity. Write for our catalogue 54 fully explaining this new principle of oil lightine and for our proposition to prove these statements by 30 DAYS* TRIAL When snch people as ex-Pres. Cleveland, the Rockefellers, Camegles and thousands ol others, after trying The Angle Lamp, find it profitable to rip out gas and electric liglit fixtures, lo throw away gasoline and acetylene outfits or ordinary lamps. It is surely worth your while to send a penny postal to find out about it. Write for catalogue 54 listing 32 varieties from $1.80 up, which pives you the benefit of our ten years of experience with all liinds of lighting methods. The Angle Mfg. Co., 78-80 Murray St. New York those illustrations ha\e been we may never know, but we are sure they have encouraged many a grower to better methods in his work and inspired many a one to consider seriously the growing of strawberries as an occupation and a business. With thanks which we cannot express in words for the gracious reception you have given The Strawberry and all the courtesies we have had at your hands, we close the first volume with heartiest wishes to all for "A Merry Christmas." DECEMBER is the month for bal- ancing up the year's accounts and wiping out "old scores." There are financial old scoies, and moral old scores. Wipe 'em all out; life is too short and too precious to be bothered and disturbed by such things. Get your books balanced up before Christmas. If you've an old score against a neighbor or against the Page 234 world in general, don't keep it on the ac- count book of life a day longer. It's cost- ing you too much. "Keep sweet" is a wise injunction, but you can't do it if there are old scores yet to be settled. WINTER days are here. An autumn of rare beauty and mildness, ideal in that fine Indian-summer quality that makes winter's approach a joy, has blessed this section of the country, albeit storm and disaster have visited the great Northwest, doing incalculable damage. But winter is here — what shall we do with the days so full of opportunity, so rich in time for reriection and preparation? Let us suggest one thing for our com- mercial strawberry growers to do — organ- ize! Organize your work, organize your neighborhood with a view to better fruit, organize your district so that in the season of marketing the 1907 crop there will be no bungling, but your fruit will go direct THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 to the markets where the fruit is desired and where a fair price awaits it. Grow good fruit, picic and pacic it under rigid inspection. If you do, the profits are sure. Use of Commercial Fertilizers in Strawberry Culture By A. J. Patten SOME weeks ago a Missouri subscriber who, by the way, grows forty acres of strawber- ries annually, wrote us aslcing for an article on commercial fertilizers, saying that little practi- cal information on this subject appeared avail- able, while the problem was becoming one of large moment to every man who grew strawberries for market. This is true, as everybody understands who cultivates his soil intensively. We called upon Professor Patten of the Michigan Agri- cultural College for an article upon this subject, and the following brief but comprehensive statement is the result. Clear, concise and p actical, it forms a basis for intelligent action for every strawberry grower, no matter in what section of the country, or what his pecu- liar soil conditions — Editor Strawberry. IT is impossible for any man to prescribe the fertilizer require- ments of a soil with which he has had no practical experience. There are, however, a few general statements that apply equally well to all soils and all crops. While there are some fourteen elements found in the soil that are used by the plant in building up its various parts, we know that there are only three, popularly known as nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, whose supply in the soil is liable to become so depleted as to be insuffi- cient to longer supply the necessary demands of the crops grown upon it. Or it may be that the supply of these elements in the soil is still large enough to supply the demands of crops for many years to come, but, owing to the form in which they are combined with other ele- ments in the soil, they are very in- soluble and cannot serve as food for plants, or at least so slowly do they become soluble they can no longer be reckoned with as sources of plant food. Under such conditions we must, of course, resort either to an artificial supply of plant food or we must use a system of agricultural practice that will unlock the supply of insoluble plant food already present in the soil. Which method we shall adopt depends largely upon the kind of farming to be carried on: that is, whether quick-growing crops of relatively high market value shall be grown, or slower-growing crops of low market value. The strawberry crop possesses a rela- tively high market value, and because of this fact and also because the period of growth and development of the fruit is comparatively short, bringing quick re- turns for the money expended, and the nat- ural sources of plant food may be largely ignored and the more quickly available artificial manures supplied. The strawberry plant requires one year of preparatory growth before bearing fruit, and the crop that may be obtained de- pends largely upon the strength and vigor of plant attained during this period. So, it is desirable that the soil in which the plants are set should be well supplied with the quickly available mineral fertili- zers. It is therefore recommended that from 800 to 1000 pounds per acre of a fertilizer made up approximately as fol- lows: three parts acid phosphate and one If "Christmas Gift" Appears at the Bottom of Tills Page, YOUR Subscription Eipires Wllh This Number of The Strawberry ©onir (Sir^iift CBnirktea ITH this issue of The Strawberry Its first year closes, and those of our readers who have had its monthly visits from the first will please take notice that the time for renewal of their subscription is here, as you will recall that it is our plan to discontinue sending The Strawberry when the time paid for expires. The Strawberry has made a wonderful success, and that is due largely to your generous and loyal support. We have endeavored to merit it, and the letters received from thousands of our friends lead us to believe we have given all their money's worth. We want you to continue with us, and aslt that you renew your sub- scription at once. Not only do we want your continued support, but we wish your aid to double our subscription list and increase the influence of the magazine. In this connection we have planned to mal^e it possible for you to make some friend a present of an annual sub- scription to The Strawberry at the nominal cost of 25 cents and what could be more welcome and valuable to one interested in horticulture than the monthly visit of The Strawberry for one full year? The plan is this: To every subscriber who renews his subscription and sends us the name and address of the friend to whom he wishes to make this Christmas Present, and encloses $ 1 .25, we will send The Strawberry for one year, both to the old subscriber and to the friend whose name he sends us. It is to be understood that the name sent us for the Christmas Present Subscription shall be one not now on our list. It Is one of the principles of The Strawberry that It treats every subscriber alike. In keeping with this invariable rule this offer will apply to everybody now on our subscription lists. That is, any subscriber, by sending us $1.25 and the name of a friend not already on our list, may have his own subscription advanced for a year from the time now paid for and make this Christmas Present to a friend. If The Strawberry has proved of value to you in its f^rst year, we can assure you that it will be doubly so in the year to come - and you know we keep our promises. May we not have your renewal and the name of your friend at once? 'Christmas Gift" Appears at the Bottom of This Page YOUR Subscription Expires With This Number of The Strawberry part muriate of potash, be applied. These are staple articles and may be obtained from any fertilizer manufacturing firm and mixed at home. The fertilizer should be broad-casted and well worked into the soil before the plants are set. Jn soils not rich in organic matter (humus) a further addition of 200 pounds of dried blood per acre might prove an advantage in giving the plants a quicker start. In the spring of the year when the first crop is to be harvested an application of 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, sown be- tween the rows and cultivated in, or put in with a drill, will prove successful on many Pa«e 235 soils. This application should be made preferably after blossoming; later applica- tions have a tendency to soften the fruit and thus injure shipping qualities. It is a well-known fact that the specific function of nitrogen is to stimulate the growth of stalk and leaves, so this ele- ment should be used with some caution, as excessive amounts in the soil are liable to retard the blossoming and fruit-setting process. Phosphoric acid influences the ripening of the fruit, and potash forms the base of the well-known fruit acids; so it would seem that nitrogen is more essen- tial for the development of the plant and phosphoric acid and potash for the development of the fruit. Reports from many experiment stations in widely separated sections of the country all favor the use of commercial fertilizers for strawberry culture. Conclusions drawn from a few of these are here given. New York Cornell Experiment Station (Bulletin 189). Conclusions drawn from experiments conducted for three years in cooperation with strawberry growers show for fertil- ized plants a gain of 2000 quarts per acre. New Jersey Experiment Station (Report for 1891) reports a gain of 408 quarts per acre, due to the use of 200 pounds of nitrate of soda ap- plied in the spring following a heavy application of phosphoric acid and potash when the plants were set. "The increased yield was due mainly to the increased size of the fruit, the number of berries was appar- ently but little increased." Georgia Experiment Station (Bul- letin 48) recommends the following formula: four per cent nitrogen, eight per cent phosphoric acid and eight per cent potash, and says: "When the normal formula was supple- mented in the spring by a dressing C)f nitrate of soda, the yield was in- creased by 200 quarts per acre." To insure the full benefit from commercial fertilizers the soil should be in the best physical condition possible, for very often the beneficial effect that a fertilizer treatment might have is offset by lack of drainage, improper cultivation, etc. amount of fertilizer can overcome these physical defects of the soil, and until they have been corrected it is folly to think of using commercial fertilizers. It is not expected that the fertilizer treatment recommended will give equally good re- sults on all soils, but it is given more as a basic formula, and each grower must alter it to fit the particular needs of his own soil. Agricultural College, Mich. A SCHOOL BOY assigned to pre- pare an essay on "Ducks," wrote as follows: "The duck is a low, heavy No THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 set bird, composed mostly of meat and feathers. He is a mighty poor singer, having a hoarse voice, caused by getting too many frogs in his neck. He likes the water and carries a toy balloon in his stomach to keep from sinking. The duck has only two legs and they are set so far back on his running gears by na- ture that they come pretty near missing his body. Some ducks when they get big have curls on their tails and are called drakes. Drakes don't have to set or hatch, but just loaf, go swimming and eat. If I was to be a duck I'd rather be a drake every time." JN urging the necessity of mulching, the A Manchester (N. H.) Farmer makes some interesting points relative to the nature and habits of the strawberry plant, calling attention to the fact that there are other reasons for mulching than to protect the plant from th£ injurious, sometimes fatal, effects of freezing and thawing. Our contemporary says: "By nature and habit, the strawberry plant is an evergreen. Unlike the bush fruits, it does not ripen its vegetative growth and cast its leaves with the coming of autumn, but will, if given protection, remain green, in a dor- mant state, waiting for the coming of spring, when it may again take up the process of life. Leaves that come out bright and green will begin work in the spring where they left off in the fall. On the other hand, if the leaves and crown of the plant are left exposed to winter sun- shine, the moisture in the leaves will evaporate, and as connection between root and leaf is cut off because of the frozen soil, the leaves shrivel and die." /^NE of the best records for 1906 ^^ comes from California. The Haw- ley ranch, located in El Cajon Valley reports that from two acres Mr. Hawley sold $1,000 worth of strawberries. Dur- ing the first four days of June he sold $135 worth of the big red fellows. Now, it is said, $1,000 worth of the best of fruits may be gathered from one acre of Golden-state soil, and some ambitious growers will try to make that record in 1907. This is a good example for others to follow. OTRAWBERRIES have their limita- '^ tions. As a steady diet, intended to supply one with nutriment, they are far from a balanced ration. An official of the Department of Agriculture in discussing the nutritive value of fruits says that the average man who should undertake to live on strawberries alone would have to consume eighty-eight pounds of them in a day in order to obtain a sufficient quan- tity of one of the most important elements of food, protein. But while he was get- I WILL TEACH YOU BOOKKEEPING FREE AND Get You A s.is>oi any woman ^^ who will take T^^^^ Y^¥^Y/^1WT ^ course in bookkeeping in the »^I 1^1 I ll l|\l Commercial Correspondence A Va/k^A X A V/X ^ Schools. There is an ever-in- creasing' demand for women bookkeepers. Women learn bookkeeping rapidly and acquire the details of office managemenl very quickly. They are adaptable, energetic and willing. These qualities make them ideal bookkeepers. If you are engaged in uncongenial employment you should learn bookkeeping. If you are living in the country, and desire to go to some large city, you. should first study bookkeeping. 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Y. 1 Please send me, free, your book, " How lo Become an Expert Book- keeper," with particulars of your offer of free tuition in Bookkeeping. JVame Cnunti e ting the proper amount of protein from the strawberries, they would give him seven times too much of another neces- sary compound, namely, carbohydrates. Forty-four pounds of tomatoes a day Page 236 would supply nearly the right quantity of protein, carbohydrates and fat, the three most essential constituents of food. Xhe chief value of fruit ccmsists in its acids, which are really essential to health. .^. it. J4i,. J i- :^yv,. "gy j£. '■'•*■■ THE FIRST PATCH OF STRAWBERRIES EVER GROWN BY E. D. FRAUTCHY, MQNTICELLO, WIS. Strawberries That Made a Merry Christmas By Elizabeth Clarke Hardy HAT Can a Woman Do To Make Money.? Mrs. Ellis read the article over twice and then laid down the magazine and looked thoughtfully out of the window. There certain- ly was need that one woman should do something to make some money if she expected to keep a roof over her head and a home for her children, for it could not be denied that Mr. Ellis was a poor man- ager, and had made an utter failure at farming. That very morning they had talked over the matter together. "There is no use of keeping on in this way," he had said despondently to his wife. "The best I can do is to keep up the interest on the mortgage, and this year it will be a tight squeeze to do that. The farm is run down and we can never make enough off from it to pay the principal, and when the time is up we might as well let it go." "But what will you do, Allen.'' We get our living from the farm, and it will be pretty hard to give up the old place and not have a roof over our heads or a place to call our own." "Yes, it will so; but if we can keep up the interest we can live here for five years, and I shall let Brown have the land to work on shares and I shall go to work for the Green Valley Nursery Company. With my salary and our share of the crops we shall be able to live and pay the inter- est until the five years are up, and then we'll trust to luck to rind another place." Mrs. Allen's face wore a troubled look and her voice faltered as she said: "But don't you hate to give up the old place, Allen.'' We have been very happy here, and the children never have known any other home. I can't bear to think of letting it go on the mortgage after we have paid interest all these years. It is too good a home to let slip through our fingers for $1,200. I wish I could do something to help earn some money. "Well, you can't. Not on this farm, anyway. You have enough to do to keep up the housework and take care of the children, and what a woman earns never amounts to anything, anyway. You can make a little garden if you want to ^W^W&BW&BWBW&B^ •fi expect to pass tbrougb lite H but once. 11 f, tbctetorc, tbere be ang Kindness IF can sbow, or anis flooO tblng IF can Cto to ang tello\v=bcing, let me 60 It now, an5 not &etec or nccilcct It, as 11 sball not pass tb(6 wag again." m^BBw&mifs^sm&sm and I will earn enough to keep the family. Of course, I hate to give up the place, but everything seems to go against me, and there's nothing else to be done. After this talk Mr. Ellis had hitched up his team and gone to see Mr. Brown, and later to conclude his arrangement with the Green Valley Nursery Company, and when he returned home he was no longer a farmer but a traveling salesman, and the fate of Spring Brook Farm was settled so far as he was concerned. After this talk with her husband Mrs. Ellis had thought over the matter long Pagk 237 and earnestly. She knew her husband's easy-going ways, and the ease with which money slipped through his fingers too well to hope that he would ever save enough to pay up the mortgage and save the farm home. But what could she do.'' Her first duty was to her home and her children. The twins, Harry and Hazel were ten years old and both were still in the district school. They needed a moth- er's care and the safeguarding of the home for the present, and for the future she had the ambition that her children should have their rightful chance for an educa- tion that should fit them for making the most of life. Evidently whatever she might undertake to do must be done within the limits of her home. It must be work that would not rob her children of her constant companionship, and it must be something that a not overly strong woman could do. It was while turning over this matter in her mind that her eyes fell upon the article in question "What Can a Woman Do To Make Money.?" She read it over a third time and then went thoughtfully out into the yard and looked over the premises. It was a charming home, but wofully run down, as Mr. Ellis had said. The house was com- fortable, but needed repairing and paint- ing. The fences were poor, the pastures thin and the fields in poor tilth for want of fertilization; and it did look discourag- ing indeed. The cultivated fields were all on the side of the house next to the farm owned by Mr. Brown. On the other side was the barn and beyond that was five acres that had been used as a pasture for calves and young pigs. Mrs. Ellis looked at THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 the five acres long and thoughtfully and then returned to the house with a deter- mined look upon her face. "Well, it is all settled," said Mr. Ellis that evening. "Brown will take the farm on shares, and I am to go to work for the nursery company next week. I've sold off everything but two cows, the work team and Bess. I will need the team for my work and you can have Bess for a driving horse. You can have a part of the money for your own use and I shall need some to start me on the road," and easy-going Mr. Ellis was as happy as though he was sure of a roof over his head and a home in his old age. Well, you can let Mr. Brown have all but the five acres beyond the barn. I want that reserved for my own use," said Mrs. Ellis quietly. 'All right. I suppose you will want to make a garden. But you will hardly want to use five acres for that, will you.''" "No, but I think it best to reserve that much. I think I shall set out a little strawberry bed this spring," answered Mrs. Ellis. Good idea; it will give you something to putter around w th, and you won't have much to do, with no farm work and me out of the way," said her husband, cheer- fully. Mrs. Ellis was a quiet, self-contained woman and she did not discuss her plans with anyone, not even her children. But all that winter she read everything she could get hold of on the culture of straw- berries. She subscribed for a strawberry journal aud took note of what was said of the different varieties, their culture and the marketing of the fruit, and she also acquainted herself with the doings of a fruit-grower's association in a neighboring city. Early in the spring she hired one and one-half acres of the little pasture plowed. Every particle of the fertilizer that had accumulated around the barn was worked into this and it was put into the very best condition for plants. The half-acre was to be reserved for corn, potatoes and a garden, and the acre was to be set with thoroughbred strawberries. She decided on "the Big Red Eel lows" as Harry designated the pictures of certain varieties in the strawberry jour- nal, and sent away for about se\en thous- and plants, paying for them with the money she had saved from the household expenses. She hired a man to help her set out the bed and then for the remainder of the summer she fairly lived in the strawberry' patch. She bought a small, light cultivator and Harry soon learned to drive Bess between the rows,' and thus she was saved the ex- pense of hiring the cultivation done, while Harry was very proud to be allowed to help Mamma in the garden. And how Mrs. Ellis did work that summer! Early and late she was out armed with a hoe. She never had been very strong, but this summer the work in the fresh air and sunshine seemed to fairly renew her youth. At night she would go to bed weary with her unusual labor, but in the morning she was out with the lark, fresh and buoyant from her night of sound, refreshing sleep. Mr. Ellis came home several times during the summer, but beyond laughing a little at the size of her strawberry patch and praising her thrifty garden he paid little attention to what she was doing. Certainly it never entered his head that his wife expected to realize any profit on her strawberries, but all he seemed to to plan to do was to furnish something for the support of his family and s^ve up money enough to pay the interest on the mortgage. Mrs. Ellis was a womanly woman and she had a feeling that every self-respect- ing man should support his family. She did not intend to take any useless burdens upon her own shoulders and she let it be understood that she expected a certain share of her husband's wages to keep up the home, and this he very willingly supplied. 1 he nearest market was a thriving vil- lage six miles from Spring Brook Farm, and there Mrs. Ellis sold some $25 worth of vegetables from her garden, and this money she carefully hoarded to purchase more plants the coming spring. The neighbors were too busy with their own work to pay much attention to Mrs. Ellis' strawberry bed. It was rather out FRUIT PACKAGES Leslie Crates and Boxes ISN'T it about time to think about getting * your Berry Boxes and Crates for next season? Get them now and make them up on stormy days when you cannot work out- side. Get them early wherever you get them, but don't forget what our Trademark says about the package selling the fruit. We have been making Fruit Packages over a quarter of a century and know how to make them right. We use the best tim- ber we can get, make it up with modern ma- chines and the result is a package that shows a finish. Don't take our word for it. Try them. Write for catalogue and prices. We will answer promptly. The Pierce-Williams Co. South Haven, Mich, and Jonesboro, Ark. The BASKET with the RIM That is the distinguishing feature of the WAX LINED PAPER BERRY BASKET The height of Clean, Odorless, Taint- less, Pure and Perfect Basket Perfection IF YOU ARE A BERRY GROWER you want our Basket and we want your name MULLEN BROS. PAPER COMPANY Send for FREE Sample and Catalogue of this20lli Century Basket Dept. B St. Joseph, Mich. Save Money by Making Up Your Own Fruit Boxes and Baskets :ON = "ADVANCE" FOOT POWER WIRE STAPLING MACHINE A Time-Tested, Reliable and Fully Guaranteed Machine Write for prices and circulars Mfg. by SARANAC MACHINE CO., 2731 Main Street ST. JOSEPH, MICH. Page 238 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 of the way of observation, back of the barn, and so she labored faithfully and quietly all through the summer, and by the last of October, when it was time to lay by the strawberry bed, she looked upon the result of her summer's work with pride and satisfaction. The plants had grown luxuriantly and the long straight rows of thrifty, growing plants was really a fine sight to see. Late in the fall she had two more acres of sod turned over and paid a neighboring farmer to cover it well with stable ma- nure. The winter was a long one to Mrs. Ellis, but she improved her time in reading up on her favorite topic, and along toward spring she joined the Fruit Growers' Association in the city some twenty miles distant. In the spring the new land was disked and harrowed until in good condition and then set to plants, and this time she or- dered late strawberries. Harry and Hazel and a neighbor's boy helped her set the plants, and to say that she was weary when the task was done but feebly expresses her bodily condition. But her fatigue was nothing when com- pared to her delight and satisfaction at the appearance of her last year's straw- berry bed. She had had it well mulched with her part of the straw from Mr. Brown's rye and oat crop and by the middle of Juie the plants were white with blossoms. Mr. Ellis came home the first of May, staid only one day and then left for a distant part of the state to be gone for three months. He did not seem to be quite so much elated over his new busi- ness as at first, and told his wife that his expenses were much more than he had calculated on, and that it would be a tight squeeze for him to save the money to pay the interest on the mortgage. Mrs. Ellis felt rather discouraged by this information, but when the strawber- ries began to ripen she found she had business on hand which caused her to forget her perplexities. She worked hero- ically at the picking and the children helped her during vacation. Her berries were shipped through the Fruit Growers' Association, and when at last the vines were denuded and she counted up the proceeds she was more than satisfied with the results of her venture. She had made enough to pay all expenses with a neat little oalance which, instead of pla- cing in the bank, she put out at interest to be paid on demand. She had now three acres of strawberries to tend and care for. But a new sense of elation and independence seemed to have taken possession of her. Her health had improved since she had taken up work in the open air, and was now superb. All fear-thought seemed to have left her and all the forces of her being were pro- jected forth into God's great, prosperous universe, to return laden with success. Her venture meant plenty of hard work. but this she was willing and able to give, and she wisely resolved to hire all needed help CO as not to impair her own health or neglect her home and children. The winter gave her a much needed rest, and the third spring, with three acres of plants in splendid condition, she decided to en- large her field of operation. The garden was moved to the back yard and the remaining two acres were set to plants, and when Mr. Ellis came home he joked his wife rather sarcas- tically about her big strawberry patch and asked her if she expected to sell enough to pay the interest on the mortgage the coming fall. She very decidedly told him that such a thing did not enter into her calculations, at which he patted her kindly on the shoulder and very indulgently assured her that he thought he should be able to make ends meet, and that he was perfect- ly willing that she should put in her time playing in a strawberry bed. He also assured her that he considered her a pretty good manager, but that women were not expected to have a head for business. Mrs. Ellis turned away with closed lips and an inscrutable look upon her face, and nothing more was ever sai \ be- tween her and her husband about her playing in the strawberry bed. Of course, it was necessary for her to hire pickers for the three acres of berries. The season was a favorable one and the crop was immense. But this immense crop did not come entirely through the favorable season, but from plenty of good, hard work and an unlimited amount of faith and enthusiasm projected into the crop. And too, as women are naturally careful and painstaking and especially adapted to such work, her berries went to the market in such fine condition that the sum she realized from their sale was far beyond her most sanguine expectations. This money also was put out at interest and Mrs. Ellis was now launched out as a capitalist and a business woman in a very quiet way. She decided not to en- large her operations for the next two years, but to give all her time and atten- tion to her five acres of growing plants. We need not go into details of the next two years only to say that when Mrs. Ellis saw that her strawberries were likely to be injured by the drouth the fourth year of her venture, she promptly had a well driven near the field of fruit and moved the windmill from near the house to the scene of action and, with an inex- pensive contrivance of her own, her berries were watered and she had an abundant crop, for which she received the top price in the market because of a general short- age of fruit. The twins, Harry and Hazel, were now nearing their fifteenth birthday and ST. JOSEPH. MICH. 1^ SEND FDR ILLUSTRATED PRICt IIS7. HEADQUARTERS FOR BERRY BOXES Peach and Grape Baskets Also Melon Baskets ^Sp^^^Ww. Our Fruit Packages Are of Highest Quality To obtain highest prices for your fruits, ship in our packages. Illustrated Price List Free Established in 1869 Experience Counts Wells, Higman Company Box 10 ST. JOSEPH, MICH. Page 239 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 were a great help to their mother morn- ings and evenings and during vacation. She paid them the same as she did the other pickers, and they entered into the work with a good deal of enthusiasm, but with the quietness that was the character- istic of their mother. When the fifth year the crop was gath- ered and marketed, Mrs. Ellis very quiet- ly drew in the money she had placed out at interest. She went about her work with a new and strange feeling of ner\'ous elation, and yet a great anxiety had been lifted from her mind and she could now look into the future with clear, untroubled eyes. But in November of this year a new trouble came to the Ellis household. Mr. Ellis had been thrown from his wagon and had sustained serious internal injuries and was brought home in a very critical condition, and for several weeks, while he was slowly nearing recovery, Mrs. Ellis had no other thought than care and anxiety for her husband. But as his physical condition improved his mind seemed to grow troubled. When well and able to work he had thought in his careless, contented way that they would be able to manage somehow. He planned that when the mortgage was fore- closed they would rent a house some- where and get along someway, but now the somehow and the someway did not seem so easy. He was no longer able to work, the doctor's bills were heavy, there was nothing but his share of the crop to keep the wolf from the door, and next month, yes, even on Christmas Day, the mortgage would be foreclosed and they would be without a roof over their heads. The outlook was indeed dismal, and no wonder Mr. Ellis, who really was a kind- hearted man, was nearly crazed with care and anxiety. He would look at his wife in a pathetic, heartbroken way as she went about her household tasks, but could not bring him- self to speak of the terrible calamity which he felt was coming upon his family For the first time he realized how much he loved the old farm, and what it would be to see it pass into the hands of stran- FROM RANCH TO HOME Right from the home of the Angora goat to your own home Beautiful Angora Rugs and Robes and express i)repaicl. Oretjon raises the finest. I was awarciecl a gold medal on rugs at the Portlaud Exposition in 1905. Satisfaction, or money refunded. A. L. Hampton, OlaHa, Oregon gers, and what it would mean to them to leave the roof that had sheltered them since the first day of their married life. No wonder he mended slowly with this trouble on his mind, while his wife, thinking only of his physical suffering, ministered to him lovingly and cheerfully. The day before Christmas Harry and Hazel decorated the rooms with ever- greens and trailing vines and scarlet ber- ries, and Mrs. Ellis went about her prep- arations for a bountiful feast. Mr. Ellis watched her with almost feverish impa- tience as she went smilingly about her tasks, wondering if she had forgotten or did not care that on the morrow — thai brightest and most joyous day of all the year — they would be homeless. When at last the children had gone to bed and they were alone Mr. Ellis called his wife to him, and in a voice trembling with emotion, said: "I have been a rather poor stick of a husband to you, Mary, and now the prospects look darker than ever to me. Have you forgotten that tomorrow the mortgage runs out.^ Do you suppose Mr. Lester intends to foreclose.'' And what shall we do if he does.''" "No, Allen, I had not forgotten, and Mr. Lester has sent me notice that he in- tends to foreclose. He says he has a purchaser for the place. I thought you had forgotten that the time had expired. Have you been worrying about it, dear.^" "Worrying.? Yes. And blaming my- self more than I can tell you, Mary. I have been a poor manager, and altogether too slack; and now my family must suffer for my mismanagement. You would have done better than I have, and I wish I had listened to you oftener and taken your advice. But it is too late now for repen- tance." And for the first time in her life Mrs. Ellis saw her husband's face wet with tears. Now in every woman's heart there are instincts of motherhood so deep and tender and infinite that they not only en- compass her own children, but go out to all humanity, and in this moment of his self-abnegation Mr. Ellis caught this look of soothing and comforting mother- love in the face of his wife as she bent over him and smoothed the hair from his burning forehead. All her trouble and worry and hard work of the past five years was forgotten in this moment of her supreme love and compassion for her suffering and remorseful husband. "Listen, Allen," she said gently; "you have no need to worry so. I have a sur- prise for you, dear. I thought to keep it as a Christmas gift,' but now it does not matter," and going across the room to her desk she returned with a small box in her hand and sat down upon the edge of the bed. "It is true, Allen, that Mr. Lester ex- pects to foreclose the mortgage tomorrow, and he has served notice that he wishes us to vacate the premises. But we shall P»«e 240 BERRY BOXES and all kinds of Fruit Packages OUR SPECIALTIES: Quart and Pint Bern- Boxes, 16 and 24- quart Crates, Picking Stands, Bushel Crates for Vetretables, All Kinds of Grape and Peach Baskets, Bushel Baskets with or without covers. Half-bushel Picking Baskets with strong handles, and many other convenient packages for fruit and vegetable growers; the most durable made Write for our Free Catalogue. It describes and illustrates everything we make GEO. B. THAYER & CO., Benton Harbor. Mich. not have to give up the old farm — the faithful old place that has yielded such splendid returns for the labor of the last five years, for the money is ready for him." "Money — ready for him — what do you mean, Mary.''" and the face of her hus- band grew pale with excitement. Mrs. Ellis' eyes were full of tears, but she patted her husband soothingly as she explained that the big roll of bills which she spread out on the bed before his astonished eyes was the proceeds of the sales from her strawberry patch during the last four years. "There are nineteen hundred and fifty dollar-s Allen. Twelve hundred for the mortgage and seven hundred and fifty for the future. And then we have the five acres of plants all in fine condition, which are a gold-mine in themselves. Not so dis- couraging an outlook as you thought, is it Allen.?" It is just as well that we draw a curtain over the remainder of the interview be- tween husband and wife, for some things are too sacred for the eyes and ears of even the friendliest observers. But we cannot refrain from telling that the next morning Mr. Ellis had an interview with Mr. Lester and a lawyer behind closed doors, and after they were gone he called his wife into the room and placed a deed to Spring Brook Farm, made out to Mrs. Mary Ellis, in her hands. "It is all yours, Mary," he said, in re- sponse to her protests, "and this is indeed a day of Christmas joy, and a happier one than I ever expected to see again. You are the Captain hereafter, and all 1 ask is that you will let me stay and work under your orders." "Well, I think I'll let you stay," re- plied his wife teasingly, "and as a great favor I think I shall allow you the priv- ilege of playing in my strawberry bed." The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter II — Which shows that Troubles and Toil Beset the March to Victory Y VACATION lasted for several weeks, and most of the time was spent in working among my plants. It was a beautiful sum- mer, and though my mus- cles were soft from long disuse, the balmy air, the lovely scenery — just the being at home — were so delight- ful that the labor was actually restful, while the confidence engendered by those rapidly growing plants and the thought that they meant a life of independence amid the quiet and congenial surround- ings of my own home nerved me to ex- traordinary effort, effort that did not ap- pear to tire me as I am sure such work would have done under other circum- stances. In fact, I then learned the great lesson that congenial and improving work is like play to the contented mind and possesses nothing of the character of drudgery. But such delight could not go on for- ever, and one day came the expected order from the house I was working for, and it said, "Go to San Francisco at once." "Look at this," I said to my wife, with no little excitement, "I've got to go clear to the coast and leave those plants to take care of themselves." "Well, I wouldn't go so far away," said my wife. "Why don't you write to the house and tell them you can't leave the strawberries for so long a time.'" "Oh! that wouldn't do. So long as I am working for somebody else, I've got to obey the captain's orders. It isn't tor me to say where I shall or shall not go. But just wait till those berries are ripe and I get to be my own boss, then I can say, 'Well, Frank, all you've got to do today is to take those berries to market and let the other fellows do the work.' " And my wife packed my grip and I left on the 2:10 train next day for the coast. Fortunately, the letter came just as I had finished cultivating and hoeing the plants, and they were in fine shape to leave. I knew, however, that it would not do to leave them entirely to themselves, for, although I did not dare to tell my uife, I had been advised that the trip was to be of several months' duration. So I employed a young fellow whose father was a strawberry grower to look after the patch in my absence. Dick took right hold of the work, and everything ran along smoothly for a week or so. But one day my wife noticed that the boy was leaning rather heavily on his hoe, looking off into space as though un- determined as to his next move. Evident- ly he soon decided, for when she next looked out of the window the hoe was sticking in the ground, and the loud shouts from the adjacent base-ball grounds indi- cated all too clearly whither he had gone. Dick was a lover of base-ball, and the temptation was too great for him to with- stand. Since then he has become famous as a skillful player and his name spells success for the team with which he plays at a big salary for the season. And al- though he found it hard to stick to his job in my patch at that time, he now is part owner of a successful strawberry farm. Well, this neglect of the plants was a serious matter, and my wife found it necessary to take hold of the situation. Her hardest task was to keep Dick away from that base-ball park; but never a word of her work and worry came to me. Her letters were full of good cheer, showing only the bright side of things. August, September, October, and still I was away on the Pacific coast, longing for the time to come when I might return. In mid-November that joy was mine, and I was once more "toasting my shins" at my own fireside. Surely, there never was a truer word written than those of John Howard Payne — "Be it e\er so humble there's no place like home!" Those big hotels where I had paid enough for one day's entertainment to support my family for a week — what were they when com- pared to the coziness of my own home and the companionship of wife and baby! It was late in the evening when I ar- rived at the house, but after the first greetings I took baby in my arms and all three of us went out to the patch which had been for all these months of absence so largely in my mind as the hope and promise of the future. I could not be- lieve my own eyes. Was it possible this was the patch I had left three months ago.'' I tried to hide my disappointment, but Page 241 my wife's keen eyes noted the change of expression. "Well, I'm not the only runner in this patch," I said, hoping to give an air of cheerfulness to the moment. The plants certainly were thrifty enough; but there appeared to be a reciprocal arrangement between the different va- rieties by which each was allowed to occupy the other's territory. The Cres- cents had moved in entire sections over into the Warfield rows, and the Warfields had taken possession of every vacancy left by the Crescents. There was but one thing to do, and that was to declare war upon those riotous and intermeddling fellows, and the next morning found me vigorously at work in that field trying to undo the mischief Dick's lack of exper- ience and his love of play had caused. What that task meant for me, with my hands soft from years of freedom from manual labor you may imagine, and long before noon of that first day my back felt as if it would break in two. Only my love for the work and my determination to make a success of that strawberry en- terprise kept me from throwing that hoe over into the next field and "quitting the job" forever. What worried me most was the inter- mingling of the runners of the two va- rieties. Like many another beginner I was trying to have at the same time and in the same place a propagating bed and a fruiting bed, and this mixing of varieties had blighted all my hopes along that line. Noon came and with all my industiy and sore hands and lame back only two rows of that big field (it seemed to be vast now^ had been cleaned out. The dinner call found me tired, lame, and sore in body and heart, and even the tempting dinner spread before me could not lift me out of that Slough of Despond. "^'ou've gone to work too vigorously the first day," said my wife. "I'll come out and help you after I get the dinner work done up," she said, and sure enough, about two o'clock she joined me and worked faithfully with me until evening. Her help in a material way was very great, but to know that she was with me in sympathy and interest lifted a burden from my shoulders and gave new promise of success to me. Two long and tedious weeks of weeding and runner-pulling and I was done with that feature of the work. The next opera- tion was that of mulching, and when this was done I was off on a series of trips, lasting until about April I. I returned home just in time to uncover the plants and to prepare the ground for an in- creased acreage, as I had fully determined to at once set out two more acres that spring. Some of the plants were taken THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 from my fruiting bed, using the tip plants, as I wished to save all the others for fruiting, and some were taken from my neighbor's bed, as I did not believe in sending good money away for something that could be had free; and a few more which J bought and had shipped in. The plants in this new field were carefully set, and like the other bed, started at once into vigorous growth. It was an early spring, and the air was swtxtand soft and balmy. Already the old plants had gone to work and I found them undt-r the straw making new growth. The foliage looked almost as green and fresh as when I put them to bed, and at blooming time! — well, few old straw- berry growers ever have had a more beautiful or encouraging sight to cheer them on than it was my privilege to en- joy that lovely spring. The vines literally were covered with white flowers. Get me pen and paper," I said to my wife. T must order crates and boxes at once. And in a moment the end of the dining table had been transformed into a desk and I began to consider the sit- uation. 'How many crates will you order.'" inquired my wife. 'That's just what I don't know, but it's going to take several hundred crates. Suppose we order four hundred crates with enough qiiart boxes to match.? We must be sure to have enough. But before deciding let's go out and see the patch." My wile was surprisied and delighted with what she saw. "Did you ever see such a sea of bloom.'' And will every flower there make a berry.?" she exclaimed. Why, of course they will, and a big one, too. And we've no time lo lose in getting that crate and box material, eiiher. By the time I get them made up this field will have changed from white to red. Then the question will be, where can we sell them all.'' But Tm something of a salesman myself, and I sha'n't let that worry me, if you will look after the pick- ing. All right; that suits me," replied my wife. "And say, Frank, that bird in the hand is all right — er — don't you think you'd better give up your job so that you may the better attend to this home indus- try of ours.'" (Continued in January number.) Where Opportunity is Neglected HOW many people are there who persist in turning their eyes in the wrong direction; hence never catch a glimpse of success. This reflection is suggested by the following clipping from the Calumet (Mich.) News: "James M. Clark of Whitefish Point, a pioneer of Chippewa county, is one of the many upper peninsula farmers who have confidence in the future of this re- gion in an agricultural way. Mr. Clark does not base his argument entirely upon theory, but is in a position to use the stronger arguments of example and fact. At his home near Whitefish Point he has what is claimed to be one of the best kept strawberry and cranberry farms in the state. He claims the state record for production of strawberries, having shipped 4,064 quarts from less than half an acre of ground. If anybody needs proof of the statement Mr. Clark claims to be ready to produce the shipping receipts. He claims to have excellent success with both the strawberries and cranberries each year and that the quality cannot be beaten anywhere. He thinks that many of the farmers of this region who appear to be discouraged would have little reason for being in that state of mind if they would study their soil and give thorough atten- tion to those branches of agriculture for which it is adapted." Don't make this mistake. Study your soil, your location relative to markets, the markets themselves; and then study your- self to discover whether you have it in FARM JOURNAL is the leading farm paper in America, with more subscribers than any other farm paper in the world. It is a monthly, thirty years young, taken and appreciated everywhere, from Maine to California. Thousands in your state already take it. Your neighbor knows all about it. It is full of sunshine and gumption, is edited by practical farmers who know whereof they write. It has no ax to grind, prints no long-winded articles by theoretical specialists, but aims to give in season, and just when wanted, advice and timely help such as you, a busy farmer, need. Farm Journal has departments for the stockraiser, the orchardist, the dairyman, the truck- er, the general farmer, the poultryman and the women folks, with many short cuts, recipes and hints, many of which, our readers often write, are worth the cost of the paper. Farm Journal is 7Sc for 5 years, sixty numbers. Biggie Orchard Book We have ju.st off the press Biggie Orchard Book, the greatest fruit book ever, issued by any publishing house. Great, because it is practical, boiled down, has everything you want to know, and leaves out a whole lot the average fruit grower doesn't wan to bother with. There are one hundred and twenty-three illustra- tions and twenty pages of colored plates, showing the leading varieties, repro- duced by photography, so that they are true to color and shape. It has chapters telling which are the best varieties for your section, on planting, cultivating, picking, marketing, spraying, etc. In short, an up-to-date, common sense book. Bound in cloth. Price, 50 cents, by mail. There are eigrht other Bigple Books, one each on the Horse. Cow, Ponltry, Swine, Sheep, Berries. Health and Pet.s, aU built on the same plan .-"a the Orchard Book. So popular are the Biggie Books that over 175,000 copies have already been sold. The Roosevelt Family Calendar is a hiffh art calendar for the year 1907, sho'^s'ingr a family grroup of President and Mrs. Roosevelt and their six children. It contains no advertising matter ■whatever, but it isa beautiful and artistic production, such as anyone will be E:lad to hang: in parlor, sittingroom or office, and preserve forever as a historic souvenir. Or it will make a valued, attractive Christmas eift for some relative or friend. For $1 Farm Journal for 5 years, (fiO issues) and Bigg'le Orchard Book and Include the Roosevelt tamily Calendar, if your order is received belnro Jan. Ist. (Any other of the Bipple Books mav besubstitutedfor the Orchard Book.) Safedelivery of Book and calendar guaranteed. For $1 Farm Journal to one address for 10 years, or to two addresses for 5 years each, provided at least one of these subscriptions is a new one: if both are new sn much the better. A Roosevelt Familv Calendar as a free gift for promptness to each subscriber if subscriptions are received by Jan. Itt. For 25 cents Farm Journal on trial two full years, and a copy of the Roosevelt Family Calendar. This offer for new subscribers. Calendar offer is good only to Jan. let. Send coin or stamps at once; your money back giadly if not satisfied with any of these offers. Agents wanted on salary. FARMJOURNAL, 1 023 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Pa«e 242 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 you to carry forward an enterprise to which that soil and that location are adapted. If you are all right, depend upon it that nature will do her part to- ward winning success. Received His Dollar's Worth Many Times Over By Arthur F. Jones I FEEL as though I had neglected to write to a very dear friend, for I cer- tainly hold The Strawberry very dear, and would sing its praises loud and long. One gets such inspiration from it. If a man is getting a little heedless or tired — isn't paying just the attention to his straw- berry patch that he ought — along comes The Strawberry and acts as a revival to a fellow; gives him renewed powers and energy to get right after those runners and weeds and stir up a dust mulch; he gets out with his sprayer and at it. I have thouglit several times to write you to ask some questions, but would al- ways find in The Strawberry someone asking the same ones and, getting tbe benefit of your answers to him, would not write. Really, I have had my dollar's worth over and over again. My plants came last spring in fine con- dition, but they did not find me in as fine condition to receive them. I\Iy ground was not ready, neither could I get it ready, but I did as you recommended and heeled them in; they were left so for twenty-five days. The eighth or ninth day we had a real hard freeze, but I had them covered with straw and that cold spell lasted for three or four days, and 1 thought that they might smother. Four or five nights la"er came a very heavy frost and, not expecting it, did not have them covered, and the crowns were all turned black and the leaves yellow. A neighbor of mine had been guying me for sending away after plants when I could get them right here for a little or nothing, and really had plenty of my own. Well, how he laughed when he saw them! And I did feel a little blue my- self; but when the time came to set them out, I certainly was surprised. I thought half of them were dead (they were mixed up"some with the straw; of course, I had taken it ofT as best I could) but there were only two out of the thousand that were dead. I set them out and my! how they did brace up and grow! I think they must have been endowed with some of the en- thusiasm that comes with The Straw- berry. I have kept them strictly to the double-hedge row, only in August the weeds and runners got a little the best of me. You see I have half an acre in all that I set out this spring, and I am paint- ing for a livelihood. During August I was on two or three jobs out of town that I could not get away from. But when 83.98 I ut cover With cover, $4.2S up. We have seven elzea Kettle Cookers ana five other styles KALAMAZOO Supply House Sells Everything for the Farm and Home at Wholesale Factory Prices, Direct from Factory to Purchaser. A larger and finer line of farm utensils, vehlclea, specialties lur atockraen. poultrymen and others, and furniture than was ever be* fure shown In a catalogue, all at rock-bottom prices. ■\Ve want you to send today for our new 4iiu-page catalogue. If yuu ever buy anything at all In our Hue this catalogue will envo you money. That isn't a niL-.o fitateinent for adver- tising purposes. It's the exact truth. TVe Invite a close comparison of our gooda and prices with the goods and prices of any other --epntable mail- order house In America. We know the result of such a comparison. It meane NEW CUSTOMERS FOR US. Everything In our catalogue Is ac- curately Illustrated and described and BumtJhrej's everything Is of guaranteed quality. Oreen fc..re \\Q stand behind every and VegeiaMe sale we make, with full Cutter, only value guaranteed. til. 00 Everything frr Fnultrymen mdothMttjles Our Now Catalogue showa an Immense and complete line of merchandise for the Fall end Wlii- ter, 80 before you give another ordel anywhere wo want you to have out catalogue and look through It. If you 1 sin m ^'" send for It right ■Tk^^A loV ,. away you will not lose bi« cal'logu; any time by giving us a chance to prove that our claims are backed up by facte. When you look through our cata- logue we believe you will find Just what you want, and If you are con- vinced that you can save money by doing business with the big Kalama- zoo Supply House you will send us an order. And remember, no dlflference how birge or how small the order, we sell everything on a blndlngr e:uarantee of satisfaction or money refunded. Furthermore, we can promise to show you what ml oervlce In mall-order trading Is. SAVE 1-3 — Steam Feed Cooker Cooke a barrel of Feed or Spraying Mixture, etc., in nne-half hour. Require! but little fuel. Saves lahor. Tested to IHO pounds preisure. On the market for 2(J years. With proper care nill last a lifetime. Price, No. 1, with 9F1U0B SZ0.78 Price, No. 2, with 18 riucB 21.7B We have a special No. 3 eiie, water around fire box, tested to 16U pouDde pressure, and will develop 2 horse-power. Price, S3 1 'SO These are Just a few articles of the hundreds shown In our great catalogue. Send for It tnday. "We want you to have It. Address CASH supply A WIFC* COtt^eOZ Lawrence Square. Kalemazoo, MIoh. This Root CuUee only 96.80 Capacity, 1 bu. per minute. Other kinds and prices Better Fruit A Fruit Journal devoted ex- clusively to commercial fruit growing. Articles on up-to- date methods by able and suc- cessful men. Methods of the West, famous as producers of fancy fruit and world renowned as high-price getters Subscriptions, $1.00 per Year ^^illuple copies mailed ou request BETTER FRUIT PUB. CO., HOOD RIVER, ORE. Did You Ever Use Press Clippings? DO YOU want to know everything possible about anything J Want clippinfrs of every article published on any topic in the American or Foreitrn press, weeklies, dailies, mag- azines and trade papers f Want to compile a scrap-book on a special subject? Want to prepare a response to a toast; speech in a debat- ing club or elsewhere; paper or essay in a literary club, or anj-thineof that nature? The easiest, surest, quickest, moat economical way is to secure the 8er\ice8 of our larL'e staff of trained readers. Send $:i.00 for a special trial month. I'liiteii St.^tes Press Clipping Bureau, 13th Flour Republic Uldg. Ckicaeo, 111. Send stamp for booklet. Page 243 the September Strawberry came, I read it that night, and the ne.\t morning I told the boys I was not going painting. I got after those weeds and cleaned them o;,t thoroughly, and took a pair of shears and cut every runner, and ail small plants that had formed on the matted plants and on the plants that formed my ideal row. I have been through them six or eight times since and cut off every surplus run- ner and kept them well cultivated and free from weeds, and how they have started up and made fruit crowns! There are two or three questions that I would like to ask: 1. Are there any paying results ob- tained from applying fertilizer in the early spring to the bed I expect to pick from that year.? That is customary around here. Would it pay to repeat the appli- cation a little later.? 2. Not being able to get at them to cultivate again is there any benefit derived, or harm done, by putting straw between the rows at this time.? The bed being in good shape, free from weeds, and just after a rain, I just sprinkled fine manure between the rows also. Wells, Vermont, Answering your first question, we note that you say in the second that you have scattered fine manure between the rows. This, with the mineral matter already in the soil, should supply the plants amply with plant food with no addit onal ferti- lizer. It does not pay to apply any ferti- lizer on the fruiting bed in the spring just be'^ore berries ripen, as little of it would become available quickly enough to have any effect. 2. The placing of straw or mulching between the rows at this time will be of large benefit to your plants, and as your ground is entirely free from weeds you may do this without a moment's hesita- tion. And the plants themselves may be covered any time after freezing. In fact, this is an ideal way, but we do no; recommend it, as it increases the expense, of course, to mulch at two different times. A Trifle Absent Minded Mrs. Schoppen: "I want five pounds of sugar, please." Grocer: "Yes'm; anything else.?" Mrs. Schoppen: "No, that's all; I'll take it with me if it isn't too heavy a package. Grocer: "Oh, it'll only weigh three or four pounds, ma'am," — Philadelphia Press. TRAVELERS tell us, as an evidence of the hardiness of the strawberry, that it is found clinging to the snow-cov- ered Alps, where it is said to ripen to perfection. The friend who found ripe strawberries peeping out through the snow THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1908 in his patch at Sandusky, Ohio, October 10, will have no doubt of the ability of the strawberry to thrive under very dis- couraging meteorological conditions. The past season has witnessed some remark- able phenomena in the strawberry fields, most of which indicate that there is no other fruit that is more persistent and re- liable than the strawberry. J KNOW that the world, the great big world Will never a moment stop To see which dog may be in the fault, But will shout for the dog on top. But for me, I shall never pause to ask Which dog may be in the right. For my heart will beat, while it beats at all. For the under dog in the fight." More Differences Than One in the Quality of Fruit 1 SHALL not forget my first experience in selling strawberries," writes a practical strawberry grower in Rural New-Yorker. He continues: "That year the crop in this section was unusually heavy, and prices therefore ruled very low. When I came to town there were 32 wagon loads on the market, and .'till coming; berries sold from three to five cents per quart. I had some fine large Jessie and Bubach, and got six cents for them. After being sold out I walked into a store, where I saw a large display marked from live to sevon cents per quart, but at one side, on a separate counter, were a small lot marked 11 cents. They were a sight to behold, laid in tiers in the basket, the dark-colored side of the berry turned up, laid closely together, every berry seemingly of the same large size, and filled so full there was not room for another berry in the basket; the at- tractiveness was a revelation to me. "I went home; there 120 quarts, as fine berries as those I saw in town, were al- ready picked for next day's market, but they were not filled as well, nor as nicely graded, and not as attractively put up as those in town. I went to work at once, refilled, and put up the berries as I had seen the others in town. When done I had 87 quarts firsts, 18 quaits seconds, and 15 quarts of empty baskets. I lost 15 quarts by filling baskets the new way. I went to town the next day; the market was in the same glutted condi- tion, but I asked and received readily 10 cents per quart. I got seven cents per quart for my seconds; the 105 quarts sold for $9.95; had I left the same berries in the 120 quart baskets I should have re- ceived $7.20 for them. I do not retail; I sell all my stuff to grocers and dealers. Having my load sold I went into the store to collect, but had to wait quite a while, as they were very busy. Here I had a chance to see what people really want. Strawberries were marked from five to se\'en cents; mine were marked Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days tes< trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO RUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This: Lyons Engine Company, Lvons. Mich. Gentlemen:— I am about to purchase agaaorg-aso- lino enf^ino for purposes and wish you to send me full particulars al>riut your approval offer as advertised in The Straw- berry. Yours very truly. SfntR R. P D When writing, please stale definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. LYONS ENGINE COMPANT, Lyons, Michigan. 12 1-2 cents. To prove to you that people wdl pay a big price for a fine arti- cle honestly put up more cheerfully than a lower price for an inferior article, I was surprised to notice that everyone who bought berries took mine and paid 12 1-2 cents for them, leaving the five and seven- cent berries, until all mine were sold ex- cept a half bushel, which the grocer put back under the counter saving them, as he said, for a special customer. One lady ordering five quarts of my Page 244 berries, spoke up and said: 'Of course they are so much nicer than those others, but it seems the difference in the price is is very big." The grocer sa'd: "1 make one-half cent more on the cheap berries than I do on these — you will have to quarrel with that man," turning to me. "He puts that high price on them." The lady looked at me as though waiting for an explanation, so I told the grocer to se- lect one basket of his cheap berries and put them on the scale and weigh it. THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 He did so and announced the weight. "Now," I said, "select any one of my baskets and weigh it." He did so, and there were 8 1-2 ounces more fruit in my basket than in the other. "Now," I said to the lady, "you see you pay that higher price not only for select fruit, but you get more of it." She was fully convinced and highly pleased. The grocer then contracted for my whole crop and has bought from me ever since. ' Clipping, Comment and Criticism By Frank E. Beatty 'T'HE nature and habits of the strawberry re- ^ quire that tillage be continuous th.ough the season. Down in the crown of the plant are being perfected fruit buds which are large or small, strong or weak as the conditions for their dei-elopment are favorable or unfavorable. The strawberry plant requires plenty of mois- ture for its proper development. Weekly stir- ring of the surface soil secures the earth mulch and holds soil moisture for the use of the plants. Not only so, but this continuous stirring of the soil preserves ideal conditions whereby the soil life manufactures plant food, so to speak. The bacteria which work upon the elements of plant food in the soil, converting them from an insoluble to a soluble form, play a most im- portant part in plant life. Soil aeration is one of the things required by these bacteria, and this condition in the soil is secured by continuous cultivation. — American Farm World. WHOEVER wrote that brigf article knows his business, for if there is any one thing better than thorough stir- ring of the soil by cultivation, it is more cultivation. Strawberry plants easily may be taken through two months of drouth in splendid growing condition by intelli- gent cultural methods. This was clearly demonstrated on The Strawberry farm this season. Where intensive cultivation is consistently practiced, the fruit buds always will be large and fully developed. TUST how much work should be done in the " strawberry bed during the late fall depends upon the style of culture, whether it be the full matted row, the narrow row or hedge row, etc., and the taste of the grower. If one's taste is not offended at the sight of weeds; if one does not realize the influence of noxious growths up- on the plants, then the grower may rest in some degree of comfort while the strawberry bed is suffering under neglect. There is another factor to be considered and that is the moisture problem. The growers who are fortunate enough to be located where there is an abundant rainfall may smile when we mention moisture, but if they were laboring under the disadvantages of a drouth as we are and have been the whole season through, they would appreciate the situation and understand why we place such importance upon the ques- tion of moisture. A strawberry plant does not ripen its growth and cast its leaves as does a tree or shrub or even raspberry canes, upon the approach of winter, but will, if conditions are favorable, continue building fruit buds and stor- ing vitality against next season's crop of fruit. The more we can do to aid the plants in their work the larger will be the crop and tlie greater the profits. — M. N. E. in Michigan Farmer. IF cultivation be continued intensively after fruit buds begin building, the power of the plant which should go to fruit-bud development will be checked and useless vegetative growth will pre- dominate, no matter whether the plants are grown in narrow or wide rows. A man whose taste is not offended at the sight of weeds growing in company with his strawberry plants does not possess the taste necessary for a successful strawberry man, and in a few years there wouldn't be enough to "taste" at all, and his rest and comfort would soon come to an end. ^ 4j^ 'T'HE purpose of mulching strawberries is to protect them from frost, and is just as great a necessity as cultivating the soil. As to the material to be used for a mulch, I have found that there is nothing to equal good, .sound straw. It admits a free circulation of air, and affords sufficient shade to prevent the too hasty action of the warm sun. The use of fallen leaves is, however, an objection, as they soon decay, and in that state become too compact and smother out the plants. In applying the mulch to strawberries, it must be remembered that it is not done merely to protect the plants from the cold, but also to prevent repeated thawing, and the danger of smothering the plants with too much covering of straw must be guarded against as well as with any other ma- terial. In mulching my strawberries I merely hide the plants out of sight. The time for ap- plying and removing the mulch is better indi- cated by conditions. A suitable time for one part of the country would not be appropriate to another. I apply the mulch to my strawberries about October 15, and remove it about the last of March or first of April. The first freezing of the ground is a good indication of the time to apply the mulch, and when oats are being sown is a safe time to remove it. If the mulch is left between the rows until the picking season is over it will prevent the rain from spattering the berries with dirt and serve as a carpet on which to walk, to kneel and to crawl when picking. — W. H. Underwood in Farmers Voice. THIS writer must be a reader of The Strawberry, as his method of and views concerning mulching so closely coincide with those of this journal. And if he isn't then he ought to be, and we cordially invite him to come into a company so congenial as he would find this one. The one comment on what he has to say is best expressed by the word, very emphatically spoken — amen! T N California we are not troubled with the ' meadow grass that comes up in the strawberry bed, and pull you never so carefully it is almost impossible not to pull up the runners and even large plants. We are troubled with pursley in most localities and it is such a prolific seeder that the only sure way to get rid of it is to have a box or basket with you when you are weeding and put the pursley in the basket and carry it away from the bed. If you have a pig he will be thankful for it. The crab grass that comes P«ge 24S PAGE PoullryFence Strongest, best on the market. Fencen ooultrj in. stock out, una lawtH. ■ Costa less erecttd than common netting, because -—it require^ no bonrtla at top or bottom anil ro pw posts—one every M feet. Vou can't afford to buy poultry fencH without in- , vestigatinc Pace. Write "— for descriptions. -~ Pane Wnven Wire FcoceCo. Boxl06, Adrian. MIcb. lir-,^'V*.-l-»*»JMN**'^«""^''»'!«»'^'' I. X. I Them Ai_i_ Tkirtv Years Experience Steel Winclmilla Bteel Towers Bteel Tanks Bteel Feed Cookers Steel Tank Heaters Bteel Substructures "Wood Wheel ■WinOmills Wooi To'wers "Wood Tanks Tubular We.l Supplies WRITE FOR PRICES PHELPS & BICELOW WIND MILL CO. KALAMAZOO. MICHIGAN Make More Money on Fruit Crops Evei-yone \v)io prows fruit, wlietht-r a lart'L' f-ni- liU'ieiiU eir.vvt-r. or one wlio hjus only a fuw fruit titt's. a bfiiv patfli or a (?ai ilen. siiould bo iiitere.stt'ci in knowing how to get tiie must profit from lus crops. ST JOSEPH. TyIISSOUR.1 only magazine in Amerli'a which is tlevotcd iv.-ly to tile intcTcsts of those wlio glow fniit. Isonieiy illustiated. and contains fioin.iltto 76 pages each monDi, It tells fill ahoutfruitof allkiiels— aiiiln.ou like the paiier. we will roako you a si:"-"''' ""ffV [ twelve nVontha more. If jou " '" ''^'pThi thrie months will cost you nothing W e ""t' r Cash rrma for new subseribeis— write tor particulaiu. w.-ite •mir n^me S address in blanks below and rnajl to :rriilt-Grower Co., Box B, St. Joseph. Mo. FKUIT-GROWER C(l , ST. JOSEVII, Mo. I accept your FKEE three mcth's trial ofter. At end of three months I will either pay f"'-«y«'"- a sub- scription or notify you to stop paper. In either eyent there is to be NO charge for the three mouth's trial. Name . — Route or P, O, Box Number- Town THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 through the water flumes is another bad custom- er, as it is so tenacious in roo:'ng that it will take up all with it when you pull it. — San Fran- cisco World. pURSLEY and crab grass are difficult * to get rid of once they get a foothold, but there is no danger of their doing that where a Planet Jr. cultivator or wheel hoe is kept polished in the soil between the rows and no rust is allowed to gather on the blade of the hand hoe. All ob- noxious growths may best be kept under control by "killing" them before they start lo grow — stir the soil and destroy the seed while in the germination stage. If crab grass or pursley should get started among your plants, however, whether by neglect or otherwise, the best way to re- move them without disturbing the plants is to hold the plants down by placing the thumb and finger around the crown and press down on the soil with the ball of the hand while with the other hand pull- ing the grass. Jerk or jar slightly while pulling, which will lessen the danger of destroying the plants' roots, and if possible do this work after a rain. But as we said before, the ideal time to do this work is before the grass gets above ground. TN a lecture at our Chautauqua this summer, Prof. P. G. Holden, the Iowa corn expert, said that the main cause of the small yield or corn was the poor stand This will hold as true in strawberries as in corn. I have seen strawberry patches where the skips and vacant places would cut down the yield materially. In fact, I did not have to go off my own place to find such things. If it doesn't pay to cultivate a field of corn with twenty-five per cent of the hills gone, it pays less to do such work in straw- berries, for they take much more cultivating and hoeing. But I would give a good deal for as easy a solution of how to get a good stand of strawberries as Prof. Holden has of corn. This year I have succeeded fairly well, having fully ninety-five per cent of a stand on my whole two acres, with the exception of the Sample, which is not over .seventy-five per cent. Just why, I am not able to explain. I have sent plants to the Experiment Station but could get no help. It is a saying among those who grow straw- berries for the fruit, that "the worst weed in a strawberry bed is a strawberry plant." But with the use of the weeder I think I can control that. The hot and wet weather of August has given mo an unusual growth of "pusley," but cool weather and a frost will soon stop that. It is the perennial weeds that should be kept out of a strawberry bed in the fall, such as dock, dan- delion, plantain, etc., and with me nothing is so bad as timothy. — E. C. Green in Ohio Far- mer. TT does not pay to cultivate unoccupied •*^ space in the case of any crop. In order to insure a full stand of strawberries these simple rules should be observed: 1. Make a carefully prepared soil bed, pressed firm enough with roller or float to close all large air spaces. 2. Avoid turning under coarse ma- nure; even well-decayed manure should DO YOU see the two men in this picture and the positions they oc- cupy in the world.' One sitting discouraged at the bottom of the ladder, never looking up with ambitious, deter- mined eye, resolved to climb to the place occupied by his successful fellowi' Well, it is the mission of The Strawberry to change all that, and help the man who labors under a burden of worry, struggle and debt to throw off his galling chains and take a place among those who are named the Successful Ones. And those who don't know just which way to turn — these we know we may direct into paths sure to lead to independence and a home if — they will do their part. That is the object of The Strawberry and the Corres- pondence School of Strawberry Culture which forms so important a part of the work of this magazine. Don't you want to get to the top.'' If you do, come and let us help you in your upward climb. Honor, fame and fortune are certain to all who work in- telligently and persistently in the field of strawberry production, and we show you just what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and the why of it. Join our great family and march forward to success. It's The Strawberry folks who are reach- ing the top of the ladder! Thirty thous- and now on the roll — but we would leave nobody out. There's always room at the top! Don't stay down at the bottom! Page 246 be mixed thoroughly with the soil before setting the plants. 3. Use strong, vigorous and dormant plants that have been well protected dur- ing winter with mulching, as this insures well-calloused roots. 4. Prune the roots back at least one- third and be careful to have all the roots well spread out in fan shape and placed straight down in the opening when setting them, and press the soil firmly against the roots so that every root will come in con- tact with the earth. Set all scant runner- makers not more than twenty inches apart in the row, and all excessive runner- makers not less than thirty inches apart. 5. Be very sure that the crown of the plant is above the surface of the soil; bet- ter have the top of the roots exposed above the surface than to have the crown even partly below the surface. A plant will start growing quicker and more vig- orously when the shoulder of the roots is just even with the surface, and run- ners also will start earlier, than if the body of the plant is set below the surface. 6. Cultivate immediately after setting; plants should carefully be cultivated the same day they are set out and hoed within a week from setting. 7. Always order ten per cent more plants than you estimate your ground re- quires. Heel these extras in and shade them to hold dormant as long as possible, and reset in vacancies. If you set your own plants reserve some in the propagat- ing bed for this purpose. In case you are so fortunate as to get a full stand, the surplus may be sold or set in other ground. 8. If all plants do not start at once, don't get discouraged, but keep cultivating and hoeing. This will stimulate action. 9. Pick all fruit buds off before bloom opens, for just as soon as the flower opens pollen exhaustion occurs; especially is this true with all bisexual varieties. This weakens the vitality which has been stored up in the plant the previous year. And don't forget that the plant must live upon this stored-up vitality until its feeding roots begin to absorb plant food from the soil. 10. Do not allow runners to remain on any mother plant which appears weak or backward in growth. Verily, verily, if these ten command- our fruit with a grood spray mp means dollars to you. 3 Eclipse earns bigproflts and lasts for years. We in- nted the EGUPSE SPRAY PUMP experimenting for years in our own (.>rcnarti.'^ with thecommtin sprajeis. We have it illustrated in our 4D-pap:e cataloc:— send for it to-dav— it's brimful of useful and interesting ^ leadinp for the gardener an cents per vear. 4 ninnths' trial, 10 cents. Sam- ple free. CATALOUL'E of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE 85 Hogan Block Syracuse, N. Y. Dr. Brigham's Poultry Class Home study with progressive, successful practice at almost no expense. We have secured the services of Dr. Arthur A. Brtgham as associate editor, who will conduct "Dr. Brigham's Poultrj- Class,' ' a series of twelve chapters, covering every phase of poultry culture, in a systematic, scientific, utility home course of study— equal to any $30 to $50 correspondence school course. If you want practical knowledge based upon a life-time of research you would not be without Western Poultry Journal for a dozen times its cost. We will send you our 32 to 80 page, illustrated monthly, one year, beginning with the first chapter for only 50 cents. WESTERN POULTRY JOURNAL 232*234 Granby, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Dr. Brigham't; Poultry Class is the hiirhest priced, most practical, exclusive featured article in the American poultry press. Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 60 to 100 pa«re8, its writers are the most successful Poultrymen aud wumen in the United States. It is ThePOULTRYTRIBUNE, nicelv illuRtrated, brimful each month of information on How to Care for Fowls a d Make the Must M »ney with them. In fact so good vou can't aflford to be without it. Pri' e.50 cput-^per vear. S^ndatonce for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO VOU, R. R. FISHER. Pub.. Box 86. Freeport. til. 240-EGG $ ncubafor 120 Egg Size, S9.00 60 Egg Size, $7.60 Broodersequally low. Not cheap machines !>ut the famous" I deal** — guaranteed to he the surest and easiest ever made. Why DolaavofFomSalolIii? Got uur biglL'8 .Bce, llluitraled FREE. J.W. Miller Co.. Box 372. Freeport. [. ni. I RAW FURS «~!*';.^kT My European contr;u'ts put me in position to piy top prices. Write for my spt^cial (luotations. Addrt. ss AC DIIDI^UADnT liitTnational Fur M.-rchant I 111 DUnNnAnUh€53 Cinciunati.Ohio STRAWBERRY FIELD OF JONES & HAVEN, CLIO, MICH., PREPARED FOR SECOND CROP Some December Tasks for Strawberry Folk A Memory JoSSer ECEMBER is a month in which there is little to be done in the strawberry held, but as growing weather this year contin- ued far into November, many growers have found it inadvisable to mulch their plants up to this date. So we again call your attention to this important feature of the work, confident that you would enjoy your Christmas more if your plants were properly covered from the winter's cold.? In the November issue we gave such complete information regarding this work that we need not repeat it here. If you have not taken that advice and instruction fully into your inner consciousness, we suggest a careful re-reading of that part of the November number. We are gratified to receive so many letters as are now coming to us, showing that our readers are alive to the importance of this matter. Some very large growers, even in the North, write us that they now realize their failure in the past properly to mulch their plants has had much to do with pro- ducing a poor crop of fruit, and that it was especially difficult to sell even large and fine berries when covered with sand. Mulch, and again we say Mulch! And even if we were to say Mulch again, those who follow our advice would have no reason to object; indeed, we are sure we should receive their thanks. "VVTE have said that there was little "^ work to be done in the strawberry field in the month of December, but we did not say there was any lack of work on the strawberry farm. In fact, it is the man who puts in his time to the best ad- TN a note to The Strawberry, Messrs. Jones & Haven say thai the bed shown above consists of one acre of land, set In the spring of 1905. That season was very unfavorable for them, the wet weath- er causing nearly one-half of the first setting to rot. We began to train, transplant and endeavor to get a full row before the close of the season. This we did fairly well, and to protect them from frost gave them a liberal coat of oat straw. In the latter part of April we removed a portion of the straw, and waited de- velopments. As this was our first experience at strawberry raising you can imagine how anxious we were about the outcome. The month of May treated us to two frosts which injured our Brandywines very much, blasting fully one-third of the blossoms. The Crescents stood it better, and when we came to pick the crop, in spite of wet weather, frosts, and a drouth at piclting time, we had 175 bushels of fine fruit, which netted us a good sum over expenses. July 16 we picked the last berries. July 23 we mowed them and four days later burned the straw, leaves and weeds slick and clean. Then came the plowing out and cutting down the size of the rows; after which we gave the bed 400 pounds of phosphate as a reward for berries produced. The result has been marvelous. We were kept pretty busy for a while cutting runners, as every plant seemed to be trying to beat his neighbor. October 18 we had the picture taken and we assure you that the artist has not overdrawn the appearance of the field. Some Winter Economies vantage during the winter months that makes the best showing when summer comes with its many duties. For there are a hundred and one little jobs and "chores" which, if neglected in winter, interfere just when you can least afford the time that must be given to them. And don't forget that they must be done some time, or loss is bound to occur. Every plow, harrow, cultivator, roller, and even that small but essential implement, the hoe, should be put away in the dry. And if any parts are missing they should be ordered at once and all repairs made. Do we practice what we preach.'' We certainly do. The big farm roller is now at the blacksmith shop hav- ing an attachment placed in front of it for Pag: 251 the purpose of drawing earth into the tracks made by the horses' feet as they draw the roller over the fields, so as to leave the surface perfectly smooth and free from indentures which otherwise would remain and interfere with the marking of the rows and the setting of the plants. The big spraying machines have been cleaned up, bolts examined, nuts tight- ened, and everything put in readiness for the first battle of the season of 1907. And any extra tools required for next year's work already are ordered. The only conveniences out on the farm these days are the manure wagons, and they are not standing still, either. Even the flower beds are in readiness for the bulbs and seeds that are to spring forth into sum- mer glory and lend their beauty and fragrance to the world. Wherever a tree or shrub is to be set stakes are driven and everything done but the digging of the holes and putting them into their future homes. The biggest part of any job is the planning of it. Do your planning in the winter. Success is more than half achieved when this is done. REPORTS from all over the United States are to the effect that never be- fore in all history has there been such a car-shortage as at the present time, and even live-stock men find it difficult to secure transportation of their animals to market. Manufacturers are working their factories night and day in an almost hopeless attempt to fill orders. Even the paper mills are so overrun that we have had great difficulty in securing paper with which to put out this mam- moth Christmas issue of The Strawberry. We refer to these matters to sugges' 'he Crates and Boxes THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 Hauling Out Manure importance of ordering your box and crate material right away. Last year thousands of dollars worth of fruit went to waste because the growers neglected until too late to order packages in which to ship the fruit. A few days ago while visiting some of the largest box factories in the country our attention was called to this matter and we were told that many grow- ers were making the mistake of not order- ing their fruit packages until the actual need for their use had come. At that time every factory was flooded with or- ders, everj'body wanting and actually needing the goods at once. This was impossible, and the result was an incal- culable loss and the ruination of some of the fruit growers. Even though you con- sider it too early to order, now is the time to get the catalogues, study the goods and prices, and get your order in early enough to insure your getting the packages you need and at the right time. We certainly do not wish to hear that any reader of The Strawberry has suffered loss through too long postponement of ordering; and we warn you in time that there is real danger in delay. A S most growers are too busy to haul •** out manure during the summer months, the work must be postponed until winter, and the earlier it is applied the better. It is not a good plan to leave any ground bare during winter, and there is no better covering than stable manure. We have always noticed that in breaking up ground in the spring the part that had been covered with manure was much mellower than that which had had no covering at all. Did you ever notice the mellow condition of the ground upon which even old straw had been per- mitted to lie during winter? While straw thus improves the mechanical condition of the soil, it adds nothing to it in the way of plant food, but manure not only makes the soil mellow; it adds largely to the fer- tility of the soil. Here are some reasons why it is better to apply the manure early in winter than it is in spring. 1. Your ground is frozen, which prevents the team and wagon from cutting up the sur- face of the soil, which would make no end of trouble in the way of clods. 2. By hauling manure in winter if there is any of the larvas of the white grubs in the manure, it will disturb them and bring them to the surface at just the right time to insure their being killed by freezing. 3. It gives the manure longer time to be leached out and its plant food absorbed by soil grains. 4. By doing the work m winter this work is done when the teams have little to do and help easily is secured. We have known growers to leave the manure until spring and then the work was neglected entirely and the manure allowed to remain in the pile for another year. This not only deprived the plants of what belonged to them, but Order Now for Future Delivery The Only Way to be Sure of Getting a DetroitTonpeless Disc Harrow When You Want It This Is to notify farmers everywhere that we are now^ accepting orders on our Cele- brated Detroit Tongrueless Disc Harrow for future delivery. And that this is the only way we guarantee to make shipment of Har- rows at the time they are wanted. The Detroit Tongrueless Disc Harrow (the onl^ original patented Tongueless Disc) sold like wild fire everywhere last year— its first year on the market. So much so that we were returning: orders every day, unable to supply enough machines. Indications are that we will have even a bigger trade this year, and that we will have to refuse many orders in the rush of the season. But— to all who send us advance orders we guarantee to make shipment at time request- ed, until further notice. Let Us Quote You a Special Price on the DetL'oit Tongueless Disc Harrow We seH direct to the user. We'll save you all the middleman's profits. Our Harrows are not for sale by Dealers anywhere. Be sure to remember that. No dealer can sell you a Detroit Tongueless Disc Harrow. We Allow 30 Days Field Test FREE on every Harrow to prove that they are ex actly as represented. We pay all freight to your station. Write at once for our FREE book and other valuable information. Let us quote you a price on this Harrow. We give extra datinsr on advance orders. The Detroit TONGUELESS Disc Harrow is the most valuable improvement of the age in an agricultural implement. Front truck takes the weight of frame and controls movement of harrow. Double levers make easy handling. Doing away with the Tongue does away with all side draft— all neck weight — all crowding of team in ehort turns. Saves horses and turns quicker on the corner. Ball bearings take the end thrust. Otherspecification'^and points of . superior t\ fulljeTolained in freecatalog Write us a postal to- dav and get full informa- tion in re- gard to this won- derful nf'w Harrow. Address American Harrow Co., 4543 Hastings St.. Detroit, Mich. FREE! "PLAYFUL KITTENS" FREE! MnPC CTII 1 '^ou will als'1 T.-Ci'\ve otir hofiiitiful llluftrntfd Prinmim List containing over 200 ueefu IllUilb 01 ILL the most remarlcable offer? tver ninde. Agents wanted eviryw lure. Liberal coi Oneof the cute kittens 18 looking into s hand mirror, ani.tlitr I iKtens to the ticking of a clock, anotlnTia tasting of the cream, another catches the ciJur of the beautiful ro-^es. while the filth toucheB a plove, carry- mj out the actions of the Ftre Senses which iht picture rcprvfients, Kicli in colurini:. exqaiBite in execution, thi- original is one of tne iies.t animai-iife ptntirjp. Our reproduction is an exart dui licate m every tmt and color. Sizes l5x 'iO incht'B. Farm and Home, cmr J- jia^'c national Farn and Family semi-monthly, now reaches ov€r 400.000 homes. To uitroducf it in- a tiK'iisandi of homes wliere u is not nosr taken, we will send you Fti:ii asd Hniig six montlis for only 20 cents 'two din fs or tcni-cent s^tanip'**- Further, if you will send ns at the eame time the name of nne other person to whom we can cend a free sample copy of Fakm anu HoMK. we will send you postpaid »thiB beautiful work of art. I articles and comniiB&ions- OUR OFFER: Address, mentioning this paper, FARM AN D HOME. Marquette Building, Chicaeo, III. FOUR EVERGREENS FREE We erowr our Hardy**Bliz- zard Belt**Everjn'eens in ten million lots. To prove they are healthy, well rooted and vigorous we offer to send Four Fine Sample Trees, 3years old Free to a Hmited number of property owners. Mailing ex- pense 5 cts which send or not as you please. A postaf "nil binnfirthem. Our Catalogue containing 64 colored plates of our Hardy •*Blizzard Belt** Fruits, EvergreenSj Ornamentals, etc.. with a mine of valuable information tor fruit growers, free for the asking. Write to-day. THE GARDNER NURSERY COMPANY, Box 802, Osage, towa. e^B ^11 ■ of ■ Us. ■ ree ■ 1^ Start your orchard now. Fortunes have been made by it. Start right by planting hardy, well cultured stock, that will live anywhere —guaranteed — materially less than agent's price — ask for prices on 1,000 lots. Dlustrated Catalogue free. CM.A.TTA.IVOOOA. I^UieSEMeiEJS Box 10 CHATTANOOGA, TEKN£SS££ Fade 252 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 all this time great waste was going on, for when finally the manure was spread it had lost much of its fertility. Now is the time to do the little things, the sum total of which is very large. Remember that "mony a mickle maks a muckle." What Two Years of Experience Has Wrought By W. H. Rogers AS a subscriber to the strawberry I wish to say that I would not think of being without it. When I sub- scribed for the magazine, I expected to bother you a good deal with questions, but I have found all my problems solved in your answers to others, without the trouble of writing. I have had two years of experience in strawberry growing, and my strawberry plot this year is 180 x 293 feet in size. My tickets show 8,340 baskets as the season's product, not counting what my wife and others picked and for which no tickets were made. I think that, all told, I had a total of 9,000 baskets. My largest picking was on the 2nd of July — 1,500 baskets; and one week from that day I picked 1,061 baskets. I began selling June 18, and sold up to July 20, selling every day save Sundays, which I think not a bad showing, considering that I had seventeen varieties. By selecting three or four varieties from them and under the same conditions, I am confident I can increase the yield by one-third. All of my varieties gave me a profitable yield. Senator Dunlap, Warfield and Dornan are my choice for quality and profit. And I have won a name as a strawberry grower that is worth something in a business way. My fruit was fine and I sold the berries at the following figures: Choice, 20 cents; No. I's, 15 cents; No. 2's, two quarts for 25 cents, and canning berries at 8 and 9 cents per basket by the crate. I had no difficulty in disposing of all I had, more than one- half being taken from the packing house. I burned over my patch after the pick- ing season was over, plowed and seeded to buckwheat, plowed buckwheat under and gave the whole bed a coat of stable manure; sowed fall rye, which is just now coming up. I worked the manure well into the soil with drag and disc harrow. Cobourg, Ont., Sept. 29. Mr. Rogers' experience suggests the meaning and value of quality to the strawberry grower. Notice that magnifi- cent field shown at the foot of this page and those figures — 20 cents for "choice," 15 cents for firsts, 12 1-2 cents for sec- onds and from 8 to 9 cents for the re- mainder when taken by the crate — those figures don't appear so surprising. Qual- ity stands out all over his field — quality of plants, quality of cultural methods. Those prices indicate the quality of pick- ing and packing. Yet Mr. Rogers has had but two years' experience — a most encouraging fact for beginners. Don't you see the truth of what we so frequently urge, that there is not only an inadequate supply of choice fruit, but that there is really no hope that there ever will be such supply of it as will meet the demand for it.'' Over on South Water street, Chicago, the most wonder- ful market place in the world, one certain man's apples get .$1 premium per barrel over any other apples that come to that market. He got that premium twenty VIEW OF W. H. ROGERS' STRAWBERRY FIELD, COBOURG, ONTARIO Something Beautiful for Xmas A STRAWBERRY SOUVENIR SPOON Til,' li.rry IliUi.lsoiinly EiiLTiiVfd IN A ROW I, t»V GOLD Neatly Boxed and Mailed for $1.50 Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed A. SMITH, Jeweler, THR'EVRi;E^r£G.N Idea AVOU have the * fresh popcorn and other neces- sary material, and Cracker- Jack <'^^ ''"''--■ VjiaWl\Cl «JUW1V jrjsp^ delicious and healthful Cracker-Jack on earth. Now, what I propose to do is to send you my formula with com- plete instructions for making Potter's Famous Cracker-Jack if you will send me 25 cents. Why pay a big price for a little bag of stale cracker-jack when you can learn tiow to make my famous brand at so small a cost? Send me 25c in silver or 2c stamps and I will forward my formula and full information by return mail. It will tell you how to make your own cracker-jack, and earn big money. Clark Potter, The Cracker-Jack Man, Ttiree Rivers, Mich. Wp vou'-li for Mr. Pott-r.— Kellouu I'rin.isiiiN'; Co. Dewberries S Olio of the most )fatable crops small fruit- grower can raise Now is the time to plan for next spring's plant- ing. Write f(»r information about plants and culture to ""'■ T. H. Smallwood, ""^ j^""' Box 5 KANSAS years ago; he gets it today, we understand. Why haven't ten thousand apple growers risen up in their dignity and shown Mr. Winne (suggestive name, isn't iti') that they could do just as well as he did.? We don't know, and you perhaps couldn't tell why. But the facts are suggestive, and we hazard the guess that there are men right within walking distance of Mr. Rogers' beau- tiful strawberry patch who have been growing strawber- ries for many years and yet are glad to get 10 cents for their firsts (never had any "choice" enough to be dig- nified by that title) and let the rest of their crop go at — any old price! What The Strawberry hopes to do is to make every one of its readers get this fact so deeply imbedded in their inner consciousness that it v\ill act as a motor to purpose and set them to work with a determination to make qual- ity a first consideration in everything that relates to the production of strawberries. When this is done, success alreruly will have been achieved, and it will be such success as gives joy to the grower — a moral satisfaction of even higher value in man\' Pa«e 253 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 of its aspects than the financial returns themselves. Beauty is as does; there is recompense in doing things well that no amount of money could represent. How an Old-Timer Treats the White Grub By S. H. Warren 1HAVE been very much interested in The Strawberry from the start, but particularly so in the November issue, which treats on the subject of the white grub, for I think it is the worst pest the strawberry grower has to deal with, not- withstanding Mr. Johnson of Massachu- setts says it is so easy to get rid of. Al- though we intend to set our beds on land that is free from them, we often find we have them in some sections of the bed so numerously as to eat most of the plants for many square feet, if not attended to in season, while most of the bed is quite free from them. Although this is my fifty-third year in growing strawberries and the plants com- mercially, I have been considerably trou- bled with this pest this year, and, as is often the case, they worked worse on new, high-priced plants that I bought this spring. When these plants began to send out runners the grubs began to do their destructive work, thinning out the plants. So then, to save the others, I took up each plant with a manure fork, with a lump of earth, and turned it roots up and picked out all the worms I could find, and before setting them back dug out the row where they grew, carefully examining the earth as it was thrown out and before resetting them dusting that ball of earth freely with tobacco dust, putting in air-slaked lime at the bottom of the trench. I then plowed between the rows, following this with a cultivator, and picked up all the worms I could find. It was quite a job, but I was satisfied with the results. The majority of strawberry growers have not had the experience that some of us older growers have, and the first thing they know about the white grub is they see their plants dying and, upon examin- ing them, find they have their roots eaten off by this pest. Now the vital question with all who find what the trouble is, is this: What is the best thing to do under the present circumstances, not how shall I avoid it next year (this should be con- sidered later), but what is the best thing to do now; for these worms are killing the plants that I have already spent much time and money on.' The following is my way of doing: Where I find only here and there a plant eaten off 1 go through the rows in the warmest part of the day, looking to the center of the parent plants to see the con- dition of the last new leaf just forming. If there is a worm under the plant which has begun to eat the roots of that plant. kte Knee WstilLMtter It takes 50.000 miles of fence every month to keep up with the American farmers' orders for AMERICAN Fence. That's enough every month to go twice around the world — and it's over 80 per cent of all the wire fence made. There's only one reason why four out of five American farmers buy AMERICAN Fence— it's better fence. We keep the best Fence brains in the country always at work, seeking constantly to improve AMERICAN FENCE And on account of making more fence than is made by all other fence makers combined, it costs us less per rod of fence to work out and make fence improvements than it would cost any other fence manufacturer. And because we can distribute the cost of improvements over so many million rods of fence in the year, we work out improvement after improve- ment every year without increasing the cost of AMERICAN Fence to you. Better galvanizing now makes AMERICAN Fence — without increase in price — cost much less — figured on a per-rod per-year basis, because it lasts much longer. NOTE— I want to send you the combination Itey-ring. shown in the corner, with our compliments, as a continual reminder of AMLKKWN Fence. We repister your name and number on our booiis, and return keys without cost, if found and bent na. FRANK BAACKES,Vice-Pres. & Gen. Sales Agent American Steel & Wire Co., CHICAGO, U.S.A. Drop me a postal — tell me how much fence you need this year. I'll write you personally about AMERICAN Fence and send you this registered combination key*ling, screw- driver and bottle-opener this new leaf will wilt first, and if you carefully dig under one side of the plant you can capture the enemy and save the plant. If not taken then he not only will kill the first plant, but many others be- sides on the same row, leaving a long vacant space. Where the land is natural- ly moist, I find it safe to set the plants where the grass sod has just been turned, for the parent of the grub does not use this land for its young grubs. My rule has been to observe carefully when plow- ing sod land, and if I find six worms (grubs) on the bottom of the furrow with- in one hundred feet, I set no plants on this land till it has been planted to some hoe crop for two years. Growing strawberries has always been my hobby, so I am now pretty well known in this vicinity as "Sam Warren the strawberry crank." Naturally, when I knew of your sending out a publication called The Strawberry I subscribed for it at once, and I can truthfully say I have received from its pages many times its cost, although I have had fifty-three years' experience in this branch of horticulture. Page 254 It seems to me that to those who are just beginning in the business, on a small or large scale, it must be a gold mine. I have taken much pleasure in growing a few seedling strawberries for many years, and within the last few years have propagated a few good ones; but the best one I have ever grown I put on the mar- ket last spring, I have named it "Golden Gate." I think it has more good points than any other berry I have ever grown. In many ways it resembles the Marshall, but it will succeed where the Marshall fails. Seven berries have filled a quart basket. It is extra quality and sells at the highest price. It won $23 in prizes on seven quarts at the Massachusetts Horticultural exhibition in June, 1906. I have picked since September 1 about 300 pint baskets of Pan-American straw- berries, grown on a small bed. Wesion, Mass., Nov. 6. READ our Christmas Present Offer. You couldn't give a friend a more acceptable token than The Strawberry. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL^^,OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OP STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION HE end of our first year is here, and we are look- ing over into 1907 with interest to discover, so far as we may, what it is to mean to our school and its great army of pupils scattered all the wide world over. Surely, there is no other school in the world which has been in existence less than a twelvem nth that can boast so great a membership and one so widely scattered ^s our own. ^'ou have been asking us questions for answer in this department and we have tried to answer them with intelligence, basing them upon actual experience. Now we feel that it is our turn to ask a few questions, and if you will answer them, it will aid us greatly to make this school of ours of greater benefit to all in the year to come than it has been in the year now drawing to a close: 1. Have all questions been answered with such clearness as to enable you to understand them and put their instruction into actual practice? 2. What have you to suggest that w.ll make this department of greater value to all its members.'' 3. Have you asked all the questions that you would like to have answered? 4. Do you know of anyone interested in strawberry production, either for home use or market, whom you would like to have receive The Strawberry? If so, send us his name and address and a copy will be forwarded at once. 5. We desire that everybody interest- ed in strawberry production shall be a member of this school. What can you do to encourage your friends, not now members, to join? "A Merry Christmas" to you one and all — you in far away Australasia, and in cold Norway, and you in sunny France and "Merrie England" and beautiful Bohemia, no less than to our own fellows of this great republic of ours and our cousins of "Our Lady of the Snows" — fair Canada. If the past year has been valuable to us, let us not be content with that, but push on to greater things in the year to come. Vale, 1906! Hail, 1907! ^ '^ Rev. E. L. , Turlock, Calif. Will you please give me some advice about irrigating strawber- ries in the San Joaquin Valley of California. We assume that your reason for asking about irrigation is because of the alkali in the soil and the influence of irrigation to bring the alkali to the surface. In view of the fact that investigations along this line are in progress, we would advise you to address your inquiry and state your particular problem to Prof. E. W. Hil- gard. Director of the California Experi- ment Station, Berkeley, Calif. J. A. C, Shelby, Ohio. Will swamp grass make good mulch for strawberries? If so, how thick should it be spread.' The grass is cut and tied in straight bundles. I am a reader of The Strawberry and appre- ciate it very much. Think every person who grows strawberries should take it. Swamp grass will make an excellent mulch for strawberries, and you certainly have it in splendid shape to do the work easily. All you will have to do will be to place the bundles over the rows, cut the string which ties them, and spread them out. A mulch of this material two inches thick will serve your purpose. F. E. C, Byron, Minn. I have been much interested in your statements in The Straw- berry concerning sown-corn for mulching, and I wish some more information, as I need a substitute for straw because all the neighbor- ing grain fields are infested with quack-grass, Canada thistle and toad-flax. How much seed do you sow to the acre? 2. Do you use a grain drill? 3. When is the best time to sow it? 4. When should it be cut? 5. How would it do to sow it on land where clover sod has been plowed, after taking off a crop of hay the last of June? 6. How much land is required to grow enough of the corn to cover one acre of nar- row-matted-row of strawberries? The amount of seed sown to the acre depends largely upon the quality of the seed used. We always make a test of several hundred grains, and if the ger- minating power runs high, we sow about seven pecks to the acre; but if the seed shows only about 80 per cent good, we sow about ten pecks to the acre. This fall we have carefully selected the seed corn we are to use for this purpose next sprmg, and are drying it with the expec- tation of having an extra quality of seed. 2. We use a common Superior grain drill, which is so arranged that it will sow peas or corn with perfect satisfaction. 3. We generally sow from the 1st to the 10th of June, but we think the middle of June would be sufficiently early. 4. The cutting should be done when the leaves begin to ripen, and if the work Page 25j is done in the morning, when the stalks are tough, there will be very little wastage from falling blades. If it stands straight, a very good way to cut it is with the self- binder, but if it is blown down and tangled, use the mowing machine and follow the same methods as in cutting hay. A hay rake, if used when the stalks are damp, will rake it up without wasting the blades. Then pile up and leave until the plants are ready to be mulched. 5. If the season be favorable, a very heavy crop may be grown by sowing the corn after the clover hay has been cut and the ground prepared. That is, if it is so the corn may be sown by July 1. 6. We cannot give you a definite answer, because the amount grown per acre varies according to the season and condition of the soil; but one acre, where the crop is good, will cover from two to three acres of plants. If you grow your berries in a narrow row and merely cover the plants, an acre of fodder will go even farther. R. E. J., Havensville, Kan. I have been a subscriber to The Strawberry since last spring at which time I set 1500 plants, but as I was an amateur and did not order The Strawberry until after I had received the plants, I was not qualified to set them as they should have been. The consequence was that I lost all but about 425 plants. But this was partly owing to the dry and windy weather at that time. Having lost so many I let the remaining vines make all the runners they would after the plants had become strong, intending to reset some of them this fall; but, owing to dry weather and lack of time, I did not get to do so. Will it do to set the runners in the spring by taking up dirt with them? 2. Will ground on which sweet corn has grown and which is very mellow do to set out to berries in the spring, if given a good coating of well rotted manure this winter and then turned under in the spring? 3. What late varieties would be best suited to this part of the country? I do not want to make a mistake again. I want to report a great success and big red berries the next time. I assure you of my appreciation of The Strawberry. We do not encourage anyone to dig plants from a fruiting bed in the spring, but as circumstances have prevented you from filling in the vacancies this fall, the work may be done next spring. Simply make holes in the vacant spaces where you intend to fill in, then take up the strongest plants, allowing as much dirt to THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 adhere as will do so, and set in the holes. The mother plants and those which are left will produce some berries, while those reset will fill in the vacancies so that a full crop will be secured the following year. The reset plants should be given frequent hoeings until the berries have all been picked from the other plants. In a case of this kind we would not recom- mend burning over after fruiting season. Merely mow off the tops of the vines that fruited, leaving all the foliage on the reset plants, then cultivate the entire bed the rest of the season. 2. Ground that recently has been in sweet corn will be a desirable place for strawberry plants next season. Give it a light dressing of manure this winter, then plow next spring and mix thoroughly be- fore setting plants. 3. Brandywine, Dornan, Pride of Michigan and Sample will be good late varieties for you to set. We regret that you did not become a reader of The Strawberry earlier, as it would have saved you heavy loss. L. J. G., Batavia, 111. In selecting mother i/lants for the breeding bed do you take the ones that produced most berries in fruiting bed first season they bear? Do you trans- plant them immediately after they are through bearing? Do they produce young plants that fall that are right to set in fruiting bed the following spring? If not, how do you pro- ceed? 2. How many crops of plants can be taken from one mother plant? 3. I have about 100 plants started from seed planted June, 1906, in various sizes from nearly nothing up to good-sized plants. Kindly give full directions how to proceed with them in spring regarding runners, fruit- ing, etc. In making selections from mother plants with a view to improving varieties, we must first make a study of the particular variety in hand to learn what are its strong and its weak points. Then proceed to eliminate the undesirable and to develop the points desired. After twenty years' experience we have discovered that it is unnecessary to allow the mother plant to fruit before making selection. While it is quite impossible to outline a complete method of plant breeding in the limited space at command, we can yet give you a few fundamental rules that will serve you at the outset. If you have a variety that possesses many good points, such as perfect foliage, and produces good fruit, but appears to be lacking in the power to produce as great a quantity as it should, the proper way to improve this variety is to make a close inspection of all the mother plants about the 1st of August, staking the plant which at that date has built up the most crowns, and numbering each stake. The plants should be gone over every two or three weeks and a close FREE GREAT CROPS OF STRAWBERRIES AND HOW TO GROW THEM= 1907 THE MOST VALUABLE book on strawberry growing ever writ- ten. It's worth its weight in gold, because it tells in a plain way just when and how to do every detail of the work, to grow big crops of fancy strawberries. Tells Hov' To" Enrich the ground and how to handle the soil to make the plants do their best. Prune the plants. Set them and Properly mate different varieties, so that every bloom will develop into perfect berries. Explains the difference between a poor, unfruitful plant and the kind that is strong in its fruit-producing organism, and it tells where to get this kind. Treats on Spraying, mulching and marketing. In short, it instructs the reader on every point from the time of prepar- ing the soil clear through the season until the big, red berries are picked. It also gives complete instructions on preparing the plants for a big second crop, and lots of other good things not mentioned here. Written From Actual Experience by the world's greatest strawberry expert. Gives the history of the biggest strawberry farm in the world and tells why it grew so big. This Book Contains 125 pictures of strawberries and strawberry fields, showing actual results obtained by growers who follow the instructions laid down in this book. If You Want to be the Strawberry King in your locality, just send us your name and address, plainly written, and the book will be mailed to you absolutely free. Address R. M. KELLOGG GO. Free Book Department THREE RIVERS MICHIGAN NOTE— All those who received catalogue in 1905 and 1906 already are on our tnail- ing list and will get the book in the early days of January without asking for it watch kept upon the plants you have staked. Take with you a record book and make notations of the number of crowns each staked plant has made since the last inspection. Also the number of runner plants each mother plant has made, and the vigor and general performance of all should be recorded. Each staked plant should be allowed to produce at least ten or twelve runner plants, as this will determine whether the particular plant has power to produce crowns and runner plants at the same time. At the close of the season, the mother plants that have the largest and most vigorous runners — in other words, the plants that make the highest records — are the ones, of course, that should be given preference. No doubt there will be several mother plants Page 256 that will show superior qualities over all the rest. The following spring from each of the mother plants showing the greatest gains take six or eight of her progeny and set in another bed, giving each set the same number as that borne by the mother plants from which they came. In re- moving these plants be careful that the mother plant or the other runner plants be not disturbed, as these are to be left for fruiting purposes to show their worth in that particular. After the fruiting sea- son is over, if you have kept a close record of the mother and her progeny, it will be easy to determine which one of these has given the largest yield of fruit. Then go to the several transplanted plants taken from this particular mother plant and stake it to indicate that it stands at THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 0N abundance of fruit of liighest quality, finely colored and flavored, is the direct result of supplying a complete fertilizer con- taining from 7 to 12 per cent, of Potash to the tree, vine or bush. "Plant Food" is a book well worth a place in the library of any fruit grower. We will gladly mail it to all applicants. GERMAN KALI WORKS 93 Nassau Street, New York SAN JOSE SCALE AND INSECTS Are easily killed by Takanap Soft Naphtha Soap. Endorsed by U. S. Government and State Experiment Stations. Write for Sample and particulars. TAKANAP CO. DARBY, PENNA. SMM'"i;» $1-50 Per 100 Sq. Ft. New, painted both aidee, moetdurable and trononiical roof covering for Houeea Hiirns.Shrds etc. FREIGHT PAID TO ALL POINTS EAST OF COLORADO, except Oklaiioma. Indian Territory and T<;.\ai. I'ricea to other poiutB on appli- ______ cation. At tbia price, we fumisb our No. 15 ]■ lut Shetits. 2 ft.x2 (t. At $1.60. we furnish the ■amu iti corrugated like illuetration. We can aleo fur- nish this rooting in 6 ft. and 8 ft. len^jths at an advanre of 25c per square. Ask (or our FREE llIuBtrated 500- Pago Catalog No. B. F. I'S'-i on Lumber, Koofiiig. Wire Fencing, Hardware. Furniture, Clothing and General Stocks from Sheriffs' and Keceivers' Sales. We bought the Fifty Million Dollar St. Louia World's Fair. Chicago House Wrecking Co., 36th A Iron SIb., Chicago EHODES DOUBLE OUT PRUNING SHEAR RHODES MFG. CO. Oept. 11 Cuts from both aides of limb and does not bruise the bark. We pay Ex- press charges on all orders. Write tor circular and prices. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. POWER SPRAYERS The most complete line bnilt. 16 styles — meet every possible requirement. All kinds of sprayiny; acci-s- sories. Send for eatalotrue and prices, stating your requirements. Mention this paper. Wallace Machinery Company CHAMPAIGN. ILLINOIS Souvenir Postal Cards Free to All We will Bend, all chartreg prepaid by us, one Free Pack- age of Assorted Souvenir Postji! Cards to anyone who will send us one new yearly subscription to American Stories and ten cents to i)uy for tlie same. Each pai-k- age contains 10 different Souvenir Postals, beautifully executed, ready for mailin;;. Anierii-ail Stories, Department T. X., Grand Rapids, Mich. AGENTS WANTEDi :m°oendable powder this brand will never disappoint you. Mary Elizabeth's Baking Powder Co., Shelbyville, Ind. ovif. I have plowed a small piece and ma- nured it well, and have put a ditch through the lower end. The soil is black for three or four inches down. The slope is westerly. The altitude is about 1,400 feet. 2. What varieties would I better plant? The late berries would be best for my avail- able market. 3. Would planting on slightly elevated ridges help to prevent heaving by frost? It never is a good plan to set straw- berries on low, wet ground, but from the description you give of your land, we think it will be safe for you to use it. The ditch you ha\'e made throjjjh the lower end will be of great benefit in car- rying away the surplus water. If you will make the rows run toward the ditch and make a slight ridge before setting the plants, then the cultivator will make small furrows, which will carry the surface water to the drain ditch. 2. Such late varieties as Pride of Mich- igan, Gandy, Parker Earle and Brandy wine will do well on such land as yours. The Cjlen Mary will be about the best me- dium-season variety to grow on that soil. 3. The only sure preventive against the ills of freezing and thawing is to mulch, and in your latitude to mulch well. Comments and Suggestions From a Strawberry Reader By J. S. Dickinson I WAS struck with your answer to Mrs. R. S. (October Strawberry) as to cost of putting out one acre of strawberries. Your Western prices are somewhat lower than Eastern; for in- stance, two-horse loads of manure bring $2 per load, for plowing and harrowing, $5 per day; for labor of man, $1.75 for day of nine hours. This is too much for farmers here to pay, but these prices rule. I put out a small bed of ftrawberries last spring and have been interested in watching these plants grow. My soil is rather heavy, and bakes quite hard, and it is difficult to keep it loose. I have four rows of strawberry plants each 225 feet long. Two of the rows have the plants one foot apart, and all runners are cut as fast as they appear; one row matted three and one-half feet wide, and the fourth row is part matted and part double row of plants set sixteen inches between rows and eighteen inches between plants, and runners all cut. I shall set most of my plants in this man- ner next spring, as I think I can get more plants on a given space than in the single row. I use a wheel hoe between rows, and a potato hook between plants. I wonder if all your readers know how easy it is to hoe with a potato hook."" But don't let the weeds start — and they won"t, if the hook is kept busy. For a hoe I cut off the corners of an ordinary tobacco hoe, and it is all right to work among the Pa«e 261 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 plants. The edges where cut off should also be sharpened. Old Saybrook, Connecticut. We are very glad to have information concerning wages paid for farm labor in your locality, also the price of barnyard manure, which of course, will increase the cost per acre, where labor is employed, above the figures to which you refer. But we think the prices in your locality for the berries are somewhat higher, which will fully e\ en up the difFerence in cost. The cost for manure and labor is lower in some sections of the country than the prices we quoted. In making up a table of this kind we simply take the figures from our own books. A potato hook may be all right when used by the grower himself, but to permit all sorts of hired help to use the hook would be decidedly risky, as we fear they would get the prongs under the plants and pull them out before they had become well rooted. We sometimes, in going over the plants the first time, use a com- mon garden rake, but always have several foremen behind the men watching care- fully to see that no plant is injured. Your plan of cutting the top corners off the hoe blade is an excellent one. We wish that others of our readers would tell of their ways of doing things. It is not only interesting, but of large value. Where this is done we shall be glad to discuss the points suggested, add- ing a word of comp-.ent or criticism, as the particular case calls for, from our viewpoint. A MONG the important houses which deal •**■ directly with farmers and fruitmen and which handles a line of goods especially inter- esting to them, is the Kalamazoo Cash Supply and Manufacturing Co. They are indeed farm specialists, carrying, perhaps, a largeY line of special farm tools and appliances than any other house. They do not deal at all in general sup- plies, such as clothing, dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries, etc., but for things that per- tain to the farmer, the stockman, the poultry- man, the gardener and fruit grower, and for utensils in the home, they are headquarters. More than that, they ship direct from factory to consumer, selling at the lowest possible prices when quality is considered. Their catalogue will interest you and save you money. Send for a copy at once, addressing the Cash Supply and Manufacturing Co., K692 Lawrence Square, Kalamazoo, Mich. TN a note to the editor an Illinois sub- *■ scriber says: "I have studied the back numbers of The Strawberry with great interest and benefit. Now if you will put a subject index in the December issue you will have in your 1906 volume a rule and guide of faith for all mankind,' but more especially for the strawberry grower. Our correspondent's suggestion is prized; it accords with the plans of the publishers from the inception of the mag- azine. A good index is one of the es- sentials to completeness in a periodical like The Strawberry, and those who have As Ye Spray ^ So Shall Your Harvest Be! And if you use the Eclipse Sprayer YOU WILL SAVE DOLLARS, because it thro^vs a perfect spray and covers every particle of the tree, bush or vine. It puts the spraying material where it will do the most good, in- suring greatest economy, and never wears out. We invented the Eclipse Spray Puinp after experimenting for years in our own orchards, with the common sprayers, and thousands of users testify that it is the best spray pump made. ^ir%'*^1 OUR ATOMIZER is made for house plants, greenhouses, and shrubbery. It is one of the best spray- Like all the rest of our spray machinery, it stands at the head in its particular lines of work ers for cattle in the fly ' season ever made, and ! { for keeping the chicken ^t'i/ ■' coop free from lice and mites it has no equal. Our Knapsack Sprayer Is just the thing for the family fruit garden, because it will keep your strawberries, grapes, fruit trees, and all bush fruits free from insects and fungi. The Knapsack is made from the same material as our Eclipse pump, and will last a life timi All three of these machines and many other aids to succet^'.al horticulture are tally illustrated in our 40-page catalogue. It is brimful of valuable information for the gardener and fruitman. It is free to you. SEND FOR IT TODAY MORRILL 119 Elm Street & MOFLEY, Bento'^i Harbor, Mich. FACTORY TO FARM MR. FRUIT GROWER, HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME WORTH? You can save one-half of it when preparing the ground and culti- vating by using our COMBINATION SPRING AND SPIKE-TOOTH HARROW Sl»V<-i:il IntrofiiK'tory Price and freight paid to flrRt buyer in your locality. Send for free illustrated booklet and surprising special offer. NAVLOR MFG. CO., Not Inc., 4 Spring Avenue, LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS FACTORY TO FARM been wise enough to preserve all the num- bers composing the present volume will have, with this concluding number, the most comprehensive book on strawberry production ever published, and so indexed that every fact and suggestion readily may be found. POTATOES are the vegetable universal; more people eat them as a regular part of their daily diet than eat white-flour bread. More than three million acres of land are given up to their production annually in the Unite.d States alone. Therefore, the importance of this crop and the importance of producing it in the most economical way, are clearly apparent. The establishment in this country (and that means in all the world) that has done the most to help the potato growers score success, both in quantity of yield and economy of production, is the Aspinwall Manufacturing Co. , of Jack- son, Mich. Potato cutters, potato planters, potato sprayers, potato diggers and potato soit- ers — all of them mechanical successes — are the products of the inventive genius of Mr. Aspin- wall, and potato growers all the country over recognize him as the leader in this line of work. We could not begin to tell you here about these Page 262 mechanical wonders, but if you will write the company and mention The Strawberry, you will be told just how to make a success of pota- to growing. Don't put it off, but ask for one of their beautifully illustrated catalogues at once. THE Advance foot-power wire-stapling mr- chine is a machine that no grower of small fruits can well do without. It has been de- signed and built especially to meet the demands of fruit growers who make up their own pack- ages during the winter months. By its aid four to six thousand quart boxes can be made in a day in place of a few hundred where a hammer and tacks are used. The stapling mechanism is so simple that any intelligent boy or girl can operate and keep it in perfect running order. The other day a Strawberry representa- tive was conducted through the factory of the Saranac Machine Co., St. Joseph, Mich., who manufacture this machine, and was shown it in various stages of completion. He was highly impressed with the thoroughness with which it is made. And we recommend it to our readers as a necessity on any fruit farm, no matter how small. OUR readers will be very much interested in the Farm Journal special offer appearing elsewhere in this number. It is well known that Farm Journal is one of the brightest and biggest little farm papers published. It is a pa- THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 To Our Photographic Contestants: IT was impossible to pass judgment up- on all the photographs submitted to The Strawberry in time for announcement in this issue, but the judges will have the work done in ample time for us to send the winners their checks for Christmas, and announcement will be made in the New Year's issue. per for busy farmers, "full of sunshine and gumption." It is so reasonable in price that every one can afford to take it. At the same time it is so valuable that no one interested in farming can afford to be without it. The Biggie Books offered are well worth a place in every library, and are especially valuable to the farmer. A new Biggie Book for the orchard is offered among others and it promises to be fully up to the standard of the eight Biggie Books already published. The Roosevelt Family Calendar offered will certainly be desired by every reader of this paper, as it is suitable for parlor, sitting room and office. Promptness, however, is essential in securing the Roosevelt Family Cal- endar premium as this offer is only good until January 1, 1907. Write today, and say you saw it in The Strawberry. AMONG the well-known manufacturers of berry boxes and all kinds of fruit packages, is the Colby, Hinckley Co., of Benton Harbor, Mich., whose long years of experience has been epitomized in a neat and complete catalogue which they are sending free to our readers. In this catalogue you will find every kind of fruit package, fully described and illustrated. The advertisement of this company appears in this issue of The Strawberry. Read it, send for a catalogue, and we are sure you will be more than repaid. YOU know how often we urge the disking of the soil in order to get it into proper condi- tion. There is nothing just like the disc to conquer certain soil conditions. This month the American Harrow Co. , 4543 Hastings street, Detroit, Mich., make an announcement con- cerning their famous Detroit Tongueless harrow that will interest every reader of The Strawberry. They know so well the extraordinary advantages of their machine that the company is now offer- i.ig to everybody a thirty-days' trial free, and if it isn't all they claim for it you may send it back. Knowing this company and their harrow we can readily understand how they can afford to make this extraordinary offer. No one ever will send the harrow back after once using it. It's just the thing for Strawberry folk. Write to the above address for full information. A pos- tal card will do. 'VW'E take pleasure in introducing to Straw- " berry readers the firm of Geo B. Thayer &Co. ,of Benton Harbor, Mich., whose ad- Economy Kitchen DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO YOUR HOME Cabinet GREATEST LABOR-SAVER EVER DEVISED FOR WOMAN NOTHING LIKE IT TO BE HAD FOR THE SAME MONEY One Woman Writes: *7 would not know what to do without it it saves so many steps.'' See the (.'oiiveniences and the amount of room it contains : DESCRimoN— Top Cabinet is 27 in. hiffh, 8 1-2 in. deep, and 4'J in. 'wide; it has a shelf alxivd HxlOiii., with 2 large and 2 smiill drawers, ami a Iil!U'ei)n<'ilhi*rsideforflavoriniiOxfcrat'ts, t')\vfls,fti.' 'I'op of hase is 26x45 in., made of wliitewoud: underneath this is a kneading, meat and bnad- cutting boards; has 2 drawers; 2 hirire flour hins, holding about .50 lbs. each. This cabinet is made entirely of white maple, 6nished natural and built in the most substantial manner, nuikinu it one of the most convenient eabinets on the market Reforenf-es: First State SaWnss Bank K.llogg Publishing Co, , Thr.'e Rivers, Mich. ECONOMY CABINET CO., three rivers, mich. Shipped Promptly on Receipt of Price ISLEOFPINES,W.I. The Qarden of Eden and Greatest Winter Resort on the Western Hemisphere. W PLEASE STATE WHICH PUBLICATION VOU SAIA 'ANTED— A Reliable man to ioin me in itie Poultry and Bee business. Also early Vegetables and Strawberry growing in the Isle of Pines, W. I. I own several tracts of land there suitable for above business and am well ac- quainted on the Island. Joinourexcursion from New York, January 19, 1907, on the Ward Line Steamship, "Morro Castle" lo Havana, and look over the proposition and country. For more particulars, illustrated booklet, address F. M. Van Etten, G17 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. IIS ADVERTISEMENT. vertisement of their fruit packages appears in this issue. They ask only that you send for their catalogue, and we are confident that you will find something of interest in it for you, if you do. We know that they make good goods and carry out every promise made. THE largest manufacturers of sash, doors and millwork in the world are Gordon VanTime & Co., of Davenport, la. Possessing their own timber lands, their own saw mills and their own factories, they are able to sell their manufactured product direct to the consumer at a saving of 50 per cent under regular prices, and they will fill your order with goods of the highest quality at prices representing as great a saving as we ha.c named. If you would like to test this matter, just send for the splendidly gotten up catalogue issued by this company. It is not merely a catalogue, but among other of its features is a set ot pictures and complete architect's plans for five houses of moderate cost, which in itself saves the builder the cost of having plans drawn. Then there are pages devoted to every branch of house building and finishing, with suggestions of highest value to the man who is building a new house, rebuilding an old one or adding to his present quarters. It is free. Address Gor- don VanTine ii' Co., Station A85, Davenport, Iowa. INDEX TO THE STRAWBERRY VOLUME I— JANUARY TO AND INCLUDING DECEMBER, 1906 Advertising your strawberries. .. 104 All in good management 178 Among the Mississippi- strawberry growers 5 An Oklahoma poet's greeting.. 84 Another amateur's experience... 86 Ants, preventives . 151 .■\nswers to many inquiries 162 Aphis (root louse) — Description. 97; Method of working. 97; Remedy for, 97; Prof. Sanilerson on, 196. Ashes — For making firm fruit. 167; How to apply, 67. 94. 260; Mixing with manure, 94, 96; No value in coal. 183; On clay soil, 106; On sandy soil or loam, 106. Associations, Castleberry fruit Grow- ers', 26; National strawberry, 26. As to planting various varieties. . 34 Auctioning off strawberries for charity 132 August work for strawberry growers 159 .\utumn work in the strawberry field 215 Autobiography of a strawberry grower. Chap. I. 221; Chap. II, 241 Bailey, L. H.: On selection 148 Bees and strawberries. 59; Bee sta- tistics, 87; Believes in the pedi- gree idea, 42. Beetle — Description, 97; Method of work. 97; Remedy for, 97, 154; How to prevent, 97. Berry growing among the firs. 90 Bisexual— Definition of, 70; Plants require no mate, 186; How to identify, 205. ■ Bloom — Removing from young plants, 105. 122; Removing from second- year plants. 167; Removing affects runner development. 183. Bordeaux Mixture — Formula for, 98, 160, 171, 187; Preventive of mil- dew. 259. Boxes — Making with stapler (lUus.), 28; and crates required, 45; Wax- lined paper, 171. Breeding — New varieties of straw- berries. 81; Double-crop plants. 200; Plants, how the work is done, 256. Buckwheat as an advance crop.. 94 Burning over the old bed (HIus. ). 128; Dangerous in autumn, 43; \'alue of, 98, 137; When dry, 228, 258. Carrier. .-Vn inexpensive (Illus.),28: A substantial (Illus.), 28. Cheat, How to get rid of 135 Chickens and strawberries, success with 248, 249. 250 Chicken Droppings — How to apply, 20; Mixcil with stable manure, 91. 136; Mixed with land plaster, 95; Value of, 203 ; .-Xs top dressing, 259 Christmas present offer 235 Climb to the top 246 Clipping, Comment, and Criticism 245 Clover .'Ind — N'aluahle for plants, 21; Furni-hLS humus and nitrogen, 21. 46. Pa^e 263 THE STRAWBERRY DECEMBER 1906 Comments and suggestions from a strawberry reader ^61 Commercial fertilizer and the strawberry 111» 235 Compost, making leaf mold 68 Concerning wood ashes .106 Conserving moisture, 145; by cul- tivating and hoeing 22S Cornfodder as mulch, 7, 255; when and how to sow corn; Amount of seed required; on clover sod; when to cut; Yield per acre, 255 Corrosive sublimate 260 Cost of an acre of strawberries, 190 Reducing the • • • ■ -^l^ Cow Peas — When to sow, 155, 2Ui, 223; For humus, 186, 205, 223. Crab Grass, how to get nd of.. 1/0 Crate Making (lUus.) 27 Crate Form (Illus.) • 27 Crown Miner — Description, meth od of work, and preventives.. 97 Cultivation — vs. fertilization, 104; In the fall. 177; During fruitmg time, 44; Increase when plants are in- active, 75; Depends on climate, 138; When and how to practice, 139; Checks capillary action, 223; By hand, 228. Cultivating the fruiting bed.... 103 Culture for color and keeping qualities .•■■,„} Cut Worm, nature and preventive, 184 December tasks for strawberry fojl; 251 Don'ts 76, 98. 144 Double-Cropping 'p Double-Hedge Row — Advantages ot, 50. 151; Distance apart to set plants in, 6S; How to make. Draining — Level ground, 183; berry bed in winter, 257. Electrical experiments with plants. 4 Elements of Success . 146 Ever-bearing strawberry, Ihe, IS; Notes on. 39. . i-? Extended strawberry season, An, 17 succeed- 120 Straw- Fall Fruiting, effect on ing season s crop of .223 Fall preparation of soil, 21, 177 nlowinff 203 By plowin- Family strawberry patch, 11, 30, 554, 77, 209; Hints for making and possible results. 11. Farmers' Congress, The .......190 February work, Suggestions for, 27 Fendall strawberry. The (Illus.), 164 Fertilizer — Analysis or commercial f. desired, 44; Summer application of, 92- For sandy loam, 93; When to apply. 122, 154; Ohio prices for, 137; How to apply. 139; Ground bone as. 153; The best f.. 175; Hoof-parings as. 186; Muriate and sulphate of potash for. 204; Rot- ted flax straw for. 204 ; Pigeon- droppings as, 204; Sand vetch as, 227. Fining in vacancies. 92, 153, 154, 177. 184, 203. 226. Forcing strawberry plants in pots, 169, 218; In green-house, 187. Foreword ; \ Free-seed distribution 14.i Frost— Smoke as a preventive, 91; Effect on blossoms, 138; Causes poorly formed plants, 168; May destroy entire cone. 168; Effect on new-set plants. 257. _ Frozen crowns, protection against 195 Fruiting Bed — Weeding the, 74; Cultivating the, 102, 138. Getting a home of one's own, 174 Good work for women 16 Growing and selling strawberries. 174 Growing plants and fruit together, 52 Growing strawberries in North for Southern markets 25 Haste that makes waste 88 Heeling-in plants (Illus.) 52 Helpful hints for strawberry folk. 108 Hill system, growing strawberries by ■-• -^^^ Hoed crops as preparation for strawberries 21 Hoeing — The proper way (Illus.) 75; Under foliage 185 Honeymoon strawberry enterprise. 85 Hood' River region of Oregon. 132 Horticultural societies. Work of. 60A How to prune and set plants dUus.), 51; To get your own prices for strawberries, " 74; To handle a kicker. 107; I encouraged home strawberry culture, 150; Colorado celebrates Strawberry Day. 161; I renew the old bed. 176; One amateur finds joy in patch (Illus.), 179; A novice compels success, 210; White strawberries were intro- duced, 211; Laddie cured father's rheumatism. 219: To get rid of the white grub. 229; To clean out a badly matted field, 224. Humus, peas as makers of 92 Important word from Secretary Hays 60A Insects, Insurance against 177 Intensive vs. extensive strawberry culture 142 Irrigating the strawberry, 139, 152, 223. 255. July work in the strawberry field, 145 Kanit as a nitrogen saver 62 Kerosene emulsion, remedy for white fly 260 Krueger. C. H.: How I renew the old bed 176 Late berries for the north, 67, 190, 197. Layering runners 145, 159 Leaf curl. See Mildew. Leaf Rollers — Origin, nature and preventive, 20; Second brood, 159 Learning the better way 114 Lime — Fertilizing value of, 96; Ob- serve care in using, 120; Value of carbonate of, 155. Liver of sulphur, preventive and cure for mildew, 98. 152. 259 Making fertilizer without cost, 28 Manure Spreader, The economy available, 10; Horse and cow mixed, 19; Chicken droppings as, 20; High value of farm. 33; Top dressing with, 137, 139, 195; Barn- yard, 46 ; Value of sheep, 1 39 ; Spreading in summer in Texas, 167; Liquid as stimulant for plants, 170; Coarse on heavy clay soils, 204. Manure Spreader, The — Economy and value of. 10, 20. 55; Cost of, 11 Managing the berrv pickers 99 Marking device (Illus.) 28 Mating varieties 19, 21, 92 Melcher, August : Some reminis- censes of an Old Timer 63 Mice in strawberry fields 193 Mildew (Leaf Curl), Nature of and preventives, 46, 71, 154, 171, 185, 259. , ^ Moles, To get rid of 46, 193 More differences than one in the quality of fruit 244 Moving pictures of plant growth. 175 Mrs. Hooper of the strawberry patch -.174 Mowing over the patch, imple- ment to use 137 Mulching. Materials for — Asparagus, 185; Buckwheat straw. 168; Clo- ver chaff. 69; Coarse manure, 7, 19, 216; Hops, 120; Leaves. 170. 223; Millet, 137; Marsh hay, 7, 216; Oat straw. 7. 19. 216; Pine Needles. 7; Rve straw. 216; Saw- dust, 46, 205; Shredded cornfodder, 216, 250; Snow, 170; Sorghum pomace. 7, 19, 183. 217; Sown- corn, 119. 216, 255; Swamp grass, 255 ; Tobacco stems. 69, 1 52 ; Wheat straw, 19, 215; Uses of. 2. 68, 168. 261; Applying. 119, 215; Time for, 7. 228; Economy of, 216; Importance of, 8; Where snow-fall is heavy, 44; In the North, in the Middle States, In the South, In arid lands, 7 ; On the snow, 259; Growing oats for, 46; Growing corn for. 255; How to remove, 139; When to remove, 170; Quantity required, 185. My first attempt at growing straw- berries 32 Nine hundred dollars from an acre of strawberries 214 Nitrate of Soda — Where to obtain. 44, 96; When and how much to apply. 94, 228; Not required on virgin soil, 45 ; Excess of makes soft fruit. 94. and too great vege- tative growth, 96. Nitrogen, excess of causes over-de- velopment of foliage. 171, 226, and makes fruit soft. 1 86. Note from Southland 89 Noteworthy strawberry field 211 North Carolina's great strawberry fields 131 Oats as preventive of soil washing, 205 Oat-straw mulch .7, 216 October work with strawberries, 195 (Dne amateur's experience 11 One beginner's experience ..... 56 One farmer and his strawberries, 247 Onions as an advance crop 203 O/ganization — Necessity and value of. 49. 143; For better methods and prices, 141. Overflow Question Box, 64, 182, 198 Packing. Value of care in 76 Paris Careen, Formula for spray, 98, 106. Phosohate — How to apply, 152; Re- sults from use, 153; Value of rock, 155. Phosphorus — As a soil builder, 62; In raw bone-meal, 155. Pickers — How to handle, 158; Number required. 139. Pickers' Chariot. The (Illus.), 180 Picking Strawberries — Only when dry. 75, 138, 228; One day's work for a man. 228. Pistillates— More prolific than bi- sexuals, 21; Will bear only when mated. 22, 63, 103; How to mate, 69; Definition of, 70; How to identify, 205. Plants — Preparation of soil for, 22, 186; When to manure, 43; Num- ber required, 20, 121; Preparing for bud development, 159; For a dry climate, 164; Thinning out, 70; Use only strong, 68; Never use old, 123, 139; Number of crops from one setting, 137, 139, 151, 170, 228; Old p. cause pollen ex- haustion and encourage diseases and insects, 152; Bloom in proper season, 152; All runners of equal value, 183; Infected leaves of, 185; Nature unchanged by mix- ing, 205 ; Effect of long-distance shipping, 257; Weight per thou- sand, 45. Plant breeding, for maintenance and improvement 101 Pointers for the procrastinator, ISO berries 41 Potatoes as an advance crop, 228; As remedy for acid in soil, 260 Potassium — Adds to color and keep- ing quality. 21; Do not use too liberally, 120; Encourages healthy foliage, 154. Poultry with strawberries, 114, 248 Practical experience in strawberry culture 126 Practical strawberry culture 62 Preparing bed for second crop, 128. 170; Treatment of old plants, 259 Preventives of insect pests and fungous diseases 97, 98 Propagating Bed, The, 129 ; Keep distinct from fruiting bed, 94; How to make, 122, 185. Propagating your own plants. . . 91 Proper mating of varieties to se- cure pollination of bisexuals (with arrangement scheme), 60D Proper pollination points 39 Pruning (Illus.), 51; Value of, 185 Quality in fruit, cash value of.. 4 Question for Southerners, A 112 Reasoner. J. R. (Portrait): Ori- gin of the Senator Dunlap strawberry 3 Reasons for my faith 50 Received his dollar's worth mafiy times over 243 Recollections of a veteran 210 Recruiting the farms "35 Red Spider, Nature, habit and remedy for 151 Remedies for insect pests and fun- gous diseases, Bordeaux mixture, Liver of sulphur, Paris green. Burning over fields, 98. Remittance in rhyme 65 Removing surplus runners, how to do the work 159 Rotation of crops, importance and value of 129, 154, 185, 194 Rosebugs, Remedy for 169 Rows, measuring off by steps (Illus.), 2; Direction to run, 138; Distance apart for hand cultivation, 93. 96; Distances apart in different modes of setting. 187; Why better than the hill system, 153. Runners — First, when to remove, 92, 154; Second year, value of, 136. 152; Handling surplus, 47; When to remove, 138; Restricting, 20. 21, 69, 95. 177; Value of restrict- ing. 138; Layering, 136, 145, 159; Encouraging growth of, 184; Treatment of laterals, 43. Rust— Nature of, 95. 155. 169, 204, 207; Preventives. 98, 155. 169, 204, 207; Damage done by. 224. Rye — As cover crop, quantity, when and how to sow. 21, 155, 205 ; Takes up manure leachings, 187, 207 Salt, Injurious to soil . . . ._ 123 Sandy loam for strawberries. ... 21 Saving that wasteth, The 176 Saw-fly — Description of and treat- ment for. 43, 97, 223; Spray with Paris green. 43. 106, 223. Second Crop — Probable yield of, 44; Preparing for, 70, 128 ; Some causes for failure in, 223. Selecting a location _ 166 Selection and preparation of the fields ...133 Senator Dunlap strawberry, origin and naming of 3 Setting Plants — How to (Illus.), 51; When to, 224. Shipping strawberries by thou- sands of carloads 131 Shipping at night 138 Simpson, Mr., 12, 15. 16. 103. 144 Simpson's view of things 144 Single-hedge Row — Advantages of, 205. 259; Distance to set apart in. 205. Slime mold on strawberry plants, 158 Slope of land for varieties of differing seasons 75 Slug, description. methods of work and remedy 97 Sod — Danger of white grubs in, 19; Alfalfa, how to handle, 91. Soil — Preparing for plants, 22; May be made too rich, 44; Acid con- dition of, 259; Alkali in, 259. Some cultural suggestions ...... 36 Some reminiscences of an Old Timer, 63 ; practical experiences, 116; lessons from experience, 142 ; things worth knowing, 148; of the the season's experiences, 116; for May in the strawberry field, 191. Sown-corn for mulch 255 Sorghum pomace as mulch. .7, 217 Sorting berries 22 Specializing in strawberries .... 73 Spraying — In August, 159; In fruit- ing time, 119; When plants are in bloom, 121 ; New-set plants, 154; Only after dew is gone, 185. Springtime strawberry suggestions, 75 Spring the time to plant 214 Spring setting in the South. ... 29 Stakes, Head (Illus.) 28 Stands by pedigree in plants, 60 D Starting a farm without a dollar, 31 Starting a farm on little capital, 8 Statistics, some strawberry 26 Stalk-borer, nature and preventive, 184 Strawberry literature, dearth of, 1 Strawberry growers organize. ... 26 Strawberries — In wintertime, 2; In Texas, 29; In North Dakota, 78; In Northern Michigan, 127; In Bohemia, 163 ; In Missouri, 163; In the North, 165; In spare time, 196; In New Mexico, 206; In an orchard, 129. 286. 226: On high and low land, 19; On hill sloping east, 152; For select trade, 110; And chickens, 30; Packing, 127; Number of successive crops of, 129; Railways recognize importance of, 132; Most reliable of crops, 144 ; Foundation-making season for, 159; Sub-irrigation for, 68 ; How to pick, 122; Injured by too much water, 168; September work with. 177; And the home beauti- ful. 125; And one woman's grit, 147; That made a m . rry Christmas, 237; Adaptability to any soil, 108, 127; Need the sun, 108; Remark- ably free from insect attacks. 108; Hygienic value of. 110; Statistics, 157; Inspiration, the, 108. Strawberry culture in Colorado, 16 Success and failure and some fig- ures why 12 Success with strawberries, A wom- an's 41 ; To the man who does, 102; Despite discouragement, 165 ; Under difficulties, 213; and chick- ens, 248. Suggestions for March 52 Summer setting of strawberries, 250 Sweet Corn as an advance crop, 256 Taking their winter sleep (Poem), 37 Tarnish Bug, preventive 98 Thinning out strawberry ^plants, 191 225; Essential to fruit quality, 206 Transplanting, Spring the better time .45, _ 122 Use of commercial fertilizer in strawberry culture 235 Vacancies, Filling in, 92, 153, 154, 177, 184, 203, 226. Value of ventilated strawberry boxes 211 Value of sticking. The 109 Varieties of Plants — Best for single- hedge row, 24 ; Best for double- hedge row ; Best for narrow n>at- ted row, 34; For the hill sys- tem. 163. Weeding the fruiting bed. 74, 183 Weeds — Easiest time to kill, 105; In wet weather, 106; Best way to kill, 123; How to prevent, 123; Ridding matted row of, 167. Weevil, origin and nature of, 136; preventive. 98. Whale-oil soap, remedy for white fly 260 What a woman can do 189 What two years of experience has wrought 250 Wheat as a cover crop 223 Wheat-straw mulch 7, 215 When old age^ comes on 88 Where hasty judgment hurts. . .210 Where opportunity is neglected. 242 Where the strawberry comes from. 37 White Grub— Habit.' 97. 120. 183. 184, 207; Preventive, 20. 97. 120, 135, 183. 184. 207: On sod land. 19. Who grew the prize strawberries, 201 Why Bunker was disappointed, 103 Why I got no st rawberries, 103 Winning success with the straw- berry 57 Woman's success with strawber- ries. A 41 Women and strawberry culture, 181, Working among strawberry plants, When to stop, 43, 67. 135, 184 Young man's opportunity. The, 6 Paje 264 Selling Hides to Butchers is Poor Economy MANY a man has a cow hide or a horse hide which he sells for almost noth- ing. THIS IS POOR ECONOMY. Let him send the hide to us, place with us the same money he spends in purchasing an ordinary cloth overcoat or robe to last one and perhaps two seasons, and we will manufacture for him a FUR COAT OR ROBE which we guarantee will not wet through, will last many years, and for durability and warmth cannot be equalled. Do not think it is necessary to send us black hides; an even-colored red makes a tine robe; a horse hide makes a light robe — any color looks well, lu fact, you will scarcely recognize your red, broivn, gray, spotted, white and brindle hides after they ha\e been through our process and the hair thoroughly washed and scoured bright. Don't sell your hides to the butcher; you are practically giving away a coat, robe or handsome floor rug. When You Furnish the Hide 'll'^E can tan and manufacture ii robe like this from a cow hide or a horse hide T? and make FKEE a pair of Mittens from the trimmin and Please the Consumer KING DAVID. DELICIOUS, LIEVLAND RASPBERRY, SENATOR. GIANT JENITON, BLACK BEN, GRIMES, JONATHAN, Etc., Meet All Requirements. Then Why Grow Inferior Sorts? We are Headquarters for All that is BEST in Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Grape, Small-fruit Plants, Roses. Ornamentals, Etc. For 82 Years m have been the standard by which good nursery stock is measured, and our sales have steadily increased until we are now compelled to maintain the largest nursery establishment in the w^orld — conclusive evi- dence that Stark Trees are of highest pos- sible quality and sold at as low^ prices as such stock can be produced. Constant growth in any business during morethan three- quarters of a century, is proof conclusive that customers re- ceive honorable treatment and full value for their money. On no other basis could Stark Nurseries have built up their present trade. Success in the nursery busi- ness depends entirely upon the success of customers; and they can suc- ceed only w^ith strong, healthy, thrifty, depend- able trees of the best up-to-date varieties, well grow^n, well dug. welt packed. We solicit or- ders on this ba- sis, and if you send them to us, WE GUARAN- TEE SATIS- FACTION: and our guarantee means some- thing—w^e are not "here to-day and gone tD-morrow.'* W^e Pay Freight on orders of $7.50 or more to any Railroad station in Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Ohio On orders of $10.00 or more to any Railroad station in Alabama Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Georgia Indian Ter'ty Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey New York North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin On orders of $12.00 or more to any Railroad station in Arizona California Colorado Florida Idaho Maine Massachusetts Montana Nevada N. Hampshire New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wyoming Our Wholesale Pric«-list gives full particulars. SIARKBR0;&Ri{8§^(^ CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 ,000.000— ALL PAID UP STARKDALE, MO. ROCKPORT, ILL. FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. PORTLAND, N. Y. DANSVILLE. N. Y. ATLANTIC, IOWA Write us at Louisiana. Mo.. Desk 1 1, and we will send FREE, New Descriptive Fruit Book, Price-list, etc. LOUISIANA, MO. v "T~ J ^J^ 'o. '^ » *• ^j:^ iV, \ ni>: \ % r mi F t \\ PUBLISHED BY THE KELLOGG PUBLISHING COMPANY THREEfRlVERS, MICHIGAN \/A 1906 !d czi c /-Anrr^ SMALL \AKrr5 fruits YOV will) have fruit or vi-^etable Hardens! Would you excliance tlifiii for lawn or meadow? No: there's too muoh pleas- ure, t«»o much prortt in them. Some of my customers make aiinuallv from *'J00 to *:i(m pt-r acre with small fruit-8. Now. whether you're an old hand at fniit ^owintr or just a beginner, I can be an assistant to help you on to sut'^'css by sending my new cataloiriie fully desi-ribini: my new luoney-mak- inii varieties. Write me for special advice. It's free. lam makint: some remarkable of- fers in this advertisement. I call tliem "Introduction Offers." They jire made to popularize my goods in > our vicinity. The collections below grow In favor wherever ordered and are found in each ctise to be exactly lis described in cittnlngne. MY MODEL $5 FRUIT GARDEN Better tlian e\er for UHI7. I will send by express for only .f.">,Ol> tliis model Fruit Garden (omprisiniT 150 Strawbtrry plants, 8 <«<»o.**el>»^rry bushes, '24 Currant bushes, l.'iO Raspberry plants, 50 Blackl>erry plants, and I'J e Vines. The very best varieties of each. Fruit will beL'iu to rijit'ii in May ;ind ler. All hardy. Finest clinibini: roses grown. When they bloom they're well wfirth 4^5.00. -See cataloirue for exact de- ' scription of varieties. Copy free. My Model $1 Vegetable Collection— Postpaid TI»irty-tive large Packets of Pri/,e-\\'iiiiiiti;f Ve;C«*table Seed. The most liberal r>ffer ever made. Everytliinir of the very best. Try it and luive the best L'arden you ever had. One packet each of Asi»araffns. Beet. Carrot, Coft'e*' Herry. <';iuIitlow- er. Celery, AVateriiielon. Onii»n. Parsiiii». Saye, Spiiiaeb. Popciirn, l*iiiiij>kia ; *_' packets •■ach of Cabbase, Cueuiiiber. Lettuee. >Iu^kl^lel- <»ii. Ka tnrt llfjtt kind thnt f II r n i s ht-at in a natural] w;ty. Geo.H. Lee Co. D"pb. 51. Omaha. Neb, t\sm BELT ^ We grow our 'Blizzard Bell" Evcr- dreens in ten million lots. To advertise themandprove that they are healthy, well rooted and vigorous, we offer to send £our fine sample trees 3 years old. free to a limited number ot property owners. Mailing expense Scents, which send or not as you please. A postal will bring them. Last year we distributed SOO.COOof these sample evergreens and gained thousands of new friends. This year we have Reserved 600,000 Trees for this free advertlsintf distribution and if you want vour share of them write at once for they will go fast. W. H.Gibbonev.Mandan, North Dakota writes: "Please accept thanks for the sample evergreens. They are doing fine." This is but a sample of thousands of letters. jl(i. Our catalogue containing 64 colored plates cf our TfcX" Hardy "Blizzard Belt" Fruits. Ornamentals, Ever- greens, etc., with a mine of valuable information for fruit growers, is free for the asking. Write to-day. THE GARDNER NURSERY COMPANY, Box 802 Osage, Iowa. We Want Every Reader Of The Strawberry to know that he can take full advantage of the busi- ness-pulling powers of this magazine through the use of our CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING DEPARTM'T Only 3 Cents a Word See announcementjon Page 7 GOOD CHEAP ^ii^^EVER GROWN A wonderful big catalog CDCC Full of engravings of every ■ nCE \ ariety, with prices lower than other dealers'. Oldest reliable seed grow- ^ erin America. Nooldseed. All fresh. They will grow or will refund money. Bi^ Lot ExIN(i. MICH. Pa«e 2 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 his order, and waited until he said it was time to set those two rows of strawberries, which was about the middle of April. Those two rows never caught up to the ones which had been set earlier. We usually mark our field both ways and until they start to run we cultivate them bo'h ways, and we only have to hoe the hill the first three or four times, which is a great labor-saving plan. The last lime we go crosswise of the row we take the hoe and smooth the soil and i)egin to get ready to train the ruiineis. 1 find this to be a great advantage on liea\'y soil. A twelve-tooth cultivator or an iron scratch-harrow is the proper tool to go crosswise with, as it breaks the top of the soil yet doesn't disturb the plants. There seems to be nothing else that we have tried for mtilching on our soil that will give us as good results as stable manure. We have covered our four patches that we are going to fruit with car manure from New York City. We put from eight to ten tons to the acre. The manure costs us $1.85 per ton. As soon as spring opens up take a fork and part the straw from over the rows. Our propagating bed we mulch with marsh grass, which makes an ideal mulch, as it doesn't pack tightly and removes all danger of smothering the plants. Bridgeton, N. J. ^ .^ What Shall This Young Man Do? I HAVE been considering the advisability of taking up berry culture for some time. I am a subscriber of The Strawberry and like it \ery much. I should like to put the circum- stances before you and would be greatly obliged if you will give me your opinion on this matter. I am a young man of good habits and reason- ably good business education. I have taken a course in the Commercial college and have had about two years of practical experience. I was reared on a farm and am not afraid of work, but yet I know very little about berry culture. My means are limited and it would be very hard for me to get tie capital with which to start. 1 had thought of trying to get a place with some berry grower and work a year or so and at the same time I could get some idea ot the busi- ness. I had thought of trying to locate in Ok- lahoma somewhere. There seems to be a great c'emand for berries there. Still it is more or less subject to drouths. What plan would you suggest for a young man of twenty-four to start into this business? What business would you suggest in connection with this for a start? Would you advise locat- ing in the North or South? I have lived in Ok- lahoma several years. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated, for the business is all new to me. Do you think it would be a good plan for me to work for some strawberry man awhile? Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, Wicliiia, Kas. Yours truly, H. M. S. LET us say at the outset that you have one great advantage over many of the young men who are today seeking means of independent live- lihood. We note that you were reared It Will SAVE You to Ask Our Special Time Price NOW on a Detroit Tonpeless Disc Harrow You'll Save In time — Save your horses and save much harder 'work for yourself, if you'll simply write a postal for our proposition on a Detroit Tongueless Disc Harrow today. Don't let yourself buy any other kind of a harrow until you have heard from us. It's well worth your while to find out what you can do with us. Especially wrirth your while to Noweig:ht on the horses* necks— no bruises, g-alls or straining from sharp turns or rough, hilly firround. No Tongue at All to Pound Around. You hitch to eveners on the lieht front wheel truck. Then your horses pull straight ahead all the time, turning and all. No know all about the Detroit Tongueless Disc, tongue to cause tipping. We Allow 30 Days' FieldTest FREE This new Tongueless of ours was The won- der of the age in Disc Harrows last year when we had 1463 orders more than we could fill. Think of that. There are good reasons. Until we made and patented this Origi- nal Detroit Tongueless Disc nobody knew how to save the awfUl draft of those old Tongue Harrows. Ours is The Lightest Draft Disc Harrow in the Market It rolls smoothly everywhere you drive and is The Easiestfor Horses and the Driver. We can't teil you the whole story here. But we want you to know the whole truth about what a desirable har- row the Detroit TonKueless Disc is. The best way for you to know is for you to try it free your- self lor a month in your own fields. We Pay the Freight to your railroad station and even pay return freight if you don't find our Detroit Tongueless just exactly what we say it is, It won't cost any respons- ible party a cent to try it NOW, or at the time you want to begin your regu- lar harrow work. All you need to do is to say in your order when you want to test it. We'll ship promptly. Ask for our free catalogue. That also tells all about how well built our Detroit Tongueless Disc Harrows are That, too, will interest ycu. You can't make any mistake in writing us. We w^iU take care of you liberally on a square deal. Order Now for Future Delivery We advise you to send in your order right NOW, and we guarantee to malce deliveir wiien you want it. Handsome catalog and time Jr t c 11^ prices on JuJl line of sizes FREE. Write today. ^Ses-TrScXA'J'^"'' AMERICAN HARROW CO. 'Instead of TongueX '^^'^'^ Hastings Street Detroit, Mich 'TWs' 'Is only' one of the on a farm, and this means that you have some knowledge of the science and of the art of soil culture. These are primary elements to success in strawberry culture, or at least are elements which ought to insure immediate success. And to this you have added commercial training and practice — invaluable in any enterprise. Then you are young and, we are glad to have you say — "are not afraid of work." With these elements in your favor, you should have no hesitancy whatever about engaging in a work which offers such large opportunity, and such practical as- surance of success, as does the produc- tion of strawberries for market. But we note that your means are lim- ited. Perhaps if they were not you would not at this time be seeking an op- portunity to enter into business for your- self. It is a good thing for a young man, very often, if his means are limited; for that very fact is an inspiration to strenu- ous effort to improve his financial condi- tion. We cannot believe but that in the boundless Southwest in which you are located, there will be numerous ways for you to meet this difficulty. Fertile land lies all about you, an incalculable Page 3 area of which is put to no use whatever. That some of those who own this land would be very glad to lease you as much as you would need for such a venture as you contemplate, and at a very low rate per annum, is not to be doubted. More than that, if you can convince them that you know just what you want to do and how to do it, we have no doubt that some of them would be very glad to go into partnership with you to the extent of backing you up, advancing cash for such small outlay as you would need to make. Assuming that you could secure the land, the preparation of rich virgin soil for strawberries would be a matter of very small expense, and your plants should not cost you to exceed $30 an acre, at the outside limit. You should secure only the very best and most carefully bred plants, as your success primarily will de- pend upon the character of the plants you select. With the great demand for labor every- where in these days, you should be able to get sufficient work with the farmers in the neighborhood in which your straw- berry field would be located to support you while your plants were coming into THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 FREE BOOK FOR YOU MMm YOU NEED f THIS BOOK AND HOW TO ASK ^^^ FOR IT TO- DAY '^PHE BEST BOOK ON STRAWBERRY X CL'LTURK ever wriit^n, because it explains every detail of tlio work from the time plants are set out until theb 'rries arepieked, and tells how to prepare the plants for a liiu' suL-ond crop. 135 Pictures of strawberries and strawbi'rry fields. This book is worth its weitrht in gold. If we know your address, would mail you one Free. R. M. KELLOGG COMPANY, Box, 20 Three Rivers, Mich. bearing. You can easily take care of two or three acres of strawberries for the first year, and still be able to work half-days for some neighboring farmer. This might provide you a home and your living ex- penses. 1 he second yearyou would have your picking to do, which would require the employment of considerable labor, of course; but your sales would be cash each day, and this would furnish you ample means to meet your daily pay-roll, be- sides giving you a handsome profit. We have thus suggested in brief out- line, a plan for you to follow to overcome the difficulty you foresee because of your limited capital. We repeat that we are confident that if you will take hold of this matter vigorously, you will find that the least of your obstacles to success. Now in selecting a location you must consider first of all, market possibilities. One young Wichita Strawberry reader is now earning his way through college by growing strawberries. We assume that that city would afFord you an excel- lent market. If you have an acquaint- ance there among business men, you might find right there the very best op- portunity one could wish for. It always is best to deal with those nearest at home, when it can be done. Try and secure land lying sufficiently close to the city so that the expense of hauling your fruit would be reduced to the minimum and to insure your getting it in- to the market in the very best of condi- tions. Lease not less than five acres of land, and if possible secure an option upon five acres more, so that if your business justifies it, you will have ample room in which to grow. Ten acres of strawberries, cared for and marketed in the best possi- ble manner, will make a fortune for any man of energy and intelligence. As a reader of The Strawberry, you are familiar with its teachings as to soil preparation, methods of setting plants and cultivating them for best results, and how to pick and pack them to insure a ready market. Take this matter up vigorously, talk the whole situation over with some ac- quaintance of yours who possesses means, and who will have an interest in your welfare; talk with some good real estate dealer who has control of a large amount of land lying adjacent to Wichita, and we feel confident that before plant-setting time next spring you may be in position to enter upon an independent work, which will insure you not only a liveli- hood, but a steadily increasing annual in- come. HERE we are, standing at the portals of the New Year. How shall we enter it — drooping, despondent, discour- aged, or cheerful, confident, compelling.'' What 1907 means to you depends upon yourself. Don't try to lay your failures on anybody's else back. They will stick like burs to your own to bear you down and make your future dull, insipid, color- less. Don't recognize failure; don't let its soul and heart and nerve destroying microbes get into your system. "In the bright lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail!" cried Richelieu. And mid- dle life and gray old age should sound the same glad note of strength and hope and joy. WHEN straw, hay or other mater- ials of that nature are not to be had, leaves will make a good protection for strawberry plants if poles, branches or other light weight are used to keep them from blowing away before the snow comes. Cornstalks used with leaves will answer the purpose and evergreen boughs are suitable if they can be obtained. Just Ask for Our SPECIAL PRICE On this CHATHAM Fanning Mill and riddles — a patent bagrging: attachment which saves one man's time, and more special, practical features than we have space even to name here. Our idea is to build the Chatham so complete and perfect that the mill sells itself. We will ship you a Chat- 30 Days' Free Trial S]{lgS Pard, no matter where you live. Use it all that time, free, -while you are making: up your mind whether to buy it or not. If It doesn't do all we say it will, send it bac'- at our expense. We're not g-oing- to /t-^ you keep it if it doesn't do the work and do it rKs.ht! Selling Fanning Mills on the plan we Our answer will surprise you. Why ? Well, there will be a lot of surprises. First, the price that we will quote you. Second, the easy terms on which we wllllet you pay for the mill. Third, the Chatham Fanning Mill will actu ally, clean, separ- ate and^rflrf(?(yes. sir, we said £ra dr, and we mean it ! ) — « w^ v from 40 to 80 bushels per hour F^i^ckic^hi- Prf>rmin -Its capacity is wonderful-Its * reiyill. * 1 epckett\iid makea prufltioryou. The Chiitham Fanning Mill isn't a luxury. It's a neres-^itvl Ynu need it on your fnrm right NOW. Stnd lor the Chatham Book FlxEE. It tills of over ]0!J ways to increase farm profits. Tells how to stop tho losses and make every cultivated acre on your farm y k-ld crops in abunrlance. It'sa regular Bureau of Free Iiifoimation on Grain, Breedinc Planting and Seeding. It telleeverythinc in a mitihty sensi- ble interestine way. Get it. Beail it. Proht by it. Sent prnmiilly, postat;e paid, if yon just a^k for it on R postal card. If you live wef^t of the IVIiKsipsippi, write our Topeka office; if east, write to Detroit. THE MANSON CAMPBELL CO. Ltd. Box 385, Topeka, Has. 385 Wesson Av., Detroit. Mich. >?t< have 21 Brunch Warehoasf^t aad make prompt Hhlprnpnts, Save Money by Making Up Your Own Fruit Boxes and Basinets :ON = "ADVANCE" FOOT POWER WIRE STAPLING MACHINE A Time-Tested, Reliable and Fully Guaranteed Machine Write for prices and circulars Mfg. by SARANAC MACHINE CO., 2731 Main Street ST. JOSEPH, MICH. Page 4 Intensive Strawberry Culture— Soil Preparation By Frank E. Beatty UCCESS in strawberry raising; depends upon the knowledge of the grower of the details of the busi- ness, from the preparation of the soil to receive the plants through the entire course, up to and including the marketing of the fruit. There is such a thing as a complete combination in the growing of strawber- ries that will enable the grower to get a crop of berries under adverse conditions, and which, in favorable seasons will in- sure him a bumper crop. It is my pur- pose to give you the combination which has proved so satisfactory in my own ex- perience. Let us bear in mind at the outset that too rigid adherence to any combination or set of rules will some time bring disaster, and that every grower must use his methods with such modifications as changes in weather, peculiarity of the particidar season, etc., require. In deal- ing with nature we must accommodate ourselves to her changes. The first thing in this combination is the putting of the soil into ideal condition, and to do this we must fill it well with humus, as well as with well-balanced plant food. Let us start right now to get one acre into shape for the production of a profitable crop of strawberries, and this cannot be done in a few months; and 1 may say right here that the amount of profit received will depend in large part upon the degree of care with which this preparatory work is done. Let us assume that it is the first of October and thit we are deiling with a piece of land that is pretty well exhausted. The first thing we shall do is to break up this ground as deeply as the soil will admit. Then work it well with harrows until a good seed bed is made. Then we shall sow five pecks of rye to the acre. This rye in an ordinary season will be sufficiently grown to shade the ground and the roots will penetrate the soil in such a way as to take up the winter ma- nure leachings. During the winter when the ground is frozen, cover the rye with well-decayed stable manure, using about fifteen tons to the acre, depending, of course, upon its quality and strength. If your other work will permit you to do so, and the manure is at hand, it would be better to apply the manure to the ground as it lies bro- ken, working it into the soil before the rye is sown. But this is not always pos- sible. However, the only way to apply the manure over the ground is to evenly spread it, and I have found that the most economical way to do this is to use a manure spreader, as it tears up all the chunks and gives an even distribution. THIS is the first number of a series of articles which it is intended shall tal^e the beginner in strawberry production from the kinder- garten stage up through the various stages of on educational career that shall end in his gradua- tion as a thoroughly equipped professional. Last month we promised this paper for January, and as Mr. Beatty was invited to address the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society at its annur ; meet- ing held at Joliet December 4-6, I 906, and pre- pared a paper for that event, the first part of which covered this ground completely, we present that portion of the paper here. In future articles this course in practical instruction will be con- tinued, each article covering points so far in ad- vance of actual practice as to give every reader ample time to study and familiarize himself with them. The next article in this series will deal with matters relating to the setting of the plants. When evenly applied the manure will in no way interfere with the r\e, which will work its way up through it. The manure and rye together will completely shade the ground during the winter months and leave it in a mellow condition for working in the spring. In the spring turn the rye and the manure under, going six or eight inches deep, and give it one harrowing, or enough to level ofT the furrows made by the breaking plow. Then sow about 500 pounds of com- mercial fertilizer, allowing potash to pre- dominate. We have conducted several experiments with commercial fertilizers and find that almost uniformly we secure the best results from using one that anal- yzes according to the following formula: 4 per cent Nitrogen 8 per cent Soluble Phosphoric Acid 9 per cent Potash Work this fertilizer thoroughly into the soil, using a disc or Acme or spring-tooth harrow — some implement that will make a thorough mixing up of the soil and the fertilizer. Now don't put in your plants yet, be- cause we are going to plant this acre to some early potatoes, and the formula for fertilizer I have given you is for the ben- efit of that crop of potatoes. Plant your potatoes just as soon as you can get them into the ground, and harrow or use weed- er a week or so after they are planted, or just before the potatoes peep above the surface. And from that harrowing until the potatoes are ripe, cultivate at least as often as every week or ten days, and al- ways after a rain as soon as the soil will crumble. This will force the tubers along so they will be ready for early market and the big price that is obtained at that sea- son. By digging your potatoes at the earliest possible moment you accomplish two important results — you will get the highest price for them, and you relieve the ground early, thus being able to sow FIRST PRIZE WINNER IN THE STRAWBERRY PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTEST W. C. Landis and His Patch of Strawberries at Shoals, Ind. Page 5 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 it to some leguminous crop so early as to insure its complete maturity. If the potatoes can be marketed by the 10th of July, then I prefer sowing cow- peas, using Whippoorwili, Clay or Won- derful varieties, as any one of these make a very large vegetative growth. But if the ripening of the potatoes is delayed until as late as August 1, sow to Can- adian field peas, as these will not be in- jured by early frosts. If the peas ripen early eno\igh in the fall to turn them under and sow rye again, we should repeat the operation of last fall, with the exception that we should not cover the ground with manure at this time. It is not a good plan to turn the peas under until after they have become woody, and if they have not sufficiently matured to follow this plan, let them remain on the surface and omit the rye. When the peas are left on the surface as described, they should be rolled down as soon as the first freeze-up conies, as this will help them to rot and will hold the leaves and lighter portions of the vines from blowing away. However, I prefer turning under the peas in the fall and sowing the rye, if conditions admit of this course, turning them under abcut four inches. They will be more com- pletely decayed than if left on the surface. Another reason for following this course is that in the spring we plow the ground about six inches deep, which will bring the pea vines close to the surface, and by going over the ground with some good mixing tool, the vines will be mixed with the old decayed manure and soil; and by having a large portion of the humus near to the surface the moisture in the soil is much more easily conserved. At this time apply 400 pounds of finely ground bone meal and 200 pounds muriate of potash. Now all that remains to do in the way of soil preparation is to harrow the ground thoroughly and, if it is a sandy loam or loose black soil, to roll firmly enough to close up all the larger air spaces; these are sure to be in such soil. If a clay or heavy black soil, it will be better to leave it unrolled, save to break down any clods that may be on the surface. The pea vines and the vegetable part of the ma- nure have furnished an abundance of humus. The plant food contained in the mnnure and the commercial fertilizer unused by the potato crop will be suffi- cient to feed the plants and keep them on the move until the last application of commercial fertilizer becomes available, which will be about the time the plants are building up their fruit-bud system ;md need it most. In conclusion I might add that if your soil is in good condition to start with, it may be set to strawberries in the spring after the first crop of rye and coating of manure have been turned under, omitting the potato fertilizer and using the bone meal and potash instead. In the Feb- Wonderful New Oil Lamp Floods your room with the finest, softest, pleasantest light, yet bams 1-2 to 1-3 less oil then any other. As totally^ diflerent from all other lamps In resuUs as it Is In appearance. Used by many of (he most particular people in preference to gas. Proof positive of how entirely different The Ancle Lamp is from all others is the class of people who use it. What other lamp — or what other liEhtine system, fnr that matter — can show endorsements from ex-Pres, Cleveland, the Carnegies, Rockefellers, and thousands of others of almost equal prominence? Tliese people would not think of usinp ordinary oil lamps, yet they have chosen this oil- burning lamp for liphtinR tlieir homes and estates in preference to gas, electricity, gasoline, acetylene, or any other method, because they have found that while as Convenient as Gas or Electricity to operate, its light is more brilliant than either, and of the beautiful, soft, restful quality for which Uerostiie is so jusily famous. But you need not take even this evidence of the superiority of The Angle Lamp. For the very fact that The Angle Lamp aUvavs surprises and delights even the most particular people enables us to offer yuu better proof yet— A THIRTY DAYS' TRIAL of any lamp listed in Cat- alog "54" in your own home, where you yourself can prove that it is the best, the cheapest and the most satisfactory of all lighting methods. Lighted and extinguished like gas. Filled while lighted with perfect safety. Requires fillinfi but once or twice a week. Burned high or low without odor. No Smoke No Danger JusI one thing more— Economy. II splendid light and convenience were the only features ol The Angle lamp it might be considered a luxury. But. as this lamp actually costs less to burn than even the troublesome, old-lashioned kind. It must be considered an actual necessity. Write lor Catalog "54" listing 32 varieties Irom $1.80 up. The Angle MIg. Co„ 78-80 Murray St., New York The man behind thePlanefjJn knows it takes more work off his hands, and makes him do better gardening, than any other garden implement made. Besides, Planet Jr. Seeders, Wheel Hoes, and Cultivators are well made and they are guaranteed — no other maker uses such materials or puts such work into his tools. Half a million users know how long they last. The New No. 6 Planet Jr. Combination Hill and Drill Seeder, Wheel Hoe, Cultivator and Plow is a whole set of the strongest and most useful garden tools ever turned out. It saves your time, labor and seed and runs easily in any soil. Does the work of three to six men, and does it far better Opens the furrow, sows any kind of garden seed accurately in drills or in hills 4, 6, 8, 12 or 24 inches apart, covers, rolls the trround and marks out the next row — all at one operation As Wheel Hoe, Cultivator. or Plow it adapts itself to every kind of crop, and is used all through the season. We are glad to send anybody interested, our New Catalogue showing many scenes of successful gardening and 1907 Planet Jr implements — Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Horse Hoes, One- and Two-Horse Riding Cultivators, Harrows, Orchard- and Beet-Cultivators — 45 kinds in all. Even if you have a Planet Jr. send for the 1907 catalogue and see the new things. Write today. S. L. Allen & Co.. Box 11060 Philadelphia. Pa. ruary number we shall discuss at length the many important details relating to the improvement of plants by selection and restriction, one of the most interesting and important features in the successful production of strawberries. Page 6 BERRY BASKETS Also Beekeepers' Supplies sold at a rodneod price and shipped from Central Miehi;.'an. Send for 32-puye catii- In^niofree. W, D. SOPEK, Jackson, Mich. AND HALLOCK BOXES When Writing Please Mention The Strawberry The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter III— Which shows That One Mistake May Cause Many Bitter Disappointments |HE season advanced rap- idly and a more perfect one for strawberries could not have been asked for. As the days went on, I observed, however, that tliough the bloom rapid- ly was disappearing, every bloom was not turning into a big red berry as I so confi- dently had expected. In fact, the berries were very "shy", and many of them were ill-shaped things that came far from meet- ing my ideals of what a strawberry should be. It is unnecessary to say that I felt blue and discouraged, and set out to dis- cover what could have happened to pro- duce such disappointment when the bloom had been so beautiful and so prom- ising. Just at the moment when I was about to give up in disgust and despair, I had a visitor who was an old friend of mine and had grown strawberries for many years. He was a kindly old man and entered sympathetically into the consideration of the circumstances, sincerely hopeful that he might help me out. What varieties have you got planted here, Frank.'^" he asked as he surveyed the field. "There's something wrong here sure, for the plants certainly look ne. "Why, I just went over to my neigh- bor's fields and dug up tuo kinds that he thought looked the best in his patch. He said they were Warfields and Crescents." Well, what have you got here as a bisexual.'^ "Bisexual! — what advantage would that have beenp" "Why, Frank, while the Warfield and Crescent are two of the best varieties ever grown, they are pistillates, or female plants, and you should ha\e set male or bisexual plants with them. Had this been done, you surely would have grown a big crop of fruit this year. What neighbor did you get these plants from.'" My adjoining neighbor, right here." Well, we went over to the neighbor's fields and talked with the man. We found that he knew nothing more about this matter than I did, as he too was virtually a beginner; but by some sort of luck had planted enough bisexuals to pollenize his plants and give him what he considered a fair crop. My first impulse was to give up, as I have intimated. One reason was that I feared the land I had bought on credit was not adapted to strawberry growing. Then I thought of the blistered hands, the aching back, the bitter moments of disappointment, and that made me bluer than ever. But my old friend had shown me that the land was all right; that I had ^A^ITH this instalment Mr. Beatty enters upon th^ practical work which is to make his aitobiographical sketch o( such value to our riaJers. From now until its completion it will be a veritable school of experience in strawberry production, and not a single number should be missed by those interested in reaching high suc- cess in this field of endeauor.— Editor The Strawberry. made a bad blunder, and that it was all my own fault. Then, said I, if the land is all right and nature is all right, what won- derful things a man might do in straw- berry production if only he would work harmoniously with nature's laws — do his work on scientific lines! And new cour- age and resolution came to me, and I said, "I will not give up, but will study to make this business a real success!" That was the turning point in my career, and although I have made mistakes since, and some very discouraging results have Have You Something to Sell or Trade ? If You Have, Advertise it in the Classified Advertising Pages of The Strawberry TjEGIN with the February issue, and let ^-^ us show you how easy it is to dispose of a good thing when you have a medium of this kind. It doesn't make any difference whether it's strawberry plants, an incubator or brooder, a surplus cultivator, harrow or manure spreader, or a tract of land you can advertise it to the world at a cost of Only Three Cents a Word Just write out your advertisement, count the words and send us three times as many cents for a trial order for our February is- sue, and see how quickly you will make a sale or a trade deal. THE STRAWBERRY followed, I always have had confidence that if I did my part, things would come out all right. In the midst of these reflections, the thought of the two acres that I had set out that spring for next year's fruiting, flashed into my mind, and my heart quaked for a moment. I told my friend about it, and he asked at once, "Did you get the plants for that bed from your Warfields and Crescents.?" "Some of them, and a part I bought of a nurseryman." 'What was the name of the varieties you bought.'" "Why, they were Jessies, Gandys and a few Michel's Earlys" I replied, hold- ing my breath for his verdict. "Well, that's luck! You're all right P»g-- 7 for next season, Frank, for those are bi- sexuals and will mate your pistillates and insure a good crop!" The joy 1 felt at that moment none but myself may ever know. And this last remark of my friend was the thing that clinched my resolution to make a win of the enterprise, and as he soon ha J to leave me to catch his train for home, I went to the house and said to my wife: Well, we've learned something, but the tuition fee in the school of experiences comes mighty high." I told her just what the situation was, and that I was now more determined than ever to make this business a big success. Strawberry growing is a science," I said, "and I'm going to dig down to the bottom of things and know just what to do and when and how to do it to get and keep control of the work." I found I had tackled a big proposition. 1 he first thing I sought for was some literature on the subject, but could find no book that v/ould help me out. But, fortunately for me, some friend had asked R. M. Kellogg to send me a copy of his book on "Great Crops of Strawberries," and when I received it I read it until its pages were frazzled. It opened up an entirely new world to me. I said to my wife: "Whether the man who wrote that book is practicing what he preaches, I don't know, but I do know that what he says is just good plain common sense, and I'm going to begin some experiments along his lines, and with the help I get from this book, along with my experi- menting, I am confident that we shall clear away the clouds, and it won't be long before the sun will be shining for us." My mistake that had cost me so heav- ily was a serious matter with me, but the hardest thing to bear was the thought that it would compel me to go back on the road for at least another year. But being fully determined that I would not give up I secured the services of a good prac- tical man whom I could trust to see to things in my absence, and returned to my old line of work. The man had nothing of the shirk about him, and worked as if the place was his own. Those two acres received the very best of care until the growing season was ended when they were well mulched and the work of haul- ing manure on the land was begun in preparation of several more acres for setting the following spring. On stormy days he spent his time in making picker's stands, crates and boxes, and everything moved along like a well-greased wagon. While the man on the farm was look- ing after things at home I was digging away on the road, spending my evenings in formulating plans for the experiments THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 Doerr's Yellow Dent Corn BOYS ^^ ^^"* ^''"'' "^'P '" ^^^^ "^ ^^ ^ ^^ We are originators and scientific breeders of Doerr's Yellow Dent, in many ways the best Yellow Corn in cultivation. We want every Strawberry boy's help to grow this corn and sell it to his neighbors and help us start it on every farm. Can we depend on you for help? You boys hold the golden key to corn improvement of the corn belt. We will pay 25 cents on the $1.00 (to boys only I. Will you ioin our army, and write us to- day so we can send you our plan? Address A. T. DOERR & SONS, HARVEL, ILL. Ion? PatQlnir fDPE Describes and prices 45 varie- 3UI UdldlUg rriLC ties fancy poultry and egns. S. A. HI M JIEL. Box 13. Freeport, Illiiinis I was determined to make when once more I was at home on the farm. And long before spring opened I had com- pletely mapped out my plans for tests and experiments. And this leads me to speak of the im- portance of planning ahead, so that when the season for activity arrives all that you have to do is to execute the plans. My experience then and since has taught me that to get one's plans laid out on paper during the winter months is one of the most important steps one may take in the direction of success, and if any grower is not now blessed with the degree of suc- cess he has hoped to win, it may be be- cause he is not expending sufficient time and thought in this very work. Spring is a time for rush work in the strawberry field, and without well-matured plans the grower is bound to make many unneces- sary-— perhaps false — moves, and is liable to suffer serious loss as a result. The Photographic Contest WE are pleased to be able to an- nounce the result of the photo- graphic prize contes: this month, and the following report from the judges — two photographers of high stand- ing, who also are familiar with strawberry fields and what is expected of them — will give the details: Three Rivers, Mich., Dec. 15, 19U6. The Kellogg Publishing Co., Gentlemen: We, the judges appointed to pass upon the large ninnber of scenes of stra\\ berry fields entered in The Strawberry photographic con- test, take pleasure in making the following report: Without hesitation, we awarded to VV. C. Landis of Shoals, Ind., the first prize, both for the remarkably fine appearance of his strawberry bed, and for the unusually high-grade photo- graph exhibiting it. We unanimously awarded second prize to Elmer Smith of Urbana, Ohio, and to C. W. Gordon of Montville, N. J., the third prize. There were some indifferent photographs of very fine fields, and excellent photographs of some fields that did not rank high, and in cast- ing up the points of the several contestants, Messrs. Landis, Smith and Gordon were found to ha\'e the highest numbers. Very truly vours, V. H. Van Horn Chas. Silliman We wish to announce thus early an- other contest of the same character and for the same sums for the season of 1907. We hope that hundreds of our friends may take part in this second contest. Nothing helps along the cause of good strawberry methods as does these beau- tiful pictures of actual achie\'ements. The conditions in the 1907 contest will be the same as in the one just closed, namely: Best photograph of strawberry field, $5; second best, .$3; third, $2. All photo- graphs submitted to remain the property of the Kellogg Publishing Company. Now who will send us the best in 1907.' Let everybody try; for it will pay even if you are not one of the prize winners. Let us make the 1907 contest a memorable one. ONE recent subscriber to The Straw- berry writes us that he will be glad to pay $2 for a set of copies of The Strawberry, constituting Volume I of this magazine. If anyone having these twelve numbers wishes to dispose of them at this figure, we shall be glad to arrange the transaction. — Editor The Strawberry. nPHE greatest sash, door and general wood- * working house in the world is that of Gor- don, VanTine & Co., at Davenport, la. Com- pared with what they charge the consumer, the ordinary prices at which these goods usually are sold seem extremely high, but this is due to two things — they ha\'e such a mammoth plant, per- fectly systematized, and they sell directly from factory to consumer. Take for instance a four- paneled door of high quality; the dealer's price is ,$2.00 — the retailer pays his jobber $1.15 for this door — the jobber pays the average maker 87c for it. Gordon, VanTine & Company sell direct from their immense factory the same door for 80 cents. In other words, they sell a door of warranted quality fine white pine to the con- sumer for less than the jobber pays the average small maker for it. You save therefore the jobber's profit of 28 cents, and the retailer's profit of 85 cents, besides the difference between Gordon, VanTine's low factory price and that of the average factory, a total dilTerence of $1.20. Is it any wonder that they do such a tremendous business? You will find it to your interest to get one of their catalogues and study up the situation, if vou are to build or make anv repairs. .Address Gordon, VanTine .i; Co., Station B79, Davenport, la., mentioning The Strawberry. are guaranteed — the best-'working, easiest-running^, longest-lasting, most reliablo^ farm and garden touls. Designed by a practical farmer. Do the work"" ^ quickly, right, without injury to plants Made of the very best materials, with good honest workmanship. No. 17 Planet Jr Single Wheel Hoe, Cultivator and Plow. One of the handiest implements ever made for gardening. All cultivating parts are of high- carbon steel to keep keen edge. Specially designed to work extremely close to plants without injury. One man easily does the work of three to six. 1^ ' Planet Jr J2-tcoth Harrow, Cultivator and Pulverizer is a splendid tool, '« for berry-growers and market gardeners — invaluable wherever fine, close work is needed. The twelve chisel-shaped teeth and the pulverizer leave ground in the finest possible condition. Saves many times its cost, and turns hard work for three men i into easy and better work for one. A Planet Jr farm and garden tool for every need — Hill- and Drill-Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Horse Hoes. One- and Two-Horse Riding Cultivators, Ha rows and Orchard- and Beet-Cultivators — 45 kinds in all. Even if you have a Planet Jr write now for our new xgo7 Catalogue, showing photographs of successful gardening at all stages, also the in- teresting new models. - , ... - „ — S. L. Allen & Co. ^^^ 1106D t Philadelphia, Pa. 1 SPRAYING INDOOR PLANTS fe--S=^: FOR sprayini; plants indoors and out, the Leuox Iiu- provecl Sprayer is one of the most serviceable de- vices for house use. Unlike the old-fashioned rubber bottle, which is clumsy and inefficient. Plaiitiif when housed generally suffer from lack of moisture, such as rain or tlic nuirning d'nv t-'ivp tbpni: furnace or stove heat affi-i-t them Uadly. This Si)ra>er substitutes a misty sli.)\ver that supplies tlu' plant irmst nat- urally and completely, as is Jibsolutely neers.sary to n';il success with house plants. It is not a Spouse — it is a rubber bulb of best quality rublier, haviui: fine pei'forations. By compressing the holder and dipping it into u dipper full of water, the bulb responds and iniTU'-diately fills, ejecting a mistj' spray upon the plant, under and over the leaves. An Ot'(>asii>iiHl Sprjiyiiig" — using toliaceo water, particularly reachins: under side of the leaves, will surprise you, and eollectiiig of aphis or dust is impossible. So valuable is it, it would sell well for one dollar, lint: we tiud that tbrouEh the sell ten to one at fifty cents. Because most anyone loving plants wants one, the in'ice must ue<'e! be low. ■oi>i.M 111..: I 11 tht I.e.i\ < ' Help the Plants mail we isarily 50 Cts. Post Paid Sent c o m - plete with a cake of to- baccco soap ^ to everybody. Make a Suds and Spray your Plants--- Results will surprise yau. THE LENOX MFG, CO. With 2 Cakes of Tobacco Soap and 2 extra bulbs for laundry use, all for $1.00 1 Post P&id 511 Si.^th .Ik venue, How Much Mother Would Like One! ISE'W VORK Pages The Rainy- Day Strawberry Patch By Elizabeth Clarke Hardy ^ ^ ^^ i" 1 1^ s i i 1 i 1) RETCHEN'S father owned a cattle ranch of many hundred acres in one of the fertile valleys that nestle warmly down among the foothills of the Olympic Mountains in western Washington. It was a beautiful place to live. The ranch home was com- modious and comfortable, the climate was perfect and God's beautiful out-of-doors was a source of unfailing delight. On one side the undulating foothills stretched away in broken, green billows to the dis- tant mountains which pierced the blue sky with their snow-crowned tops, while on the other luxuriant fields of timothy and alfalfa waved in the soft summei breeze like a beautiful green sea, while still farther, on the cattle ranges, fed the sleek steers and heifers which later on were to be driven to Tacoma and sold for a good big bunch of money. Gretchen never had experienced a lone- some day in her life. She attended school with her brother Dick, riding their ponies into Skokomish in the morning and return- ing home in the evening, and then hadn't she her blessed mother, who staid all day at the ranch with only the company of faithful old Ning Poo, who was a sort of general factotum at the Fielding ranch, and who would have sacrificed anything but his sacred cue for any member of the Fielding family? Gretchen never had felt so very well acquainted with her father. He was away from home very much of the time attend- ing to the stock on the distant ranges. He provided generously in the way of the necessities of life for his family; further than this his sole object seemed to be to lay up money for a rainy day. Gretchen had heard of this rainy day so often that she sometimes told Dick that she wished it would come so that they could have a few things that she knew they never would have unless it just poured, and Dick, too, sometimes wished for a little shower, but only on account of the dear, natient mother. Once in a while Mrs. Fielding would tell her children stories of her beautiful girlhood home in the far East that seemed to them like fairy tales. She told of beau- tiful rooms with soft velvet carpets and filmy lace curtains and easy chairs and dainty china and table linen. But it was when she told of her studies in the School of Music, and of the beautiful piano that was the comfort and delight of her girl- hood days, that her eyes would sometimes grow misty and such a far-away look come into their depths that Dick would go out and bang his sturdy little fist against the barn door and Gretchen would brush away angry tears and think resent- fully of the rainy-day fund and how much happiness a small bit of it would bring into her mother's life. And her own life too, for that matter, for had not her moth- er told her that if only they had a piano she would teach her to play.^ And music was the one passion of Gretchen's life as well as that of her mother. Once she had asked her father to buy a piano, but his stern, almost angry re- fusal had brought such a look of pain into her mother's face that she had never spoken of it again. But very often she and Dick would talk of the time when WHETHER or not the world owes you a living, it is cer- tain that you owe the world a life; and the best one of which you are capable. Being here, you are here for something, and what else can that something be than to live bravely, nobly and manfully as you may? To make the path a little plainer for other feet; to add a little to the light that is battling with the gloom; to make the world a little better, cheerier and happier for your presence in it-~that is the debt you owe." they would have money of their own and then — but that seemed a long time away to twelve-vear-old Gretchen and ten-year- old Dick.' One vacation Gretchen went to visit a school friend whose father had a small fruit farm near Puyallup. She staid a week and when she came home she was full of suppressed excitement. She flew out to the barn where Dick was feeding the ponies and fairly dragged him out into the old, unused barnyard which had Page 9 been vacant since her father had moved his cattle over to the further range. "Now, see here, Dick Fielding, I want to tell you what we are going to do. We're going to raising strawberries. I told Mr. Hill about this old barnyard and he said it was just the place for a straw- berry bed. He said he would give me enough plants to set out the bed and that we could drive over to Puyallup with the ponies and buckboard and get them just as soon as we got our bed ready. It's got to be plowed and harrowed and made nice and mellow, and we've got to get the plants set out just as soon as possible. There's money in strawberries, lots of it, and its lots of work to raise them; but I guess we're willing to work, Dick Field- ing, if we can earn some money of our very own, aren t we ?" "Sure, we are, Gretchen. But won't you have to ask father about using the barnyard for a strawberry bed.? Maybe he'll want it for something else." "No, he won't; and I don't care if he does. Ning Poo has never thought to use this ground for his garden, and I'm glad of it. We won't ask anybody to help us. We can plow it up with the ponies and Ning Poo's plow, and we'll jet it ready and set out the plants before father gets home, and I'll risk his making a fuss when I tell him what Mr. Hill made off a quarter of an acre of berries this year." Dick soon become quite as enthused as his sister, and refusing Ning Poo's offer of help, the children soon had the old barnyard in fine condition for the plants. When they drove home from Puyallup Mr. Hill was with them and stayed to show them how to set the plants and praised their nice, mellow strawberry bed. "Of course you will not get any berries this year, but next year, if you take good care of the patch, you ought to make a pretty penny off from it. When they begin to ripen, you drive over to my farm and I will let you have some boxes and maybe I can help you to market your crop," he said, as he took his leave. When Mr. Fielding came home he was in very good spirits. He laughed at his children's enthusiasm over their new project, and in a moment of generosity he agreed to buy all the berries they could raise on their patch and pay them twenty cents a quart. "Will you.? Will you do that father.?" cried Gretchen, earnestly. "Why, sure I will, and you can have Mother and Ning Poo as witnesses to the agreement. I don't think I'll be much poorer for buying and eating all you'll raise. I'll try and be around home in strawberry time, and Mother is a master h.^nd at making strawberry shortcake.' "And 1 would like once more to make THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 some of the real old-fashioned strawberry jam such as mother used to make," said Mrs. Fielding. "I suppose Ning Poo might have raised strawberries if only we had ever thought about getting the plants for him, but he has a good deal to do as it is, and I'm glad the children feel like putting in their spare time with straw- berries." And put in their spare time they did. In that climate the summers are dry, but their strawberries did not suffer for water. They sunk a large tank near the bed and piped water from the windmill into it and then by an ingenious device of their own, consisting of a long, movable trough with small holes bored at intervals, they managed to keep the plants watered and in fine condition. The next summer in strawberry time Mr. Fielding came home to see a beauti- ful sight in the old unused barnyard. The long, straight rows of dark green plants were simply loaded with great, luscious, dark-red berries. There were strawberries on the table every meal, and Mrs. Fielding made up an enormous quantity of jam. She kept strict account of every quart that was picked and Mr. Fielding was somewhat surprised when the last quart was used and his wife asked him for $40 to pay the children for their berries. "Forty dollars!" he cried incredulously. 'And you expect me to hand over $40 for these children to fritter away.?" I expect that you are a man of your word, Henry. You promised to pay them for their berries or they would have sold them elsewhere," replied Mrs. Field- ing, quietly. Her husband handed her the money without another word, but when Gretchen and Dick were handed $20 apiece by their mother he could not refrain from saying: 'That's a big bunch of money for you youngsters to squander. What are you going to do with it.?" We ain't going to spend one cent ot it. We're going to save it for a rainy day," answered Gretchen promptly, much to the surprise of both her parents. 'Good!" said Mr. Fielding heartily. "You just go over to Puyallup and put it in the savings bank, and if you keep on doing as well as you have with your strawberries you will have a good bunch when you come of age." The children kept their own counsel, but that fall they asked Ning Poo for a little piece of his potato patch to put into berries. "Belly well," said the smiling Ning Poo. "How muchee you wantee.? I givee you flitty feet. You thinkee that plenty.?" "Oh, yes, Ning; that will be plenty for this year, and maybe you will give us flitty' feet more next year." 'Mebby so," answered the smiling Ning Poo, and so the children set out a new strawberry bed that fall. They did not neglect the old one, but hoed and cultivated and weeded and kept it in fine condition, and many were the secret con- ferences they held together down behind the old barn with no one but the straw- berry plants for an audience. The next year their father would pur- chase only a limited supply of the berries, but nothing daunted, the children prepared to market their crop. While attending the winter term of school they made a canvass of the little town of Skokomish and contracted with many of the house- wives to furnish them with berries the coming summer. They also visited the two leading hotels and contracted to sup- ply them with all the berries they could use. Then when school was out for the summer vacation, Gretchen visited Mr. Hill once more. She came home with a supply of berry boxes which she and Dick proceeded to set up and store away in the loft over the barn. She had agreed with Mr. Hill to have him market all her sur- plus fruit on a very small commission, and she and Dick were to drive to Puy- allup with it in the cool of the early mornings. And so they came to the strawberry season with all arrangements made for disposing of their crop. This year Mr. Fielding asked no ques- tions beyond making sure that the chil- dren were depositing their earnings in the bank. The idea of his children thus early in life beginning to follow his exam- ple of laying up money for a rainy day pleased him immensely, and he facetiously dubbed their field of operations "The Rainy-Day Strawberry Patch," while their mother looked a little sober over her children's apparent penuriousness. The third year was a bumper season for all fruit in the state of Washington. The children had to hire some young people from a neighboring ranch to help pick their crop, but they were too saving BERRY BOXES and all kinds of Fruit Packages OUR SPECIALTIES: Quart and Pint B^rry Boxes, 16 and 24- quart Crates, Picking Stands. 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We are the only concern in the United States manafacturing and selling Manure Spreaders direct to the user on time and on trial at low fac- tory prices. The American Manure Spreader has 40 per cent more exclusive features than any other Spreader. It is hiL-h-clase in every respect— made to last a lifetime. There Is no question about the American Manure Spreader being the standard Spreader of the world. liberal time payments — givingour customers easy terms to pay for their Spreaders— 1 ett ing the 30 Days' FREE Trial To prove all of onr claims for the celebrated American Manure Spreader, we allow 30 days' trial on every Spreader we sell. This permits the customer to use the Spreader on his own farm for a full month to be eatJBfled that it is just as represented. If not na represented it can be returned tn us. We pay all freight both wava— trial being FKEE. The low price 1 WLiut to quote you on an Ameri- can Manure Spreader wUl be for the Spreader de- livered at your station. We Pay All Freight This price will be for the Spreader on time— thii price will bo for the Spreader on trial— and this price will be a price that is lower than dealers are charging for Spreaders that are not nearly so good as the American. When you examine all the ex- clusive features of the American you will agree with me. Write for my price— and write for my catalogue and booklet. Tliey will tell you all about the American Manure Spreader nnd give you a lot of fiood information on the question of ferti- lizing— a question that every farmer is i nterested in and wants to know all about. Just write me today oa a postal curd, I will see that you ^et our book and my especial price at once. W. W. COLLIER. Gen. Manager AMERICAN HARROW CO. 4541 Hastings SI. DETROIT, MICH. Page 10 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 to pay out their nione.v, and so allowed the pickers the use of their ponies through the berry season to pay for the picking in the early mornings. This year, after supplying their cus- tomers in Skokomish and selling their father the season's supply, they carried their fruit to Puyallup and shipped it direct to Tacoma, thus making a few cents more on a box than when it was handled by a middleman. When their third crop was marketed Mr. Fielding (juizzed them pretty closely as to how much they had to their credit in the bank, but they were discreetly si- lent as to the sum of their deposits. 'How would you like to ha\e me take your savings and buy up a bunch of calves.''" he said to them one day. "They would double your money in another year and I think it would be a pretty good investment." The children looked at their father a little doubtfully. "We'll think about it," said Gretchen; and then they ran down to their straw- berry patch to talk the matter over. "It would be all right," said Dick, if we were sure of father handing us over the money when he sold the steers. But you re- member how it was with poor old Baldy, after I had nursed and cured his broken leg and he had got so nice and fat, father sold him and kept the money — all but one dollar." 'Yes, I remember. They would very likely be our calves and father's steers, and anyway we would just better keep our money in the bank and then we will be ready for the rainy day when it comes. And oh, Dicky boy, it can come any time now, and ain't you glad, glad, glad.'" and Gretchen flung her sunbonnet far out into the green strawberry vines in the exuber- ance of her jo}', while Dicky boy stood on his head until his face looked like an enormous beat with leaves of wildly waving legs, and then they both went MANUFACTURED BY THE C Q LBY^^ KL|r_^ BENTON HARBOR, MICH BERRY BOXES BERRY CRATES In flat or made up. All kinds of BASKETS BEST GOODS RIGHT PRICES Send (lostal card for catalogue Colby-Hinkley Company BENTON H.ARBOR, .MICHIGAN Economy Kitchen Cabinet DISECT FROM FACTORY TO YOUR HOME GREATEST LABOR-SAVER EVER DEVISED FOR NOTHING LIKE IT TO 8E HAD FOR THE SAME MONEY One Woman Writes: "/ would not know what to do without it it saves so many steps." Se<» tlie C'oiiveni<*iirt*s ami the amount of room it coiitnins: Description— Top Ciibiiiet ifi 27 in. high. 8 1-2 in. deep, and 42 in. widr-; it has a shelf above Hx40 in, , witli 2 lariro and 2 small drawers, and a place on eithfrsidM for flavoring extracts, towels, eto Top of base is 2fis4."> in., made of whitcwood: undi-rneath tliis is a kiieadini:, meat and bread- 'Uttin^ boards: has 2 drawers: 2 lari:e flour bins, bnldiii!^ about T>0 lbs. each. This cabinet i.s made ■ ntii-'-ly of white maple, finished natural and built in the niost substantial manner, makinir it one of the most convenient cabinets on the market References: First State Sa^inss Bank K.IluL.%' Publishing Co, , Thn-e Riv..-rs, Mi.-Ii . ECONOMY CABINET CO., three rivers, mich. Shipped Promptly on Receipt of Price soberly back to the house and told Mr. Fielding that they thought they would leave their money in the bank so as to be prepared for the rainy day if it should happen to come. When the fall term of school began, Gretchen and Dick quietly took up their studies, but when they were riding their ponies into Skokomish or returning home they indulged in secret and most exciting controversy. Plans were laid and then set aside while others were formulated, and at last one Saturday they both rode into Puyallup and had an interview with a business man who had been recom- mended to them by Mr. Hill. They had planned to go again to Puy- allup a little before Christmas, but the rainy season set in with such copious showers as to make a trip of that distance entirely out of the question. Mr. Fielding came home to spend the holidays and there were Christmas gifts for the children and for Ning Poo. Mrs. Fielding always saw to it that her children had a merry Christmas, and usually they had some little gift for her, but this year there were no gifts forthcoming from her children; and while she did not in the least show her feelings, she could not but wonder a little sadly if they were growing to be as penurious as — and then her loy- alty to her husband hushed the thought, and she turned a smiling face to her little household. The day after Christmas was clear and sunshiny, and (jretchen and Dick mounted their ponies in the early morning for a ride over to Pujallup. They returned late in the evening and for the next few days the Rainy-Day Strawberry Patch seemed to need more than usual attention from two excited young people. ''Do you think it will rain tomorrow.?" asked Gretchen anxiously of her father, the day before New Year's. "Well, it looks very much as though we might have a soaker," answered Mr. I'ieldiiig. Page II And sure enough, on New Year's morning the rain came drizzling down. The children wandered restlessly about the house and by the middle of the after- noon they were watching from the hay loft in the barn the road that led to Puy- allup. Suddenly around the turn of a little hillock came a stout tea.-n with a covered wagon loaded with an enormous canvass- covered box. It drew up in front of the ranch house and as Mr. Fielding came hospitably to the door the man on the jeat said cheerily: "How de do, Mr. Fielding. I've got something here that I think we had best set in out of the rain as soon as possible. Mr. Fielding looked at the box suspi- ciously. "I think you are mistaken," he said; I haven't ordered anything that I know of." "Oh, I guess it is all right, anyway," answered the man, cheerfully, winking at the children, who at that moment entered at the back door from their retreat in the hay loft. Mrs. Fielding looked from the man to her children and then at her husband in wondering amazement. "I guess you'll have to lend a hand,' said the man to Mr. Fielding after he and the driver had adjusted boards and backed the wagon up to the door. Gretchen flew into the sitting-room and begun frantically to move chairs and tables while Dick lent a hand with the big box, and in a few moments the beau- tiful new piano was standing in the rather shabby little room, and the men who had brought it were driving away through the warm Washington drizzle. "It's yours, mamma, a New Year's gift from Dicky boy and me," cried Gretchen as the two children danced around the room too excited and happy to stand still. ".My dear, good children," was all Mrs. Fielding could say, as she gathered them into her arms with happy tears run- THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 ning down her face. Mr. Fielding came back upon this little scene after he had pitched the big piano box out into the back yard. There was a queer look in his eyes as he said rather shamefacedly. "Now I'd like to know what all this means. I thought you youngsters told me you were saving up your money for a rainy day." "Well, it's raining, isn't it.'" said Dicky boy, with a little air of independence that brought a twinkle into his father's eyes. 'And it was our own money anyway. We made every dollar of it selling berries from our Rainy-Day Strawberry Patch," added Gretchen, as she gently pushed her mother toward the piano stool and waited impatiently for her to begin to play. But as Mrs. Fielding's fingers began to wander softly over the shining keys and the tender strains of Home, Sweet Home' filled the shabby little room like a New Year's benediction, a strange thing hap- pened. Mr. Fielding cleared his throat once or twice and then said, a little huskily: "The new piano makes the other things look a little shabby, Mary, and I guess I'll have to do my share toward li.xing things up a little," and he laid a big roll of bills on the keys of the piano and slipped out into the kitchen where the faithful Ning Poo was busy preparing supper, to be met with this startling bit of philosophy delivered in Ning Poo's most innocent and unconscious manner: "Lainy day mighty good thling some- times. Lainy Day Stlawbellies make heap good times. Mebby good plan set out gleat big patch Lainy Day Stlawbel- lies, Mis'r Fielding." "Mebby so, Ning Poo," answered Mr. Fielding, with a new note in his voice that did not escape the observant Ning Poo. Some Diseases Dangerous to the Strawberry By R. L. Adams SUCCESSFULLY to grow any crop a thorough knowledge of the troubles to which it is subject is not only desirable but essential. This is particularly true of the strawberry, for, while it is not attacked by many diseases, there are one or two that do an immense amount of damage, and a knowledge of these is necessary to insure success. With the exception of the leaf-spot the strawberry is not severely troubled with fungous diseases. Of course, in certain sections and during weather favorable to their development, others may appear. It is these exceptional conditions which make it necessary to watch the growing plants and supply a remedy on the first appearance of any disorder. To do this intelligently the wise grower will learn the symptoms of all diseases that may crop out. The characteristics of the worst dis- ease, the leaf-spot (Sphcrrella Fragarioe) is known to every grower. It is variously called leaf-spot, blight, rust or sunburn. It attacks the vines at any stage of their growth. Small reddish-purple spots ap- pear, which gradually enlarge until they are from one-eighth to one-fourth inch in diameter. When numerous they coa- lesce and the more or less regular shape is lost. ' The color also changes as they enlarge, the center becoming first reddish-brown and then whitish or gray- ish, while the edge remains a deep pur- pie, shading off to the healthy green of the leaf. It appears at any time during the grow- ing season, an early infestation influen- cing the crop the same season; a late one the succeeding crops. The leaves, calyx and stems of the fruit are attacked, the former turning brown and dry, and the latter shriveling up because of the inter- ference with the plant tissues. Heat and moisture favor its development, plants on heavy, wet land showing a marked in- crease of spotting. On the other hand, dry seasons do not seriously retard its development. In the fall, small black points appear in the ashy portion of the spots. There are multitudes of so-called resting-spores which perpetuate the dis- ease from season to season. Remedies: Remove and burn any dis- N abundance of fruit of highest quality, finely colored and flavored, is the direct result of supplying a complete fertilizer con- taining from 7 to 12 per cent, of Potash to the tree, vine or bush. "Plant Food" is a book well worth a place in the library of any fruit grower. We will gladly mail it to all applicants. GERMAN KALI WORKS P3 Nassau Street, New York EHODES DOUBLE OUT^ ^ Cuts from PEUNIHG SHEAR ,^-''^^. Jd limband does .-r"^ i^ftJnf^ P not bruise the bark. KKMa3fcV^^ PAT. We pay Ex- press charges ^viMjql^^^ '^sH^_ "B^^^ on all orders. to Write tor RHODES HFC. CO. "^H |J2 circular and iX prices. Dept. 11 GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. | AGENTS WANTEDt :nt*roducinrSur worthy goods into your own community. Employ all or part time selling monuments. Special inducements. Do your friends a fa- vor and make some money. Investigate this liberal offer at once. Make the winter count. UOORE UORl'UENT CO., Dept. 54, Sterling, UL RAW FURS ""JiJI^kT Jly European contracts put me in position to pay top prices. "Write for my special quotations. Address Intematinal Fur Merchant C 53 Cincinnati, Ohio A. E. BURKHARDT, NEW ZEALAND Is the Land for the Traveler, the Health Seeker, the Home Seeker A Beautiful Fertile Country Down in the South Seas Sixteen Days' Steam from San Francisco THERE is room in New Zealand for Thousands ot'Settlers. Rich Soil. TemperateClimate. Abundance of Water — Tlie Ideal Land for the Farmer. A pleasant country winter and Summer. No snowbound winters. No droughts. As an Agricultural, Meat-raisiiiff and Dairying Country New Zealand has no su- perior. Its Farm Produce commands the Highest Prices on the world's markets. Clieap Transit for Farmer's Produce, Gov- ernment owned railways. Government land is obtainable on easy terms ; principal form of tenure, long leasehold. Government loans to new settlers atlon^ rate of interest. Government and municipal ownership of public utilities. Government telegraphs, insurance, sav- ings banks, government trust offices, etc., etc. Government Sanatoria and Hot Mineral Water SPAS. New Zealand's death rate is the r.OWEST in the world. Its wealth per head of population Is the HIGHEST in the world. A country of strange and beautiful scenery. MaiTelous geyserlands. Hot Lakes. Lovely Rivers. Magnificent Mountain Lakes. Grand Alpine Scenei-y. A Splendid resort for Americans who ^vish to escape the winters of North America. When it is M'iiiter in the United States it is Summer in New Zealand. Summer time is cool and pleasant for travel in New Zealand, Excellent trout Ashing and deer sta,lking. New Zealand's fishing waters, thousands of miles in extent, carrj' the largtist trout known to anglers. NOW is the time to visit this new and interest- int; country. The Is'ew Zealand Interna- tional Exhibition, in thecity of Christchurch, is now open and will remain open until April, 1907. Good hotels. Cheap transportation rates. Mail steamers from San Francisco to Aukland, New Zealand, every three weeks. Writi- for informatiiJii and ffi* literatnv' eniiiii: the Colony. Address Superintendent Government Department of Tourist and Health Resorts T. E. DONNE. WELLINGTON. NEW ZEALAND Page 12 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 eased leaves when setting out the plants. A thorough spraying with Bordeaux mixture (4-4-50) or ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate (three ounces to twenty gallons of water) just before the blossoms open and another after the fruit is harvested will effectually protect the plants. Newly set plants should have three or four applications the first season after they are set out. If spraying is neglected the best scheme is to burn o\er the field after harvesting, a process which will be explained later. Some varieties show a greater degree of resistance than others. These should be given the preference when setting out new beds. By resetting the beds every year on well-drained, deep land the blight effec- tually may be controlled. This leaf-spot is not the only one which attacks the strawberry, but will serve as an illustration for all. Most of the others, such as Phyllostica Fragaricola, Scploria Acieulosa, Ascochyta Fragaria, etc., have practically the same character- istics, appearing identical to the naked eye. They are not nearly as common, however, and all yield to the same treat- ment. The Powdery Mildew (Spha-rotheca Castagnei) occurs during periods of damp, cloudy weather. It attacks the leaves, stems, green and ripe fruit. The leaves curl as if suffering from lack of water, and the fruit has a disagreeable, musty taste. At times it causes a complete loss of the crop. The disease easily is recognized by its white, cobwebby, powdery appearance on the upper surfaces of the leaves. Ihe powdery appearance is imparted by num- berless spores which are freely given off in July and August. Later in the season the same mycelium (threads) produce the black spore which survives the winter. It is this fungus commonly seen on dande- lions and hops. Remedies: If it is not noticed until the ripe fruit is attacked it is too late to check it. An early application of Bordeaux mixture or any spray containing a copper fungicide will keep it down. If spraying is made a regular part of the routine work, as it should be, there need be no fear of mildew. Sulphide of potassium, one-fourth ounce to one gallon of water, is helpful. Some varieties are more susceptible than others, and these should be left out of the planting list. Other fungous diseases are the blight, a MicrococHs, which has done some dam- age in Massachusetts, and a leaf-spot, an Aposphoeria, which has been recorded in New Jersey. These are merely of local interest, however. Fungous diseases are really minute parasitic plants of a very low order, pos- sessing no chloropyl, (green coloring mat- ter) and propagating (usually) by single- celled spores, corresponding to the seeds Grand FREE Millwork Catalogue Saves 50 Per Cent on Windows, Doors and Building Material 5000 Bargains-Quality Guaranteed WE GUARANTEE SAFE DELIVERY ANYWHERE our immense stoi-k. two bargains here This High Grade Painted Q A C Door, Rr^'iSr^ $2.00, at OU= Don't think of doing any repair work or build- ing, whether yy/e in quality, construe- manufacture liave long been fa- tion, "hang" and icm/>er are la- mous for their excellence. Some beled "True Temper." of our brands are nearly three- That is why "you know a tool is quarters of a century old. just right when it is "True Tem- But we also make many other per." Hand-Tools ( f valuable spvcuil- * » * purpose features which are not Kvery generally known. Moreover, farmers and gardeners net d them and are an.xious to have them, w hen their time, labor and money saving advantages are tool farmer Ask Your Dealer For IRUEIEMPER Tools knmcn and appreciated. For that reason we adopted ad- vertising to tell you about our hundreds of Farm and Garden Hand-Tools. • * » * But first the combined knowl- edge and skill of all our manufac- turers were called into council, hinders. and gardener knows the im- portance of the "hang" of a Hand-Tool. If it is correct, the tool helps in the work. If it is awkward, tlie True Temper ' tools are the kind that help, "True Temper" tools also have those tujre qiialities oj loiighncss and elasticity of temper which are so much sought after by makers and users of tools. ■» * * The line includes Forks, Hoes, Rakes, Hooks, Weeders, Cultiva- and the Af/yVi.roj for making each tors, Beet Tools, Floral Tools kind of tool was formulated and every desirable pattern of Hand- adopted. In fitting testimony of Tools. Write for our FREE BOOK, "Tool, and Their Uses." It show* hundreds of special-purpose tools and tells you how to save time, labor and money. Just drop us a postal today. American Fork & Hoe Company, 1 45 American Trust BIdg Cleveland. Ohio STEEL ROOFING PER 100 SQUARE FEET $1.50 ost economical and durable roof covering known. En^y to put on; requires no t'i'>Is lint a hatehet nr a luumnfn-. With oi'linai-y oare t\ ill outlast any otlier kind. Thousands of satisfied eusti'nicrs everywht^re liave proven its viituts. Suitable for c-overinganvhuildin?. Alsobest for ceiline and siding. Fire-proof ai d water-proof, CheaperaTid more las ting than shingles. Will not taint rain-water. Makes your build- ing cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Absolutely perfect, brand new. 91.60 is our price for our No. 15 prade of Flat Semi-Hardened steel roofing ard siding, each sheet 24 ins. wide and 24 ins. long. Our price on the corrugated, like illustration sheets 22 i'ls. wide x 24 ins. \> "Stokes' Standards which 1 have chosen from the world's best- old and new— vou can hn,\ e ns successful a par- den ns if vou hacispeciftlizedineach vepetable forvei.rs. They represent 25 years of trnctical experience annd\ ke, Gandy, k t'llmax, and all la ar 1 sirt-:, 90 varletiea. I f-1 t DEWBERRirS, Ci> and P emo. I have big ' ne Al o Raspberry, Cur- ry plants, and Crape p^ have tlie leading varie- ^V^ rden. My 1907 supply of ^ "^ melon, Cantaloupe, and s very choice. Millions in season. My 60 page ielis aii'uit lots ot pood (ind garden and where to IT'S FREE. Bend name and ad- ALLEN, Salisbury. Maryland SWEDISH OATS Probably the best American Oat" T "5 Uept. of Ai-Ticulture. Most satisfactory of all varieties." 1 Wis. Agr. Ex. Station. Best we can find." } Dak. AgT. Ex. Station. ^ o better authorities than the above. They are dis- interested too. Swedish out- yields all others: is heaviest, plumpefat and whitest. S'?a- \ \fs n, eirly; straw, very stiff: '\\ , best! irclay soils. Get started V\iV this \ear. We are head- ^ n\V quarters. Immense stoeij, ,, H';,', ijure seed. il'a,\> Send postal todav for 88- _. -^^ P3^« Catalog Oats, Corn, Pota- toes, Garder Seeds, etc. L. t. OLDS SEED CO.. ijrawel H, Clinton, WU it is a useful forage plant and is possessed of considerable value as a soil restorer, but in a strawberiy patch it is the most noxious, the most pestiferous, the most uncontrollable weed with which I ever contended. Botanically considered, it is a biennial. Practically considered, it is a millenial. If it gets a start in land nat- urally adapted to its growth it will even- tually take full nossession and put you out of bu.Mness in spite of fate. For three years "I fought a good fight" with it in one of my fields and at times I flattered myself that I had control of it. I plowed it out with cultivator and shovel. I dug it out with pick and hoe. I pulled it out with hook and hand. Yet in spite of the searching work with hook and hoe and hand many short piece-roots were left hidden in the soil. These soon developed into new plants and filled the land with mtdtitudes of vigorous forms, miraculous- ly endowed with everlasting life! At the end of the three years I confessed myself fairly and fully beaten, for in spots my berry field looked like a clover meadow. Disgusted, I put in the plow and turned under the sod, root and branch, and in my wrath harrowed the overturned roots until they were torn and broken into a thousand pieces. Then I planted the place to cowpeas, cultivating them with plow and harrow, still "having it in' for the clover, and shaded it so it has not, so far, shown its hydra head. I have been contending with the same evil on another field, and, during the summer, with some hope of success, for there was little sign of its presence among the cleaned-out plants. But when fall came and cultiva- tion ceased the white-freckled leaves smil- ingly appeared, seemingly to mock at my endeavor and calamity. In case this seeming victory is turned into inglorious defeat, I shall at once sacrifice that field to the plow, and ever after when white clover appears simply shall spike my guns and leave. It is an anarchist. It is a socialist. It is an imperialist. Such is my feeling after a few years of unpleasant experience with a plant that is a splendid illustration of the presence, the persistence and the power of evil! I will mention but one other experience — an experience with a good method of renewing an old berry field. After the picking season was over I mowed the fields, piled the dry leaves and mulch upon the rows and burned them ofF. With double shovels I cultivated twice between the rows. Then taking a single narrow shovel I ran it down the row, plowing in the center of the row and dividing it into two. This tore out many of the old mother plants. After this I took a one- horse turning-plow and laid off new rows across the old ones at right angles, mak- ing the rows three and one-half feet apart. They were about eight inches wide. The plants in them were in blocks at the inter- section of the two rows. So you see the plants were heroically thinned out. These rows I treated the same as newly set ones. On good rich ground this method of renewing is all right, and good rows can be produced. Most of the cultivating can be done with horse power. Not much hoeing is necessary. The cost of renewing in this way is not great. By changing the direction of your rows you keep your field level. You have no high ridges for your plants to grow upon. The new plants will have loose, freshly plowed earth to set upon instead of hard, unculti- vated ground. Such a field will resist drouth the best. By this method you get rid of most of the old plants. Your row is nearly a new one year by year. By plowing under so many of the old plants you are filling the soil with humus. You enrich your land. It cultivates easily and is loose. It conserves the moisture. It absorbs heat better. It ripens fruit earlier PRAYING TINE Why carry loads of water to spray? Do the » ; work more effectu:illy. qnckly an-l easily by 1 applying the insect poison direct with the J ACME POWDER GUN J It puts the powder rl^ht to the spot— under and all about the lea%es and stems. Bu^s, >. worms and insects can't esciipe; and ju^t a C puff to the plant does the business. If your % dealer hasn't It, send 91.00 and his name— we jf Tiill thip P.iwder Gun, cluirii'-s pant. Handles "^ any kind of ponder insecticide. Ask for little book for particulars, sent free. ^ POTATO IMPLEMENT COMPANY, Box63l Traverso City. MIchlgani ;«« fdJ;^ViL'[^l p&fi your fruit with a pood spray pump means dollars to you. The Eclipse earns big'prutits and lasts for years, we in- vented the ECLIPSE SPRAY PUMP after experiment ing for years in our tnvn orchards with the common sprayers. We have it illustrated in our 4U-pag'e catalog— send for it to-day— it's nrimlul of useful and interesting' roadinf? for the yardener and fruitman. MORRILL & MORLET Benton Harbor, Mioh. POWER SPRAYERS The most complete line Imilt. 1 1! styles— nn't r-\ cry possible requirement. All kinds of spra>-intr acces- sories. Send for catalogue and prices, statin? yonr requirements. Mention this paper. Wallace Machinery Company CHAMPAIGN. ILLINOIS The "Kant-Klog" Sprayers Something New. Gets twice the re- sults with same labor and fluid. Flat or rouutl, fine or coarse si)rays from same nozzie. Ten stylus. For trees, vines, vegetables, whitewashing, etc. Agents wanted. Booklets free. Rochester Spray Pump Co., t2 East Ave. Rocliesler. N. Y. Page 16 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 and faster. If the soil is rich and can be kept so, and if it is free of noxious seeds, by this method of renewing, a held of strawberries can be perpetuated almost indefinitely. I fell upon this plan in my effort to exterminate white clove.^ While I failed to eradicate the odious legume I found the plan worked excellently in the extir- pation of every other weed. It is truly a good plan on good ground. But on thin land I found this treatment too drastic. On such land the old plants have not produced enough young ones and the rows are too light. No doubt the plants in those thin rows will have a good chance for spring development, if unhindered, and for the production of fine fruit; but the harvest will not be plen- teous. Besides, where the plants do not cover the ground weeds and grass, those silent disturbers of the peace, will have a chance to come in and, like the thorns in the parable, choke the plants until they can bring no fruit to perfection. (3n thin land this method should not be employed. In fact, strawberries should not be planted on that kind of soil at all. Better sow it to clover, plant it to cowpeas or cover it knee deep with barnyard manure and spend two or three years in making it ready. While the half has not been told of my experiences in 1906 time fails, and space forbids that I should say more. Neosho, Mo, /^IJR correspondent's references to ^^ crab grass lead us to mention our own experience with this weed. In 1905 we had 100 acres in strawberries, and in July, just when runners were forming in myriad numbers, rain began to fall and continued for from ten to twelve days. The ground was fairly covered with water during this time. The crab grass took advantage of these conditions and multi- plied so rapidly as to threaten the life of the plants. We could neither cultivate or hoe, but the foreman was given orders to station his men in a building on the farm so situated that they could make use of every minute of time between showers. In this way the entire hundred acres were gone over, a force of about thirty men being employed pulling out the crab grass by hand and throwing it into the spaces between the rows. As soon as the rain ceased, cultivators and hoes were started, and when autumn came it found the fields as free from grass and weeds as a parlor floor. We would emphasize the point that it is of utmost importance that crab grass be kept out of the fields. There is no doubt that this weed feeds like a glutton on the plant food in the soil, thus taking it from the strawberry plants and weakening their fruit-producing powers. We also have had troubles of our own with white clover, but by frequent hoe- ings and pulling it out by the roots with A KaiameizoQ Direct to You Kalamazoos are fuel savers. — They last a lifetime- Economical in all respects— They are low in price and hich in quality.— They are easily operated and quickly sei. up and made ready for business,— I5iiy from the actual manufacturer. — Your money returned if everytbine is not exactly as represented — You keep in your own pocket the dealers' and jobbers' profits when you buy a Kala- mazoo. WE PAY THE FREIGHT. We want to prove to you that you cannot buy a better stove or range than the Kala- mazoo, at any price. OAK STOVE HEATER, For All Kinds of Fuel. to 402 ROYAI. STEEL RANGE For All Kinds oltuol. _ We want to show you /imu and m/iy you save trorn 20,1 in buying direct from our factory at factory pric es. If you think 83, or $10, or 840, woitli saving Send Postal for Catalogue No. 348 Examine our complete line of stoves and ranges tor all kinds of fuel. Note the high quality; compare our prices with others, and then decide to buy from //" 11 '- 1" actual manufacturers and save all middlemen's profits. Catalog shows 207 styles and sizes for all kinds of fuel. Write now. Sold on 360 Days Approval Test. Kalamazoo Stove Co., Manufacturers, Kalamazoo. Mich. All Kalamuzoo Cook Slores and Ranges are fitted Willi patent oven thei-inometer wMchmakes balciiiii and roasting easy. All ti ivho Intt'nted (hK :;reut time-saving' 'i-iii*l Karrniv, BECAUSE it, does the work of i>oth n Spring Tooth and a Spikp Tooth Htirrow at one timoiiuii at one optruf/on. Bf<'inise. \on BOP, mv hiirrnw is BOTH HAKRUWS IN ONK. If >nu hftve to go over your field four timewnow— jou'li only havo to pn over it twice with my hurrow. If your ground is in such shnpe that .\ on now goover it twlcf'.thfu only o)ive ortr will give >ou na even bettor sppd hod wlion >ou use my harrow, and you can foi.ow ri^ht along with a plantt_-r. That means if it rnina overnight you haven't got your work to do over again. On newly broken sod you can work across the furrows (instead of with them) and not [mil up a single sod or choke the tooth. Yt.u Ciin jire- pjiro new ground with my harrow in u THIKD tho time you can working the oid way— using two narrows separately. One lever instantly adjusts my harrow so you can use the spring teoth alone— or ttie ppike tooth alone— or both toL-'Cther— or you can throw all tlin tooth up out of tho \va., so that tl o frame will slide along tho grounr 8T, I/OTTIS SEED COMPANY 848-6S0 M. Fonrth St., ST. LOUIS, MO. SEEDS THAT GROW ^t^** ,^ >^k for ^^^^>^t. Write Be?t quality Garden. Flower and Farm Seed;;, Alfalfa,^ ^ Clover. Seed Potatoes. We v*^*. ' rA' .<^ " . j wUl send freew-ith cat- J^^^UO^^xfT "^ ^^K*^^: alogue a pkt. of new >r-^^*>^A]so have fuU K J^" thlts?>^**>«Mt2<^k Roses, Plan^ heaS lettuce>^d-** %0^/^,nd Bulbs. aWiV /^GERMAN NTJRSERIES, , ,^-t^rf^^ BEATRICE, it ^ «•• ^y/^Box 101, Mebra»k«. BERRY PLANTS We are headquarters for plants of the new "Oswego" etrawberry and 6u other best new and old varieties. Also the "Plum Farmer" raspberry and other desirable kinds of Raspberries, Blackberries and other Fruit Plants, etc. 23 years experience. Highest awardsat World's Fair. We Invite correspondence. Catalog free. L. J. Ffcrmer, Box 732. Puluki, N. T. OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCH00Lr'2!ll,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OP THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION HE NEW YEAR opens most auspiciously for the Correspondence School, and we welcome to this, its first session for 1907, not only the splendid host that was with us through- out the year just ended, but another host of new members, apparently quite as en- thusiastic as those we have come to know and appreciate so highly through the ex- periences of the past twelvemonth. Our Christmas was made a merry one by the receipt of letters from all over the country, a countless number of them sending not only their own renewals of membership, but making a "Christmas Gift" to some friend of an annual mem- bership as well. Here is a letter, typical of hundreds which come to us, from Chas. C. Jones of Amesbury, Mass.: I have just finished reading the last issue of The Strawberry from cover to cover, as I al- ways do, and as I would as soon think now of raising strawberries without a hoe as without your wonderful publication, I hasten to renew my subscription. I am sending the gift sub- scription to my brother, who is principal of a seminary in Maine, to be placed in the reading room where many farmers' sons and daughters will have a chance to peruse it. If it pro\e the means of starting some of them in the direction of strawberry culture I shall be very glad. I am not an old grower, neither a new one, as I have grown them as a side issue for ten years. I am now working to give up everything else and make strawberries my specialty. I have found every department of your paper very helpful. Thanking you for the help of the last year, I am, Yours truly, Chas. E. Jones. That is the spirit that is bound to make this school a complete success in e\ery respect, and it inspires the schoolmaster with new courage and new determination and makes him more confident than ever of the future of the institution in its rela- tion to its members and the results they may be enabled to achieve. Another member, J. R. Benton of Clinton, N. Y., in the course of a cheery letter says: "Your paper is beyond criti- cism. It not only educates but inspires one interested to do things as well as plan them." That is just the point. Planning is a very important thing, and the man who does not plan his work before setting out to do it makes a very serious mistake. On the other hand, the man who does nothing but plan never will get very far on the highway of success. What we seek is to get people to do things, for it is the people who do things that make the wheels of this old world of ours go 'round. Rii^ht at the bej^'inning of the year we want to say something that grows out of the experience of the past. We receive a great many inquiries toward the latter part of each month asking that answers to these inquiries appear in the next month's issue. Now as a matter of fact. The Strawberry is already so big a publi- cation and puts out so many copies, and has to do its printing so carefully in order to make the handsome appearance it does, that the first forms of each issue must be at press by the middle of the month pre- ceding issue. That is to say, the Feb- ruary issue must be at press with some of its pages by the 15th of January, and so on. We wish that every member would try to get his questions into our hands not later than the 10th of the month if he wishes them to appear in the succeeding month's issue. Now let's settle right down into the harness and pull together for bigger and better and nobler results in 1907 than ever we dreamed of in the past. We shall do our best to keep up our end, and we want you to be right with us, shoulder to shoulder — and what a team we shall make! H. A. H., Independence, la. Have you ever noticed any difference in planting rows of strawberries north and south and east and west? great difference. We always prefer mak- ing the rows north and south if possible. This gives the sun a little better chance at all of the berries all through the foliage. However, if the patch is small, the rows should run the way that they will be the longest, which will avoid a great deal of turning while cultivating. N. F. G., Geary, Olcla. I do not understand your answer to C. F. P., Tecumseh, Mich, in the November issue in regard to keeping the runners off. As your reply reads it would seem that a new "double-hedge" row was to be formed each year. My understanding had been that the double-hedge row was to be formed the first year the plants were put out and that the plants grown in this manner ne:e to be retained as long as the patch was fruited (two years). 2. Then your advice that a fruiting bed should not be used for a propagating bed seems to be contradictory, as you recommend taking up new plants grown from runners and filling in vacancies. Possibly I do not have a correct understanding of a propagating bed. I certainly am getting much information from your instructions though. After the first crop of berries has been picked vines should be mowed over and, if conditions are favorable, burned when dry. When this has been done, and the double-hedge row system is followed, you should throw a furrow, cutting the soil from each side of the row. This will leave the plants in the original hedge row THIRD PRIZE WINNER IN THE STRAWBERRY PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTEST C. W. Gordon and His Beautiful Strawberry Field at Montville, N. J. We have experimented a great deal with rows running north and south, and east and west, but never have noticed any Pace 19 THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 undisturbed. Now take a hoe and cut out all the old mother plants. These easily may be distinguished from the others, as they are larger and because they are directly in the center of the rows. The crowns of young plants that are left should be covered up v\-ith fine soil, and these allowed to make enough plants to take the place of the discarded mother plants. 2. We recommend using plants from the fruiting bed only when a few are needed for filling in vacancies; never recommend taking from the fruiting bed for general planting. F. E., Royalton, Vt. Is it advisable to set a field entirely to bisexual varieties? 2. Do you consider the Splendid a good variety with which to mate Sample? There is no objection to setting all bisexuals, but we always ad\ise growers to use part bisexuals and part pistiUates. As a rule, pistillate varieties are more productive when properly mated. Pistd- lates th'ow no pollen and therefore are not so easily exhausted as the bisexual. Results of a series of experiments have convinced us that even bisexuals VA'ill yield more berries and of better form when several varieties are set in the same field. 2. T'he Splendid is too early properly to mate Sample alone, but when used in connection with a later bisexual it is hard to beat for that purpose. For instance, if you wish to make Sample your leader, and desire to use Splendid, follow this course: Set one row of Splendid, then three rows of Sample, and the fifth row may be set to a late bisexual, such as Dornan or Pride of Michigan. In setting them in this order there will be no time during the season when there is not an ample su;iply of pollen in the air to sup- ply the pistillate flowers. <^ ^ S. E. R. , Pentwater, Mich. Please advise me if the potato vines which I shall rake off the ground after digging potatoes will be suitable to cover my strawberry bed for the winter. I thought the tops might be better than straw as not so likely to smother the straw- berries. If so please tell me. Potato vines proved to be a very satis- factory mulch in an experiment made on our own beds, but we found they could be improved by piling them three or four feet deep and driving horses over them a few times and trampling them so that they were more pliable and thus laid closer to the plants. However, don't hesi- tate to use straw because it lies too close- ly to the plants, as this is no objection. It would be a good plan to apply the potato vines directly over the rows of plants and then put over them a light covering of straw and also in the space between the rows. This would be espec- ially valuable in cases where oat straw is used. It is to be understood that we do not recommend this plan on a large straw- berry field simply because it involves too much labor. J. li: H., Clio, Mich. We have been prepar- ing a piece of land to set to strawberries next spring and we are undecided as to the variety. The soil is a rich, black clay loam, made very strong by plowing under a heavy crop of clover last spring, and then covered again this fall with rotted manure and plowed. We are afraid to set varieties that produce much foliage. The local demand here is for War- fields. Do you think they would do well on this soil? Is there any other you would con- sider better? If you grow the \Varfield in double- hedge row it should give you fine results Smallwood's Fruit Plants DEM'IJKKKIES—Onoofthe most profitable crops the smiill fruit t;r(iwer run gr>\v. KENOYKK IXLAC'K BERRY— The earliest to ripen iiiid oik; of the ];irL'<'st blackberries. Other varieties of Blackberries, Strawberries, Gooseber- ries, (iriipe Vines, Pie Pliint. Now is the tluie to or- der f<»r Kpi'iiiiL; planting;. Wiite for Price List and Culture. T. H. SMALLWOOD, R. 1, Box 5, FT. SCOTT, KAN. Seeds, Plants, Roses, Bulbs,Vines,Shrubs, Fruit and Ornamental Trees The b( Nt by 53 years' test. 1200 - — ■*, m -\e ». -V ncres, 50 in hnrdy rosc^i. none i^T^^x'^ia' C\ fcJ^ jj;^ better crown, 44 greenhouses /i'^'l'^Ai ■* 'iff ^^ Piiliiis. Ferns. Fieiis. tJer- iind other things too numeroua to mtntion. Seeds, Plants* RoseSt Etc., by mail, post;aid, tistuctlon xpress . inter- fef^ ested in our extraordinary cheai» offers of over half a hundred choice coUectinns in SeeiH, Plants. Roses. Trees, Ele. Klecnnt 1 fiS pace Catnloeue FRtE. Send for it today and see what values we yive for a little money. xisr: STOuies Ht m ,ney with them. In fact so good vou can't afford to be without it. I^rj' e.50 cent-' per vear. Send at once for Aree sample and special offer TO YOU. R. R. FISHER, Pub., Box 86 1 Freeport, III. Souvenir Postal Cards Free to All We win send, all charees prepaid by us, one Free Pack- ape of Assorted Souvenir pD^tal Curds to anyone vho will send us one new yearly suljs;iTiption to Aineriean Stories and ten cents to pity for tlic same. Each pack- aye contains 10 different Souxenir Postals, biautifully executed, ready for niailiuL'. Ainei'ii-aii Stories, Department T. X., Grand KHi>icfs, 31i<-li. IF YOU WANT STRAWBERRIES f,'r. ^^„v;'r ber, trv '*I*aM-Aiiit*rii-;Mi" aiHl "Autmuii.'* Phints for siiif by SAMUKL dlDl'EK. DELEVAN. N. Y. Cir- culars Free. in your soil, and you could mate it with August Luther and Clyde, as both of these varieties are light foliage makers and thrive in rich soil. Haverland, Sam- ple, Splendid and Senator Dunlap also will do well for you. R. V. I,., Onavvay.Mich. What do you think is the matter with some of my plants.' There appeared to lie about three times as many leaves as there ought to be and very small; they grew thrifty until about August 1, and then commenced to dry up and die. Ail runners from afflicted plants were the same and they had a light colored circle in the middle of the leaves. 2. What variety would you advise me to mate Haverland with on naturally moist soil? 3. What capacity sprayer would you advise for a four-acre patch, and what would be the cost? F"rom the description you give of your plants it would appear that some under- ground insect is working on your plants. Plants will behave in this manner when the aphis is working at their roots. If this is the trouble, sprinkle tobacco dust around the plants, and the nicotine will leach down about the roots and ha\e a tendency to drive out the lice. If they behave in this manner after growing sea- son begins, send us some of the plants, roots and all in a tightly closed box. 2. Parsons' Beauty would give fine results with Haverland on your moist soil, and as Parsons' Beauty has such a long blooming season it will furnish pollen for most every bloom of the Ha\erland without the aid of any other bisexual. However, if you wish to use two bisex- uals, set Lovett and Parsons' Beauty. 3. It will be hardly advisable to get a smaller capacity sprayer than one barrel. For prices we would refer you to any of the sprayer manufacturers advertising in The Strawberry. They will be glad to send you catalogues and quote prices. S. E. C, Paulding, Ohio. What is the best early, medium and late strawberry? 2. What kinds should I select to get the pollen scattered rightly? 3. What can you tell me about the double- hedge row? Give dimensions. 4. What do you think of the Senator Dun- lap Strawberry? This is about the hardest question we have been asked to answer because there are so many good varieties when properly handled. We believe there is more in good plants and in knowing how to han- dle them than there is in the difference between varieties. If you wish berries for market, we would name Excelsior and Wartield for early; Senator Dunlap for medium; Pride of Michigan or Dornan for late. 2. All of the varieties we mention produce an abundance of rich pollen ex- Page 21 THIS BOOK FREE Write today for work by sevi ral well known agricu- ttaral authorities, showing why the H.ir- row is much more in portant than the plow. Also illustrates and describes THE ACME HARROW The ridinf* harrow that cuts and pulver- izes the plowed eround. Coulters or teeth work as a gang plow, 'jyie oniy harroivhtiiltcn < orrt'ci pri/tci^lfs. Sent Free on Trial. Ask your dealer to let you Sf-e the Acme Harrow, if he hasii't it I will send you one for free trial. No expense to you. Don't furyet to write for book. Dt'ANE H. NASH, Box 39. MUllngton. N. J. They live, grow, make money for you. Got our catalog? Jf not, send for it today. Millions of plants, trees, bushes — general nurs- ery stO'_k ready. Free catalog tells all. Valua- ble spraying calendar in it. Order stock novsr for fall setting. ARTHUR J. COLLINS Box 415, filoorestown, N. J. — © 1 Peaches Pears Apples California Privet Big Money In Early Potatoes Potatoes grown from Northern Seed are always earliest. They yield, look, cook and taste best and bring best price. Our Early Petoskey matures two weeks ahead of any Southern seed. A new potato, nice size, round, smooth, cooks perfectly, tine llavor. Three Bik Petos- keys and our new. 150 page. seedcataloir. describing 25 other choice potatoes, by mail for 25c.. Catalog alone, free, if ordered quick. DAKLING & BEAHAN, SOSMictligan St., Petoskey, Uich. A THRIFTY GARDEN whether largo or small, needs proper tools for aeeding- and cultivatinj?. Wo make ^rarden imple- ments of aU kinds, a tool for every purpose. MATTHEWS' NEW UNIVERSAL Hand Seeders and Cultivators Bingly or combined witli Hne.s, Plows, Rakes Markers, etc. Over :'0 stvlea- .FREE BOOKLET pivinB'de- 'scriiition, prii-es and valuable informatint: mailed to any ad- dress. Send for !*■ now GARDFN roots FOR EVERV PURPOSE AMES PLOW CO., 143 Market St., BOSTON, MASS. cepting Warfield, which is a pistillate. For your benefit we mention some of the strongest pollenizers on the list. Excel- sior, Texas, Tennessee Prolific, Splendid, Parsons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap, Dor- THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 PAGE 'oultryFence Stroneest. best on the market. Fences poultry " in, Block ont, una lasts. - Costs less erected then, ' common netting, because it require;* 710 boards at ' top or bottom and so few . yost»~one every 50 feet. You can't afford to buy ' poultry fencewithout in- veetipratinK Pace. Write . for descriptions. Pajte Woven Wire Fence Co. Box ]Ql , Adrian, Mich. Dr. Brigham's Poultry Class Home study with prof^ressive, successful practice at almost no expense. We have secured the services of Dr. Arthur A. Brltiham as associate editor, who will conduct ' 'Dr. Brieham's Poultry Class, ' ' a s'-ricsof twelve chapters, coverint: every phase of poultry culture, in a systematic, scientific, utility home course of study^qual to any $30 to 9=50 correspondence school course. If you want practical knowledge based upon a life-timo of research you would not be without Western Poultry Journal for a dozen times its cost. We will send you oxir 82 to 80 paee, illustrated monthly, one year, beginning with the first chapter for only 50 cents. WESTERN POULTRY JOURNAL 232-234 Granby. Cedar Rapids, Iowa Dr. Brisham'p Poultry Class is the highest priced, most practical, exclusive featured article in the American potiltry press. 240-EGG $ ncubator 120 Egg Size, S9.00 60 Egg Size, 97.60 Broodersequally low. Not cheap machines hut the famous" I deal" — guaranteed to be the surest and easiest ever made. Wbj not save fToic |5 to tl'i? Get our bii:12S la^c, illuitraied Tree' '"''' J.W. Miller Co.. Box 372, Frceport, :, ni. I "The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM ''FHE sixth edition of the book, "200 Eees a Year -L per Hen. ' ' is now ready. Revised, enlarged, and in part rewritten, 9G paires. Contains amoniz other thluL's the method of feedinii by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro, N. H., won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best e^g record duriut,' the winter months, Simple as a. b. c — and yetwe fruaranteeitto start hfns to layinc earlier and to induce them to lay more ei^tjs than any other method under the sun. Th€ book also contains recipe for e^tr food and tonic used by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 6b ecES from 72 hens; and for flvedaysiu succession from the same flock 64 et^trs a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain of Wolfboro. N. H., says: "By followini: the methods outlined in your book i obtained 1,400 etrus from 01 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." From 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 eggs in one year— an average of over 214 etrirs apiece. It has been my ambition in writing ' 'L'OO Eggs a Year per Hen' ' to make it the standard book oh eptr production and profits in pooltry. Tells all there is to know, and tella it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a ye&r*s subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our p:iper is handsomely illuRtrated, 44 to 80 pages. 50 cents pe. vear. 3 months' trial. 10 cents. .Sam- ple free. CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block. Syracuse. N. Y. nan and Pride of Michigan. The best among this list and the one that produces the most and richest pollen is the Pride of Michigan. 3. The double-hedge row when fully formed should be about twelve inches wide from outer edge of plants. The plants should stand about six or eight incher apart. 4. The Dunlap is one of the very best bisexual varieties ever introduced, and seems to do equally well in all localities. J. T., Mexico, Ind. I did not get to clean up one of my strawberry patches till quite late — about the middle of August. I then mowed them close to the ground, narrowed the rows and cultivated thoroughly. They soon put on new foliage and looked fine but sent out few runners. About the middle of October they began to bloom and have continued to the present time and are now (November 15) covered with bloom, although we have had several freezes. I fear they are ruined for next year's crop. The reason your plants did not make more runners was that you did not get them prepared for the second crop until so late in the season. Their blooming in the fall will not injure the crop for next season. G. R. P., Lawrence, Mich. Where and for what price can I obtain nitrate of soda, mu- riate of potash and bone meah' 2. Is the bone meal the same as is used for poultry food? 3. Should not the ground be made quite rich and plants set 24 inches apart for the Klondike? 4. Does the Pride of Michigan require rich ground? 5. Will the Gandy do well in this locality? Have sandy loam that was in potatoes in 1906 and have very little manure to give it. Are they as profitable a variety as Aroma and are they later? Would the Oregon Iron Clad every fourth row pollenize them? Is the Iron Clad a heavy bearer and good shipper, and do they require much manure, and are they as late or later than the Gandy? 6. Is the Parsons' Beauty a good shipper? 7. How early in April is it safe and advis- able to commence setting of plants? 8. Are pistillates heavier bearers than bi- sexuals? Nitrate of soda, muriate of potash and bone meal may be purchased of any ferti- lizer factory. As he is nearest to you we refer you to Colon C. Lillie, of Coopers- viUe, Mich. The nitrate of soda will cost about $3 per hundred; muriate of potash, about $2.50 per hundred, and bone meal about $1.25 a hundred pounds. These are staple articles and all factories should quote about the same prices. 2. Bone meal used for fertilizer is finer ground than that used for chicken Page 22 Ld Me Quote You a Price a CHATHAM Before You Buy an Incubator It will take one penny for a postftl. and a minute of your time, to write for Special Prices on 1907 Chatham Incubators and Brooders. No matter what kind of a machine you have in mind — no matter where you intend buying, or when— TOOAV you should send me a postal and get my catalog and prices. My book will post yon on the best way o make money out of ponltry— and my ^ prices on Chatham Incubators and Brooders will show you how to stnrt in the poultry busineBs for a small amount of money. Chatham Incubators are sold on 84 Days FREE trial, freleht prepaid, and are suaranteed 5 yenra. Cliath:im Incufiators are tlie best pussi* ie to make. They are tested, and kno^n to produce the largest percentage of strong, healthy chickens. If you are most ready to I'uy a machine n^w, ptij it off for a day or two, until you can get my pncea and catalog. Then decide. We have warehouses in all the leading trade centers — where Chatham Incubators and Hrooder> are kept in stock — insuring promnt delivery. I ii.vite you to write fur my prices and book. I can save you money on an incubator, | UANSUN CAnPRELL, ' President Alanson Camphell Co , Ltd., 2b'-^ Hesson Ave,, Detroit, nich. If you live west of the I Mississippi River, I ^ ftddiess me Box'^S-l M Topeka, Kau. FROM RANCH TO HOME Right from the home of the Angora goat to your own home Beautiful Angora Rugs and Robes and express prepaid. Oregon raises the finest, I was awarded a grold medal on rugrs at the Portland Exposition in 1905. Satisfaction, or money refunded. A. L. Hampton, Olalla, Oregon Better Fruit A Fruit Journal devoted ex- clusively to commercial fruit growing. Articles on up-to- date methods by able and suc- cessful men. Methods of the West, famous as producers of fancy fruit and world renowned as high-price getters Subscriptions, $1.00 per Year Sample copies mailed on request BETTER FRUIT PUB. CO., HOOD RIVER, ORE. Automatic BUCKEYE Incubator All Metal, Fire Proof, Continiious Hatcher. NEEDS NO THERmOMETER. Adjusted by us ami ready to run when yr>u c et it. G uar- nnteed tor five years, linod credit at home l9 good with us. G''t the best and save money. 0,\TAI-OGtrE FREE. BUCKEYE INCUBATOR CO. Box 40^ Springfield, O. THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 feed. In ordering always request that the bone meal be finely ground. 3. Make the ground only medium rich for Klondike. Plants may be set twenty-four or thirty inches apart in the row. 4. Pride of Michigan appears to do well in almost any kind of soil, but where ground is quite rich berries will be larger and there will be more of them. 5. Gandy has a preference for heavier soil than yours, but we have grown some splendid crops of Gandy on sandy loam. It does best where little manure is used. Gandy is later by several days than Aroma and this makes it a little more profitable. The Oregon Iron Clad will be good to set with Gandy, as it also does well on medium-grade soil. Ihe Iron Clad ripens a little earlier than Gandy. 6. Pick Parsons' Beauty a little under ripe and it stands shipping quite well. 7. The earlier the plants are set the better for them. Just as soon as your ground will do to work in it will be safe to set the plants. 8. If pistillates properly are mated, they will generally yield more per acre than will bisexuals. W. J. C, Thrums, B. C. Have a field of finely growing plants, and next spring intend to set a new field. I am planning to set plants every ten or twelve inches apart and keep off all runners, and not layer any runner plants at all. What do you think of this plan? For the hill system the plan is ideal. We should make the rows not more than three feet apart and set the plants twelve inches apart in the row. Keeping all the runners off will result in throwing more strength to the mother plant which will enable her to build up a larger number of crowns and a heavy fruit bud system. J. W. K., Woodstock, N. B. Have a small piece of ground I want to plant to strawberries next spring. Was planted to beans and tur- nips this year; as it is too late to sow a cover crop, how would you suggest working it so as to have it in good condition for plants next spring? Ground is sandy loam. Have plenty of mixed stable manure. 2. As it is very cold here in New Brunswick, have frost up to first week in June, what plants would you suggest setting — early, medium or late? 3. Can get plenty of buckwheat straw. Will this make a good mulching? 4. Is there any other kind of grain that I can substitute for rye as a cover crop? There is no rye grown in this section. Vegetables of any kind are ideal to grow in advance of strawberries. By the time this issue reaches you it will be entirely too late to break up this piece of ground, therefore we would suggest that you cover THE UNSURPASSED National Berry Boxes IN ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY PATBNTEO NOV A SANITARY FRUIT-PRESERVING PACKAGE Made of tough, smooth paper stoch, coated on both sides with best parafFine wax. Three years of practical use have made these boxes the favorite of all who have seen and used them. They are stronger than the wooden boxes, as each box will stand up under eighty pounds of pressure without being crushed. This is more than any other box will stand. They will take the lowest possible freight rate, being shipped in the flat condition. All testimonials we furnish are unsolicited. All samples we are sending are folded up and packed in a box, thus enabling those not familiar with the box to fold and interlock box properly to give the desired result. Sales during 1906 in 31 states and some foreign countries, and 1400 new names were added to our already large list of customeis. Communication with 47 States NONE SO GOOD AS THE BEST NATIONAL PAPER BOX COMPANY KANSAS CITY, MO. Folded up sample and circular sent on receipt of ten cents the entire patch with the mixed stable manure you now have on hand. Sprade it lightly and very evenly, so that it will cover the entire surface. Of course, it always is best to have some cover crop like rye or clover growing on the ground during winter. However, the manure will be a covering and a great protection to the ground, and will furnish the re- quired plant food. A covering of any kind keeps the soil from puddling and aids to retain a mellowness in the soil that could not be maintained in any other way. 2. This is a hard question to answer definitely as it depends entirely upon the stage the bloom has reached when the frost comes. That is, one of the earliest varieties might escape the frost entirely, as it might so happen that there would be Page 23 no frost during the more sensitive period. That period is immediately after the bloom has opened, and when the anthers are bursting and the stigmas are receiving the pollen. Thus you will see that a medium or late variety cannot be absolutely sure of escaping the frost, as a frost might come at the most critical stage of their growth. Yet the best advice we could give as a general rule in a locality such as yours is to set largely of the later varieties, It would be a good plan to set sparingly of extra earlies, such as Excelsior and Texas, as both of these varieties build up a large foliage, which serves as protection to the bloom during a frost. The Cres- scent is very hardy in bloom and through some experiments we ha\e been making have found it a reliable variety to recom- mend for northern latitudes. Senator THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1907 Dunlap would be good for medium va- rieties, and Dornanand Pride of Michigan will be found entirely satisfactory for the late varieties. All of these are heavy foliage makers. 3. While we do not consider buck- wheat the best material for mulching, if nothing else may be secured conveniently it will serve the purpose admirably. The principal objection to buckwheat is the stiffness of the straw, but after going through the threshing machine it gives good satisfaction as a mulch. 4. Where rye cannot be obtained, wheat will take its place and will serve your purpose well. W. D. B. , Onawa, la. The all-impor'ajit problem with us here is, How can we rid the soil of the white grub? Is there not some chemical, like sulphur or salt, that if put on the land will destroy them? Scientists claim that commercial ferti- lizer has some effect upon all underground insects. The salts contained in the chem- icals are quite offensive to the grubs and the wooly aphis. While we have reason to believe that this is true, yet these chemicals are not sufficiently effective to destroy the grubs. As we have said many times, breaking up the ground is the best preventive, and where we have followed the plan of fall plowing, and used commercial fertilizer in the spring, we never have been troubled with the grub. C. A., Oakland, Oregon. Is mulching in a warm, wet climate the right thing to do? If so, what month should It be applied? 2. I set one thousand Excelsior plants in fall of 1905. Mowed them off in August. They kept growing and started to bloom; most of them in bloom now (November 7). Will that injure their fruitage next year? 3. What is the weight of one thousand strawberry plants when crated? The mulching of strawberries is a necessity in any climate. Of course, in a state like Oregon mulching does not serve so many purposes as it does in a latitude like our own, as your plants never are endangered by alternate freezing and thawing; but when the big crop of berries is ready to be marketed, then is the time that the value of the mulch is appreciated. Oregon folk don't like grit on their straw- berries any better than do Michigan folk, and the cleaner the fruit the higher the price and the greater satisfaction you will get out of their production. In countries like your own mulching may be spread along each side of the plants, but not over the pi: nts. All you need is a clean bed for the fruit to ripen on. The best time to apply the mulch in your latitude is during December or January. 2. If weather conditions remain favor- able until the pollen takes effect upon the Established in 1869 Headquarters For ST. JOSEPH. MICH. ) FOR ILLUSTRATED PRIEttlST. « Experience Counts BERRY BOXES Peach and Grape Baskets Also Melon Baskets .^ Frait shipped in our packages insures high- ^Wlpi I'st prices. — ( irder boxes now and make up at yonr leisure. Write us for Berry Box Machine. Illustrated Price List Free. Wells, Hitman Companyfl Box 10. ' ST. JOSEPH. MICH. bloom now open in your plants, it is more than likely that you will have a fall crop of berries, something that is very common in the warmer sections of the Pacific coast. It is not likely that a sufficiently large percentage of the buds will develop this fall to cut down your next seoson's crop. 3. The weight of a thousand straw- berry plants depends largely upon the variety in question. Exceedingly large plants will weigh when packed ready for shipment about thirty-five to forty pounds, while the smaller sorts will not weigh more than twenty-five or thirty pounds. IN connection with the multitude of interesting and valuable experiments with plants and plant life carried on in the Department of Agriculture at Wash- ington, some startlingly suggestive phe- nomena have been observed. For in- stance, it has been ascertained that when plants are wounded their respiration in- creases, and that at the same time their temperature perceptibly rises, as if a kind of fever had been produced by the wound. In recent experiments a thermo-electric apparatus, capable of registering a change of one-four-hundredth of a degree, was employed. When a potato was wound- ed, the fever manifested itself by an eleva- tion of temperature which was greatest at the end of twenty-four hours, when it began slowly to decline. An onion sim- ilarly treated acquired an increase of tem- perature many times greater than that shown by the potato, and the fever, in- stead of being ccuifined to the neighbor- hood of the wound, affected the entire onion. In fact, the onion proved to be more readily affected in this way than any other vegetable experimented with. The rise of temperature is caused by in- creased absorption of oxygen. ONE of the inventions of which Three Rivers folic are particularly proud is the Doilge Potato Digger, and it is one intended to increase the fame of the town, already noted for its many and important mechanical inventions. The Page 24 ■^o' Pedigree Holstein Cattle of the best strains of BIG MILK PRODUCERS Write DR. T. J. HAINES, Three Rivers, Mich. PRICES LOW Armstrong Machine Co. manufactures this latest candidate for the potato-grower's favor, and all it asks is a chance to show you just how excellent a device they have produced for the clean, safe and economical digging of potatoes. If you are interested, send to them for a cata- logue. It is free, and you will find it valuable. ^^E take pleasure in introducing to our read- " ers this month the Standard foot power stapler made by the St. Joseph Iron Works of St. Joseph, Mich. This stapler is a wonderful economy in the making of strawberry boxes, as it enables you to purchase your materials k. d., and make them up into boxes at your conven- ience during the winter months. This machine feeds the proper length of wire, cuts it off, forms the staple, drives it through the berry box or other material, and clinches the end of the staple on the other side, all in one stroke of the foot treadle. It is a marvel of simplicity, strength and durability. You might join your berry-growing neighbors in purchasing a com- munity machine. Write the company for circu- lar, mentioning The Strawberry. ONE cannot study the situation as it relates to practical agriculture without reaching the conclusion that one of the greatest sources of loss to the farmer is through his failure to give the grain and grass, the vegetables and plants, a proper seed bed. In this day of im- proved machinery there is no possible excuse for longer encouraging this waste. The man who gave the best years of his life to the perfecting of a harrow that would remedy this and form a seed bed as near ideal as was possible, did not live in vain. Who shall estimate the good Duane H. Nash and his Acme Harrow have done for agriculture? For this Acme Harrow comes as near solving the problem and enabling the farmer to plant his seed in a character of soil where it is sure to start, and start quickly and have an uninterrupted, strong growth, as any harrow ever perfected. It was named by the inventor, "harrow, pulverizer, clod crusher and leveler", and it is all of these. Those who are sufficiently interested in increased returns from their lands to do so, will be well repaid if thev will look up the Nash advertisement in this issue and write to him for his little book en- titled "A Perfect Seed Bed". A copy will be sent on request if you mention The Strawberry. 1907 Reading for Strawberry Folk OUR CLUBBING COMBINATIONS FOR 1907 See These 3 Big Triple 3's The Strawberry $1.00 The World Today 1.50 American Magazine 1.00 Breeders' Gazette 2.00 Houselseeper .60 Total Value $6.10 FOR ONE YEAR The Strawberry Cosmopolitan Harper's Bazaar World Today Floral Life - Vick's Magazine Total Value The Strawberry Sl.OO Farmers' Voice .50 Breeders' Gazette-weekly 2.00 Farm and Fireside .50 Boys and Girls .50 The Housekeeper .60 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value 5.60 } $2.95 { $1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 .25 .50 I $5.25 J $3.25 The Strawberry $1.00 World Today 1.50 Breeders' Gazette 2.00 Farm and Fireside .50 Boys and Girls .50 Choice any 50c magazine named ,50 Total Value $5.50 List of $1 Magazines which may be substituted for any $ 1 publication mentioned on this paec Gleanings in Bee Culture $1.00 Western Fruit Grower 1 .00 Success 1 .00 American Magazine 1.00 Little Folks 1. 00 The Garden Magazine 1 .00 The Strawberry World's Work Delineator McClure's Total Value $1.00 3.00 1.00 1.00 $6.00 Sinsly suliSfriptions for Ihcsp matraziiH-s caunot ho tiikon i>v any iii^ent or uddt-d to any club lit If-ss than tho full list prict-. No I'liaiis:*' ill this ('lub allowed FOR ONE YEAR The Strawberry $1.00 Farm and Fireside-'Semi.monthly .50 Housekeeper .60 Western Fruit Grower 1.00 Choice of any 50c magazine named .50 Total Value $3.60 } $1.95 { I F you want any pulilication *■ in the country and don't find it in this list, send to us for it, or make any coinbination you desire. We purpose to furnish our folks with the best and most desirable literature in the world at the lowest possi- ble price at which it may be had. The Strawberry Farmers' Voice Housekeeper Farm and Fireside Boys and Girls $1.00 '50 .60 .50 .50 Choice of any 50c magazine named ,50 Total Value $3.60 LIST OF FIFTY CENT MAGAZINES Which may be substituted as desired for any 50c magszine named in any of the combinations on this page Apple Specialist $ .50 Farm Poultry $ .50 Reliable Poultry Journal .50 Poultry Success .50 Am. Poultry Journal .50 Green's FruitGrower .50 Poultry Tribune .50 American Swineherd .50 Vick's Magazine .50 Boys and Girls .50 The Strawberry $1.00 Review of Reviews 3.00 Woman's Home Companion 1.00 Success Magazine 1.00 Total value $6.00 N ^ I ^1~'X A '^■^T'TT'^ 1 — ' TTA 1"^"^ > -One Hundred and Eijhleen Portage Avenue- THE STRAWBERRY three Rivers. Michigan c/o-^ dt^fwiu Arkrkl^ and Please the Consumer KING DAVID, DELICIOUS, LIEVLAND RASPBERRY, SENATOR, GIANT JENITON. BLACK BEN, GRIMES, JONATHAN, Etc., Meet All Requirements. Then Why Grow Inferior Sorts? We are Headquarters for All that is BEST in Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Grape, Small-fruit Plants. Roses, Ornamentals, Etc. For 82 Years » have been the standard by which good nursery stock is measured, and our sales have steadily increased until we are now compelled to maintain the largest nursery establishment in the world — conclusive evi- dence that Stark Trees are of highest pos- sible quality and sold at as low prices as such stock can be produced. Constant growth in any business during more than three- quarters ot a century, is proof conclusive that customers re- ceive honorable treatment and full value for their money. On no other basis could Stark Nurseries have built up their present trade. Success in the nursery busi- ness depends entirely upon the success ol customers: and they can suc- ceed only with strong, healthy, thrifty, depend- able trees of the best up-to-date varieties, well grown, well dug. well packed. We solicit or- ders on this ba- sis, and if you send them to us, WE GUARAN- TEE SATIS- FACTION; and our guarantee means some- thing—we are not "here to-day and gone tf)-morrow." We Pay Freight on orders of $7.50 or more to any Railroad station in Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Ohio On orders of $10.00 or more to any Railroad station in Alabama Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Georgia Indian Ter'ty Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey New York North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin On orders of $12.00 or morr to any Railroail station in Arizona California Colorado Florida Idaho .Maine Massachusetts Montana Nevada N. Hampshire New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wyoming Our Wholesale Price-list gives full particulars. SIARKBR0SRHg§^g6 CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 ,000.000-ALL PAID UP STARKDALE, MO. ROCKPORT, ILL. FAYETTEVILLE. ARK. PORTLAND, N. Y. DANSVILLE, N. Y. ATLANTIC, IOWA Write us at Louisiana, Mo., Desk 1 1, and we will send FREE, New Descriptive Fruit Book, Price-list. etc. LOUISIANA, MO. February 1907 THES "The Lord might have made a better fruit BERRY than the strawberry-— but He never did.' *i^^i^*iiS^- ,-- ^, .-.-^ PUBLISHED BY The Kellogg Publishing Company THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN c^rrs FRUITS ORDER TODAY $300.00 per Acre MY FRUITS are doing it everywhere — Customers are simply delighted, and yields are far exceeding our claims. "Sold over 2 bushels from 50 plants only one year old." W. N. Scarff - I must lell you about our Cumberland and Haymaker Raspberries I got from you. I was simply astonished at the first crop. The Cumberland were the finest black caps I ever saw and the yield something to talk about. From the 50 plants of Haymaker (only one year old, remember, and from which we only expected one-half crop,' I sold 2 bushels'beside what were used in the family. They cannot be surpassed and are very hardy. (At this rate the yield was over 100 bushels per acre the first year, at $3.00 per bushel. $300.00'. Signed, J. H. FORTENBAUGH. Pa., March 15, 1906. I OFFER a large surplus of the following stock of first class plants. Everything true to name and sure to please you. Strawberry Plants All carefully packed in fine moss. Tied in bunches of 25 plants each. Our plants are fine and should not be compared with the cheap plants offered. Let us book your order. Brunette Haverland Rough Rider Brandvwine Kiltie Rice (new) Senator Dunlap Bubach Lovett Staples Bismark Louis Hubach Sample Clyde Luther Sunshine Climax inew' Mitchell Uncle Jim Corsican mewl Midnight (new) Warfield Crescent Marshall Repeater Excelsior New Globe inew Marie Greenville Nick Ohmer New York Candy Pine Apple mew) Raspberries Earhart Ever-bearing Conraih Columbian Gault Ever-bearing Munger (new' King inewi Cumberland Cuthbert Shaffer Col. Eureka, genuine Golden Queen Haymaker (very fine) Gregg Hansen Cardinal (new* Kansas Loudon Brilliant (new) Ohio Miller Jap Wineberry Palmer Marlborough Ruby (new red* Souhegen Turner Eaton (new red ' Blackberries Crystal White Early Harvest Erie Eldorado Kittatinny Lawton Maxwell Minnewaski Early King Raihburn Mersereau Ancient Briton Ohmer Stone's Hardy Kennoyer (newi Blowers (new» Ward (new) Snyder Taylor Wilson's Early Wilson Jr. Agawam Wachusett Iceberg Currants Chautauqua Climbing Red Cross North Star Victoria Cherry White Grape Perfection Red Dutch Fay's Versailles Lee's Prolific Pomona London Mkt Wilder Crandall Garden Roots Rhubarb, divided roots Rhubarb, grown from seed, fine Horseradish Sets California Privet Hed^e and Forest Tree Seedlings California Privet Osage Orange Catalpa Speciosa Russian Mulberry Black Locust Honey Locust Soft Maple Asparagus Conover's Col., 2 years Barr's Mammoth, 2 years Palmetto, 2 years Columbian White, 2 years Donnald's Elmira, 2 years Extra strong 3-year-old Aspar- agus Roots Sage Holt's Mammoth. Plants of strong growth, very large, borne well above the ground, are of unusual substance, strong flavor and superior quality. Novelties Japanese Wineberries June Berries Baby Rambler White-Blackberries Strawberry- Raspberry Buffalo Berry Rocky Mountain Cherry $250.00 Per Acre Net "I hadjustone acre of Snyder. I sold 123 bu. for $250 net, which 1 think is pretty good, beside I have lots of sucker plants to sell with a demand greater than the suppiv, etc., etc." SETH W. HUNTLEY. Aug. 30, 1905. Send for my neiv Free Catalogue. W. N. SCARFF Wholesale and Retail Nurseryman NEW CARLISLE, OHIO House of W. N. Scarff, New Carlisle, Ohio THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 2 Three Rivers, Mich., February, 1907 $1.00 a Year FROM the president of the Nashville Strawberry Asso- ciation conies a note giving in brief form the manner and method of the Tennessee organization. As many strawberry growers in other sections are contemplating organizing before the selling season begins we publish extracts from the secretary's letter, hoping it may encourage them to put their half-formed plans into execution. The president writes: "The Nashville Strawberry Association was organized in August, 1905, by the election of a presi- dent, vice-president, secretary and sales- man, the secretary to be treasurer also unless the rule was changed by a vote of the members. The association shipped in 1906 more than eleven thousand six- gallon crates of strawberries at an average price approximating ,$2 a crate. Most of them were sold en the track at Nashville. The secretary and the sales agent sell the fruit, collect all moneys and pay the same over to each member according to his due. The membership fee is one dollar, Eind each member is furnished with a itencil stamped wi his name, number and rural route. Fo. air services the secretary and the salesman receive five cents each per crate. The president and vice-president receive no pay for services. The officers are — W. R. Johns, president; George W. Carney, vice-president; A. W. Freeman, secretary and treasurer; Charles R. Dair, manager and salesman." It is interesting to note that the cost to the grower of selling this fruit was less than one-half cent per quart — a record for the organization plan most encouraging. CENATOR DUNLAP, whose name has become a household word vvhere- ever strawberries are grown because of the favorite variety that bears his name — while not extensively interested in grow- ing strawberries is one of the best-known horticulturists in the country, and as presi- dent for many years of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, and as head of the Apple Growers' Association of the Mississippi Valley, has filled for many years a large place in the eye of the fruit-growing interests of the nation. And as his enthusiasm grows with each year, and his horticultural responsibilities ap- pear to be increasing with time, his name is destined to be still better known in the future. By the way, Mr. Duiilap won his An Appreciation Clio, Mich., Jan. ?, '07 The Strawberry, Three Rivers. Gentlemen :-Enclosed please find one dollar for payment for The Strawberry for 1907. May success attend your efforts to make it impossible for any strawberry grower to be without it. We are very grateful for the information it fur- nished us the past year. We are only fearful that you cannot main- tain its present stand- ard at the price of subscription. Again wishing you success, we are Yours truly, Jones & Haven. title as senator by sixteen years of service (sixteen years with the conclusion of his present term) in the upper house of the Illinois legislature. How much Illinois horticulture owes to his services in its behalf is beyond computation, but it is very gieat. Now that the educational side of Illinois agriculture is calling for substantial consideration in connection with the col- lege at Urbana, a call that ought to be honored to the utmost, it is gratifying to know that so intelligent a friend of ad- vanced horticulture is in position to help along the good work. |\/IR. DUNLAP was one of the pro- gram makers at the recent annual meeting of the Michigan State Horticul- tural Society held at Benton Harbor, and in course of conversation with a Straw- berry representative spoke of his orchard at Savoy, 111., one of the finest in his state. "It is matter of surprise to some people that I can afFord to grow apples on $200- an-acre land," said Senator Dunlap, "and it would not be possible to do so at a profit unless the orchard was first-class and its product such as to command im- mediate sale at top prices. As a matter of fact, I do not have to ship my apples any distance, as the people of Champaign and Urbana are glad to get them, so that- I have neither freight or commission deal- ers' charges to pay. Here is a lesson of highest importance from experience. There is no doubt that Mr. Dunlap is netting more from his land, acre for acre, than many apple growers in his state whose orchards are on $50-land, and are located in districts better adapted for fruit than is the corn land of his particular section. It is a lesson in quality that ought to appeal to fruit growers in every line. O^ kNE of the men in closest touch with the fruit-growing trade at a certain Michigan ciiy on the lake was discussing with a visitor some features of the strawberry trade there. "Do you know why it is there is so much poor stuff allowed to go from this town and surrounding country.'" he asked. "It's be- cause of the low freight rates given by the boat lines to Chicago. The rates are so low, and it is known that almost anything can be palmed off on the Chicago market, that many growers make no attempt to select and pack their berries attractively. It THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 would be of positive advantage to the fruit interests here if freight rates were higher. There is such a vast quantity of fine fruit grown here that would com- mand highest prices on the Chicago mar- ket if it were sent there in better shape, and if it cost something worth while per box to get them there, more care would be taken in this regard." TT is something of a surprise to hear a * statement of that kind, yet it is a com- mon fault with human nature that that which "comes easy, goes easy" — doef not command the respectful treatment ac- corded things that it takes our very best to secure. And so it may be as the old- timer said, that the blessings of a low freight rate were turned into an actual disadvantage by the carelessness, indiffer- ence or neglect of its beneficiaries. It might not be so bad if only those directly at fault were affected by such a condition of affairs. But this is not the only result. The most careful and painstaking fruit grower is adversely affected by the short- comings of his neighbor, and the general reputation of the district is discredited by them. The better elements among the fruitmen should organize in the interest of good fruit, honestly packed, confident that morally and financially the results would be more satisfactory. STRAWBERRIES are coming up from the South in considerable quan- tities jusc now, and at some points were selling in early January as low as 45 cents a quart. Every year notes an improve- ment in this regard, not only in a better quality of fruit, but in a steadily increas- ing supply of the delicious berries. Por- tions of the. South have in the past been greatly discouraged by failure of the rail- ways and car-lme companies to furnish adequate transportation facilities. In many cases the losses of 1905 were repeated in 1906, but this was in part due to the tre- mendous crop yield of the latter year, which fairly swamped the transportation facilities provided. Recent conferences between the railway officials and the rep- resentatives of the fruit interests have served to clear the way to better things, and it is believed that no trouble will be experienced in the Atlantic Coast states, at least, this year. Reports from there indicate that not only have the railways promised ample service, but that freight rates will be more equitable than they have been in the past. ^^7 HAT can a woman do.? Well, we " are letting her tell her own story this month. In fact, several of her are contributing interesting experiences in this issue of The Strawberry, and it's easy enough to see that there is one thing she can do outside the routine of household work and do it well and with such joy and zest as keeps down the wrinkles of age and gives to life broad meaning. JVlrs. Hey and Mrs. Treman of Illinois, and Mrs. Holmes of Maine, have shown by their own experiences that the straw- berry field is a home field; that is, it is in its nature such a work as keeps the woman within the shadow of her home and in close touch with husband, children and the myriad interests of the household. It preserves that fine womanhood which is the very heart of civilization and right living, v/hile it offers to her a delightful and health-giving method of helping re- plenish the family purse. Read what these practical women say on the subject. It's an inspiration just to know what they are doing. pROM Boise, Idaho, comes an inter- A esting strawberry item, relative to the patch of J. H. Waite located a short dis- tance from that city. The Boise News says that Mr. Waite's patch is just a little short of an acre and a quarter. Thus far this year he has realized from the sale of berries raised on this patch Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one of our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days fes« trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This! Baxlou Manufactukino Co., Beldinj^, JMich Gentlemen:— I am about to purchase agas or gaso- line engine for purpose.s and wish you to send me full particulars about your approval offer asacivertised in Yours very truly, Name, Town _ , Htgta street No. or p. O. Box R. P. D ^ When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to u.se this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, i\ol the engine a^ent. BAIXOC MAITOFACTITRING CO., Successors to Lyons Eni^rine Co. BELIUNG, MITH. ^ Page 26 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 exactly $1232.67, and unless there is a hard freeze he will continue to market berries all winter. Mr. Waite looks after his patch himself and practicall.v all he makes is profit. He marketed his first berries June 1, and from that date until July 7 he brought in 12,798 boxes, from which he realized $807.70. In Septem- ber he marketed forty-three boxes, which netted him $10. Since the first of Oc- tober he has marketed 2447 boxes, from which lie realized $414.97. The total yield to date (autumn of 1906) has been 15,198 boxes. The Woman With the Hoe By Mrs. F. D. Treman LAST spring I ordered 1,000 straw- berry plants — 500 Senator Dunlap and 500 Texas — and they reached us in fine condition. We at once went to work setting them out, and I concluded that setting strawberry plants was about the hardest work, for I couldn't straighten up for several days afterward. My husband helped get them into the ground and plowed them several times afterward, but he then made a change in his work and disposed of the horse, and the strawberry bed was left to "the woman with the hoe." I toiled in that patch early and late and I studied The Strawberry to get all the instruction I could and, as far as my ability went, did as instructions said. 1 he Texas plants did not do as well as the others, for I lost about 100 of them from drouth and worms, but by Septem- ber I had some fine new plants that I took from my strongest plants and filled in where they had died. The Senator Dunlaps did splendidly. They were set in double-hedge rows. I allowed each mother plant to make four plants and kept all other runners off. I never en- joyed outdoor work better than I did that, even though it was hard; and the plants seemed to enjoy it too. It did my heart good to hear passers-by exclaim: "Just look at those strawberry plants!" and to have my neighbors say they never saw anything like it. We covered them up with oat straw in No- vember and now the thing that worries me is a fear that they may be too warm, for the weather is far from cold. I am anxioi s y waiting the coming spring. Per- haps you will think this a long letter, but I feel as though I was writing to an old friend. I have been so busy with the holiday work I ha\e neglected to send in the renewal of my subscription to The Strawberry, but I enclose it now and also the name of a friend to whom I wish the paper sent. Hope I am not too late to have the special rates offered for the Christmas Gift subscription. Aurora, III. The Strawberry is indeed the friend of everybody, but especially of the man or T/ic Crfatest of Musica! Inventions— the Two-IIom DUPLEX % Phonograph I- On Trial IT is the one phonoeraph that gives you all the sound vibrations. It has not only two horns, but two vibrat- ing diaphragms in its sound box. Other phonopraphshave oi\e diaphragm and oi\e horn. The Duplex gets all the volume of music; other phonographs cetthe half. Not only do you pet more volume but you get a blot- ter tone^clearer, sweeter, more like the original. Our handsomely illustrated Free Catalogue will explain fully the superiority of TKe Du- plex. Don't allow anyone to persuade you to buy any other make of phonograph without first sending for our cjtaloEue. The Duplex is not sold by dealers or in stores. We are Actual Manufacturers, not jobbers, and sell only direct from our factory to the user, eliminating all middlemen's profits. Ttiat iswhy we areal'le t') manufaclure and deliver the t.est phonograph ni.iei- ill/ 7C'ork it hat to do. And it must "hang" just right feel handy, and work easily. * * * True Temper forks are as perfect as the science of mechanics and skill of workmen can produce. They must prove true in quality, construction, "hang" and temper under severe tests and inspections before they are allowed to wear the True Temper label — the label that appears in this advertisement. T/iey arc by Jlu- (he best 7nade. Ask your Dealers to let you see the True Temper line. -X- * * It includes Hay Forks. Manure Forks, Spading Forks, Barn Forks, Header Forks, — every known kind of good fork, as well as Hoes, Rakes, Weeders, Hooks and all other Farm and Garden Hand-Tools — "The best tools you have ever bought at the same prices you have always paid." * * * Write u« today for our FREE BOOK. Tools and Their Uses." It tells how to save time and money on your work. AMERICAN FORK AND HOE CO., 345 Am. Trust B!dg., CLEVELAND, OHIO. Horse-Power Spramotor Will pay for itself the first season in removing wild mustard from your fields. Automatic in action throughout; everything under control of driver without stopping. Machine automatically stops at 125 lbs. pressure, starting again al 100 lbs. Tell us your needs. You will get expert advice. Our 86-page Treatise D free. Agents wanted. SPRAMOTOR CO., BUFFALO, N.Y. LONOON, CAN. difficulty in finding a place to put it. Farm land about here would be benefited by having the manure applied to it, no doubt, but when the agriculturalist can raise from seventy-five to one hundred bushels of corn per acre on a clover sod, he isn't going to put in much time haul- ing manure in the winter time. Mason County, 111. Certainly our readers will be glad to know more about the methods of a man who grows eight acres of strawberries in the corn-belt of Illinois, and we hope Mr. Nicholls will give them the benefit of his experience. We can't help trying to imagine what those corn-belt farmers would get in the Page 28 way of corn yields if they did use their barnyard manure in conjunction with their crop-rotation plan. Certain it is that if they can raise from seventy-five to one hundred bushels of corn to the acre without it, they could raise from one hun- dred to one hundred and forty or fifty bushels as a result of the proper use of this manure. No man is ever so rich that he can afford to throw away his wealth. No more is land so fertile that it can be cropped continuously without replenishment. And the soil robber is the worst of all robbers; for "he wno steals my purse steals trash," but he who robs the land destroys the heritage of posterity and leaves the world poor in- deed.— Edito' Strawberry. FRANK E. BEATTY'S STRAWBERRY FIELD AT COVINGTON, IND. Yield per Acre, About 500 24-quari Cases Thoroughbred Planis Properly Mated, Ideal Soil and Thorough Cultural Methods Did It The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter IV— In Which is Shown that There Are Many Things for the Amateur to Learn SPRING came on in all her glory and radiance; soft rains and fructi- fying suns mad: the landscape rich and exquisitely beautiful with burst- ing plant life, and greensward and flaming flower vied one with the other for beauty's palm. Out in the strawberry field things were fairly booming; I could almost see from day to day the advance of the plants, and they presented such a scene of beauty as only a well-managed strawberry bed may do in early springtime, when the plants are pushing their glossy-green foliage up through the opening in the mulch to meet the sun. Every morning found me early in that field; scarcely waiting to fasten the last button before making a bee-line for the patch to get a !ook at my pets and discover what wondeiful trans- formations had been made over n'ght. The plants that had been staked the night before always received my fi.'st at- tention. By placing a stake at the side of a plant and marking the height of the plant on the stake, I was enabled to ti.^11 the exact growth made by the plant dur- ing the night, and by repeating this in the morning, the growth of the day was re- corded. During the winter evenings I had spent long hours in study and had learned man\' important things regarding plant life. I had learned that there was sex in plants; had memorized the analyses of different kinds of fertilizers; had come to know the efFect of different kinds of plant food upon the plants and their value in crop-produc- tion, and had come to know the impor- tance of thorough cultivation. I also had learned that though good soil, well sup- plied with humus and a balanced plant food, was quite essential, yet only about 5 per cent of the general composition of the plant was made from the ingredients of the soil, and that 95 per cent was con- tributed by elements contained in the air. While digging through my meagre horti- cultural library one evening I discovered that the sun was good for more things than merely to start the sweat on a fel- low's brow, when I read the statement that more than four hundred million mil- lions—to put it in figures, 400,000,000,- 000,000 — sun waves beat upon a plant every second. That set me to thinking harder than ever, and I decided right then and there that if I got as busy as nature was and did as much pushing as she did pulling, something would surely start moving in Id Indiana along the Wabash. "I can't find anything in the literature I have in hand that enlightens me at all upon the subject of the proper mating of pistillate plants," I said one day to my wife, "so I am going to make experiments on my own hook along that line." And I took a large number of plants composed of difi^erent varieties of both pistillates and bisexuals that I had ordered from a plant grower whose specialty was propagating from selected mother plants, and set them in rows side by side, mating different pis- tillates with different bisexuals. I also set certain bisexuals alone and, in another Page 29 plot, set these same bisexuals alongside ot other bisexuals to determine whether or not the fruiting power of bisexuals could be increased in this manner — that is, whether the close proximity of one bisek ual to another bisexup.l influenced each in any degree as does the mating of pistil- lates with a bisexual. In a future instal- ment the results of those experiments will be given. By the time these experimental plots were set, and several more acres for next year's fruiting, my two acres of plants set the previous spring were opening their flow- ers faster than a man can think. I now could easily tell the difference between the bisexuals and pistillates, and I was pleased to find that through some kind providence I had been so directed as to have selected a sufiici2nt number of rows of bisexuals, properly distributed through my patch, to pollenize the pistillate varieties. I had not repeated the disr.strous mistake of the previous season, and the knowledge of this fact set me fairly afire with joy and enthusiasm, and the news I carried to my wife was vastly different from that which just one year before I had taken to her, when I had been compelled to admit failure as a result of neglect to set bisex- uals along with my Crescents and War- fields. I never shall forget the day I first real- ized that success had crowned my work. I hastened to the house and in my joy grabbed my wife and swung her dancing about the kitchen. "It's a wise man," I THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 The FOR 1907 contains 6 3 Specialties in Vegetables, 6Qin Flowers, besides every- thing else good, old or new, worth growing. Yon need it. It is free tc all sending me their address on a postal. Wm. Henry Maulc y^LT,rhia.Ta^.' GOOD CHEAP is^lvEB GROWN A wonderful big catalog CPCC Full of engravings of every ■ ntC ; \ ariety, with prices lower than other dealers'. Oldest reliable seed grow- erinAmerica. Nooldseed. Allfresh. They will grow or will refund money. BiJ Lol Extra Packages Free with Every Order. Send yours and your neighbor's address R. H. SHUMWAY, Bockford, Illinois! BEATS ALL" VICK'S GARDEN -" FLORAL GUIDE FOR I907 FREE. "OUR BEST SEED CATALOGUE 'JAMES VICK'S SONS 521 MAIN 5T' ROCHESTER. N Y "Golden Gate" Strawberry Seven ben-if^s made a fpiart It wr,n *"_•;? on 7 quarts at Mass. aoi-ticultural Soeiety in 1906. PAN-AMERICAN STRAWBERRY set in MaY will produce as niiicli fruir ttn- f..ll<,\vinK Au£.. Sept. and Get. as any variety in tlie ^iniiiL' and will sell for 00 cents per fjuart by tie- naf.'. S.'iid for circuiar. S. H. WARREN. Weston, Mass. ^"'^ BERRY PLANTS We are headquarters for plants^ of the new "Oswego" straw berry and 50 other best new aiid old varieties. ALso the "X'lum Fannei'" raspberry and other desirable kinds of Raspberries, Blackberries and other Fruit Plants, etc. 23 years experience. Highest awardsat World's Fair. We invite correspondence. Catalog free. L. J. Fanner. Boi 732, Pulaski, N. Y. Let ME Quote YOU On my full line of famous Split Hickory Vehicles. I sell direct from factory on 30 days' Free a Price Trial and 2->eiir guarantee. Save you 30 to 50 % in price Write for bi^' free BiiL'ffy Book, finer than ever Hub ye;ir 12.'* styles Vehicles .aud full line hiL'h-erade har- ness shown, Dontbuy untd you cct Triv tio, .k and prices. il. C. PHKLPS. Pros Oiiio Carriage Mfi;, to . Station t40 Cincinnati, Ohio. said in my renewed confidence, "that never makes the same mistalce twice. Our two acres of plants are mated all right and they are loaded with bloom, so looii out for those big berries this time instead of buttons — we've got the bird in the hand this time sure!" And we certainly did. Those vines literally were covered with big red fellows. The first picking filled three twenty-four quart cases, and I loaded them up and headed for the home dealer's who had agreed to sell my berries on a 10-per-cent commission basis. The little boy with his first pair of red-topped boots wasn't a comparison to me that day. Those three cases went like red lemonade at the county fair and at 15 cents a box, two boxes for a quarter. And so did the next picking; but the third day sales began to lag. Covington was a small town only, with four market berry growers, and I quickly discovered that I had made a mistake in depending upon that market for the sale of fruit, when I ought to have arranged with dealers in other towns to handle it. I at once wrote a fancy grocer at Indianapolis, telling him about my fine berries, and by return mail came a letter asking for an immediate shipment, and saying that if the berries were as fine as I had indicated, he would be able to sell ten or twelve cases every day. I at once packed with great care five or six cases, and sent them to him. The distance was seventy-two miles and there was no chan- ges en route. I had such boundless con- fidence that my berries would please this dealer and his customers that I did not wait to hear from him, but packed twelve cases more and sent them to the railway station the next day. In fact, I had no time to lose. The berries were ripening by the bushel and had to be disposed of at once. Just as the train was due to arrive, I went to the postoffice, and was delighted to receive a postal card from the dealer. "Of course," I thought, "this is an order for more strawberries." But my jov was short-lived. The postal card read: '""t'our berries are choice, but not fancy; don't ship any more!" Dear reader, need I try to tell you of my feelings at that moment.? I know I need not, but am sure that you will ap- preciate them and sympathize with me in that moment of disappointment; for few of us pass through life without having a shock of that sort some time. Well, there I was with twelve cases of fine berries at the station ready to be loaded and the train pulling in. And back at the farm were two acres more of the beautiful fruit ripening faster than they could be gathered. I was not long in deciding what to do. Running to the station as fast as my legs could take me, I arrived just in time to see my twelve cases of fruit going into the express car, and the impatient locomotive bell an- nounced that the train was just to pull Pa-e 30 * WHITE OHIO POTATOES WHITE EARLY OHIO An Ohio with a White Skin Nothins' equals the "M reliable Early Ohio t.ir c|Uiek, ciimiiaet growth, smooth, .-jyiiimetrical shape and line I guaht.y. White Ohio is ioentieaKal- tlioUKh .a better yiel.ler) with the white folor, domaniled now- in most market.s. Henry Field, the Iowa seedsman, grew 4,0(10 bushels -White Ohioson 8 acre.s Red River seed. Olds' lletl Kiver •White Ohios, fTiMwn in the c. .Id northwest, can t be excelled lor vi^eranhim<«, Etc. Mail size fiostpaid, safe arrival nnd Siitisiaotluii euarantt-ed, nrger by express or freight. l>ircct deal will In-ure you the best and save you monev. Try It. Valuable 168-pace Catalogne FREE. Correspondence solicited. 53 years. ]200 acres. THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., Box406, PAINESVILLE, OHIO. crown. TREES THAT GROW Apples 4c, 1 each he, I luin Cherries l.'.c. Best -I'l^il! good bearers. gudlLd , ^ . Btock, not seedlings. ^-^.«^^^ Concord Grapes 2c. ^^i,dt^^' Forest Tree Seed- V^-oS\vO - lings Sl.OO per ^^^^riT. 1.000 up. We >^.^^ ^ pay fr'ght. .^'^>- ^P ■Xo^> have a com- %> rS> y^ plete line ''-V /of Vegetable. Flower and Farm Seeds. Our .^-w- c.« ^ large illustrated cat- ' *^ \^ v^ "' ' '^ '"'■'-■^• .^^^y^ GERMAN NURSERIES, ^ OV^ox 101, BEATRICE, Neb. 450,000 SOO vurielieN.AIsu4;rape0,Sninll t ru.iHetc.betsi toot ed stock, (ifiiuinc, chtap, l' s^iiiiple currants mailed for 40c. Desc. pi ije liiit free. LLH IS UUEiJtU, Fredouia, N. Y- THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 out. "Give me a ticket to Indianapolis," I cried to the agent, "and please telephone my wife that I was obliged to go, and to use her own judgment in disposing of the ripening fruit until my return." And just as the rapidly moving train swept out of the station I swung aboard, re- solved to know what the trouble was at all hazards. I could not sit still on the train, and my mind was full of question- ings as to what could have been wrong with the berries 1 had shipped the day before. But soon I was in Indianapolis and there I saw my berries taken from the car and followed the express wagon to the store, but told no one who I was. While the expressman was unloading the berries, I paced nervously up and down in front of the fine establishment. Soon one of the clerks came out and began to remove the lids from the cases. Such a sight met my eyes as made my heart sink with disappointment and chagrin! Boxes that two hours before were packed level with the top were now less than half full. I called the proprietor out, told him who I was and of my amaze- ment and disappointment at what I had witnessed. He assured me that the same thing had occurred with the previous day's shipment, and the first box I lifted told the reason why — I had made my boxes with tacks and the jar of the car had broken the bottom of each one loose, letting it down on one side! "You should have a box machine and make your own boxes with wire staples," said the dealer. "It's a shame to have such fine large berries as these mangled in such a manner." That's a good suggestion," I replied, "but rather late to act upon at this late day. You do the best you can with this shipment." And I left him to take the train home, reflecting as I rode along as to which was the greater disappointment — a mistake that made the crop a failure, or a big crop and a big blunder at market- ing time? (Continued in iVIarch Number) What One Woman Did By Mrs. J. A. Holmes I HAVE been an interested reader of The Strawberry for the past year, and for the encouragement of other women situated as I am, will tell you something of my experience and ultimate success in raising strawberries. In the spring of 1905 I ordered some plants and as soon as I received them they were set out on good land, using commercial fertilizer only, as I wished to avoid all the weeds possible. I had plants enough to set a little less than seven rods of land and the plants lived quite well and soon began to grow, and then the hard work began, for some weeds and grass came in, but by hard and persistent effort I kept my little field clean, and as a re- 30 Years' Experience In Fruit Growing— Shall I tell j'ou about it, and how to make a fruit garden? See free book as offered below. Charles A. Green, Pres. 50 Apple, Peach or Plum Trees for $2. Lar'-er trees of apple, pear, peach and quince at live and let live prices. Bargains in all sizes of apple, peach and plum trees. Grapevines, beriy bushes, asparagus roots ai* orna- mental shrubs and trees our specially. Charles A. Green Has a national reputation tor honest labelme. (Trading and packing. Send for Green's Free Fruit Guide and CataloB, also for sample of Green's Bie Fruit Mauazine. When you send for these add the name and address of three fruit growers and we will present you with C. A. Green's book telling of 30 years growing fruit. See cut of cover. e^S" GREEN'S NURSERY CO., Rochester, N. Y This Book Free For 3 Names fBvIMade tfieOMfm S,C>^'h>h C^' SEEDS THAT GROW! If you I>^ct ^P^rlc that can want the OCM OCCU5 be grown, — as proved by thousands of tests at the LarfffSt Trial Grounds in America, you ^-hoiilii read Burpee's Farm Annual for 1907, — **The Leading American Seed Catalog." A handsome book of 200 pages with beautiful half-tone illustrations from photographs, it tells the plain trnth ! Among other important Noveltit- s for 1907, six pages are devoted to two unique "New Creations," in whicli nature has surpassed herself. These are the most wonderful advances, over existing types, that have ever been known in any vegetihle. Their discovery will be worth many tliousands of dollars anuually to American gardeners. &g=If you can appreciate Quality in Seeds, and arc willing to pay a fair price, -write to-day (a postal card will tlo) and you will receive our Complete Catalog by return mail. W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Seed Growers, PHILADELPHIA, PA. RASPBERRIES Large assortment of good strong plants of Red, Black and Pu-ple varieties. Eaton, Ruby, Kin^, Columbian, Cumberland, Etc.- — BLACKBERRIES Root-cutting plants; 14 varie'ies, including Ward, Mersereau, Rathbun, Eldorado — 4 of the best varieties grown Fruit Trees — all kinds. Grapes, Currants, Gooseberries, Asparagus, Rhubarband Horse- radish roots. Roses, etc. Garden Seeds of all kinds — pure, fresh and reliable. Catalogue Now Ready, Giving Full Directions as to How to Plant, Cultivate and Care for the Above Products We can save you money, and guarantee satisfaction. Established 1890. 370 acres. WRITE TODAY F R FREE CATALOGUE Jackson County Nurseries, Bosky Dell, Illinois. SEEDS $l.50 Worth to Test Only ID Cents I want you to try my Superior Seeds. One Trial will make a Cus- tomer. I will mail one Full Packet each of tlie following IS Grand New Sorts for only lo cts. These would cost at least $1.50 elsewhere. BEET. Perfected Red Turnip, earliest, best. CABBAGE, Winter Header, sure header, fine. CARROT.PerfectedHalfLong.best table sort. CELERY, Winter Giant, large, crisp, goo.l. CUCUMBER, FamilyFavorite, favorite sort. LETTUCE, Crisp as Ice, heads early, tender. MUSK MELON, Lnsciotfs Gem, best grown. WATERMELON, Bell's Early, extra tine. Jtf This 10 cts. returned on first 25c. order. ONION, Prizetaker, wt. jibs. 1000 bush. per acre. PARSNIP. White Sugar, long, smooth, sweet. RADISH, White Icicle, long, crisp, tender, best. TOMATO, Earliest in world, large, smooth, fine. TURNIP, Sweetest German, sweet, large. Flower Seeds, sw sorts mixed, large packet. Sweet Peas, ■- oz. CalifomiaGiants Grand Mxd. Catalogue and Check for loots, free with order. J. J. BELL, Deposit, N. Y. One and two year old tnust be sold as they are on ren- ted land. AH thrifty and healthv. Priceslow. Send forcatalogof Prees. Plants, Vines, California Privet, Garden Tools, Spraying Mixtures. Pumps, etc. ARTHUR J. COLLINS, Boi 4tS, Moorestown, N. J, 800,000 Asparagus Roots Page 31 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 ward for my labor I had as fine a lot of plants as anyone could wish to see. Well, the plants wintered finely, and what a pretty sight they were at blossom- ing time, and how anxiously I watched them all through their season of growth! It was then that I began to realize that my labor was indeed about to have its full reward, for such berries I never before had seen. They grew until it seemed they could be no larger, and then kept right on growing; and such a beautiful color, so rich and red that it was a delight to look at them. Up to this time I had given but little thought about how or where I would market my berries, but a bright thought came to me, and I packed a box of Sam- ples and sent it to the proprietor of the principal store in our little village with a request that he exhibit them for a time and then eat them for his supper. Well now, I tell you, that plan worked, for in a short time orders came rushing in over the farm teleplione for more berries than I could possibly supply even had my patch been many times larger. My boxes I filled rounding full, and that with the quality of the berries made a striking contrast to the average lots that were offered for sale at the same time. To make a long story short, I picked 340 full quart boxes, and as I sold for twelve and one-half cents per box it is easy for The Strawberry readers to see I had quite a tidy little sum to my account, and it is perhaps needless to say that I shall try to enlarge my bed from year to year. And I wish to say that what I have done, can be done by other women whose lot in life is to li\e on a farm. Dryden, Me. 'T'HE reason the big strawberries are * always on the top of the box is be- cause they were picked last and had a longer time to grow, according to a very thoughtful and considerate exchange. One Way to Advance Horticulture ORLANDO HARRISON, who is one of the most extensive nur- serymen in the United States, also enjoys the triple distinction of being presi- dent of both the American Association of Nurserymen and of the Maryland Society and mayor of his home town, Berlin, Md. He had the pleasure as mayor of welcom- ing to his city the horticulturists of his state at their recent annual meeting, and in the course of his address he said some- thing that ought to sink deep into the minds of people everywhere. We quote: "We the tillers of the soil of the state of Maryland, produce about thirty-five million dollars annually. I claim that any state that produces so much wealth by means of its farmers and gardeners Established in 1869 Headquarters For n* M AiMurACTuncn at " li » jl.THE MICHIGAN BASKET FACTORY Ol^» \VK.I>I.*» HI<}.>1ATJC0. ST. JOSEPH. MICH. SENO rDRILlUSTHftTCD PRICE LIST. Experience Counts BERRY BOXES Peach and Grape Baskets Also Melon Baskets Fniit shipped in our packages insures liiixh- •■st prices. Order Ixix'-s now and make up at yonr leisure. Write us fur Berry Box Machine. " Illustrated Price List Free. Wells, Hitman Company Box 10. ST. JOSEPH. MICH. Save Money by Making Up Your Own Fruit Boxes and Baskets :ON: "ADVANCE" FOOT POWER WIRE STAPLING MACHINE A Time-Tested, Reliable and Fully Guaranteed Machine Write for prices and circulars Mfg. by SARANAC MACHINE CO., 2731 Main Street ST. JOSEPH. MICH. SEND FOR FREE SAMPLE The BASKET with the RIM That is the distinguishing feature of the WAX LINED PAPER BERRY BASKET The height of Clean, Odorless, Taint- less, Pure and Perfect Basket Perfection IF YOU ARE A BERRY GROWER you w«nl our Basket and we want your name MULLEN BROS. PAPER COMPANY Dept. B St. Joseph, Mich. should be entitled to a building in the great central city of the state, which should be known as the Horticultural Hall. I ask here today that some son of Maryland donate a plot of land for this purpose and ask the state to erect a building for the farmers, truckers and fruit growers and centralize various office buildings of the state that are located in Baltimore City in one, which will be an economy to the state and give the tillers of the soil an opportunity to put their products on exhi- bition in our principal city continually. Let us show what can be grown in this grand old state of Maryland." The horticultural possibilities of nearly Pag3 32 every state in the Union are beyond esti- mate. We have not begun to scratch the surface of things as yet — where we produce dimes now we can produce thousands of dollars. There's millions in the soil at our feet if only we will "dig" for it. Why should a Maryland man, or a Michigan man, or an Illinois man, go about looking for pastures new when right at home, without a cent for railroad fare and without disturbing the old-home relations, so dear to him and his family, there are opportunities that show a pay streak of gold with every spadeful of earth? Think of these things. Ifever\' state followed President and Mayor Har- THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 rison's suggestions, these eastern and mid- dle sections of the country would bloom and blossom like the rose. The Home Strawberry Bed THE many beautiful pictures of fam- ily strawberry beds we have re- ceived of late prompts us to write this article, and the letters which accom- pany these photographs are so full of cheer and enthusiasm that we are led to repeat what often has been said before. A home in the country, or a suburban wholesome and purer food than can any millionaire in the great city. While country folks are regaling them- selves with luscious strawberries and ber- ries of all kinds, fresh from the vines, and with fully ripened fruit of all kinds just from the trees, the city folks are eating what little of these goodies they can af- ford that are picked half-green and ship- ped and reshipped until scarcely eatable. Now don't spend your long winter evenings trying to formulate an excuse for not having a generous strawberry bed for the family's use. Settle the question right now, and in the morning after you IN THE FAMILY STRAWBERRY BED OF H. PIESINGER, LE SEUF.R, MINN. home; we may say a home anywhere with soil enough for a flower bed, can be made more homelike, more beautiful, more readily self-supporting, and more appre- ciated by the addition of a strawberry bed. The photo-engravings of home gardens shown in this issue of The Strawberry tell the story in a more convincing man- ner than words can do. And how often these little family strawberry beds make a turning-point in a boy's life. Just the other day we received a letter from a Strawberry reader saying that when he was a boy of only ten years his grand- father gave him a piece of land to set in strawberries, and with a little help and a lot of encouragement from his grandpa this boy grew from a small boy with a small berry patch to a muscular and in- tellectual man, and his first position was that of head gardener. From there he stepped over upon his own farm, bought by honestly earned money, and is now a popular berry and vegetable grower. Who can estimate the true value of that boy's first berry patch and the encour- agement he received from his grandfather? Maybe that boy or girl of yours is at the cross-roads of life, wondering which way to turn. In one direction is the smoke stacks, the hustling, bustling, smoky city with its numberless temptations that are so apt to lead innocent, pure-minded country youths into sin and an unhappy, rather than a blissful life. 1 he other di- rection points to the countr\' with its smokeless, pure atmosphere, good assoc- iates, crystal water, boundless opportuni- ties to deal with loving Nature in all her glory. There one may make more money, be more independent, eat more get the chores done and have eaten your breakfast of good fresh sausage, fried eggs which were laid just the day before, hot biscuits and good cofFee, with real cream from real cowr, (but no strawberries) — and don't forget to ask the blessing — go out to the garden and stake off a piece of ground and mark on the stakes in big black letters: "This piece of ground is for strawberries." Now cover it lightly with well-decayed manure, spreading it evenly over the ground. This will take about an hour and all the preparation necessary is done until spring. This meals every day, winter and summer. Do this tonight and you will have rich, fresh strawberries, and all you want; but keep on postponing it until tomorrow, and you will eat old dried prunes! VV/^HAT is easily done may be overdone; What is difficult to do is in demand; What once has been done may be done again, And you are the fellow thi.t can do it. "Impossible" is un-American. AL.MJAMA horticulturists are antici- pating a veritable feast of reason and flow of soul at Montgomery February 6-7, at which place and time the annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society will be held. There has been a wonder- ful advance all along the line of horticul- tural development in that great state dur- ing the last few years, and the good work seems to grow in value and importance as it moves forward. W. F. Heikes of Huntsville is president, and R. S. Mack- intosh, the well-known horticulturist of the Experiment Station of that state, is the secretary of the Alabama State So- ciety. The latter's address is Auburn, Ala. The strawberry is rapidly taking a leading place in the horticulture of the state and should be given due prominence on the program. Working for the Ideal By L. E. Job IN January, 1906 I ordered four hun- dred strawberry plants, and a month later I subscribed for The Strawber- ry. By the time the plants arrived in April I had learned how best to prepare the bed and set the plants. After the work of preparing the bed THE BEAUTIFUL HOME GROUNDS OF H. PIESINGER, LE SEUER, MINN. evening, instead of going down to the store and giving your opinion as to how the government ought to be run, or the kind of gun Roosevelt should use to shoot bear, spend your time in looking over the catalogues to which the nursery- men have devoted so much time and given so much thought for your benefit, and select your plants, choosing several varieties from the earliest to the latest so that you will have strawberries three Psfle 33 and' setting the plants was completed, cultivation commenced in earnest, and all through the summer months not one thing was left undone that was recom- mended in The Strawberry. Not a weed was allowed to grow, the ground was cul- tivated as soon after a rain as it would work well, and after the ideal rows were formed not a runner was permitted to grow. Early in the morning on Thanksgiving THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 day these fine plants were put to bed under a nice clean blanket of straw, and as I sit by my warm fire these long win- ter evenings visions of big, luscious straw- berries come before me. And I feel that these visions will be a reality next June, if Jack Frost will stay away and the weather is seasonable. I had much advice and many sugges- tions from my friends as to how I should care for my strawberry bed, but I always told them that I was going according to instructions in The Strawberry and could not change my way of doing things. Why these friends made suggestions was always rather puzzling to me, because they in- variably said my bed was the finest one they ever saw. I am now planning to set another bed in the spring and I expect to give it the same careful attention that I have given this year's bed. I am a rural mail carrier, and as my salary for this work is rather meager, I shall expect my strawberry beds to greatly help my yearly income, and I feel that I shall not be disappointed. WellsvUle, Kan. A Long Strawberry Season By Samuel Cooper 1HAVE been interested in the articles in The Strawberry giving personal experiences in strawberry growing, and thought that my last year's experience might be of interest to some of your read- ers. Plants did not come through the winter very well in this section; they were thinned by the "heaving out" of the weaker plants, in some cases so many dying that the fields were plowed up in the spring. The fields however, which had been well mulched in the fall came out fairly well, and blossomed heavily, but about May 15 a hard frost came, killing many of the blossoms. Enough of mine escaped to furnish a fair crop of extra-fine berries which sold at 15 cents per quart for the first two or three pickings, then at 12 cents after grading out the smaller ones, which sold at 10 cents per quart for can- ning berries; so, on the whole, results were not unsatisfactory. My last picking of the spring crop was July 12. The last of July I commenced picking the fall crop for our own table use, and August 3 made the first shipment to Buffalo. From that time I shipped two or three times a week until October 10, when we had the big snow storm, followed by a hard freeze, which I thought would surely finish them. October 17 was warm and plesantand, •as some berries were wanted for a wedding in town, I got the pickers out in the hope that they might find perhaps five or six quarts of berries protected by the leaves from the snow and frost. They picked Famous Ah^Ig LamQ HEN we tell you that The Angle Lamp will light your home better^ cheaper and more sat isfactory Wxzxi gas. electricity, gasoline, acetylene or any other we mean better^ cheaper and more satisfactory and are ready to back these statements with proof. For our lamp is constructed on a new principle of oil liRht- ing (patented by us) which completely does away with the smoke, odor and bother of the ordinary lamp and yet makes "The Angle' ' so much cheaper to burn than even the ordinary lamp that it PAYiS FOR ITSELF. Better Than Gasoline. Because all gasoline lights use mantles. And all mantle lights are intense, glaring, pene- trating. That is why one conscientious Ameri- can manufacturer tries to give his mantle at least a little of the soft yellow tone which makes the kerosene light. And absolutely re- fuses to make a "pure-white" mantle. For he knows what all students of lighting methods know — that the "pure-white" mantle creates a light so intense, so penetrating, that like the X-Ray it piercesthe retina of the eye. soon causing blindness. And yet some people, becr.use the very pcnetratins qualities enable them to read at a long distance as from the fixtures, still use such eye-destroying lights. Then, too, gasoline is one of the most dangerous illuminants; while the constant breaking of the delicate mantles makes it expensive far beyond the cost of the fuel. The Angle Lamp, on the other hand, while giving a litrht of the finest quality known to science, is absolutely safe, requires little attention and never gets out of order. Mr. E.^C. Parmelee, Highlands, N. J., sums it up briefly in a recent letter, "My Angle Lamps," he,says, "have saved 20 times their cost in oil- burners, chimneys and cuss words." Better Than "The Acetylene Light" says Dr. David T. Day, Chief of the mining and mineral resources division of the U. S. Geological Survey, "is evt'ii more s'^aring- indoor than the arc light out- doors." Dr. Day places Acetylene as the worst of all artifical liy-.ts for home use — more pene- trating and more harmful than the mantle hghts. But Acetylene has a worse feature, even than this — the danger. It is one of the most explo- sive and probably the most penetrating gases known to science,— so penetrating is it that it sifts through even the water with wliich all acetylene generator manufacturers presume to Acetylene. seal the gas-storage tanks. And don't think a large quantity need sift through to cause trouble. For any mixture of acetylene and air from one part of gas to tt-'se of air, up to one tart eas to 40 Parts of air uiay explode I How strong the contrast between this danger- ous system of which you never can be sure and the safe, clean Angle Lamp, which, because of its double fount construction and "angle" flame, absolutely cannot explode. And how strong the contrast between the intense, eye- straining acetylene light and the soft, warm^ restful Angle Lamp! Better Than Ordinary Lamps. "The oil lamp." says Dr. Day. in another part of tile article above referred to, "yellow, steady, fairly soft, is still the supreme reading light in general use." This splendid kerosene qitality of light forms the oniy ground for comparisons between otir lamp and the old fashioned kind. Because The Angle Lamp is an entirely new principle of oil lighting which, while generating a far better and more brilliant light than the old style lamp, has completely done away with all the smoke, odor and bother of the old style lamp. The Angle Lamp is lighted and extinguished as easily as gas. It requires filling only once or twice a week, which may be done with abso- lute safety while the lamp is lighted. It never smokes or gives the slightest odor whether the light is turned at full height or turned low like gas. It is absolutely safe. And yet the very features which make The Angle Lamp the most convenient light ever invented by giving perfect combustion of oil. make it also the cheapest. For otte quart of oil burns lt> hours. Figure what that means in economy I Now if you have read this advertisement closely you understand why we otfer to prove what a completely satisfactory light The Angle Lamp is by sending any lamp listed in our catalog ' 5+ "on OA FfcAVC* TRY Af *"<^ y°" ^'''" understand why such people as ex-Pres, «»" Irrl. K i3 * «*J.rMj. Cleveland, the Rockefellers, Carnegies. etc., who care nothing about the economical features of the Angle Lamp have chosen THIS oil-burning lamp for lighting their homes and estates in preference to gas, electricity, aceMene or any other sys- tem. The Angle Lamp will please you as it does thousands of others. Write for our catalog S4 , listing 32 varieties from $1.80 up. and giving you information about all lighting methods that would cost you hundreds of dollars to collect. THE ANGLE MFG. COMPANY. 78-80 MURRAY STREET. NEW YORK. thirty-five quarts that graded eighteen quarts of fancy berries. I thought that this would surely be the last picking, but October 24 we picked thirty-seven quarts, eighteen quarts of which I shipped to the Broezel House in Buffalo; the balance were sold in the local market. After that we had a freeze that froze all the green ber- ries hard. The vines were quite well filled with green fruit, and if the weather had been as usual I could have picked for two weeks longer. I have been raising fall berries for seven years. On four different years they fur- nished us with a shortcake on election day, and one year I picked four quarts on the 13th of November. I find that if the frost gets my spring berries I am still sure of strawberries from my own fields for from eighty to one hundred days in the year. Delevan^ N. Y. Page 34 EVERYBODY engaged in horticulture knows "Biggie's Books," but the latest from that source will command more attention than any of its predecessors, at least this will be true in the case of those who have orchards that they care about. The title of this one is "Biggie's Or- chard Book", and though its pages are small and only 144 in number, they are so full of meat that this little book, with its beautiful illustrations and helpful directions and sugges- tions, is more valuable than some we know of that would weigh ten times as much. All of Biggie's books are published by Wilmer Atkin- son, editor of Farm Journal, Philadelphia, and this fact alone is a guarantee of quality. PAGE goods are good goods; every man in the country who ever used Page woven-wire fencing will tell you that. The fact is brought freshly to mind by the receipt of a copy of a handsome little paper published by this enter- prising house in which we note some splendid testimonials to the quality and endurance of the product of this company. Page has stood for honesty and square dealing all through, and each year strengthens its hold on public confidence. Out of a Woman Strawberry Grower's Note Book By Mrs. Emma Hey I HAVE been in this business in one way or another for about twelve years and have learned that there are a good many very essential things about it out- side of the actual growing of the berries. It is one thing to grow a fine crop of berries. It is quite another thing to dis- pose of them at a profit. What disposi- tion is to be made of them is perhaps the very first point to be settled, as many other things about it depend largely upon this. We would not do quite the same with berries that we intended to place on the counter of a grocery as we would if we sold them from a wagon. On the counter the appearance of the boxes would be of prime importance and we think it would pay for the extra labor spent in topping them. B)' topping I simply mean turning the stem-end down, which greatly improves the looks of the box. For our wagons we do not think this would pay. Our berries are not placed beside others which look either better or worse. We always have sold good berries, therefore our reputation is good and the berries sell on that. We have always instructed our pickers to put an extra large berry in the bottom rather than on top of the box. .As our berries are neither kept nor shipped, we can grow a good quality of fruit, al- lowing them to ripen fully on the vines. With growing berries to be shipped we have had no experience whatever, but we are sure it would be an entirely different proposition. We are nearly two miles from the business portion of a town of 10,000 people, and sell direct to custom- ers. We have two wagons, each manned with a first-class salesman and a good lively boy. A third wagon keeps these two supplied with berries throughout the forenoon. These wagons make a daily trip over the same route throughout the season. After experimenting on this place and under these circumstances and our present methods of cultivation for four years, we have decided that two acres of strawber- ries is both the most and the least we should grow. If the crop is an average one it is just what our wagons can dispose of comfortably and get a good price, and should the yield be heavy they would not be utterly swamped. When we get so we can grow as many berries as we do now on less land, we shall cut down the acreage, but we must have berries enough to make it pay the pickers to come out there from town to pick them. We are satisfied that it is much better to sell 10,000 boxes at a shilling a box than to sell 20,000 at 8 cents per box. We are also sure that the nearer we come to raising fancy berries the better it is for us, and it is our constant aim to grow better and better berries, though I must admit that thus far we have succeeded in growing more and more berries instead. My first experience in growing and selling berries was when my father grew two rows across a town lot and sold $35 worth of them, beside having all we want- ed for our own use in a family of six. Our next step was when the town lot had been left behind and we grew one- sixth of an acre from which we sold one year 2,000 boxes. They averaged us 10 cents a box. For the past four years we have had nearly three acres in berries. The circumstances have in many respects been adverse. We bought a run-down BEAUTIFUL FARM HOME OF THE HEYS NEAR DIXON, ILL. IIIMJ MRS. HEY WITH HER HOUSE PLANTS place that had been rented many years and was very weedy. The only preparation for the strawberries v\'e could make was to plow under a crop of clover in the fall which had been sown the previous spring. While our crops have been fairly good (we have had to depend upon this same patch all the while) it goes without say- ing that we have not realized $200 from a sixth of an acre! Next spring we expect to make a fresh start for better berries. We shall plant two acres. The ground to be used has grown vegetables for several seasons. Last year it grew beans chiefly. As soon as these were harvested it was covered with rotten barnyard manure, and just when the ground began to freeze it was plowed. In the spring it will be plowed again and then disked several times and finally planked with a weighted plank. After this it will be gone over with a fine- tooth harrow, setting the same very shal- low, as this is done to prevent capilarity only. The ground will then be ready for the plants. We usually have grown our own plants and always expect to in the future. We set out a propagating bed, setting into it good strong plants four feet by three feet. We put them in a good place and keep them clean throughout the season. We prefer to have them rather thin, but we never have done anything other than keep- ing the rows from mixing in the way of thinning. When we are ready to plant, about May 1, we dig enough plants for a half-day's planting. We dig with a five- tined fork, shake them c jt and take to a shed where they are sorted and trimmed, and the blossom taken out where possible. Page 35 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 Only first-class plants with large bunches of roots are used These are tied in bunches of twenty-five, labeled and set into a tLib containing a few inches of water. In this they are taken to the field. Here they are carried during the setting in a paper-lined and covered basket. A cloth gunny sack or paper are equally good for cover, so they keep the sun from wilting the plants. The plants are not dropped ahead but as they are planted. The rows are marked with a hand- made marker three and one-half feet apart. Plants are set two feet apart. We aim to set them firmly in the ground with roots well spread and at the same depth they stood in the propagating bed. We are growing at present five va- rieties— Warfield, Bederwood, Splendid, Dunlap and Staples. The first three named are our main crop. We are try- ing the Dunlap and hoping it may prove good enough to take the places of both Splendid and Bederwood. Splendid with us is a very good berry when it is good, but it has spells of being bad "and when it's bad it's horrid." Bederwood is a splendid fertilizer, as it blooms both early and late. It always has a smooth well- developed berry of excellent flavor, but it is light in color, therefore not desirable for canning. Staples is a very sweet dark berry, but it is a shy bearer. Of these we have only one row which is for our own use. We have tried many other varieties but have discarded them all. Heretofore we have planted our rows as follows: one Bederwood; two Warfield; one Splendid. Next year we shall plant Dunlap in the place of Bederwood, every other row. It would be impossible to tell how often we cultivate or hoe. We hoe fre- quently enough to keep them clean. It is a great saving of labor to hoe when the weeds are small. We cultivate enough to keep a constant dust mulch — after every rain and at least once a week if it doesn't rain. We use a twelve-tooth Planet Jr. and a roller runner cutter if the row gets more than a foot wide. We have always had a narrow-matted row and tried to keep it thin, but in the next bed we are going to test the hedge- row in a small way. We pick off all blossoms the first year. In the fall we mulch with oat straw or rye straw. We do this earlier than we used to do. We cover the rows very lightly, putting it thickly between rows. In the spring we uncover enough so the plants can grow through the straw. We never have been obliged to spray strawberries, although at times we have had some rust on Beder- wood rows. We never have removed mulch and cultivated in spring, but I am of the opinion it is a fine thing to do. From the time of removing the mulch until the harvest our beds have received no attention, but when that time comes HARDY BLIZZARD BELT EVERGREENS FREE If you are not already acquainted with us we want to grasp your hand across the miles and introduce you to the The Gardner Nursery Company, Osage, Iowa. We are growers of Hardy "Blizzard Belt" nursery stock. We are Gardners by name and ^^^^^^■^^^^^^ "Gardeners" by occupation. We grow Hardy Trees. That is our business. We have been at it for nearly 40 years and are proud of our record. We expect to continue growing Hardy nursery stock for another 40 years and maybe longer. We grow our "Blizzard Belt" Ever- greens in ten million lots. To advertise them and prove that they are healthy, well rooted and vigorous, we offer to send fonr fine sample trees 3 years old, free to a limited numberof property owners. Mailing expense Scents, which send ornot as you wish. A postal will bring them. Last year we distributed 500.000 of these sample evergreens and gained thou- sands of new friends. This year we have RESERVED 600,000 TREES for this free advertising distribution and if you want your share of them write at once for they will go fast. W.H.Gibboney.Mandan, North Dakota, writes: "Please accept thanks for the sample evergreens. They are doing fine." This is but a sample of thousands of letters. Our catalog containing 64 colored plates of our Hardy "Blizzard Belt" Fruits, Orna- mentals, Evergreens, etc., with a mine of valuable information for fruit growers, is free for the asking. Write today. The Gardner Nursery Company, 33 Nursery Ave., Osage, lowa< You Can Buy and Lay DA AFINfi Gordon.VanTineFirrit^RibLitWWI ■■111 50% BELOW DEALERS' PRICES Ue'll sfll V'Hi, if yon want ron6D&. teller rorifing than ym can buy an^-where else— Fllnlcoated, Fire- proof Rubber Rfins SlU you direct at half whal your local dealer will charge you for urUin^iry .ufini,'— half what shiiii:les wilt cubt you. for we ship right from our factory to you. Send you a Free Roof Book on our roofing, telline why it's Rustproof and Practically Fireproof ilH .anrplL"°™""c7„ fe^nUfr.^ tear it— pound it— smell it to see that there's no tar in it to burn or melt— try it with hot coals — try it with acid — try it any way to satisfy yourself. All You Need is a Hammer oVhtlir ^v^.^ndV' wi?^ every order all the nails, metal caps and cement you need to put it on. 8 sq. ft. for laps. And it's the easiest roofinsto put on made today. Than Half What les Cost You r^nlOEL 108 sq. feet 1-Ply $1.41 per Roll 2- Ply 1.96 per Roll 3-Ply 2.29perRoli HI acfC a I ifofimP ^""^ "'" *="P ^^^^ buildings dry. warm LdOlO d LIIClllllC and substantial in appearance. Won't rust out like aleel rooflnQ. This isn't an ordinary roofing. We make it frnui a special process material with such heavy machin- ery that when it's finished there's absolutely no "wear-out" to We tell you in our Roof Book all about the process — the pressure it gets — the flintcoating — the acidproof eoakin;; — the woatherproofing that we give it. It lakea 26 per cent aaving on Inauranca. it's CaIJ Aniii n!»nMt to the man who uses bold Unly UireCt it. so you save 50 per cent, wbiili L.ii Lithi-r r^«^'fing poes into your local dealer's, the ji-bber's and the wholesaler'i profits. You'll see from what we tell you in our Free Roofing Book irL^VuJ'r:',",,^' KS guarantee aafe, prompt delivery everywhere In the United Stales. We save y<.iu OOper cent, freight included. U'e ship t.:. you from Kansas City. Minne- apolis. Chicago or Davenport. This saves on freipht. Write or send catalog rciiuosts onlv to Davenport and let ua aave you— dollar for dollar— HALF. ^^^^_^^^^^_^_^_^__^^^_^__^.^^^^^^^^^ Write today. GORDON, VAN TINE & CO. VnT.'jr' Station 037 , DAVENPORT, IOWA Grand Catalog of Factory Prices on S»ah. Doore, Building MateiT*! and Woodwork sent free also. Page 36 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 SUPERLATIVE RASPBERRY WILL LEAD ALL OTHER VARIETIES COMMERCIALLY Improved Strain From Puget Sound Achieves Sweeping Triumph Wherever Planted— Larger, Richer and More Prolific—Conceded the Best Red Raspberry Ever Introduced THE Improved Superlative Red Raspberry, one of the wonder- ful products from the Puget Sound country — the real home of the red raspberry — is with- out doubt the most important commercial success achieved in berry- growing for years. As a berry to eat with cream and sugar, it is matchless. Its superior size and appearance and deli- cious taste make it the best market seller, and growers are obtaining a premium price for it. Its shipping qualities are not excelled by any other red raspberry. At the Lewis and Clark Exposi- tion the Superlative was awarded the Gold Medal, the highest award, over all other red raspberries. This new variety is being substituted for all others, wherever introduced, and growers are plowing out old strains to make room for this more profitable variety. The Improved Superla- tive Raspberry is con- trolled exclusively by the Chas. H. Lilly Co., the largest and best- known plant and seed house in the West. The following interesting ex- tracts from letters written by some of the most ex- tensive growers in the country describe its qual- ities: pie crates shipped East attracted much attention. The merits of the Superla- tive will undoubtedly transform the raspberry industry. No plants for sale at any price, as we need all we can pro- duce to extend our planting." — Snoho- mish Berry & Fruit Co., H. S. Wright, Manager. PRACTICALLY INSECT PROOF "Superlative is acme of perfection in the raspberry family, excelling all others, and my 50 years of experience covers BEST SHIPPER OF ALL WILL THRIVE ANYWHERE IN U. S. THE fact is well known that berry roots from the Puget Sound country grow better all over the United States than those from anywhere else, but the Superlative will prove this with even added emphasis. Invest in a few Superlative roots now; it will be the lead- ing variety in a few seasons; every one who sees the fruit wants it; your profits will return a hundred-fold. The endorsement of the Chas. H. Lilly Co. is a sufficient guarantee that the Improved Super- lative Red Raspberry is all that is claimed. OFFER OPEN TO EVERY GROWER I T is the desire of the Chas. H. Lilly Co. that the distribution of Growers' Association, per W.T. Dalson, Shipper. DISCARDS ALL FOR SUPERLATIVE "Superlative will revolutionize the raspberry industry in the commercial berry sections. In all my experience, testing practically every new raspberry, I have never had a variety to equal the Superlative. Have discarded all others for this. It outyields any berry of my experience." — J. F. Littooy, Hor- ticultural Inspector Snohomish County. STANDS MOST SE- VERE CLIMATE The hardiness of the Superlative raspberry is conclusive, as it stands the severe climate of Eastern Canada. Wher- ever introduced it has en- thused the growers. It is very difficult to obtain plants of the improved strain. The Chas. H. Lilly Co. of Seattle, have exclusive sale of the Superlative, and the quantity is limited. ITS SPLENDID CHAR- ACTERISTICS the Improved Superlative Raspberry shall be as widespread as "Hang on the canes well — Are remarkably firm and prove to be fine shippers-Aremuch larger than any other variety. Am convined they will prove larger producers and better ship- pers than any other variety. Will be good seller. I have no plants for sale." — D. F. Sexton, President Snohomish County Horticultural Association and President of the Snohomish Valley Growers' Association. WHAT LARGEST GROWER SAYS The Snohomish Berry and Fruit Co. have one of, if not the largest raspberry fields in the world. They say: "Any new item of value in the raspberry from a commercial standpoint is of material value to us. We have several varieties under observation. From our experience with the Superlative we will confine our future plantings to this variety. The berry is very large, nearly double that of other varieties, and yields 50 per cant, heavier. Shipping quality is good. Sam- possible in order that individual growers all over the United States and Canada may be able to make a start with this grand variety, thereby making a far-reaching and perpetual advertisement for the firm. Owing to the great value and limited number obtainable, it has been necessary to fix a price of $1 each for the roots. Large orders are not solicited, and under the circumstances no reduction can be made in such cases. Improved methods of packing have been perfected whereby the Chas. H. Lilly Co. ship the roots so thoroughly protected that they reach the most distant points across the continent in perfect planting condition. many varieties. Has hardy and healthy growth. Fruit the largest of any variety. Quality the very best. Very prolific. Core is very small. Flesh very deep. Seeds very small. Believe it will become the best shipper of all and command the highest price. Fruit does not fall from plant when ripe. Leaves are very large and corrugated, making it practically in- sect proof. Canes mature early. Have no plants for sale at any price." — Wm. Bennison, a Snohomish County Horti- cultural authority, and of wide experience both in England' and America. "Do not think I ever saw their equal, and I am an old berry raiser."— F. Walden, Fruit Editor of The Ranch. "Superlative raspberries shipped in open crates without refrigeration as far as Kalispell, Montana. Very satisfactory results."— Snohomish Valley Fruit Cane is smooth — grows erect — matures early — vigorous, strong, healthy — practically thornless. Leaves thick, dark green, deeply corrugated or wrinkled — practically in- sect proof, as red spiders or mites cannot travel on the leaf— leaf distinct from any other raspberry. Fruit one to one and one- half inches long— very prolific — ripens simul- taneously with earlier varieties and continues to end of season with lalost varieties -lobes deep - cores small -seeds small and masticated easily-flavor sub-acid, aromatic per- ceptibly sweeter than other favorite varieties no mustiness color delicate crimson — texture, firm - shipping quality best. Order the Superlative Now In ordering use the attached coupon, writing name and address plainly: Cut this out and mail to the SEATTLE, WASH. Enclosed find $ _ for wh ich send me Superlative Red Raspberry roots from the Im- proved Strain, at $1.00 each, postpaid. Also send free, postpaid, your complete new Seed and Plant Catalogue. Name Address ^ - Page 37 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 i74t 124' a> "NEW IDEA FOR FARMER'S WIVES" A woman on the farm is always looking for wava and means to make everj' pt-niiy count . She appreciates" that a ■ 'penny saved is a penny earned, ' ' and we are glad in this issue of The Strawberry that we can direct her to some money saving plans that are new and worthy of her con ■ sideration. This idea was sue^ested to us from readina an advertise- ment which appears in this issue of The Strawl)errv. and which was sent to us by Crofts & Reed, a lart'e Ohicaao manufaeturintr firm who manufacture and sell direct to the consumer trroceries and household supplies, such as teas, coffees, soaps, bakine powders, spices, extracts, washing powders, toilet preparations, perfumes, etc. Buying these daily household necessities direct from the maker at about one -half the prices the farmer's wife usually pays for them, seems to us a new idea which she ought to take advantage of, because of the great saving this method of buying affords. There is no reason why groceries should not be purchased direct from tbe maker, thus sa\ing all middlemen's profits, just as satis- factorily as the one hundred and one other things used on the farm which are being bought direct from the maker today. It is needless for us to tell you' the saving that is derived in buying farm machinen- and farm supplies direct from the maker, and tho opportunity of buying groceries in the same manner is certainly a good one. For example, take baking powder for which you are now paying 25 cents per can at retail. you can get direct from Crofts & Reed for 12 1-2 cents per can just the same quantity. Laundry soap that costs yon 5 cents a bar can be had for 2 1-2 cents a bar, and so through- out their entire list the regular retail prices are cut one-half. This is only one of their many saving plans. Another plan affords an opportiinity wherel:iy the housewife can furnish her home through- out with the same money she is now spending for groceries and get the groceries besides. For instance, with $10 worth of groceries at the prices you are now paving vou can get a Couch, Morris Chair, Rocking Chair, Kitchen Cabinet, or your selection from nearly 1.000 other useful articles worth $ 10, such as shown in their advertisement on cover page 3 . We might tell you of all their plans, but you had better turn to the advertisement and then send for the book which explains them clearly. We want to impress you with the fact that this firm and their goods are absolutely dependable. Don't get the idea because these products can be bought at such a big sa\-ing on their "factory to family" plan that they are not equal in quality to any sold by dealers. To prove this these manufacturers offer to send goods without asking you to pay a cent of money until they have been received and proved absolutely satisfaciory in every respect at your hands. In fact, they tell us that they will send the goods and let you use them for thirty days before you need to send the money. If they are found 'satisfactory after this test, of course you will be only too glad and willing to pay for them at their low cost. We particularly suggest that our readers send for their Big Premium Book and free sample of toilet soap. You'll be surprised at the saving and values they offer. Here is a new idea for the economical farmer's wife which will help her to make her expenditures for household supplies go twice as far. or make the same money buv both groceries and the furniture. Be sure to addres's CROFT.S & REED, Dept. 596, Austin Ave,, Chicago, Illinois, when writing. our troubles begin. Everything else about berry growing is a pleasure; but getting them picked is a soul-harrowing job. I can get along pretty well with women and girls, but oh the boys! Each year we think we have discovered where the trouble lies and by making changes hope to better things in future, but each year after the biggest picking is over we have the same old crop of annoyances. We always have the boy whose mother says it doesn't pay any more, the sick boy and the tired boy; the boy for whom the weather is too hot, too cold or too wet; also the boy who has to go for his sum- mer vacation and the boy who has a steady job which he must take at once. Individually I like them and they are my friends, but collectively, as Dooley says, "they are my inimies." My job is in the "office." I inspect the berries, punch the pickers' tickets and pack the cases. Mr. Hey is his own foreman and all goes well enough appar- ently as long as he doesn't leave the patch; but the moment he is out of sight the visiting, the throwing of berries, the skip- ping of rows, etc., begins. I am close enough to see and hear, but not close enough to prevent. I hope I have been explicit enough so that all may see wherein we err and that some fellow Strawberry reader may set us right. Dixon, III. Mrs. Hey is exactly right in her posi- tion that it is better to sell 10,000 quarts of berries at a shilling than to sell twice the number for a lower price. It doesn't cost any more to pick a quart of big fancy berries than it does a quart of little, knotty, ill-shaped things. In fact, it costs less to handle fancy berries than it does a poor grade, beside being easier to secure pickers to do the work when the fruit is large and fills the boxes quickly. Mrs.Hey's method of mating pistillates with two bisexuals is the correct way and her cultural methods are ideal, but plowing under the manure just at freezing time could have been im- proved by plowing earlier and sowing to rye, as it isn't good practice to leave the surface of the soil exposed to the ele- ments during the winter any more than it is in the summer time. F. E. B. Fertilizing the Strawberry By D. I. Duncan THE strawberry plant can be grown on any soil that will produce a good corn crop, but a rich, light loam, free from drouth, is preferable. If only a heavy clay soil is available, its me- chanical condition will be improved by the use of lime and subsoiling. While plenty of moisture is required for the plants, they will not flourish if their roots are in a cold, sodden soil. Very low-lying places should be avoided, since there is in such conditions considerable danger from frost. Correct fertilization is as important as soil selection, since some seemingly im- possible soils have been made to produce heavy crops of select berries. It goes without saying that after the soil has been selected it will be well plowed, and then with harrow and roller it will be put in the best possible tilth. The period of pre- paratory growth of the plant before bear- ing is but one year, and the crop that may be obtained is largely dependent upon the strength and vigor of the plant which has been acquired during this period. Hence it is desirable that the soil in which the plants are set should be abundantly sup- plied with mineral elements — potash and phosphoric acid. Therefore, about 500 pounds per acre of a fertilizer analyzing 2 per cent nitrogen, 7 per cent phosphoric acid, and 10 per cent potash should be ap- plied and well worked into the soil pre- vious to the setting of the plants. In the spring an application of 100 pounds per acre of nitrate of soda should be worked in between the rows as soon as the first growth appears. This top dressing is to be made the first season and also the sec- ond, but should never be applied after the bloom is on, since it will encourage a too late setting of the fruit, and a too PiKe 38 WHEN YOU BUY an incubator be sure you get one you can depend on. Every incubator -will hatch well sometimes— when all out- side conditions are favorable, but Mandy Lee Incubators and Brooders give results all the time. Heat. ventilation, and moisture— the thiee essentials of a successful hatch— are under separate and absolute control all the time. There is no gruesswork about the "Mandy Lee" Incubator. It don't make any difference what outside con- ditions are, you can always make "hatching" conditions in the egg chamber. If you want to learn the hows and whys Send for Catalog. Also ask about "Mandy Lee" Brood- ers, thedirectcou- tact heat kind that f u r n 1 a beat in a n atnral way. Geo.B. Lee Co, Dept. 51. Omaha, Ni b. :^ Ion? ratalnrr PDfE Describes and prices 45 varie- 3UI udlalUg rnLL ties fancy poultry and eggs. S. A. HUMMEL, Box 13, Freeport, Illinois 'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM THE sixth edition of the book. "200 E^re a Year per Hon. ' ' is now ready. Revised, eulart:ed, and in part rewritten, 00 pai^es. Contains amont:; other thlniTs the method of feedintr by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro, N. H., won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best ecrg record during the winter months. Simple as a, b, c — and yet we guarantee it to start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more eizea than any other method under the sun. The book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 68 eggs from 72 hens; and for five days in succession from the same flock 64 eggs a dav. Mr. F. F. Chamberlalc of Wolfboro, N.H.. says: *" By foUoning the methods outlined in your book I obtained 1.406 eegs from 91 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." Prom 14 pullets picked nt random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2.990 eggs in one year — an average of over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition in writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the standard book on egg production and profits In poultry . Tells all there is to know, and teUs it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our paper is handsomely Illustrated, 44 to 80 pages, 50 cents pe. vear. 'S months' trial, 10 cents. Sam- ple free, CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block. Syracuse, N. Y. THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 Kellogg's Thoroughbred Plants Beat Them All For twenty years they have held the World's Highest Fruiting Record. THOSE GREAT CROPS OF STRAWBERRIES YOU READ SO MUCH ABOUT ARE GROWN FROM KELLOGG'S STRAIN OF THOROUGHBRED PLANTS The leal test of strawberry plants is the quantity and quality of berries they produce. A Bunch of Thoroughbreds When we say that Kellogg's beat them all we only repeat what our old customers say. This is the kind of letters we get: E' Nothing But Kellogg's Will Do Him Fred Larsf^n of Clai-indu, Iowa, siivs: ''For two y<-ars past I have piirchiispd plants fri>iii vou and not- withstandinL' the late frost we had last year, the Kel- loi;^ plants came out victorious, ftnd as usual gave splendid returns, and with us it is 'Kellogg'sand only Kelloe£!;'s' forever." Sold Entire Crop &( 20 cents a Quart Francis Ball, Jen kin town, Pa. "I am crowlny; your )r'diL'r'*" strawberries, and tln-v ccrtainlv show thi-ir .liirh l.n-.dliii:. I supplied th.^ B.dk-vue Stratford Hntcl, I'hilad'-Iphia, with tifrries from your plants at $0.40 per bushel crate for the entire season.' ' Eight Thousand Quarts to tha Acre E. W. Mitchell, Pnxico, Mo. "For several years I have been srowint; your plants, and last vear on a piece of ground that measured on*"-fourth of an acre I produced more than 2.000 quarts of berries, and the best of it is, many of them measured five and a half inches and some of them six inches. Everybody said thpy were the bizgest and finest berries they ever saw. I want more Kellogg's in 1907." Our Customers Help to Push a Good Thing Along H. Hume. Mandeville. Ark. "I have just niov«'d on a farm, and am thinkinir of puttiuE in one acre of strawberries. The reason I am writing you is that every one with whom I have conversed on the sulj,iect have, without exception, recommended the R. M. Kel- logg Co . as the best and fairest firm to deal with . ' ' More Than 600 Quarts From 500 Plants Rufns Rroiiden, Jamestown, N. Y. "The season for strawberries in this section was very poor; because of the severe drouth many growers realized about half a crop and small berries at that. But my 500 Kellogg plants produced more than 600 quarts of big fine No. 1 berries, and I attribute my success to good strong plants. It is easy for an amateur to grow big crops with your plants and your system. Hope you will be able to furnish me with 1,000 more plants for the spring of 11)07." 15,000 Quarts From Two Acres Last Year Oeori;e S. Pomeroy, Jonesville, Mich. ' "1 am pleased to inform you that I got 15,000 quarts of ber- ries from my two acres of Kellogg plants this season. You will recall that when I visited flie Kellogg farms I told you that in 1903 I picked 10,0(MI quarts from one and a quarter acres, and in the fall of the same year sold HOO quarts from the same patch, and realized a big price for them, too." Sold 5,700 Quarts From Three-Fourths of an Acre W. W. Thomas, Ashland, Ohio, writ-s: "The Kel- logg plants that fruited for me this season went tlirough several severe frosts during blooming time, but with all this great handicap to start with I sold more than 5,700 quarts from three -fourths of an acre and they brought me $47.5. I received about 50 per cent more for my fruit than the growers got who used common plants. The 3,000 plants I got from you this spring are growing 'to beat tha band. ' ' ' A Visit to Kellogg Farms Convinced Him W. O. Kuhlman, Auburn, Ind. "I wish to thank yon fur the ven- kind way in which 1 was entertained while visiting your farms. 1 nnw know that what ytm state in your catalogue represents the actual facts, and that plants ordered from the Kellogg Company can be depended on . Yonr hundred acres of strawberry plants with mile-long rows, as clean as a whistle, was a sight worth going many miles to see. ' ' It's Better Than You Claim F. C. Vollmer, Cicero, N. Y. "After reading your 'Great Crops of Strawberries' I had your farms pictured in my mind, but my visit to you proves that the real thing beats what you say about it. I am an experienced grower of strawberries and know clean, healthy plants when I see them , and I can best express my feelings by saving that this special trip from New York for the sole purpose of seeing your farms is the best invest- ment I ever umde, ' ' Kellogg's Sell at a Premium of 33 1-3 per cent Truman Haves. North An yle, N. Y. "Last year I had one acre of Kellogg plants in fruit, and they were so fine that one dealer engaged the entire crop at 12 cents a quart, while other berries sold for 8 cents. I don't know another man who got more than 8 cents a quart. Last spring I set another patch and used your plants, setting them so that ea>-h hill would be about 12 inches apart, and each hill has built up from six to eight crowns. In all my advertising I say: "My ber- ries are grown on Kellogg's Thoroughbred Plants.' " More than 16,000 Customers in 1906 Just as well satisfied as these, and growers who have used our plants from the beginning are the most enthusiastic of all. Why should you be satisfied with anything but the best? If you have not received our "-'Great Crops of Strawberries and How to Grow Them" send us your name at once. If you have it, send us your order now so that we may reserve the varieties you select. Address R. M. KELLOGG COMPANY 118 PORTAGE AVENUE THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN extensive growth of vines and runners. When a commercial fertilizer analyzing as the one recommended here is not ob- tainable, the various materials can be pur- chased and the mixture made on the farm. A large amount of fertilizers can be prof- itably used on the strawberry if applied at the proper season. The best times are in the fall or early spring, before planting, and again in late summer or early fall, around the plants, and again in the winter or early spring. A point to be remembered is, never sow fertilizers in too close prox- imity to the crown of the plant in warm weather, while they are in the green grow- ing state, and never sow it on them in win- ter unless the leaves are dry. In the South, when the plants keep green all win- ter, the fertilizers must be divided between the rows and around the plants, preferably just before a rain. To the shipper color, early ripening and solid fruit are considered as well as the yield, and it is to assist in securing these that the fertilizers so rich in potash are recommended. Seima, ind. Our correspondent has made many val- Ptge 39 uable suggestions, especially on the appli- cation of a well-balanced commercial fer- tilizer; but we would suggest that in our experience the best time to apply com- mercial fertilizer is just after the ground has been broken up and then work it in thoroughly before setting plants. Com- mercial fertilizer, like stable manure, can- not be used by plants until it first decom- poses and the mineral matter is absorbed by the soil grains. His suggestions upon nitrate of soda are excellent. However, we ne\ er have found it necessary to culti- vate the nitrate of soda into the soil. THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 Merely sprinkle it along the rows of the plants. The rains will dissolve it and carry it down into the soil where the plants will use it immediately. We men- tion this so that growers who do not culti- vate their fruiting bed, will find it possible to use the soda as well as those who do cultivate. We would caution growers against using lime except in very light applications. Wood ashes are preferable. The latter contain 30 per cent of lime and in such form as does not over-stimulate the soil as does the pure slaked lime. — Editor Straw- berry. Berry-Growing in Washington FROM F.E.Corliss of North Yakima, Wash., comes a letter to The Straw- berry which serves to emphasize the importance of quality in fruit, and inci- dentally contains a cheerful word about this magazine. He says: "Here is my re- newal for The Stawberry, and I send $1.25, as I wish the paper sent to a friend who is very enthusiastic concerning straw- berry culture. I am very glad to renew, for your magazine is the best thing to keep a man in the right road of anything I ever came across "My plants did finely in 1906. I had less than a quarter of an acre and I took off of it $125 in cash. I fooled them all in this town. I put the first berries on the market (Excelsior, May 7) beating Kenewick and Hood River districts, and got 35 cents a quart — 'skinned' the home- growers by fully ten days. More than that, I got from 3 to 5 cents more a quart than any other grower in this valley. Ber- ries went as low as three for a quarter, and some sold for $1.25 a crate, but I did not sell a berry for less than twelve and a half cents a quart. "It was comical, the surprised way in which the people looked at me' and my fruit. I had just kept still about my ber- ries, and nobody knew who Corliss was until I came out with my beautiful fruit; and say, the other fellows felt queer. I followed The Strawberry way as nearly as I knew how. My berries were all packed in an attractive way; every box and case was stamped, and I started out as near right as I could. The result is I already have made a good reputation. Next season I shall have a half-acre of fruit to turn off, and hope to set two acres more to plants." EXTRA sets of The Strawberry for 1906 are now available, as several persons have offered them in response to a notice appearing in the January issue. The cost for each set of twelve numbers is just what we pay for them — $2 — plus postage, or a total of $2.25. If you wish to secure a set, write at once. are guaranteed — the best-working, easiest-running, longest-lasting, most reliable farm and garden tools. Designed by a practical farmer. Do the work ^ quickly, right, without injury to plants Made of the very best materials, *with good honest workmanship. No. 17 Planet Jr Single Wheel Hoe, Cultivator and Plow. One of the handiest implements ever made for gardening. All cultivating parts are of high- carbon steel to keep keen edge. Specially designed to work extremely close to ■■■ plants without injury. One man easily does the work of three to six. i ill Planet Jr 12-tc<»(h Harrow* Cultivator and Pulverizer is a splendid tool, 'i'jh for berry-growers and market gardeners — invaluable wherever fine, close work is I l|! needed. The twelve chisel-shaped teeth and the pulverizer leave ground in the finest IIH" possible condition. Saves many times its cost, and turns hard work for three men I *n' into easy and better work for one. A Planet Jr farm and garden tool for every need — Hill- and Drill-Seeders, Wheel Hoes, Horse Hoes. One- and Two-Horse Riding Cultivators, Har- rows and Orchard- and Beet-Cultivators — 45 kinds in all. Even if you have a Planet Jr write now for our new J907 Catalogtiet showing photographs of successful gardening at all stages, also the in- teresting new models. S. L. Allen & Co. Box 11060 t Philadelphia, Pa. ">>"%] IRON AGE>^ JJ,^^^flllJp/••' (Improved Robbins) Potato Planter M The only planter that does abso- lutely perfect work — uo misses or doubles — and gives you a uniform '* stand " from the entire crop. No waste of land, no waste of seed, no w^aste of time and labor. _^j Write for the New 1907 Iron Xge Book— Free— and find ^ut^^^ about this and all other Iron Agre Potato Hachinery and ^-^^j^ f Farm Implements. BATEMAN MFQ. CO.. Box 543, Grenloch, N. J. field matter how rich— is well prepared for seed aiiless the ground has beea tboroughlf pnlverized. Does the old fashioned spike or sprinir toothed harrow do thati It does not. It does tear op the g'rass, weeds and trash the plow burled, and which should stay baried. Wbat yoQ need Is the ACME All Staal Riding Harrow— the »nly harrow built on scientific principles. Fiat Bteel spurs pro ahead of the Acme coulters or teeth, •nuhlng and leveling every clod. The Acme Harrow Well palverlzed soil Then the conlters like lon^ plowshares is the most Im- follow, turning the soil both ways and portant requi- mixing it. When they get through with site of a good it the soil is as line as a Harrow can make seed bed. No It and presents all its food to the seed. Think how much easier on the team the Acme Harrow isl The old harrow dra^'ged blunt- ly against the soil. The Acme cuts smoothly through. Then the Acme Is very conveni- ent to move from one field to an- other, as a lever raises the coul- ters from the ground. One man can put the harrow in a wagon or sled with ease. The Acme is the lowest priced harrow made and is built to last. WrIlAlor Irae book, "A Psrfacl Seed Bed.*' Written by dlatlnflulahed agrlcullurSstSa A po&tal to me and It will come. Try the Acme FREE. DUANE H. NASH, Box 39, MILLINGTON, N. J. 34 Years Selling Direct Our vehicles and harness have been sold direct from our fav'tory to user fur a third of a century. \\ e ehlp for examination and approval and guarantee safe delivery. You are out Dothiug if not satlflfled as to style, quality and price. We are the Largest Manufacturers In the World selling to the con- sumer exclusively. We make 200 ttyles of Vehicles, 66 styles of HarnPBS. Send for large, free catalogue. No. 756. Bike Wagon with Fine Winis' Dash. Automobile Seat and K In. Guaranteed Rubber Tires. Price com- plete, $58. 50. As good as sells for $25.00 more No. 313. Canopy Top Surrey with Auto- mobile Style Seats. Price ri.mplete, $73.60. As good as sells for 125.00 more. Elkhart Carriage & Harness Mfg. Co. Elkhart, Indiana Strawberry Plants Largre stock of thrifty, j'oung plants from a strain of prolitio fruit Dearera. Also Trees. Vines, California Privet, Asparagus Roots, Garden Tools, Spray Pumps, etc. Catalog free. Write. ARTHUr J. COLLINS, BOX 4IS MOORESTOWN, N. J. ?hie 40 EXPERIMF.NTING TO LEARN BEST METHOD FOR PREPARING SOIL FOR STRAWBERRIES Potatoes in the Center with Field Peas on Each Side Intensive Strawberry Culture — Improving Plants by Selection By Frank E. Beatty IN the January issue I promised The Strawberry readers an article on plant improvement, and it is my intention to outline fundamental rules that, if closely followed, will result in greatly intensifying the fruiting power of the plants. Before entering into this subject I wish to impress upon the student's mind that a great deal of patience is required. Dealing with plant life, with an aim to improve it, somewhat resembles the work of an inventor. Many mistakes are made which make it neces- sary to tear down and rebuild. The first thing to do is to get fixed in your mind's eye the results you intend to work for. The inventor always does this and the machine usually is first put together in his head, and after the wheels and differ- ent parts are all perfectly ad j usted and work perfectly in the mind, he then proceeds to the actual work of realizing his ideal. But seldom it is that the machine ever works so satisfactorily at the outset as it did in his mind, so he again must tear the real machine down and rebuild it both in mind and materially, adjusting and readjusting its parts until perfection is attained. It is time lost to attempt to improve any variety of strawberry by selection without first knowing what improvement that va- riety needs. One must, then, first of all study the variety and become well ac- quainted with its normal characteristics. In this way, both the strong and weak points may be discovered. Then, and not until then, may the work be started with any assurance of progress. In the work with strawberries we find many variations, and where these variations exist there always is a chance for improvement. When working with a new seedling the first thing to do is to get a uniform type of foliage. Ordinarily this is not difficult. First, look the plants over and select the THIS subject is one of the most important the strawberry grower must consider, and yet the work is simple and uniformly successful where the rules are carefully observed. Mr. Beatty has been invited to deliver an address upon this theme before the Michigan Agricultural College February 13, which indicates that its importance is fully appreciated by the scientists in horticul- ture. The next instalment will deal with the ever interesting and equally important theme. Mating for Pollenation. type which suits your fancy, which of course will be the healthiest and most at- tractive. Stake all plants possessing the characteristics in foliage you are working for, and propagate from these particular plants, continuing along this line until you have secured a strain of plants of that seed- ling which will build up a uniform foliage to your liking. When working on standard varieties with an aim to producing a new strain there are four elements to be considered: (1) A healthy and uniform type of foliage and enough of it successfully to mature all the berries, as well as foliage having tough leaf tissues, which are a great protection against the attacks of fungi. (2) Ability to build up a heavy crown system. (3) Ability to produce enough strong progeny to give best results without dete- rioration in bud forming. (4) To produce progeny of its own type; those that will retain the same strong characteristics of the mother plant. Some varieties will possess one or more of these good points, but will be weak in others, and after learning where the weak points are, we can proceed to eliminate them by selecting from mother plants that score high on these particular points. For instance, if a variety produces heav- ily of choice berries and has sufficient fo- Page 41 liage of uniform type properly to mature all of its fruit as well as protect the fruit from the sun's rays, but is susceptible to leaf spot, then we should start at once to correct this weakness. A close watch through the entire growing season will re- veal the plants which possess the character- istics sought. No matter how susceptible the variety may be to fungous attack, some plants of that same variety may be found which are practically immune to fungi, and it is from these plants the selection should be started. If the work be intel- ligently done, improvement will be ob- servable after the first selection is made, and by continuing along these lines even- tually a new strain of plants, having tough leaf tissues, will be the result. But we should not stop here. The selection should continue from year to year. No matter how much care has been used, no variety ever will be made so good that it cannot further be improved. Then there are other varieties that have such a healthy foliage that leaf spot seldom affects it; again, the same variety will pro- duce beautifully formed berries of excel- lent flavor and good shipping qualities, but does not produce them in sufficient quan- tities to make it profitable. With such a variety as this, a search should be made for the plants which build up the largest number of crowns, of course considering the physical condition of the plant first. No matter what characteristic of the va- riety we are working to improve, the se- lected mother plants always are numbered and permitted to make at least fifteen run- ner plants, and the following spring twelve of its progeny are transferred to another plot and given the same number as the mother plant that produced them. The mother plants and her other progeny are left to fruit, which makes it possible to get THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 BERRY BOXES BERRY CRATES In flat or made up. All kinds of BASKETS BEST GOODS RIGHT PRICES Send postal card for catalogue Colby-Hinkley Company BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN Paint Without Oil Remarkable Discovery That Cuts Down the Cost of Paint Seventy- Five Per Cent A Free Trial Package is Mailed to Every- one Who Writes A. L. Rice, a prominent manufacturer of Adams, N. Y., has discovered a process of making a new Itind of paiut w-ltliout the useof oil. He calls it Powdrpaint. It comes in the form of a dry powder and all that is required Is cold water to make a paint weather proof, lire proof and as dur- able as oil paint. It adheres to any surface, wood, stone or brick, spreads and looks like oil paint and costs about one-fourth as much. Write to Mr, A. L. Rice, Manufacturer, 613 North St., Adams, N. Y., and he will send you a free trial package; also color card and full information showing how you can save a good many dollars. Write to-day. 1 No. 14 Gauee Painted wire Shorts, I 100 lbs..»1.25; No. 14 Gauee Galvan- I Ized Wire Shorts, 100 lbs., $1.40; I Other sizes at proportionate prices. Galvanized Barb Wire 2 and 4 point.per 100 lbs., $2.50; "BB" I Galvanized Phone Wire, per 100 lbs., $2-40; Annealed Wire, per 100 I lbs., $1.90; Graduated Diamond I Mesh Galvanized Fencing, 24 ins. M-I r-ir rod, 20c; Galvanized Poultry Netting, per lOOsq. ft., 401'; Indestructible Steel Fence Posts, the best manufactured, each 35c. Everything in the line of Wire and Fencing for all purposes. Now 19 the time to buy. These prices are for immediata action. Ask for Free SOO-page Catalog. No. B. A. Tii ouotes lowest prices on staple farm supplies or, every kind; also offers furniture and household Boods from Sheriffs' and KeceiTers' Salei. Chloago H«use Wrecking Co., 35tb * Iran SU., CWser of S. B. Stevens & Son's berries asidt' for them the next morning — the crates that had the label on them. The conse- quence was that the merchant would put .1 few cents per quart above the average market price and they would say nothing because they could sell them with a guar- antee and found ready sale for them at a large price. We have received from $6 to $6.75 for a thirty-two quart crate, and we always are careful to omit the label from any berries that will not bear the test. It was not many years before the other growers in this section "got on to it" and now nearly all of the best growers have thge 42 SAMPLE o% SOAP FREE Take this sample which we offer you, use it and learn the high qualilty of Crofts & Retd Pro- d a c t s . Just Bend your name on a postal and a full size cake of fine toi- let eoap will be mailed you free. You will alsoi get a big book, show- ing over 1000 Pre- miums which we give with orders of our Soaps, Tea, Oofiee, Baking Powder, Flavorings, Breakfast Food, Perfumes, etc. We ship direct from our fac- tory and thus save all middlemen's proflts. This saving you get in premiums. Take ad- vantage of it. Send postal for sample now. Crofts )u live west of tbeMlsshsIppi River, addragi me Sox282Topeka,Kaa. H^^^^^H^H Free Trial Michlgander Incubator and Brooder The Michij;ander has perfect Shot water circulation hfot* I Ine system which keeps tem- ' i>eratiJre steady in all parts all the time. No cold cornerg, No ' couking of epgg. Rceulatcs Itself. Cannot go wrnnK. Posi- incnhator on the market. Prosier Tenti- icient moisture assured. We will give ilof aMichipander, anysize. Ifnotsatia- factory, return and we will refund your money and pay freit'ht withoiitd.lay. Foetory price, eo-engmachioe, 80, 7:^: ll'}-ege machine, J9.ti0;94t)-ehrt' machine, I16.4U. Fulllineof poi Itry sup- plies, bone and clovercuttors, etc., at lowest factory prices. Sen't for big catalogue t.i it. KAL.V.M.VZOO SIPPLV HOUSE, ?4S Law- rence Sti- Kalamazoo* MJiih. BERRY BASKETS Also Beekeepers' Snpplies sold at a reduced price and shipped from Central Michigan. Send for 3'2-page cata- logue free. W. D. SOFEK, Jackson, Micli. AND HALLOCK BOXES THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 tunate as to survive in the soil after three plowings. Mistake No. 2 was in dressing the corn stubble with manure that had been left in a pile to rot. My practice is to apply manure fresh from the stable for ordinary farm crops; but in this case, I undertook to rot it, in order to render the plant food more available for the strawberries. No doubt this manure proved a fine place for the propagation of young grubs, although we did not notice them at the time it was applied. Possibly they may have been seen and mistaken for maggots (the larvae of flies) which in their early stages they somewhat resemble. Mistake No. 3 was in not plowing the corn stubble until spring; and now I will come to the point which I wish to em- phasize. In the summer of 1905 I had a small patch, a quarter of an acre, in potatoes — following clover — which I wished to plant to strawberries the follow- ing spring. When the potatoes were dug in September, 1906, the soil was found to be badly infested with grubs, from two to eight in a hill, and every potato badly eaten. We dug with forks and were careful to crush every grub found. Hav- ing learned (.') that plowing late in the fall was the thing to do with grub-infested land, I put off the plowing of this piece until late in November, when, lo and be- hold! not a grub was to be seen. Con- gratulating myself that we had completely exterminated them when the potatoes were dug, I went on with confidence in the spring and planted my strawberries. To make a long story short, I lost fully one-third of my plants by the depreda- tions of grubs on this patch. Whenever a wilted plant was found the grub was dug up and killed and, owing to the fact that the patch was a small one, we at last cleaned them out and got a good stand of plants. Now the question is, where were the grubs when I plowed the land late in the fall of 1905? The answer is simple — gone down deep in the soil to hibernate. This is the point which 1 wish to make: Plow your land in the fall, but do it eaily enough to catch Mr. Grub near the sur- face, before he goes down so low that the plow cannot reach him. When digging ditch in late autumn we have found grubs three feet below the surface. In closing, we might add, for the en- couragement of others, that from the few plants left in my two-acre field we picked last summer 900 quarts of fine berries, which sold two for a quarter without any sorting whatever, netting us enough to more than pay the cost of growing, in fact having a neat little balance to the good. These berries were all sold without solicit- ing an order, in fact, many and many a would-be purchaser was turned away empty handed. People would drive in from neighboring villages and pay us twelve and one-half cents when their own grocers were retailing berries at ten cents, II BROWNS "Auto-Spray DOES THOROUGH WORK QUICKLY AND EASILY because it has more power than any other hand sprayer made. That also gives it a wider range of usefulness than any other small sprayer. Yet it is the easiest sprayer in the world to operate. 15 seconds' work at the plunger charges it with enough power to throw the spray for /o minutes. The tank holds three gallons of solution and one of compressed air, and two pumpings discharge the whole contents. Our Auto-Pop Nozzle, controlled by one finger, regulates the spray from a stream to a fine mist. Conveniently carried over the shoulder by a strap. All working parts of brass, no rusting, no clogging of nozzle, nothing to get out of order or cause trouble Let us tell you what our customers think of it. We make ALL SIZES OF SPRAYERS for all purposes, and guarantee every sprayer to prove satisfactory or money will be refunded. Tell us what you want to accomplish and we will suggest the right style for you to use. Write for Spraying Calendar, the most complete and authoritative ever published, and a copy of our catalogue. Address THE E. C. BROWN COMPANY, 61 JAY ST., ROCHESTER, N. Y. ^^ ——^^tr'"^:j^w§'-""-''K^ 0 «' -': '-^v ' ■■.■ J), ' ■ GROWING TOMATOES FOR QUALITY, QUANTITY AND EARLINESS Is tlie name of the best booklet ever issued on the subject of tomato culture. It contains 30 patres and illustrations fully describins; the Potter method of raising tomatoes. By this method you can have bitrger and better fruit and weeks earlier thanother%vise. It teaelies the secret and science of tomato culture: forcing the fruit by systematic cultivation and prun- intr. This book is invaluable to every gardener, whether he grows one dozen or one thousand vines. The subjects covered are: History of the Tomato; Its Na- ture and Habit; Tomato Culture in General: The Potter Meth- od; Plants and Planting; Preparing the Ground; Settintr the Plants; Cultivation- Pruning; and Staking the Vines; Picking the Fruits, Ripe Tomatoes at Christmas; 40 Tomato Recipes; Best Tomato Seeds. The information is condensed and to the point — just what eveiy grower wants. The "cut herewith shows one of a larse number of A-inesin my garden this season. Notice that each stalk is loaded with large, perfect fruit from top to bottom. This is the result of my method. It is easy to raise this kind of fruit when you know how. Just send" for my book— price ">0 cents, postage or money order. Your money back if not satisfactorj-. FREE SEED— To everyone ordering my booklet i,vithin the nest 30 days I will send FREE with each book one package each of thebest varieties of early and late tomatoes. I make this ofEer so that you will get ready now for your spring gar- dening. Don't wait until the last minute when the nish is on. Send for my booklet tnday, and I know you will be thankful that you made such a wise investment. T. F. POTTER, Tomato Specialist, Oept. H, DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. ROOFING Most economical and durable roof covering known. Eas^' to put on; requires no tnr.ls but a hatchet or a hammer. 'Witli i.i>linai> cfire will outlast any other kind. Thousands of satisfied customers eyer\ whtre have jiroven its virtues. Suitable for coveringanvbuilding. Alsobest for ceiling and siding. Fire-proof and water-proof, Oheaperandmore lasting than shingles. "Will not taint rain-water. Makes your build' ing cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Absolutely perfect, brand new. 91.60 is our price for our No. 15 grade of Flat Semi -Hardened steel roofing ard siding, each sheet 24 ins. wide and 24 ins. long. Our price on the corrugated, like illustration, sheets 22 ins. wide x 24 ins. long, $ t .76. At 25c per square additional we will furnish sheets 6 and 8 feet long. Steel pressed brick siding, per square, 92.00. Fine Steel Beaded Cpilintr. per square, 92.00. Can also furnish standing seam "r "V crimped Xi: WE PAY THE FREIGHT TO ALL POINTS EAST OF COLORADO e'^cept Okla..Tex. and Ind. Ter. Quotations to other points on application Sallafactlon guaranteed or money refunded. ^Ve will send this mofingto ai.y one „^ answering this ad C. O. D., with privilege of examination if you ■will send ns ^•>5 of the amount of your order in cash; balance to be paid after material reaches your Station. Ifnot found as repre-'"r:;Gd, von do not have to take the shipment and we will cheerfully refund your deposit Ask for Catalog No. WE 733. Lowest prices on Roofing. Eave Trough. "Wire. Pipe, Fencing, Plumbings Doors Household Goods and everything needed on the Fann or In the Home. TVe buy our goods at sheriff|^n^ecei^r*^aleR^^^CHICAG^*OU^ Page 44 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 and delivering them at their door. Qual- ity counts, and the public knows a good thing when it sees it. East Stanbridge, Quebec. Mr. Moore is correct in his conclusion that ground should be plowed early in the fall. Where old manure is to be used it should be scattered on the ground and left to lie during the winter months. By so doing any larvae of the grub that might be present will be destroyed by freezing. We doubt if there is any better preventive for the white grub than turning hogs on the infested ground. Chickens and turkeys following the plow will gather up every grub in sight. Liberal dressings of potash or nitrate of soda have proved beneficial. If potash is used, 200 pounds to the acre; if nitrate of soda, 100 pounds. Potash should be drilled on top of the ground and thoroughly worked into the soil before setting plants; and the nitrate of soda may be placed in around the plants and worked in with a hoe. S. H. Warren, the veteran strawberry specialist of Weston, Mass., in a note to The Strawberry raises the same question as to the time of fall plowing, saying: How deep do the white grubs go down to pro- tect themselves from winter's frost? In plow- ing a field in September that had grown a crop of oats, I found in less than one-half acre, and I picked them up, too, 2,500 of these grubs. In November I finished plowmg the same field and found but few grubs, although to find them I went, occasionally, three times in the same furrow. I found about one-twentieth the num- ber I did in September. I expect to find them in May — shall I not? Doubtless they will be there, just as Mr. Moore found to be the case. And Mr. Moore's experience with the grub in connection with his potatoes leads us to suggest the advisability of planting pota- toes between the rows of strawberries where the land is badly infested with the grub. The preference of the grub for the potato is very marked, and as our cor- respondent describes, they were easily found directly in potato hills. It is possi- ble that this course would result in rid- ding the field of the pest. Of course, it will be understood that we do not recom- mend setting potatoes or anything else with strawberries as a rule. We suggest it only for the purpose of curing a specific trouble. And let us say here that we are greatly indebted to Mr. Moore for his very valua- ble account of his experience, and that we hope other readers may contribute from their own experience such illuminat- ing and suggestive facts. — Editor Straw- berry. Wonderful New Garden Tool Combines a Whole Set of Useful Implements ONE of the greatest labor-saving garden im- plements ever invented is put on the market this year — a new combination Seeder, Wheel Just Ask for Our SPECIAL PRICE On this CHATHAM Fanning Mill 30 Days' Free Trial Our answer will surprise you. Why ? Well, there will be a lot of surprises. First, the price that we will quote you. Second, the easy terms on which we will let you pay for the mill. Third, the Chatham Fanning Mill will actu ally, clean, separ- ate andrrarfclyos. sir. we said gra dr, and we mean it !) ■—. - . from 40 to 80 bushels per hour 1v>.fki ri hi -Its ca^anVy is wonderful-Its * I.C*B"«- ease of operation is remarkable — Its all-around usefultiess and Its Importance as a. (irof it-maker makes its owner wonder how he ever grot along at all without a Chatham. The Chatham Fanning Mill will handle all kinds of grain and seed Ittackleaany Chatham jo b-lt is "death on weeds" — Takes buckhorn plantain out of clover -in fact, -wipes out any kind of a e e d ^pe s t by giving I you pure e e d . grain. I t is equipped with 17 screens and riddles — a patent bagging: attachment which saves one man's time, and more special, practical features than we have space even to name here. Our idea is to build the Chatham so complete and perfect that the mill sells itself. We will ship you a Chat- ham Fanning Mill on SO Days' Free Trial, freight Pre- 1^v*AT%<«itf1 ^a^V^. no matter where you live. A rtf p -^— ^1- TT-w^^kj-k do — direct from our JJOVJH J. 1 ^ZxZ factory to the actual user — ///^ very life of our business depends upon the satisfactory working of the inills we put out. All we ask is that joii try the Chatham and lot it prove itftflf—het it show how it can quickly put its own coft bork in iiiiiirjj"cki( i\nd mtike a pro fit ioT you. The Chatham i aiming Mill isn't b luxury. U'e a necesnityl Ynu need it on your farm rit;ht NOW. Send for the Chatham Book FREE. It telle of over 100 waye to increane farm profiti. Tells how to stop the loHsea and make every cultivated B■ growers who .-ire entirely unbiased claim that there is no region where strawberries grow to greater perfection than in this vicinity. We can sell you this fer- tile land at $10.00 per acre and some choice land within .) miles of the city limits of Superior, the second largest city in Wisconsin, for $25.00 per acre. We have no drouthsor Hoods in this region. A perfect climate. Easy terms. Special inducements to strawberry growers No money down at all if you settle this spring. We have un- excelled markets. Write at once for the special bargains Each inquiry will receive careful attention . Clover Belt Laud & Loan Co. , Solon Springs, Wis. 3 MINES "POR SALE, a fully r^quipped, large, rich Gold Quartz -L Mine at but a fraction of its actual value. Net proceeds of ore now blocked out will more than cover thn purchase price. Must be sold at once on account of old a^e and sickness. Price $30,000 cash. 60 davs for examiuation. If agreeable writer will be pleased to take a one-fourth, being as large an interest as his means will permit For a complete report please address S. B. Fowler, Box 447 Urass Valley, Nevada county, California. 2 PLANTS AND ROOTS MICHIGAN and Cobbler Potatoes. Millions of vegetable and strawberr>- plants. Danish cabbage seed. F M Pattingl^n, Scipioville, N. Y. 4 PALMETTO Asparagus, strong: two-year plants. 100 $1.00; 1,000, $4.00. Kansas Raspberries, lOO' $2.00. C. Gould. Oilman, 111., Route 2. 2 STRAWBERRY PLANTS THAT GROW." Best va^ ricties; also Raspberry, Blackberry, Gooseberrj-, Cur- rant, and (irapeplitnts. Asparagus Roots and Seed Potatoes in assortment. All stock warranted true to name and of grade represented. 40 page catalogue with 25c duebill free to each inquirer. C. E. Whitten, Box 27, Bridgman Mich. ^ EGGS. Best strain White Plymouth Rocks, pure white, large birds, prolific layers. E. J. Kirby, Covert. Mich. f J J, ^ HOUDANS. From highest scoring birds in America. 281 egg strain. Large, dark, beautiful. Write for prices. Dr. Geo. Taylor, Orleans, Ind. 2 on VARIETIES. 2,000 Birds. Hatching Eggs a spec- tjyj ialty . Dogs , Ferrets . Pigeon s , Hares , etc . Dc - scriptive colored GO page book 10 cents. List free. J. A. Bergey, Bos 37, Telford, Pa. H ORPINGTONS. S. C. Buflf and White, Blue Ribbon Win- ners, score to 9''. Eggs, one setting. $;i.00. Two. $5,00. Guaranteed to produce winners. "Frank Crowell, Granger, Jlinn. 4 PRIZE- WINNING BUFF WYANDOTTES. Circular free Otis Crane. Lebanon. Ind. 2 1>rREbred Pfkin ducks for sale. HoO selected breeders, Rankin -Hallock strain, fine birds. Egi s by 100 or 1.000. Golden West Duck Ranche. -loliet. 111. 4 ROYAL BLUE BARRED PLYMOUTH ROOKS; Eggs for sale. A good hatch guaranteed. GeorpU W. 'N^tson. Raleigh. lUinbis. 4 RHODE ISLAND REDS, both combs. Fine cockerels $2.50 and $5.00each. Eggs from prize winning pens $3.00perlo. Cherry Red Co". , Elgin, 111. 2 RHODE ISLAND REDS. Light Brahmas. White Barred ' Rocks, White Lt-ghorns "and Wyandottcs. Hardy, prolific, farm bred pure stock. For ' 'Birds' ' at moderate prices or ' 'Eggs to Hatch" ' at 10 cents each write Walter Sherman, Berrj- Patch, Newport. R. I. .5 SINGLE COMB BUFF ORPINGTONS. Eggs for hatching - from extellent strain of layers and grand exhibitit-n birds. $2.00 per 15. Bonnieview Farm. Orleans, Ind. 2 riiWENTY-FIVE Breeds Geese. Ducks and Chickens. X Catalogue free. Largest poultry farm in the north- west. Graat Western Poultry Farm, Rural Route No. 4, MapIetoD, Uinn. 4 \\THITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS— White Rose Comb Leg- TT horns; stock $1, $2 and $3 each; eggs $1 for 15; there's none better than mine: inquiries gladlv answered. F. V. Wadsworth. Castleton. Ind. ' 2 "IVHITE WY.\:N^D0TTES— I hav.- tlicm. bred to lay and »» to show from the famous Dustin strain. E_'gs *1 for 13; $5 for 100. H. F. Hallett, Ashfield. Mass. 3 SECTIONAL CRATES riirPTS' SECTIONAL CRATE. Neat in appearance. i Well ventilated. No division racks. No mashed fruit. Displays fruit to best advantage — invfstigate. Free cat- alogue. Manufactured by Elmer G. Tufts, Aurora, lud, 5 In season, to get them, STRAWBERRIES big. redandluciousare grown from ALLEN'S choice vigorous strawberry 1 plants. None better. Guod Luck. Chesapeake, Virginia, and Cardinal new Glen .^lary, Haverland, Dunlap, Marsball, Kb-ndyke, Gandv, Bubach. Climax and all best standard sorts, 90 varieties. Prices Right; DEWBERRIES. Aus- tin's, Lucretia, and Premo. I have big Btock and thev are fine, alst^ Kasp- lerry, Currant and Gooseberry plants, and Grapevines. In SEEDS I have the leading varieties for field and garden. ..,t 1907 suppiv of Peas. Beans, Water- melon. Cantaloupe, and Cucumber .-leedBaro very choice. Millions of vegetable plants/ My Ou page Catalog for 1907 tells about lots of good things for the farm ami garden and where ll'a FREE. Send name and address on posUl to W. F. ALLEN Dept. 66. Salisbury, Md. SAVE YOUR HANDS No motp stained, chapped or rough hands, whib^ doing housework. KCONOMY KVBBER GLOVES are an absolute proti'ctioii and when usfd leave the hands soft and white. Each pair guaranti'i-d. S>-nt postpaid for 57 cents. When ordi-rini: si-nd fi»r size larger than your glove num- ber. Order now. Do it today. MKS. ,1. H. PRATT, Three Rivers. 3Iith. Page 46 0URC01ESP0N1ME5CH00L ff^OF STRMBERRYCUUURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION BEFORt taking up the work of the school, the instructor wishes to return thanks for the cordial letters received from members in response to his request for suggestions that might result in making the work of the school more effective, although he must confess that more compliments than suggestions were received. Thos. A. Peake of Birmingham, Ala., in the course of a highly prized letter says: There is one suggestion we will venture to make and that is: Have a department in which strawberry growers can give their practical ex- perience. Let them tell not only of the success they have had, but tell something of their mis- takes and failures so not only themselves but others may profit by them. As "knowledge of what has been done is economy in all labor," we beginners especially will save time and money by following the advice and avoiding tie nilnakes of others. As the editor suggests, let every reader, or as many as can, "tell of their ways of doing things." Then, as the editor also suggests, he can write a "summary" in which he can make comments and criticisms, and in this way we believe The Strawberry will be made still more interesting and helpful. Of course it will. That is exactly the way to get the most good out of this work, and we shall hope that Mr. Peake's motion may carry unanimously. When one of the Northwestern mem- bers found a reminder in The Strawberry that it was the rule of the publishers to stop sending the magazine when the time of subscription of each member had ex- pired, he immediately sat down and wrote the following illustrated letter: Dear Strawberry: Don't you do it! Don't stop it! I subscribed for it before it was born. I've got to have it. If it should ever have a funeral I shall give it a monument — a big one! I've read every number "all to pieces" — and saved the pieces, and I would not sell the volume for an acre of strawberries. You cannot know how The Strawberry eased the small of my back and the bulge of my ankles during the noon hour in summer time. My best weapon is a trowel, home made, large, heavy, with a handle for pushing, like this: And a file to keep it sharp. Fraternally. St. Charles, Minn. (^\ } PiCKERT Another thing we are gratified about, namely, the style in which questions now are coming in. Nearly everybody has acted upon our suggestion and writes questions separate from any other matter, and usually they are numbered. This is a great improvement, and not only saves time, but enables us better to understand the question asked and so better able to answer it intelligently. We hope that every member is making the most of these winter days and doing things and learning things that will make for success when the growing and ripen- ing and marketing seasons are come. W. H. R., Cascade, B. C. Kindly inform me if in your opinion slaked lime would be as good when sprinkled around strawberry plants as Paris green to destroy cut-worms? They almost ruined our plants last season; we would get from fifteen to thirty worms around each plant. We do not have the white grub. We do not think that lime would have any effect whatever upon cut-worms. Paris green or arsenites of any kind. I AM sorry I did not send for The Strawberry sooner. T F. JONES. 1 Wellsville, Mo. .June 2i;, lilOC. mixed with mill-feed may be placed about the plants after being set out. This will be found as good as any remedy you will get. Fall plowing gives the birds a chance to rind the worms, which is a good preventive. However, it is seldom that cut-worms ever bother strawberry plants. ^ <& A. H. D., ReidsviUe, N. C. Some kind of insect is working on my plants, eating the foliage full of holes. One person suggests that it is weevil. Will you toll me what it is and how to get rid of it? T he insect you describe is the saw-fly, and easily may be gotten rid of by spray- ing with Paris green. Take seven ounces of Paris green, sprinkle over it two pounds of lump lime, pour over this two or three gallons of hot water and stir while slaking to prevent burning. When thoroughly slaked add enough water to make forty gallons, and spray the plants as soon as you see the insects working on them, which will he before the plants bloom. Page 47 They will be found on the under side of shady part of the leaf. It is a grayish worm about one-fourth inch long. A. H. F. , Oregon City, Oregon. How is the crown borer propagated — from a moth, or is it this white grub I see so much about? What is the remedy? It is the only enemy I have to contend with. 2. Is it true they are more partial to some plants? Brandywine seems their favorite, Texas next, Dornan, Glen Mary and Climax seem exempt. 3. When is best for me to mulch? All I have to mulch for is cleanliness — no freezing here. Should I put it on just as soon as new leaves show, or wait till buds are about to open? I have to cultivate and hoe right through the winter to keep weeds in subjec- tion. Plants will bleach if I cover them here. The strawberry crown borer is the larva of a beetle. This larva is a whitish, footless yellow-headed grub about one- fifth of an inch long. It lives in the crowns of strawberry plants, frequently burrowing them out so much as to weaken and sometimes destroy them. The beetle is dark a colored, snouted insect, about one-fifth of an inch long, It is unable to fly because of the membranous condition of its wings. This beetle lays its eggs on the crown of the plants in the spring. When hatched the larva" soon penetrate into the crown and work upon the inter- ior of the plants all summer until they get full grown. A single larva will not wholly destroy the plant, but sometimes three or four larva" work upon the same crown. The only way these insects may be carried from field to field is by trans- ference with the plants. For this reason they do more damage to old than to new-set fields. There is no relationship between the borer and the ubiquitous white grub. Pre\entives for the crown borer are: First, spray late in the summer with arsenate of lead, using four pounds to fifty gallons of water. This will poison many of the beetles. Immediately after fruit is picked mow off the bed and burn over. This will destroy the insects. Then turn the bed under in July and this will destroy any immature larvae that might remain in the crowns. Never set any plants from your own bed until you are rid of this pest. We have never seen a crown borer on The Strawberry farm. 2. The crown borer is not partial to any particular vaiiety of strawberry. 3. Mulching in your locality should be done in the winter months and the ma- terial should be put betueen the rows THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 only; never over the plants. If you prac- tice cultivating the fruit bed a lot of labor will be saved by putting the mulching just along the plants on either side of the row, making it broad enough to keep all of the berries clean. By this method your plants never will bleach, as they are left in the open air. .^ ^ C. C. J., .'\niesbury, Mass. Is there greater affinity between certain kinds of strawberries in the matter of pollenation than there is between other certain kinds, time of blossom- ing, etc., being the same? 2. In the matted-row system would it pay, before uncovering the plants in the spring, to rake the straw from between the rows on to the plants and cultivate once or twice, pro- viding the ground is such that it can be done? 3. What strawberries should be added to the following list to lengthen the season and in- crease the crop — Clyde, Glen Mary, Pride of Michigan, Splendid and Dornan? In bisexuals that furnish an abundance of rich pollen and bloom concurrently with the pistillates we doubt if there is any difference in results of pollenation. 2. The objection to following this plan would be this: After the mulch has lain on the ground all winter the ground becomes very wet and soggy, and it would take it some time to become dry enough for cultivation. This would make it necessary for the excessive mulch that was raked upon the plants to lie there so long that it would bleach the plants and make them tender. 3. You can lengthen your season for berries by adding to your list some extra- early varieties, such as Excelsior and August Luther, and we might say by adding a late variety like the Gandy, as it is later by two or three days than the Pride of Michigan. C. W. L. , LaGrange, Ore. We put out 40,000 plants — Clark's Seedling and Down- ing's Bride, principally the former, last June. They grew finely and put out lots of runners which blossomed and bore quantities of fine berries. Should we have picked the buds off? Will these young plants do to transplant this spring? We intend to put out more berries. 2. Will you tell me the nicest way to pack berries for shipping? It is a common occurrence for straw- berries to produce a light fall crop in your locality, and as your plants were strong and vigorous the few berries produced in the fall by the mother plants will in no way weaken the runner plants that you intend transplanting in the spring of 1907. Howe\er, we never advise taking plants from a fruiting bed; that is to say, it is poor policy to try to grow plants and fruit in the same bed at the same time, as that is asking plants to do double work. 2. The most attractive way to pack berries for shipping is to lay the top layer A KaiawvazoQ Direct to You" Kalainazoos are fuel savers, — They last a lifetime — Economical in all respects^ They are low in price and high in quality.— They are easily operated and quickly sei ap and made ready for business, — Buyfiom tlie actual manufacturer. — Your money returned if everything is not e:;actly as — represented — You keep in your own pocket the dealers" and jobbers' profits when you buy a Kala- mazoo. OAK STOVE HEATEr:, For All Kinds of Fuel. WE PAY THE FREIGHT. We want to prove to you that you cannot biiv a better stove or range than the Kala- mazoo, at any price. We want to show you /iiTW and w//.v you save from ^Ofj to 40rJ in buyinif direct from our factory at factory prices. If you think $5, or $10. or S40. worth saving Send Postal for Catalogue No. 34S Examine our complete line of stoves and ranges for all kinds of fuel. Note the high quality; compare our prices with others, and then decide to buy from actual manufacturers and save all middlemen's protits. Catalog shows 2b7 st\les and sizes for all kinds of fuel. Write now. Sold on 360 Days Approval Test. Kalamazoo Stove Co., Manufacturers, Kalamazoo, Mich. ROYAL STEEL RANGE For All Kinds of fuel. ..-1^/ Kalamnzno Cook Stores and Rava^s are fitted with patent oven thermometer tvkichmakes baking and masting ensij. All storrs btackid, polished and ready for immedia te use zvhen you receive them. Oven Thermometer My 2 -in -I Harrow Makes a Perfect Seed Bed in HALF THE TIME B^ J. K, najlor, a l>racticnl farmer tvho iDTeoted Ibis great tlme-Bariiig -i-ln-l Harrow. ECAUSE it does the work of both a Spring Tooth and Spike Tooth Harrow at one time and at vne operation. Bfcjiuse, \on Bpe, mv harrow is BOTH HARROWS IN ONE. If ynu hnvo to t'Oo\erynur fifld four tinii'suow — \nu'll only havo to po over it tivice with, my harrow. If your ground is in such shnpe that y ou now go over it twice. t lien only once over will give >ou an even better seed bed when you use my harrow, Qud you can fol.ow right along with a planter. That means if it rains overnight you haven't got your work to do over again. On newly broken sod you can work across the furrows (instead of with them) ami not pull up a single sod or choke the teeth. Vou can pre- pare new ground with my harrow in a THIRt) tho time you can working the old way— using two harrows separately. One lever instantly adjusts my harrow so you can use the spring teeth alone — or the ejiike tfeth alone— or both together— or you can throw all the teeth up out of the wa,. so tlmt the frame will slide along the ground like a stone-boat. Wlien a live farmer knows aliout my harrnw he wants it. I can name, off-hand, twenty places near my fiirui in Cass Co., Miclt.. where you'll find good spring tooth and spike tooth harrows out in the barnyard with grass growing up around them. The farmers have thrown them away and are using my harrow alone— and they're MAKING MONEY by doing it HOW 1 CAME TO INVENT THE 2-IN-l HARROW. I always had the same trouble you've had in getting my ground ready. It seemed like there ought to be Hjme way arouml it. So my lirother and I got busy one winter AND SOLVED THE PROBLEM. This is the way we figured: A siiring tooth harrow wnnts to keep digging in all the time. That keei's the frame pressed hard on the ground and it's a tnnt;h lull on tliti horses. A spike tooth wants to keep jumping up all the time, you have to put some heft on tlie top to keep it down. The horses have to drag the heft as well as the harrow. So we made a 2-in-l harrow — spring and spike teeth together. Ihat season we used it on our iurn\ and it worked just as we figurecl it woulil. The spikes kept the springs from 'ligging in too far. and the dig of the springs kept the spikes down to their work- and once over (except on extra bad ground) left a smooth, even, perfect eeed bed. That's why my 2-in-l Harrow was easier on the horses than either a sj-ring tooth or s|uke tooth alone auil SAVED OVER HALF OUR TIME getting ready for planting. The best proof of how really good my harrow is lies in the actual fact that every harrow I nave sold has since sold from two to five more. Mv Harrow is such a really wonderful thing and such a TIME and MONEY saver for the farmer that I exiiecteach harrow I place will keep on selling othei-s in the neighborhood. So 1 have decided to make a SPECIAL CONFIDENTIAL PRICE to the first man in a localitv who writes me— the confiileutial price will be AWAY DOWN. tio. Dun't even consider buying a Harrow till you gel mil confidential Introduction Price. VVrite quick to J. R. NAYLOR, Naylor Mfgr. Co., 4 Sprins" Av.. LaGrangre, IIU (Not hicirpMrnU'd ) Knighfs Fruit Plants EVERYTHING FOR THE SMALL FRUIT FARM rATnU The most wonderful advance over other Red Raspberries; Cumberland, Eu- " i U II reka and twelve other best Raspberries. Blower, Eldorado, Rathbun and ten other luscious Blackberries. Fifty varieties ot Strawberries, all of the best money makers. Grapes, Currants and Gooseberries. Our Catalogue Describes All of Them and Contains Much Valuable Information DAVID KNIGHT & SON SAWYER, MICHIGAN Page 48 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 r ^ Fruit Packages THE PACKAGE SELLS THE FRUIT KEEP this in mind when ordering your packages for the coming sea- son. Remember that we have been maliing Fruit Packages over a quarter of a century and know how to make them right. We use the best timber we can get, make it up with modern machines, and the result comes as near pack- age perfection as can be attained. Order early wherever you buy, but don't forget our Trade Mark. We make all kinds of boxes and baskets. Send for catalogue and price list. THE PIERCE-WlLLIAfflS CO., South Haven, Mich. and Jonesboro, Ark. of each box so that the calyx will be mostly hidden. If you are growing a long-shaped berry it will be necessary to lay them on their sides, which' will show a part of the calyx. Be sure and have just as nice berries on the bottom of boxes as there are on top. A little care in this part of the work pays handsomely. S. C, Dennysville, Me. I see you recommend mowing off the plants and burning the bed over. What is the proper time to do this? Just as soon as your plants are through fruiting the first crop. H. P. G., Clifton Springs, N. Y. What is the matter with the mother plants which I planted in the spring.' When it gets to the last part of July and the first part of August some of them crisp up to nothing and some- times affect the runners, and some of them after awhile will begin to grow again from the heart, but will be weak. 2. I want to put out a new bed this spring which was in potatoes last fall. I could not get manure then. Will it be harmful to put it on in the spring — the last of March? When plants act as you describe, it is evident that something is working at the roots. When the mother plant makes an effort to start growing again the insect has left it and gone to another, but the plant's usefulness has been destroyed. 2. If you can get fresh manure with- out much coarse material mixed in with it, it will be all right to apply in the spring before breaking up your ground; but if old manure is used there will be danger of carrying into your field the larvae of the white grub. Fresh manure made in winter never is infested with this larvae. ^ '^ E. L. P., Iron Mountain, Mich. Will plants grow up through mulch satisfactorily in spring if same is light and not removed? 2. Will it do to burn mulching over in spring before growth starts, especially if plants previous season were affected with rust? 3. Is there any place to which I could send sample of my soil with reference to having it analyzed in order to determine in what ele- ments it is most deficient? 4. On sloping ground, is it better to have rows run up and down, or nearly horizontal (at right angles with line of greatest slope)? 5. What hand-transplanter would you rec- ommend? 6. In this Upper Peninsula, where the sum- mer is short, would you prefer cow-peas or clover for green-manuring? 7. What is the object of the narrowing down by plowing each side of row after fruiting, where the single-hedge row system is used? 8. It was about August 10 before plants were through fruiting and ready for plowing, burning, etc., and after that the season is so short that very few runners grew enough to make sets. Under such circumstances, is it not better to allow the mother plants set out the previous season remain rather than to "strike out" these with a hoe, in order that they may be replaced by a small new set? 9. You state that the roots continue to grow until the ground freezes. In many parts of the Upper Peninsula, owing to early and deep snows, the ground often does not freeze all winter. Do the roots grow all winter under such circumstances, and if so, is it an advan- tage or otherwise? If the roots do not "cal- lous" except by freezing, and the callousing is important to start formation of new root- growth the following spring, would it not be a disadvantage not to have the ground freeze? 10. You say in The Strawberry, "Do not cultivate in the spring until all danger of frost is past." But all danger of frost is not past until the flowering season is about over. Should plants not be cultivated before this? It always is best to open the mulch di- rectly over the row of plants. Even if mulch is applied thinly it interferes with the plant's natural growth. 2. No; plants should not be burned over in spring before fruiting. One of our neighboring grower's patch accident- ally caught fire early last spring and the mulching was entirely burned off. Al- though a large percentage of his plants were uninjured and produced an enor- mous crop of berries, yet a great many were completely destroyed. We are Page 49 The best peeda in the worM. 8nCI_^ PAT. 'not bruise the bark. We pay Ex- presscharges on all orders. ■ Write tor RHODES MFG. CO. ^^^jj^ Jl circular and 3 prices. Oept. 11 GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. | Fruit Packages of all Kinds Before ordering your supplies write for our Descriptive Catalogue and Price List. BLRLIN FRUIT BOX CO., trie Co. Berlin Heigbts, Obia THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 convinced this is not a safe practice. To control rust spray with Bordeaux mixture when growth starts in the spring; repeat in ten days and again just before buds open. 3. The Michigan Agricultural Col- lege could analyze your soil and tell what it contained, but could not indicate what percentage of the plant food is available. 4. The rows on rapidly sloping ground should run transversely in order to prevent washing. 5. In our own experience we have found the dibble the most satisfactory tool to use in this work. 6. In your locality we would recom- mend Canadian field peas, as these are not injured by frost, and will continue growing until freezing weather. 7. By throwing a furrow from each side of a single-hedge row after the fruit- ing season, it becomes possible to secure a mellow seed bed for the new roots to develop in. It also opens up the soil to a greater depth than could be done with ordinary cultivating tools. The point is to secure a seed bed as nearly as possible like the condition the bed was in when 1 _fyou wanttospray trees, shrubs or vines."whiteuash oidisliiject building's, kill vermin in poultry houses nnd niii I f saiiitarv quarters, you ca-i find nothing more to your purpose than a Deming Outfit Great variety in the Deming line. 20 styles Hand, Bucket, Knapsack, Barrol and Gasoline Engine Sorayers. All rl^ht workiiic- Evt-ry style the result of lone experience. Dnn'i huy till you send for free catalogue and all par- ticulars. The Deming Company, 418 Depot Street, Salem, Ohio >( Frincif'a/ Ci/it's II k lluhlielt, ^VfHtern Au'^nts, Chicago U\'A\l\i\l\^ your fruit with a g-ood spray pump means drillars to you. The Eclipse earns bigprullts 1 lasts for years. We in- vented the ECLIPSE SPRAY PUMP after experimenting for years in our own orcnards with the common sprayers. We have ic illustrated in our 40-page eatalop— send for it to-day— it's brimful of useful and interesting reading for the gardener and fruitman. MOKRILI, & MOKtET Benton Harbor, Micb. the plants first were set. When this is done and the crown of th'e plant is cov- ered with fine soil, the second crop most always will equal the first crop. 8. Yes; in your case it would be bet- ter to let the mother plants remain. A light dressing of manure applied after the bed has been prepared as in answer No. 7 will force a larger number of runners to form. 9. If ground is not frozen, the roots of plants will continue to grow under snow. If plants are not calloused, it will in no way affect them if they are not dis- turbed. The principal advantage of a calloused root is that it enables them to stand a long-distance shipping. Even in taking up plants and setting them on your own ground, a plant with calloused roots will begin its growth more quickly than will one not calloused. 10. In your locality it will be best to wait until the plants are through blooming before starting the cultivator in your fruit- ing bed. As a rule there is an abundance of rain early in the spring, and the little waste in moisture is not so serious a mat- ter as it would be later on in the season. <^ ^ J. A. S., Aberdeen, S. D. What varieties are best adapted to hill culture? While the following named varieties will do well in the single or double hedge row, they also are well adapted to hill culture: Excelsior, Texas, Crescent, Glen Mary, Dunlap, Pride of Michigan, Dor- nan and Stevens' Late Champion. <^ ^ S. W. W., Dixon, 111. Will it do to plant my berries in rows four feet apart and put early potatoes between them, if I get the potatoes dug before the berries begin to set runners? 2. By fifty bushels of ashes to the acre, do you mean to indicate quantity by measure or by weight? It is not wise to set anything else with strawberry plants. The result is likely to be that both the strawberries and the vegetables planted with them would suffer. The strawberry is a heavy feeder, and therefore draws largely upon the plant food contained in the soil. We would advise you to set the plants in rows not more than three feet apart, and give up the entire field to them. Very small veg- etables such as early radishes, lettuce and The "Kant-Klog" Sprayers Sometliing New. Gets twice the re- sults with same labor and fluid. Flat or round, fine or coarse sprays from S same nozzle. Ten styles. For trees, : vines, vegetables, whitewashing, etc. J Agents wanted. Booklets free. Rochester Spray Pump Co., 12 East Ave. Rochester. N. V. A slight pressure the thumb starts the spray. hrVN abundance of fruit of highest FmI quality, finely colored and flavored, is the direct result of supplying a complete fertilizer con- taining from 7 to 12 per cent, of PoT.Asii to the tree, vine or bush. "Plant Food" is a book well worth a place in the library of any fruit grower. We will gladly mail it to all applicants. GERMAN KALI WORKS 93 Nassau Street, New York PAGE PoultryFence RtrongeBt. beat on the market. Fent-ea poiiUry ' in, eiock out, mid lasts. Costs lees erect*'d than common netting;, because it requires iio hmtrds at top or bottom and ho fiw oosts— one every 50 feet. I'ou can't afford to buy poultry fence without in- veetigating Paue. Write for descriptions. Paje Woven Wire FeoceCo. Box toQ, Adrian, Mich. P.^C. Roses arethebest. Always 07i their own roots. Plants mailed toaoy point in the United Stiites. Safe arrival guaranteed Over 50 years- experience. Flower i»nd Vegetable 8ecds a SpcclttlLf. Write for Ne^v Guide to Rose Culture for 1W07— the lending rose catalogue of America. 114 pages Mailed free. Describes over 1 .000 varieties. Tells how to grow them and another desirable tli>wer.s. Eat.IH.'sO. 70 greenhouses fl THE DINGEE & CONARD CO., West Grove« Pa. ' j A beautiful colored plate of our New Eaton Red Raspberry and our strawberry catalog of valu- able information about varieties with instructions for beginners. Free to all. THE FLANSBURCH A POTTER CO.. Loslla, Michigan. onions liave been grown between rows of strawberries quite successfully where in- tensive cultural methods were followed. 2. When we speak of bushels of ashes we refer to the measured bushel, and not to the quantity by weight. J. D. C, Boyd, Tex. My strawberries blos- somed quite heavily in the fall, during which season we have light freezing at intervals. As a result they do not bear well in the spring. What kind of treatment could I give my plants to secure a full crop? The light freezing in the fall while plants are blooming will interfere with your plants' producing a fall crop, but unless they bloom exceedingly heavy in the fall the blooming should not material- ly lessen the spring crop. Our suggestion is that you cultivate your plants until very late in the fall, which would keep the Page 50 THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 vegetative part of the plants growing while retarding the development of the fruit buds until so late that they would not open until spring. Setting of late varieties might prove of some advantage. This is an answer also to W. F. M., Marshall, Texas. F. 1. [.., West Webster, N. Y. Does freezing spoil or injure Bordeaux mixture? Does age injure or weaken it? We would not advise anyone to use Bordeaux mixture after it has been frozen. We have always found the mixture just about as effective after it had been made for several weeks as when applied im- mediately after making. However, the safer way is to use it while fresh. C. B. W. , Denver, Colo. My soil is a sandy loam and I have been told that strawberries raised on such soil were too costly, as they had to be washed in order to remove the sand etc. , that sticks to them. Now can you sug- gest some method whereby I could make a success of them' 2. I would like to set about one acre as I have a little over two acres on which I am growing nothing. We are just starting our place to fruit (four and one-half acres). We are to set 1,500 dewberries and 1,000 currants and about 3,000 asparagus, and have not de- cided just what to finish with, but would like to set strawberries if I could make it pay. 3. Next, our place had been neglected before we bought, so sand burs and Russian thistles have had full sway. Is there any crop outside of a hoed crop that would keep them down? I will have too much work for next summer to care for a hoed crop, but could perhaps plow the ground several times if a crop could not be raised to do away with the weeds. 4. Would it be best to set, say one-third acre in 1907, one-third acre in 1908, and the other one-third in 1909, then after the crop of 1910 on the first one-third, plow it up and sow cow peas and reset in 1911, continuing this order each year after? It is evident that your neighbors are not advised in this matter. It is a very simple thing to do to keep your berries clean by mulching. You will see that by covering your berry plants with straw late in the fall, the winte.- rains and snows will press the straw flat upon the ground. Then in the spring take a fork and loosen the straw directly over the row of plants just enough to make an opening for the plants to come up through, and the ber- ries will lie directly upon this clean straw floor, which will keep them so clean that they will be ready for table use with no washing whatever. 2. It would seem to us that four and a half acres near a large city like Denver could be made into a little Klondike, and you need not hesitate to set one acre to strawberries. We shall do our part to THE UNSURPASSED National Berry Boxes IN ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY PATBNTSD NOV. 17, A SANITARY FRUIT-PRESERVING PACKAGE Made of tough, sinooth paper stocli, coated on both sides with best paraffine wax. Three years of practical use have made these boxes the favorite of all who have seen and used them. They are stronger than the wooden boxes, as each box will stand up under eighty pounds of pressure without being crushed. This is more than any other box will stand. They will take the lowest possible freight rate, being shipped in the flat condition. All testimonials we furnish are unsolicited. All samples we are sending are folded up and packed in a box, thus enabling those not familiar with the box to fold and interlock box properly to give the desired result. Sales during 1906 in 31 slates and some foreign countries, and 1400 new names were added to our already large list of customers. Communication with 47 States NONE SO GOOD AS THE BEST NATIONAL PAPER BOX COMPANY KANSAS CITY, MO. Folded up sample and circular sent on receipt of ten cents help you succeed in that department of your work. 3. If you had the time to look after this foul land when planted to some hoed crop it would be the better way, but we suggest a plan for handling this piece of land that will prove quite satisfactory, we are sure. As early as your ground may be worked next spring, plow it up and let it remain in that state until you observe that the weeds are germinating — about ten days to two weeks. Theii harrow it twice, going once over it from north to south, then from east to west. This will destroy all the weed seed that has started to germinate. Repeat this operation every week or ten days up to the latter days of June, when you should give the ground another thorough harrowing and sow at least six pecks of cow peas to the acre; Page 51 seven would be even better. The fre- quent harrowings will have destroyed a large percentage of the seeds which have sprouted, and by sowing peas late the ground has become thoroughly warmed, and in a few days the cow peas will quite cover the ground. Now take a one-horse weeder, such as the Hallock or Keystone, and go over the peas the same as you did with the harrow over the bare ground. The weeder teeth will not injure the peas, but will break every particle of the crust and thus destroy those seeds that are still germinating. This may appear to be a lot of work, but it will require only a short time to go over the acre as we have indicated. This will give you an im- mense quantity of hay valuable for either horses or cows. The time to cut the pea hay is while the peas are in bloom. And THE STRAWBERRY FEERUARY 1907 as the pea is a legume, the roots will add nitronn as well as improve the mechan- ical condition of the soil. When the pea vines are cut replow this ground and sow to rye about mid-September, and if you can secure stable manure and can give the acre a light dressing with it, you will have ground in ideal condition for the reception and development of strawberry plants in the spring. 4. The plan you outline indicates you have given this matter much intelligent thought, and there is no suggestion we would make that would improve it. H. L. Y., Cuyahoga Falls, N. Y. Have tested my soil and find it somewhat acid. What shall I do to correct the trouble? For acidity in the soil one of the best things to do is to scatter very carefully and work in thoroughly, twenty-five bushels of slaked lime to the acre, or if you have hardwood ashes, fifty bushels of the latter to the acre will serve the same purpose. ^ '^ M. C. S., Pontiac, III. Our greatest trouble is the leaf roller. What is your remedy for them? This pest, like nearly all others, may be easily destroyed by burning the entire field over after fruiting time. Spraying with Paris green also will destroy the leaf roller if the spraying be done before the leaf is folded together, but after the leaf roller has enclosed itself in the leaf it is difficult to put poison where it will get it. There are four breeds each year of the leaf roller, and you should watch your plants with great care and begin spraying at the first sign of its presence. E. D. G., Rochester, N. Y. Referring to spring cultivation why do you say, "after all danger of frost is over"? What harm would result from cultivating before? In this local- ity we would have to wait till about June 1. 2. How would a Planet Jr. seed drill do for applying nitrate of soda? Run two or three shallow drills each side of the rows. In this way it occurs to me it could be applied rapid- ly and evenly. I never tried it. It is out of season to do, but these vi'inter months are the time to learn and get ready for business. 3. Have you known of the shell-less snail damaging strawberries? They did me much harm two years ago, eating many of the finest berries. Do you know anything to do in such a case? 4. Why do you say "double-hedge row" when it is in reality a triple row, or practically a narrow matted row with the plants arranged in order and rather thinly set? 5. Would it not be better for cultivating purposes and fully as good for fruiting, to arrange them with the same number of plants to a given area but strictly in two rows rela- tively near to each other then the wide space, two more near and wide space and so on? It seems to me that your system of "double- NEW ZEALAND Is the Land for the Traveler, the Health Seeker, the Home Seeker A Beautiful Fertile Country Down in the South Seas Sixteen Days' Steam from San Francisco THERE Is room in New Zealand for Thousands of Settlers. 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Address Tr T\/^WKrr superintendent Government Department of ■ ^Ji» J^V^lllltij Tourist and Health Resorts WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND hedge" must be quite tedious to cultivate while a true double hedge would give sufficient space for easy work with hand cultivator and do the wide spaces with horse. Our reasons for advising against culti- vation before danger from frost is past, is that cultivation makes the radiation of the earth's heat more rapid than it is when left uncultivated, and the more rapid this radiation the greater the danger from frost. The fact that frost continues un- til late indicates that cultivation should be relatively late. The advantage of cul- tivating the fruiting bed is this: It loosens up the hard, packed soil, which has become so during the winter, and not only does this conserve the moisture al- ready in the soil, but opens up the surface which admits the water more readdy. Repeating the cultivation furnishes air to bacteria, which in turn works up plant food into available form. 2. You are right, and we are very glad to have this question at this time when all of us can think it over. It is the fellow that does the planning ahead who is ready when the time comes and makes the fewest mistakes. As the Planet Jr. tools are made to do work with such accuracy, we see no reason why the drill should not distribute ni- trate of soda with entire satisfaction. This material should be drilled close to the plants and not more than 100 pounds should be used to the acre; and fifty pounds would be ample. 3. We never have been troubled with anything of this kind. There is a soft snail-like insect which sometimes does damage to the very earliest berries, eating their way into fruit, curling up in snail form. It is rather difficult to name a treatment for insects that work upon the berries or upon the plants during the ripen- ing process. Lime dusted about the jilants will sometimes keep these pests, av.ay. 4. Because it is a double Hne ot run- ner plants. 5. That would be the twin hedge row which is an ideal method. It requires more plants to set one acre than for the double-hedge. E. H. H., Malvern, Pa. My worst enemy is the chickweed. Cultivate and hoe as fast as I could, this obnoxious growth seemed to keep just about so far ahead of me through the season. Can you tell me how to keep the chickweed from getting the start of me? Thorough cultivation at the start — im- mediately after plants are set. Cultivate as close to the rows as it is safe to run the cultivator and then break all the sur- face in the row with the hoe that the cul- tivator leaves unbroken. This treatment kills the seed while in the germinating state. If chickweed is allowed to peep its head above the ground, it will be found very difficult to kill out. Page 52 Factory-to-Family Plan — How to FURNISH YOUR HOME WITHOUT COST Every woman who is interested in home economy; who wants to make her household expenditures brine the most value at the least cost, should send for our free book, "How the Housewife Can Furnish Her Home W ithout Cost." It tells how we grive, absolutely free, articles of furniture, carpets, ruKS, curtains, wearing apparel, dishes, etc., with orders for our hiRh grade. Kuaraiileed grocery sundries such as Soaps, Toilet Goods, Baking Powder, Teas, Coffees, Flavoring Extracts, Breakfast Foods, Spices, Etc. You see this is possible because of our Factory to Family Plan, -that is, supplying these goods direct to you thus saving all middlemen's profit. It is a plan by which you can make your grocery money buy both groceries and furniture. For example: In the next few days or weeks you will spend »-, $5 or $10 for the products above. If ordered from us you can get in addition a $2, $5 or $10 premium. With a$10orderyou can have either of the chairs shown here or your choice of 1000 other article we carry. The Products we guarantee to please or refund your money. We allow 30 days triallto responsible people Oiven ^rith SIO Order SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER To ffive you an opportunity of testing our Products we will send vou $2 worth for $1 charees prepaid. No money in advanee. Well send the goods flr.st-if they proyp .-tatisfactory then you send the $1. Isn't that a lair offer? If not satisfactory, return at our expense. This offer is eiiod only east fif the Roeify Mountains. Send for order blanks, Premium Bo'.ic and learn th bit; savinK our plan afTords. Do it toilay— a lic.stal hiinf.'s all and a free sample i,r Fini' ToiU-t Soap CROFTS S. REED. Dept S96, AUSTIN AVENUE. CHICAGO, ILL. Given with $10 Order Make 9 Berries Grow Where 1 ^^ — Double Your •^ Strawberry Crop Gre^v Before HM Every Strawberry Grower is anxious to double hia crops. It is easy if you go at it in the right way. When you remove a crop, you also take with it a certain percentage of the soil's nutrition. You reduce fertility in just that proportion which was consumed in growing that crop. It is reasonable, then, that you should be vitally interested in returning to your land adequate means every year to iieep up its fertility. Feed your land Swift's Strawberry Special A high-grade concentrated Strawberry fertilizer that has proven in actual test to be the best plant food. It quickens the growth, assists development and improves the quality of the plant. There are many good reasons for this. Its analysis, which is guaranteed, shows it supplies the soil v^^ith special elements practically advantageous to strawberry plant life. Its base is Pure Animal Matter comprising Dried Blood, Bone and Meat Tankage so proportioned in Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Potash from Sulphate of Potash, to produce an ideal plant food. ■TTrj- .•, Get our instructive Ferilizer Book, It will help you to make your Strawberry W 1 lt6 Beds pay bigger profits. Ask your nearest dealer for Swift's Strawberry Special, HToHa ^7^ Remember " Two Berries grow where one grew before " — that is, Double Profit 1 UKldy — gj^j ^^ more labor. To find out about " Swift's Strawberry Special" write to Swift & Company, Fertilizer Department, Chicago. Feed Your Hungry Land ISwift's I Blood & II Bone fertilizer 1^ Manufactured by f^ift& Company Clw^rxwr Ar\r\I^c that PAY the Producer UrOW /\ppieS> and Please the Consumer KING DAVID, DELICIOUS, LIEVLAND RASPBERRY, SENATOR. GIANT JENITON. BLACK BEN, GRIMES. JONATHAN, Etc., Meet All Requirements. Then Why Grow Inferior Sorts? We are Headquarters for All that is BEST in Apple, Pear, Peach. Plum, Cherry. Grape. Small-fruit Plants, Roses, Ornamentals. Etc. For 82 Years m have been the standard by which good nursery stock is measured, and our sales have steadily increased until we are now compelled to maintain the largest nursery establishment in the world- conclusive evi- dence that Stark Trees are of highest pos- sible quality and sold at as low^ prices as such stock can be produced. Constant growth in any business during more than three- quarters of a century, is proof conclusive that customers re- ceive honorable treatment and full value for their money. On no other basis could Stark Nurseries liave built up their present trade. Success in the nursery busi- ness depends entirely upon the success of customers; and they can suc- ceed only with strong, healthy, thrifty, depend- able trees of the best up-to-date varieties, well grown, well dug, well packed. We solicit or- ders on this ba- sis, and if you send them to us, WE GUARAN- TEE SATIS- FACTION: and our guarantee means some- thing—we are not "here to-day and gone to-morrow.*' We Pay Freight on orders of $7.50 or more to any Railroad station in Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Ohio On orders ol $ 10.00 or more to any Railroad station in Alabama Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Georgia Indian Ter'ty Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Jersey New York North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Caroline Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin On orders of $12.00 or more to any Railroad station in Arizona California Colorado Florida Idaho Maine Massachusett* Montana Nevada N. Hampshire New Mexico North Dakota Oregon South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wyoming Our Wholesala Price-list gives full particulars. SIARKBROSNilSa^CS CAPITAL STOCK $ 1 ,000.000— ALL PAID UP STARKDALE, MO. ROCKPORT, ILL. FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. PORTLAND, N. Y. DANSVILLE, N. Y. ATLANTIC, IOWA Write us at Louisiana, Mo., Desk 1 1, and we will send FREE, New Descriptive Fruit Book, Price-list, etc. LOUISIANA, MO. March 1907 THES BERRY The Lord might have made a better fruit than the strawberry— but He never did. rjiDrr*c SMALL VAnrro FRUITS mp You who have fruit or veiretable gardens! Would you exohance them for lawn or meadow? No; there's too much pleas- ure, too much profit in them. Some of mv customers make annually from $200" to $300 per acre ^vith small fruits. Now, whether you're an old hand at fruit gro\ving or just a beginner, I can be an assistant to help you on to success by sending my new catalogue fully describing my new money-mak- ing varieties. Write me for special ad\^ce. It's free. 1 am making some remarkable of- fers in this advertisement. I call them "Introduction Offers." They are made to popularize my goods in your vicinity. The collections below grow in favor wherever ordered and are found in each case to be exactly as described in catalogue. MY MODEL $5 FRUIT GARDEN Better than ever for 1907. I will send by express for only $0.00 this model Fruit Garden comprising 150 Stra^vberry plants, 8 Gooseberry bushes, 24 Currant bushes, 150 Raspberry plants, oO Blackberry plants, and 12 ler rose, 1 Yel- low Rainl>ler Rose, 1 AVliite Rambler. All hardy. Finest climbing roses grown. When they bloom they're well worth $5.00. See catalogue for exact de- scription of varieties. Copy free. My Model $1 Vegetable Collection— Postpaid Thirty-tive large Packets of Prize-Winnins A'egretable Seed. The most liberal offer ever made. Everrthing of the very best. Try it and have the best garden yi>uover had. One packet each of Asi)araKus, Beet, Carrot, Cotfee Berry. Cauliflow- er. Celery, AVateriuelon, Onion, Parsnip, Sage. Spinai-li, PoiH-orn, Pumpkin ; 2 packets each of Cabbasre, Cucumber, Lettuce, Muskiuel- on, Kadisli. Sciuasli, Turnip, Beans; 3 packets each of Sweet Corn and Tomato. Be sure to order early. This high-grade collection will more tnau please you. Catalogue gives name of each variety. Copy free. My Model $1 Collection of Strawberries-Postpaid I will send 100 choice Strawberry plants — 25 each of the best four varieties for your section, postpaid, for only $1.00. A beautiful ever-blooming Baby Rambler Rose (worth 25c.) free iivith each collection ordered before May 1. 3 SPLENDID BLACKBERRY PLANTS-FREE Whether you order or not any of the above collections. 1 want you to know what I sell and my prices. These yon'U find in my new, handsome catalogue for 1907. Itis full of illustrations and detailed descriptions of my high-grade small fruits and nurserj' stock. I have faith in my plants. So I offer to send you my catalog and three vigorons, well root<>d blackberry plants absolutely free, postpaid. Thus I can prove to you that I excel in fine blackberries as well as in other small fruits. Many of my cus- tomers are realizing $300 per acre profit from my blackberries, strawberries and currants. 800 acres in nursery stock and farm, growing farm and garden seeds, poultrj' and small fruits, prove that I give what I claim — honest ;;oods at hon- est prices. Sit down and make out your order now. W. N. SCARFF Practical Nurseryman NEW CARLISLE. - - - - OHIO Make 9 Berries Grow Where 1 — Double Your Strawberry Crop Grew Before w Every Strawberry Grower is anxious to double his crops. It is easy if you go at it in the right way. When you remove a crop, you also take with it a certain percentage of the soil's nutrition. You reduce fertility in just that proportion which was consumed in growing that crop. It is reasonable, then, that you should be vitally interested in returning to your land adequate means every year to keep up its fertility. Feed your land Swift's Strawberry Special A high-grade concentrated Strawberry fertilizer that has proven in actual test to be the best plant food. It quickens the growth, assists development and improves the quality of the plant. There are many good reasons for this. Its analysis,which is guaranteed, shows it supplies the soil with special elements practically advantageous to strawberry plant life. Its base is Pure Animal Matter comprising Dried Blood, Bone and Meat Tankage so proportioned in Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Potash from Sulphate of Potash, to produce an ideal plant food. _ _ ^ . Get our instructive Ferilizer Book. It will help you to make your Strawberry W ritC Beds pay bigger profits. Ask your nearest dealer for Swift's Strawberry Special. rp J Remember " Two Berries grow where one grew before " — that is. Double Profit J. OQdy — gjjjj jjg more labor. To find out about " Swift's Strawberry Special" write to Swift & Company, Fertilizer Department, Chicago. Feed Your Hungry Land 0' 200 lbs. iSwiffs Blood & E Bone Sftilizer Manufactured by I ft&Compai^ THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 3 Three Rivers, Mich., March, 1907 $1.00 a Year for calculation. most pressing horticul- al problem of the time that of protecting field I orchard fruits from the destructive influences of insect pests and fungous diseases. Every man who grows fruit knows approximately what good soil, well filled h plant food, and set out with strong and vigorous vines or trees will do; and he can count with reasonable ac- curacy upon what may be expected from the weather, taking a series of years as his basis Market conditions for first-class fruit always are strong, and he is assured in advance a good price for all of the high-grade fruit he can put upon the market. But insects and fungi! Ah! there's the rub! Civilization brings with it a train of problems — whether they be wholly evil only time may tell. The swift ships that ply the deep seas between our own and other lands, and make in- tercourse between strange peoples easy to the point of common- placeness; the limited trains that annihilate distance, so quickly do they take us from one point of our country to another — thee results and agencies of modern civilization have made the tran - mission and propagation of insects and fungi quite inevitable, and the result is that today scarcely a section of our country but is more or less affected by one or many of these enemies to plant life. WHAT this means in dollars and cents is suggested by the statement made by Prof. M. V. Slingerland of Cornell, at the recent convention of New York fruit-growers, when he declared that the loss sustained by the state of New York alone from the ravages of insects amounted to $70 annually for each farm in that state. As in 1900 there were, in round numbers, 260,000 farms in the Empire state, it is readily seen that the sum reaches the appalling total of $16,000,000 for New York alone. Extend this over the entire country, and the results are even more startling. According to the most recent census fig- ures on fruit (report for the season of 1899, as shown in United States Census Report, 1900) New York's production of frui: represented in that year just about one-eighth of the production, in value, of the entire country, or, to be exact, 12.1 per cent. Multiplying $16,000,000 by eight we have a total loss to the fruitmen of the country from insects alone of $128,000,000 each year. This sum doubtless has increased since those figures were gathered, first, because of the rapid increase in the area devoted to fruit of all kinds, and second because of the rapid increase of insect pests during the last seven years. For in- stance, the San Jose scale now affects orchards in thirt\-nine of New York State's sixty counties. The scale was slightly known in that state in 1899, we are sure, though we have no statistics at hand on that subject showing how rapidly it has spread. These figures and facts concretely set forth a condition that is practically universal and steadily growing worse as the fruit industry expands in magnitude. We have no data as to the relative loss sustained through fungous diseases, but as these are more insidious, and develop at most unexpected times and places, they command quite as serious and persistent attention as do the insects that destroy. WHAT is the remedy.' Eternal vigilance and the spray pump, is the answer of every practical fruit grower. As- suming that the losses for 1906 from insects amounted to $150,000,000 and from preventable fungous diseases half as much more — a total of $225,000,000 — it is interesting to spec- ulate how much of that tremendous waste and loss might have been saved by an expenditure of that sum in spraying machin- ery, insecticides, fungicides and in the labor of applying them. Remember that this loss is annual, while an investment in a good spraying outfit ought to cover the first cost of the work for many years. Certainly a modern spraying outfit, carefully operated and protected from the weather, ought to last, with slight and inexpensive repairs, at least ten years. At the Ne^v York meeting referred to the question was discussed, Will a man with ten acres of apples be justified in buying a power sprayer.? The consensus of opinion was that such an invest- ment was justified by an orchard of that size. And why is not the suggestion made by L. R. Bryant, so long the efficient sec- retary of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, one which opens up a large opportunity to enterprise;' In an article in this issue of The Strawberry Mr. Bryant points out the need of commercial spraying outfits, with which trained men would go from orchard to orchard an from field to fi H praying trees and vines at a price, just as threshing ourfits now reduce the expense and labor of grain farming. BUT suppose fruitmen will not spray? Suppose that they refuse to perform a work so manifestly in their own inter- est, and of such vital importance to the general pubiic' In the case of aff^ected animals the Federal government and State gov- ernments have been swift to act and to act solely with a view to the public good, killing without compunction or delay entire herds or flocks. In the case of humans who are afflicted with malignant contagion, there is no hesitation in enforcing seques- tration and fumigation, no matter how painful or annoying the procedure may be to the individual. It is a principle of law that the man who sets the fire, even though it be upon his own premises, is responsible for the loss that may result to his neigh- bor. This principle of the priority of the common weal is so well established and now so universally recognized that there appears to be no good reason why it should not be applied strictly to the case we are now considering. Every state should THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 have a law making it necessary for every- body to keep his particular area as free from insects and fungous diseases as modern methods make it possible to do. Every man who has a garden or an or- chard should practice spraying for his own and the public's welfare. There is a spraying outfit for every need — from the power sprayers for large field and orchard operations to the knapsack sprayer for the family garden; and there is some insect- icide or scalecide or fungicide for practi- cally every enemy of plants. AND though we say that all should spray, and trust to nature to do noth- ing ill the way of taking off these enemies, yet it is gratifying to know that nature works hand in hand with us in this direc- tion. In preserving a balance nature has wonderful laws of compensation which she enforces with consummate efficiency. In his address before the New York meeting referred to above, Prof. P. J. Parrott, entomologist of the New York (Geneva) Station, said an encouraging word to the fruitmen on this subject. Speaking of the San Jose scale, he de- clared that it was probable that the insect will be less troublesome in years to come because of the fight made against the pest, and also because natural enemies will appear which will help hold it in check. He cited a few other insects to show that this is probable. In California, where the scale first appeared in this country, the growers now pay little attention to it. The wheat midge, which was so destruc- tive a number of years ago, has had its day, and is hardly thought of now. The potato beetle is not so destructive as it was for a short time after its advent. The parasite which preys upon the scale is at work in New York, and with intelli- gent work on the part of the growers, there is no reason why the insect cannot be held in check. But, he added, those who don't fight the insect will lose out. ^ .^ An Object Lesson in Spraying By Louis Bregger 1DO not know that I can give any great results from my own spraying, in that I have not done it as thorough- ly as is recommended and as should be done. My own experience has shown first, that it has paid, and second, that it would have paid more had I been more thorough. The great trouble with me, as with other fruit men around me, is that we are trying to carry on a little stock farming, raise general farm (grain) crops, and grow fruit at the same time, with the result that none of these three lines is well done. Taking spraying — when it is time to do this, there also are a lot of other things to be done, and with help as scarce as it has been, the result may be ima-^ined. "Get out of some one or other of these lines and attend to fruit," will be urged. Well, that is what some of us are doing, but we are in the transition stage. Personally, I am going into fruit gradually, and dropping other crops as fast as I can. There is more spraying being done in our vicinity every year and the work is more thorough. Perhaps no greater in- centive has been given in recent years than by a very striking object lesson given us by D. W. Wadsworth, who, two years ago purchased a farm in this vicinity, or rather a portion of a farm containing a large ap- ple orchard. There are thirty acres, but taking out house, barns, farm yard, etc., and allowing for vacant places in the or- chard, there are about thirteen acres in orchard, or nearly four hundred trees. This orchard had been neglected for years, little if any spraying having been done. Mr. Wadsworth also trimmed the trees and cultivated, but it was his systematic and very thorough spraying and the con- sequent results that drew general attention to this orchard. There were very few apples in Mich- Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one o£ our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days tesl trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This! Ballou Manufacturing. Co., Belding, Mich. Gentlemen:— I am about to prirchase agas orgraso- line engine for . purposes and wish you to send me fuU uarticulars about your approval offer as arlvertised in Yours very traly. Name Town State Street No. or P. O. Box R. P. D When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, not the engine a^ent. BAIXOU MANUFACTURING CO., Successors to Lvons Engrine Oo. BKLDING, MICH. Page 54 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 igan in 1905. It was noted generally that those who sprayed had apples — those who sprayed the best had the most and best apples. There is an outside row of apple trees along this farm — also a continuation of the row that belongs to the former own- er. iMr. Wadsworth's part of the row hung full of fine fruit — there was NONE on the rest of the row. Everyone who went by could see the lesson, and this lesson was a subject of general comment. I do not know the figures, but Mr. Wads- worth did well on his crop that year, es- pecially as there was such a short crop in the state. Last year (1906) this orchard, with the same care and thorough spraying, had an- other large crop, if anything greater than the year before. The apples were bought by a local buyer on the tree, for $2,150. The "freeze" came and while many of the apples were injured, the buyer, it is understood, still came out more than even. It is being realized more and more in this section that we must spray or get out of the business, especially now that San Jose scale is gradually getting into our or- chards. Outlook Farm, Bangor, Mich. Spraying an Essential to Success By L. R. Bryant Former Secretary Illinois Stite Horticultural Society IN our orchard practice, spraying is con- sidered as one of the essential things to be done as regularly as the season comes around, with even a little more at- tention as to the exact time than with the other work. It is no "fad"with us, and we certainly do not do it for the fun of the thing, but because experience has proved that it is necessary for the production of good fruit. There is too much poor fruit produced in proportion to the good— too much of the No. 2 grade, a little too good we think for the cider mill and still it is No. 2, and we must sell at a low price and help cut the prices on better fruit, and worst of all it gluts the market at times. Nice fancy winter apples can, we find, generally be sold at good fair prices, and the problem then is how to grow as large a proportion of them as possible. Spraying we consider one of the essentials, although spraying alone will not always produce a fancy crop. It has by no means reached the point of an exact science. Some seasons the effects are better than others, some seasons it is much less needed than others; but no pru- dent orchardist can afford to neglect it, be- cause he cannot foresee what the season is to be. Orchard spraying not only makes better fruit when properly done, but it makes healthier trees. Orchards regularly sprayed with arsenites and Bordeaux mixture are not troubled with the canker worm, and their foliage is fresher and as a rule hangs Famous Afl^le 191110 ■^VHEN we tell you that The Angle Lamp will light your home l^eiU-r, cheater ^w^jnorf satisfactory x\\2^ gas, electricity, gasoline, acetylene or any Other L liEbt, we mean better, cheater and vtore satisfactory and are ready to back I these statements with proof. For our lamp is constructed on a new principle of oil light- ing (patented by us) which completely does away with the smoke, odor and bother of I the ordinary lamp and yet makes "The Angle' ' so much cheaper to burn than even the ordinary lamp that it PA Y.S FOR ITSELF. Better Than Gasoline* Because all gasoline lights use mantles. And all mantle lights are intL-nse. glaring, pene- trating. That is why one conscientious Ameri- can manufacturer tries to give his mantle at least a ititle of the soft yellow tone which makes the kerosene light. And absolutely re- fuses to make a "pure-white" mantle. For he knows what all students of lighting methods know — that the "pure-white" mantle creates a light so intense, so penetrating, that like the X-Ray it pierces the retina of the eye, soon causing blindness. And yet some people, because the very pc net rating qualities enable them to read at a long distance as from the fixtures, still use such eye-destroying li^'lits. Then, too, gasoline is one of the most dauk'erous illuminants; while the constant breaking of the delicate mantles makes it expensive far beyond the cost of the fuel. The Angle Lamp, on the other hand, while giving a light of the finest quality known to science, is absolutely safe, requires little attention and never gets out of order. Mr. E. C. Parmelee, Highlands, N. J., sums it up briefly in a recent letter, "My Angle Lamps," he. says, "have saved 20 times their cost in oil. burners, cliimneys and cuss words." Better Than Acetylene. "The Acetylene Light" says Dr. David T. Day, Chief of the mining and mineral resources division of the U. S. Geological Survey, "is even more glaring- indoor than the arc light out- doors." Dr. Day places Acetylene as the worst of all artifical lights for home use — more pene- trating and more harmful than the mantle Ughts. But Acetylene has a worse feature, even than this— the danger. It is one of the most explo- sive and probably the most penetrating gases known to science, — so penetratmg is it that it sifts through even the water with wlii-h all acetylene generator manufacturers f resume to seal the gas-storage tanks. And don't think a large quantity need sift through to cause trouble. For any mixture of acetylene and air from one part of gas to three of air. up to one Part gas to 40 farts of air may explode I How strong the contrast between this danger- ous system of which you never can be sure and the safe, clean Angle Lamp, which, because of its double fount construction and "angle" flame, absolutely cannot explode. And how strong the contrast between the intense, eye- straining acetylene light and the soft. warm, restful Angle Lamp I Better Than Ordinary Lamps. "The oil lamp," says Dr. Day,Jn another part of the article above referred to, "yellow, steady, fairly soft, is still the supreme reading light in general use." This splendid kerosene quality of light forms the only ground for comparisons between our lamp and the old fashioned kind. Because The Angle Lamp is an entirely new principle of oil lighting which, while generating a far better and more brilliant light than the old style lamp, has completely done away with all the smoke, odor and bother of the old style laipp. The Angle Lamp is lighted and extinguished as easily as gas. It requires tilling only once or twice a week, which may be done with abso- lute safety while the lamp is lighted. It never smokes or gives the slightest odor whether the light is turned at full height or turned low like gas. It is absolutely safe. And yet the very features which make The Angle Lamp the most convenient light ever invented by giving perfect combustion of oil, make it also the cheapest. J^cr one quart of oil burns 16 hours. Figure what that means in economy! Now if you have read this advertisement closely you understand why we offer to prove what a completely satisfactory light The Angle Lamp is by sending any lamp listed in our 30 DAYS* TRIAL. catalog ■ 54"on And you will understand why such people as ex-Pres, Cleveland, the Rockefellers, Carnegies, etc.. who care nothing about the economical features of the Angle Lamp have chosen THIS oil-burning lamp for lighting their homes and estates in preference to gas, electricity, acetylene or any other s-s- tetn. The Angle Lamp will please you as it does thousands of others. Write for our catalog 54 , listing 33 varieties from SI. 80 up, and giving you information about ail lighting methods that would cost you hundreds of dollars to collect. THE ANGLE MFG. COMPANY, 78-80 MURRAY STREET, NEW YORK. on longer in the fall. Riding on the cars through what is called "the apple-belt" of southern Illinois, I have seen orchard after orchard, in the month of Sep- tember, almost bare of leaves, while occa- sionally one was seen which was green and healthy. By common consent it was agreed that the orchards with healthy fo- liage were the ones which were sprayed and otherwise well cared for, and that those with the deficient and unheathy foliage were unsprri\ed. While the trees with the heathy foliage may not always produce paying crops, you may set it down as a pretty sure rule that those with poor foliage never do. It has got to the point where the suc- cessful commercial orchardist must spray, and I am not sure but the grower of small fruits as well, although I am not so well prepared to speak regarding them. If that Page 55 time has not already come, be assured it soon will. I will not take time or space to give di- rections and formulas, as these can be had for the asking, but one word of advice, if the work is new to you. Follow the rules and directions given by the horticultural so- ciety or experiment station of your state, and do not experiment or use new or un- known compounds until you have had some experience; and do your work thoroughly and at the proper time. Buy only the standard makes of pumps and materials and let all knapsack pumps and "squirt guns" alone for anything except garden work. In communities where no one has many trees it would seem that it would be a profitable business for some one to thor- oughly post himself on the subject and procure an outfit and go around and spray THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 Get something reliable wlien you buy. DEMING Barrel. Bucket, Knapsack, Hand and Power Outlils. N o greater variety nor better types than Deming SPRAYERS For trees, shrubs and vines. Model appliances for poultrymen for vhiie washing. disinfecting, etc. Write for catalogue with fuU aniculars. The Deming Co.. 41 J Depot Street, Salem , Ohio. General j4g-en(ies in " ncipat Cities eoion h HublipM., your fruit with a g:ood spray ump means dollars to you. he Eclipse earns bigjprouts d lasts for years. We in- vented the ECLIPSE SPRAY PUMP after esperimenting for years in our own orcnards withthecommon sprayers. We have it illustrated in our JO-page catalog— send for it to-day— it's nrimful of useful and interesting reading for the gardener and fruitman. MORRin. & MORLET Benton Harbor, Mich. URST SPRAYERS ON FREE. TRIAL .Vo ]ifn})ey in Adrnnre — pai/ rrhen '^nnrenient. The "FITZ*ALL" tUs- ■ m-auy-barrel ortank. Sprays all so- llutions. Proven best and most dnr- I able. Gnaranteed Five Years. |Z?;'ff.«s Ball Valrff!,CyUnrler, Plunger, •tr. strainer Cleaner and 3 Aailninrs. \;no lb. pre.istire.fi boy can operate it. I After trial if ynn keep it — pay when lyou can.AVJiolesale price where no ■ ■iL-ent—Aerents Wanted. Spe.Mal I IVee Offer for first in pairh lor.ility. "Spray- flTiiilo" and full information FRF.E. iH.L.HursI Mfo.Co.,25 North SI.,C3ntan,0. the trees in the neighborhood, charging according to the time spent and material used. The same outfit could be used to spray all kinds of fruits, and also potatoes, and for spraying chicken houses and other buildings. Princeton, III. TV^HY do the New York and Michigan " apples no longer hold their former proud place in the market.? The question finds answer in the following paragraph that recently appeared in the Lincoln, (Neb.) Journal: "Comparatively a few years ago the supply of foreign apples came from New York and Michigan. Purely Western apples were not compet- itors. But conditions have changed and the excellent apples of Colorado have made that state a dangerous competitor to those shipped from Michigan and New York. A grocer is authority for the state- ment that not more than 50 per cent of the Eastern stock is sold now. Colorado produces a Jonathan apple that is a prime favorite and brings about the highest figure here. The success of the Colorado Jon- athan, he thinks, ought to be a lesson to the Nebraska fruit grower, who fails to hold his own because he neglects to spray his trees and hand-pick the fruit. Because he does not do this the fruit rots and is in its grave before it has had an opportunity to get into the race. Colorado Jonathans bring 70 cents a peck right now, and home-grown apples are down and out." Just Beginning to Spray in a Great Fruit District ONE of the most extensive fruit- growing counties of Michigan is Kent, of which Grand Rapids is the county seat. Yet we find in a recent issue of the Fruit Belt, published in the city named, the statement that "O. W. Braman, who owns a forty-acre fruit farm a few miles north of Grand Rapids, claims the distinction of being the first grower in Kent county to secure a complete power spraying outfit. The outfit consists of a two and a half horse-power gasoline engine and a 200-gallon tank mounted on steel trucks. Mr. Braman is very much pleased with his purchase." It seems all but incredible that this is true, yet we may not doubt it, coming as it does from so reliable a local authority. We haven't the figures before us to show how vast is the business done by Kent county, but it reaches up into the hundreds of thousands annually. It would be inter- esting to know just how much the loss has been from failure to spray, but it is within modest estimate to say that it would equal the total sum received from several annual crops, while the future losses from past negligence — from allowing fungous disease and insect pests to multiply and increase — is beyond estimate. We sincerely hope that Mr. Braman's example will be followed by hundreds of his neighbors and that spraying— thorough, effective spraying— is to become as general in future as its neglect has been in the past. ■^ ^ TEXAS is regaling herself just now in true summer-time fashion. A dis- patch from Galveston dated January 11 says: "Strawberries, large, red and lus- cious, at $2.50 to $3 per crate of twenty- four quarts, and going begging at that, is a condition not often prevailing in mid- winter e\en in the delightful coast country climate of Texas. However, many things happen in Texas which never occur in any other state, and the Texas coast country springs as many surprises as any other sec- tion. Beginning early in Decemberstraw- berries began to arrive on the local mar- ket, and since that time the consignments have increased to such a volume that local merchants have had to refuse to accept the fruit until stocks were reduced. From $6 per crate the price has dropped until yesterday they went begging at $2.50, one merchant stating that a few more days of warm weather would see strawberries sell- ing at the midsummer price of $1.50." Other reports from the Texas coast coun- try say that berry plants and fruit trees are putting on regular summer foliage, and that unless the warm weather holds out the balance of the winter, the spring and summer crops will be greatly delayed. Also that a freeze would do an immense amount of damage to orchards and fields. PoTi^eir Spramotor FOR ORCHARDS. VINEYARDS AND ROW CROPS Our Patent Automatic Regulator stops the machine at 125 lbs. pressure sUrling again at 100 lbs. pressure. Automatic Nozzle Adjuster, insuring correct direction of spray- Automatic Nozzle Protector, guaran- teeirg nozzles against clogging. Everything under control of driver without stoping. Is used and recommended by the Department of Agricultural, Send for 86 page booklet O. Agents wanted. SPRAMOTOR CO., BUFFALO, N. V. LONDON, CAN, Start your orchard now. Fortunes have been made by it. Start right by planting hardy, well cultured stock, that will live anywhere— guaranteed — materially less than agent's price — ask for prices on J,000 lots. Illustrated Catalogue free. Box 10 CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE mPADV DAIIRI CD ^^ everblooming, perfectly hardy rose, a DUD I nillTIDLCIIf sturdy, erect little bush, urowum two feet high, literally covered with large clusters of crimson blossoms the em ire season. Mull size, lOi', 8 for !i5c. Send for it. It will please you. We crow everything of the best for Orchardt Vliieyurd, Lawn, Park, 8tri>et, (larden and Ureen- houHe. Rarest new, choicest old. We send by mail, postpaid. Seedii, Plant*, Vluep, Bulbt*, RoHeH, Eu-., and guarantee safe arrival and Sfitisfaction. Larger by express or freight. An cletcaiit les-Pajfi- C'atnloffue FREE. Send for it and Ben what values we give for a little money. Many choice sets cheap. Direct deal will insure you the oest and save you money. 53 years, 44 greenhouses, l-'OO acrei. THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., Box 407, PAINESVILLE, OHIO. Page 56 spraying Strawberry Plants By F. E. Beatty SPRAYING somewhat resembles fire insurance. The satisfaction of knowing that you have pro- tection is worth more than the cost. Just when to spray depends largely upon what you intend spraying for. If it is for a leaf-chewing insect, start the ma- chine at first sight of the intruders, using arsenite in some form. Paris green will send most any insect belonging to the leaf-eating family to the happy hunting grounds, except the rose chaffer. 1 hese seldom attack strawberry plants, but should they put in their appearance, Swift's arsenate of lead, used at the rate of five pounds to fifty gallons of water, will turn their toes to the sun. Arsenate of lead is an ideal insecticide and can be used exclusively. The only objection to it is its cost, but it never should be combined with Bordeaux mix- ture, because when they are put together one generally will neutralize the other and neither will be effective. We have combined them, but the results never were so good as when they were applied separately. One great advantage in ar- senate of lead is the fact that tender foliage is not so sensitive to it as to Paris green. In preparing the arsenate of lead for insects like the leaf roller, sawfly or beetle, take two and one-half pounds; dissolve it in three gallons of hot water. Stir until it becomes creamy; then add enough water to make fifty gallons. The five-pound strength is used only when fighting such insects as the rose chaffer or hard-shelled potato beetle. Those who are contemplating ordering Swift's arsenate of lead should order early, as the demand for it at spraying time is far greater than the supply. It now costs about 16 or 18 cents per pound for hun- dred-pound kegs, and more when ordered in less quantities. Any wholesale drug house will furnish it. Paris green is rapidly advancing in price. If ordered at once it will cost about 28 cents to 30 cents per pound in hundred- pound lots, and possibly more when bought in smaller quantities. In preparing Paris green we always dissolve it with lump lime. This neutral- izes the acid, which greatly lessens the danger o' burning the foliage. When used alone, put eight ounces of Paris green over two pounds of lump lime. Pour over this two gallons of hot water. When it starts slaking, stir to prevent burning. When cool, add enough water to make forty gallons. If used in connection with Bordeaux mixture, ten ounces can safely be used. Remember this quantity is for strawberry plants and not for peach or plum trees. If you noticed any leaf spot on your strawberry plants when laying them by last fall they should be sprayed with Bor- deaux mixture next spring. Give the first spraying shortly after uncovering the plants. Repeat in ten days, and again just before the buds open. If any saw- fly or eating insect is present, add Paris green with second and third spraying. The simplest way to prepare Bordeaux mixture is as follows: Put four pounds of blue vitriol in a coarsely woven sack (coffee sack will serve), put twenty gallons of water in a barrel and fasten the sack containing the vitriol to top of the barrel so the bottom of the sack will touch the water. This allows air to come in contact with the vitriol, which will assist in dissolving it quickly. Now take four pounds of lump lime. Pour over this three gallons of hot water. When it starts slaking, stir to prevent burning. When thor- oughly slaked, add enough water to make twenty gallons. When cool combine the vitriol and lime solution which will make forty ga..ons of Bordeaux mixture. Although Bordeaux mixture seems to be quite effective after it has been made TYPICAL SPRAYING SCENE IN STRAWBERRY FIELD • i^ m uL.k ^^HRB Iff iPK^^ H ^MiMMI im.i ^ ■ ^^j^ mBSHi W'"''"^ 1 ^wm ^Er^»^^H ^^^^^Ol^^ m^j^ ^ J - ■1 31 MAKING BORDEAUX MIXTURE several weeks, it is best to use it imme- diately after making it if possible to do so. The price of blue vitriol also is advan- cing, and a supply should be ordered at once. The price now is about 9 cents per pound in hundred-pound lots. We have our order in for more than one ton of vitriol and in this quantity it cost us 8 cents per pound. The advance in price of spraying ma- terial only shows how rapidly the demand is increasing. In fact, spraying is one of the important features which go to make up the complete combination in fruit growing. Our hundred acres of straw- beiry plants were sprayed eight times last season and we shall continue to spray, no matter how high the price of material may go. This careful spraying is done as a preventive, or in other words, to in- sure our plants against the attacks of in- sects or fungi. We realize that Bordeaux mixture is merely a preventive and not a cure. When leaves are continually kept copper- plated it is impossible for fungi to get control, as the spores cannot live in the presence of Bordeaux mixture. By add- ing Paris green, the leaves also are cov- ered with arsenate which destroys any leaf rollers before they can draw the edges of the leaf together. After leaves are folded tightly, it is quite difficult to get the arsenate where the leaf-roller will be affected by it. When the leaves of your plants curl up, having the appearance of suffering for moisture, it indicates that mildew is pres- ent. At the first sign of this, spray with liver of sulphur, using one pound to forty gallons of water. This can be used after the berries have formed, and to be effect- ive it must be used when fresh. When strawberry plants are taken from propagating beds that have been scientifi- cally sprayed, and the grower follows clean cultural methods, burning the bed over after fruit is picked, then spraying is not essential, unless weather conditions are favorable to fungous growth, or some Pa«e 57 THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 insect attacks the plant. These are con- tingencies that must be icept in mind as possibilities, and the strawberry grower should be prepared to meet them when they arise. It is the man who always is ready to do the right thing at the right time that makes a success of his business year in and year out. <^ ^ How to Keep Fungi in Check By M. N. Edgerton A STRAWBERRY leaf aflFected with disease can not perform its entire functional work. The working power of each leaf is reduced in proportion to the amount of its surface covered by the fungus. Strong, healthy plants are much less subject to the attacks of disease than are those which are bed will lessen the amount required in the fruiting bed. Petoskey, Mich. New Yorkers Discuss Spraying N' EW YORK fruit-growers held a meeting at Penn Van in January that is said to have been one of the most valuable and interesting in the his- tory of the association. It is remarkable how the subject of spraying and its im- portance to horticulture dominated the meeting, cropping out in the midst of the discussion of other themes all through the sessions. State Entomologist Prof. E. P. Felt, re- ported that although the San Jose scale had appeared in several new places, the total injury from insects during 1906 had not been so great as in previous years. small and weak. Cultural meth- ods that promote strength and vigor in individual plants aid in keeping the fo- liage healthy. The method of culture followed by us, the double-hedge row, is conducive to strong, healthy fo- liage because indi- vidual plants have an abundance of room in which to spread their foliage so that every part of every leaf is bathed in sunlight. The character of the season also has an influence upon the prevalence of fun|go|us diseases. Wet, cloudy weath- er is favorable to the growth of fungus. Sunshine discourages its growth. The season of 1906 was remarkable for the lightness of its rainfall and the large num- ber of bright sunshiny days. Of the dozen varieties in our new fruiting bed only one, the Nick Ohmer, showed the presence of a fungus. One spraying in mid-summer checked the spread of the disease. Spraying is unquestionably one of the factors in the combination that will give highest results in strawberry culture, and it is our purpose to make this one of the basic principles in our cultural methods in the future. As is the case in dealing with the ene- mies of tree and bush fruits prevention is much better than cure. The enemy should be kept routed by timely, regular, efficient spraying. Thor- ough work of this kind in the propagating RELATIVE RESULTS OF SPRAYING APPLES AT THE ILLINOIS EXPERIMENT STATION Graded Apples from Three Trees not Sprayed RESULTS OF SPRAYING IRISH POTArOES AT THE VERMONT EXPERIMENT STATION the fact that they are small and so more readily accessible to the spraying machine, gives to them their chief interest and value. With San Jose scale spreading so rapidly over the state the growers recognize the importance of this feature to the future of tree fruits. "Fighting the Scale" was the suggestive title of a paper by L. L. Morrell of Kin- derhook. He spoke out of personal ex- perience with the scale. In his experience the scale traveled the first year of his ac- quaintance a distance of two and a half miles, and nothing but Kie(?er pear and sour cherry trees were immune from its fatal visitation. The speaker related some experiences and made some sugges- tions that are of high value. He declared that he had killed more trees by spraying them with crude oil than he had lost from the scale. He now uses lime-sulphur mixture, made by using fifteen pounds of sulphur and twenty pounds of stone lime to fifty gallons of water, preparing the mixture as fol- lows: Put sixteen gallons of warm water in a barrel and add the lime; this will boil nearly to the top of the barrel; when it reaches this condition add the sulphur, and boil with steam until the mix- ture takes on a dark amber tinge. (■>-v> Total yield of sprayed potatoes per acre, 291 bushels; total yield of unsprayed potatoes per acre, 99^ bushels. Profit of Spraying, 191}^ bushels per acre. However, the codling moth had done great damage in some orchards. Another word of cheer came from Prof. U. P. Hedrick who, reporting for the com- mittee on plant diseases, said that with the exception of a small area in which pear blight had been very prevalent, the state had been exceptionally free from fungous diseases. Apples were almost free from fungi even in unsprayed orchards. He warned growers not to neglect spray- ing on this account, however, but urged them to continue spraying for fungous dis- eases, for apple-scab is an ever-present enemy of the apple-growers and preventive measures should not be abandoned. The report on experimental orchards submitted by F. E. Dawley, was of especial interest from the spraying side of the question. The experimental orchards referred to were of dwarf apple trees, and Page 58 Mr. Morrell urged the importance of following this meth- od, saying that the ingredients remain in more complete solution when it is boiled so thorough- ly than when it is used at the stage where it becomes green. He also urged the importance of thoroughness in the work. Take plenty of time, he said, and use sufficient mixture to cover every square inch of surface of the tree. He believes that the lower part of trees are most likely to be neglected. No one ever should try the impossible task of spray- ing against the wind. He had come to the conclusion that the lime-sulphur mix- ture is a (good fungicide, and ihad never had any evil consequences upon the men who apply it. Other growers, however, claimed the mixture was injurious to the skin, cracking the hands and burning the face. Dr. F. P. Krauty, of Berkeley, W. Va., favored the use of oil, and read a paper on "Controlling the Scale With Soluble Oils," in which he said that oil was more easily applied, more easily prepared, cov- ered a larger surface than did the lime- THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 sulphur mixture, and that the cost was less. He said he had been able to hold the scale in check by the use of soluble oil, first employing it at the strength of one to fifteen, and afterward reducing it to one to twenty. Dr. Krauty's report was not in harmony, however, with the experience of the New York growers, who have found nothing so satisfactory in dealing with the San Jose scale as the lime-sulphur mixture. Prof. P. J. Parrott, of the Geneva (N. Y.) Station told the meeting of the results secured in some cooperative work be- ing done by the Station and fruit grow- ers in the state who were treating some old, high-headed apple trees. He found that the best results on these large trees have been obtained by using alternately crude oil and the lime-sulphur mixture, using one preparation one year and the other the next. But on small trees they had found nothing else so effective as the lime-sulphur mixture. The following table showing cost of making different spray mixtures was pre- pared and presented by Professor Parrott. In each case the quantity referred to is fifty gallons: Bordeaux mixture $ .3^< Bordeaux mixture, with J4 'b. Paris green added 44 Lime-sulphur mixture 50 Lime-sulphur mixture, with sal soda . . .70 Lime-sulphur mixture, with caustic soda . .81 Kerosene limoid, 10 per cent 82 Kerosene limoid, 15 per cent 1.23 Kerosene limoid, 20 per cent 1.64 Scalecide, 5 percent 1.25 Scalecide, 8 percent 2.00 Scalecide, 10 per cent 2.50 Crude petroleum 5.50 Kerosene emulsion, 10 percent 65 Kerosene emulsion, 25 per cent 1.56 Crude oil emulsion, 10 per cent 67 Crude oil emulsion, 25 percent 1.67 After presenting the figures concerning the annual loss to fruit growers through insect pests quoted in the first article in this issue, Prof. M. V. Slingerland of Cor- nell spoke instructively upon some fea- tures of the spray question from the prac- tical viewpoint. He said, among other things, that the best way to get rid of borers seems to be to dig them out, but coal tar has proved a good preventive, and no bad effects have followed its appli- cation during the growing season. Thorough cultivation is helpful in hold- ing some insects in check; it is also well to consider varieties which are resistant. Spraying, however, must be the main re- liance of fruit-growers in fighting insects, although there has been much damage by spraying with the wrong preparation. Prof. Slingerland said that it was possible the San Jose scale will prove a blessing in disguise, for it will teach thorough spraying. Of all the spraying now done, less than half is well done, and there will be much loss before growers appreciate the danger of the scale. Spraying appa- /VSPINWALK POTATO < ^1ACHINER/< Machines With A Pedigree Great Improvement for 1907 Planter No. 3 Have you seen our latest ? Aspinwall Planter No. 3 With Sack Hopper, plants 99% good. No bridging in hopper. The most perfect machines for the purpose in the world. With our perfection Cutters, Planters, Sprayers, Diggers and Sorters, potato culture may be made profitable. Send for our illus- trated catalog. Contains val- ^EJf^M.^ . W uable spraying information, tables, etc. Booklet on Potato Culture" Free. Aspinvc/^all Mfg. Co. 215 Sabin St., Jackson, Mich. Sprayer .iiirM'iiltWJriJ* As Potato Sprayer. Xo ino/teu >iia alhkomatic telescope, WITUSOLABETE-PIEOJB FACETO FACE WITH THE SUN! **oa tSe bSS!^ KEEDED ON FARM, SEA OK RANCH. BY MAIL INSURED, Sl.20 POSITIVELY pucu a good teicvcops wa= ncremold for this price before. These Telescopes ore made by one of the lait'est manulai-turers of liurope, measure closed 12 iuci.is ar,(l ooen ovei- S^ feel m 5 sectious. Thev are BRASS BOUND, BIIASS SAFEl'Y C Ahun eachend toexcjuoe dust.eic, with PO WEKF I' L L KNSE*. siieiitifloally (-round aoa adjusted; OUARANrEED lii THl. MAKhU. Heretolore ivlescupcs of this sizt have been sol.j from $5.00 to $8 00 Every sojourner ID the countiy or at sea^de resorts should certainly secure one of these instruioents; and no farmer sh.mld be without one. O It J IX'T^ MILES Ah A \ are broutrht to view with asronlshlnpr clearness. Sent by express for $1 aifely packed ;if by rail insured ^1.20. Our new catalogue of Watches, e'c .sent with ench order. TbisisaKTand nffernnd you should not miss it, WE WAKRANT eaehTelescop.-.ItTST AS REPRESENTED or money refunded WHAT A TOIRIST SATSi New Y"|{K. Nov, 4, 1905, Messrs. Kirtlanri Bros. & Co. Gentlemen : I had with me on my recent Furopean trip one of f'our Expelsinr Solar Telescopes, with which I had the pleasure of observinpan Eclipse of theSun. At the Austrian Tyrol t was nlmnsl 80 per cent concealed Your Solar eye-piece is a pieat thinp. Its vslne to me on this occasion was many times c-rcBter than the entire outlay for the Telescopo. Yourstnily, L s. KFNRY KIRTLANU BROS, ifc CO., DEPT, Sy 90 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK. 20th Century Combination A wagon box, stock rack and hay lad- ders combined. Can haul loose hay or straw, all kinds of live stock ear corn, threshed wheat or oats, apples potatoes, etc. Good for every use on the farm without removal of parts. All Changes Hade Instantly. Catalog Free MODEL, M'F'G. CO.. Box 52 Moncie, Ind vinced us that by setting it with some other good bisexual, like Dornan, Pride of Michigan or Parsons' Beauty, results in eliminating the knotty, hard-end and green-tipped berries. This indicates that Brandywine is influenced favorably by receiving pollen from other varieties in addition to that from its own flowers, A. H. S., Nampa, Idaho. I set out about a half acre of strawberries last fall in September as my neighbors told me that they would be Page 100 in time to bear a crop this season, I never raised any berries; in fact, my time has been spent in the school room for many years; so I merely took the land as I found it, and as I could get very little expert advice in the mat- ter, decided to depend on myself. The land, which I have only owned a few months, was in wheat last season, so I had it plowed and harrowed thoroughly and then I made my rows so that they could be irrigated, and about once a week until November 1, I turned the water through the rows. As soon as cold weather came (it is never very cold he;e) I put THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 Write for Grand FREE Millwork Catalog of 5000 BARGAINS in Sash for Brooder Houses, Hot- Beds, Cold Sash, Roofing, Paper, Windows, Doors, etc. SAVING HALF for Poultrymen, Truck Farmers, Users. Prompt, Safe Delivery Direct from Mill — New Goods COLONY HOUSES ^^^ and SAMPLE ^v;nn\v.n^ bargains It will cost you scarcely H for iouT Colony Houses and Brooder Houses if you'll follow our pinna and use a window like this beloTC at a cost of only 65c EACH This Window is just the thing for many purposes for poultrymen. la hiph grade — strong— S Ik'hts — cntnlog ^Rfk Window ^ Hangers ' llitjjy p t- e r lees hungers and fast- eners cost only 20o per pair. Large, strong and hauoy. 600 Sq. Ft. Standard High-Crade BUILDING PAPER Just the thing to protect little chicks— stands rough u B age, Tft' 33c Highest Quality Guaranteed Stop planning. Don't think of doing anv Repair ■Work or Building, whoever >ou are or wherever vnu are. until vou have written us a postal for our CrantI FRKE! MILLWORK Catalog and FRKE Koofliifi: Rook. I'lans in it free for >ou. and alsn — We save you HALF in DOLLARS undt-r what your Local Dealer would charge you. frei;,'ht in- cluded, for all Millwork, Roofing. Building Pap**r, Paint. Screens. Sas-h. Doors— EVERYTHING that you need right KOW when the season begins. \Ve Guarantee to save you HALF or more than half on ail goods, like Bam.ple3 here, sent DIRECT TO YOU PROIWIPTLY from LARGEST NULL IN THE WORLD Wo hnve nn second-hand goods at all — Make onlv the Highest Quality. Well Seasoned Goods- AM our Millwork is up to Standard estnblishe'l hy the Suvh, Door and Blind Manufacturers' Association of the Korthwcst. Vou get the SAME PRICES ON SI ORDER OR $10,000 WORTH and SAVE HALF Keep in mind that our Catalogs are Authorities on Millwork and Building st> les. Ko matter where you live, realize that you can get what you nt-ed more promptly, at naif or more savings, tlian your dealer or anv other concern can sup'ply \ou. They have to get their goods from us or some other manufacturer. We are the only Manufacturers or Mill selling direct to u^^ers ot Mill Prices. Kemeiuher us tiiclcs. No Letter liouse or rat dot: 'cer lived. If you want a standarii bred Fox Terrier at $4 f'>r females and *.'» for mules, write at once. I puarautee satisfaction. Arthur Iliclien, Route 7, Bi-lievue, Ohio, ."i L^OR SALE— half blooded Scotch collie male pup li M. months old. Color, brlndle. Price S.I.OO. R. L. Keith, Franklin Qrove, 111. 4 FARMS AND LANDS FOR SALE / 1ASH for vour property wherever located. For quick '' bale sf-nd description and price. Northwestern Busl- iicHH-\irency, a2ti Bank Commerce building, Mlnneftpolls, Minnesota. 4 IF YOU WANT TO SELL, trade or buy a farm, send full deseriplinn of what you have or want, with 25<-entR. to tlio Farmers' Want .lonrnal, Dept. 88, Kansas City. Mo., n-id we will advertise Jt before 30,000 buyers and selli^rK Hiid send you a copy of the paper. 4 CTRAWBKRRY FARMS and Country HonA In the Tide- ► ^ water section of Vlri:Inia. Some beautiful waterfront properties. Wilcox and Goodenow, Norfolk, Virginia. 7 PLANTS AND ROOTS RIDGEWAY'S STRAWBERRY PLANTS (KelloL'g's Pe.l igreed strains) from mulclied propiisfuting beds. Shipped in May and June. Good true service. Several Big, Red, Luscious Strawberries There's class in any of these selections — Good Luck, Chesapeake, Virginia, Cardino', Ne.v Glen Mary, Haverland, Dunlap, Marshall, Klondyke, Gandy, Bubach, Clima.\. 90 BEST STANDARD VARIETIES AT RIGHT PRICES Send today for my handsome 1907 complete catalogue of small fruits and vegetables. B'g stock of fine dewberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, choicest garden seeds, peas, beans, water melons, cantaloupes, tomatoes and cucumbers. W. F. ALLEN, Dept. 58. SALISBURY. MD. IRON AGE IMPLEMENTS easily pay for themselves the first season, not only on account of the time and labor they save, but because they do better work and give you larger crops. The No. 6 Iron Age combines a double wheel hoe, a single wheel hoe, and a hill and drill' seeder. The most compact, practical and useful of all garden tools. Opens the furrow, sows the seed, covers and roils the ground and marks the next row, in one operation. The No, I Iron Age is the combined double and single wh-jl-hoe form of the N'l. 6 Com- bined Wheel Hoe and Seed Drill. The only wheel hoe that can be used either as a single or double wheel hoe. Write for the new 1907 Iron Age Book that shows and describes the full line of Iron Age Riding and Walking Culiivators, Horse Hoes, Seed Drills, Sprayers, Potato Planters, Diggers, etc. Bateman Mfg. Co., Box 543 ^ Grenloch, N. J. WeatcfD Distributing Points wi-andard varieties. Small orders neeepted. Rldgewa, ''' Oarden, Osakis, Uouglns County, Minnesota, ;"» MICHUjAN and Cobbler Potatoes, millions of vecetable and stniwbeny plants. Uanish Cahliaire Seed at $2 per Hi. , postpaid— cash. F. M. Pattini;ton, Sciploville, N.Y. 4 PALMETTO AsparaL'US. strons two-year Dlants. 100, *1.00; 1,000. $4.00. Kansas Raspberries,, 100, *'J.0O. C. O.mld, Gibnan. 111.. i;..iitp-_». B POULTRY, EGGS, ETC. WINNER . " My White Wyandotte Pullet , by Lambert . - seorrtim»?4. Stock and etrys from Duston strain for e. Kttiyl Wright, Conneaiit, Ohio. .'> ANTAM EGGS. America's Best. Send 2 cent stamp for circular. A. A. Penn . Box 'JO, Burlington, Wis. ."» BARGAINS, stock or eut's. Thoronshbred Poultry, Ducks. Geese. 6,000 prizes, circular free. Charley Smiley, MUligan, Ind. 4 DICKEN'S WHITE ROOKS have fine, shape, size and color. I have some choice matiutrs for this .season, if you want birds of quality. Book your order with Dicken for \N'hite Rock Ei:i:s; noVi*^ better a*t uiij pricf'. Ten chicks iruaranteed from each s-^ttin?. lii eKtrs, $'2.00. Arthur Liickeu, Route 7, Belle\nie, Ohio. 5 EGGS. Best strain Wliite Plymouth Rocks, pure white, large birds, prolific layers. E. J. Kirby, Covert. Mich. 4 15 ROSE COMB Brown Leghorn Eggs. 7"> cents. Tiedemaiin, Hiimmond, ind. FOR SALE, White Leghorn, White Rock and P.-kin Duck eggs for hat^'hlng, Collie Pups, Homer Pigt-ons. If you want something ele"Hnt and reasonable write The Mlchat'lis Poultry Farm, MtiHnette, Wis. t> ORPINGTONS, S. 0. Buff and White, Blue Ribbon Win- ners, score to Ur>. Eegs. one setting, $3.00. Two, $-">.00. Gniiranteed to produce winners. Frank Crowell", (iranger. Miini. 4 RHODE ISLAND REDS, Ll-ht Brahmas. White, Buff Blark ami Burred Rocks. ButY. Silver, White und Golden Wvandnttes, Brown, Buff and White Leghorns, Black .laviis and Minorrus. Hardy, proUtli-, farm-bred, pure stock. P&ge 102 ' For Birds, moderate prices, or " Eggs to Hutch" at 10 cents each, write Walter Sherman, Berry Patcii, Newport, PEDIGREE W hit.' Plymouth Rocks. Bn-d to luy. Bine Ribbon winnt rs. Circular free. Tassic, ;^0K0 Clin- ton Ave., Minneapolis. ;"» PI^RE BRED POt^LTRY and Eggs of twenty kinds for sale, Bai'r'ed and Buff Rocks. Pekin Ducks. Bron/.a Turkeys, Toulouse Get'Si-. Br-es nnd Fox Hounds a spci-liil- tv. Enclose stamp for cataloyrue. .1. Fred Fov, Redfl.ld, la. '4 PUREbred Pekin ducks for sale, 050 selected bret-ders. Rankin Hallock strain, flue birds. Eirys by 100 or 1,000. Golden West Duck Rauehe, Joliet, 111. 4 "p C. B. LEGHORNS. Every bird in pen laving in De- XV. cember. 15. $1.50. 2'nd choice, $1.00. A. L. G«nild, Oilman, Illinois. 4 R OSE COMB WHITE and Rose Comb Brown \jp horn Eggs, ir., $1.00; ;^9, $2.00. Jack Cook. Bliiffton, ROYAL BLUE BARRED PLYMOl'TH ROCKS; Eki;s f-.r salf. A good hatch guaranteed. George W. Wiitson. Eldorado, Illinois. 4 STANDARD-BRED Prize-winuiug Ban-ed Plynionth Rorks and S. C Brown Leghorns. Egys for liateliinc from both breeds. Yount: stock for sale. .Tames W. Henidnn. 119 Wood Avenue, Three Rivers, Mieh. 4 T TWENTY FIVE Breeds Geese, Ducks and Chick. -us. Catiil'iuue frt-e. Lari^est poultry farm in the norrh- wt'st . (ireat Western Poultry Farm, Rural Route No. 4, Mttpletflu, Minn. 4 SECTIONAL CRATES TUFTS' SECTIONAL CRATE. Neat In appearance. Well ventilated. No division racks. No mashed fniii . Displays fruit to best advjintasrp — investigate. Fret- cat- alogue. Manufactured by Elmer G. Tnfts, Aurora, Ind .*> WATCHES 81" CENTS mailed to us n1ll ei-t vou liy ivtuni rnnil Hi.- «> Br-st ti.ilUir Wat.'li made. Stem svlnd aud stem -ei and Kuaraiueed for 1 year. A. Smith, .Jeweler. 101 St. .'oe St., Three Kivera, Mich. tf Gathering and Marketing Strawberries By Frank E. Beatty WHILE 1 may be able to give some valuable suggestions oti the marketing of berries, yet this branch of the berry business to a large degree must be treated in accor- dance with local conditions. The first suggestion I would otJer has to do with grading and packing. No matter what the local conditions may be, it will pay the grower to exercise great care in pack- ing each grade of berries separately. The grading can be done more successfully and more economically in the field by the pickers than in the packing house. The pickers should ha\e about one-quarter of a cent a quart extra for this work. After pickers get accustomed to grading the ber- ries they will gather almost as many quarts in a day as they could by throwing the berries into the boxes promiscuously. ] al- ways had my pickers gather the fancy ber- ries first, and put them carefully into boxes, then before moving forward, they would clean the vines of ripe second-grade berries, putting these in a separate box, of course. I found that my pickers handled the ber- ries with much more care after I adopted this rule of grading, because they were getting pay for this extra work, and the picker that could not do the work to my entire satisfaction could not pick berries for me. The berries should be taken to the packing house or some shady place as soon after they are picked as possible, and whether the packing be done in a packing house, under a tent, or in the shade of a iree, some responsible person should be in charge of the work. Each box should be tipped enough to see if the berries in the bottom are as good as those on top. This is done by taking the box of berries in the left hand; then place the right hand over the top and gently turn the box partly upside down, or tip enough to see the berries which are at the bottom of the box. If found pro- perly graded, reverse this movement, which will allow the berries to fall back to place without bruising them. If the berries are found poorly graded the number on the picking stand or carrier will show who picked them, and then word is sent out to the field foreman to look after the picker known by that number. When the pickers learn that their mistakes and poor work quickly can be traced to the guilty person they are more careful to do their woi^ well. And the importance of this may not be overesti- mated. Every quart of berries should be faced on the top by placing stem ends down, and each box should be full to the top. Long berries like Haverland should be laid on their sides. A good packer soon will learn to arrange each variety so as to make the berries show up to the best ad- vantage. I often have been asked if it pays to spend time in packing second-grade berries, and my answer always is "Yes." It paid me and it will pay you also, but it will not pay to put better berries on top of the box or crate than those which are in the bottom in any grade of berries. Just take two quarts of second-grade ber- ries, and arrange the top layer of one box nicely, leaving the other box just as it came from the picker. Then set the two side by side and note the great difference in appearance. Take these two boxes to the grocer or some family and ask five cents for the unpacked quart and eight cents for the quart with the top layer of berries arranged with the stems down, and see which sells first. Just what plan to follow in marketing strawberries can best be determined for himself by each grower. Those who are located near a good home market will profit more by selling to home people, either through grocers or direct to families. I prefer selling through grocers and mak- ing settlement with them at the end of each week. In this way the returns are to be depended upon, while in selling from house to house some losses through poor accounts are certain to occur. If berries must be shipped, make arrangements with the best grocer in each nearby town, and give him the exclusive sale of your berries. A STRAWBERRY FIELD IN THE HOOD RIVER VALLEY OF OREGON When the dealer is assured that he ha'i the exclusive sale, he will feel more like advertising and pushing the sale of your special brand of berries. Have it under- stood that you are to name the selling price, and if your berries are nicely backed you need not hesitate in making the price several cents a quart above the market for common berries. I found it a capital idea to advertise in local papers. By do- ing this most all of the second-grade and over-ripe berries may be sold from the farm. Families will purchase by the crate for canning and preserving. Large growers who have ten or twent\- acres may find it necessary to sell their berries through some commission firm. rhis is a very good way, provided a reli- able firm can be found to take the exclu- sive sale of the farm's output. Any pro- gressive and honest commission firm al- ways will bid high for fancy and nicely packed berries, and if they will not pur- chase them outright they will agree to sell such fruit at a good premium above the market. The grower should give the commission firm to understand that he can- not have the sale of his berries unless he will hold up the price, and any good commission firm will do this because they know full well that grocers will pay a high price for high-grade berries. No matter how you market your berries, whether from house to house, through grocers or commission houses, arrange- ments should be made long before your berries are ripe. Let me briefly repeat the suggestions on gathering and marketing berries: 1. Pick no berries until they are fully ripe, unless they are to be shipped some distance. 2. Do not allow pickers to pull ber- ries from the vines. See that they pinch them off with the thumb nail, leaving a stem about one-half inch long. This will assist wonderfully in getting the berries to market in good condi- tion. 3. Do not pick berries when the vines are wet if you can pos- sibly avoid it. 4. Be sure and have the pickers put each grade of berries by themselves. 5. Do not leave berries in the fielda fter they have been picked. 6. Do not try to sort berries after they are picked. The extra handling will bruise and mash them. And Pkge 103 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 nothing else will more quickly break down the market than will fruit in this condition. 7. Do not pack the quart boxes of berries in the crates until they are cool, and keep them in a cool dry place until ready to take them to market. 8. Never send berries to market with- out nicely arranging the top of each quart, whether fancy or second-grade, and see that they are the same all through the box. 9. Never allow several dealers to han- dle your berries in a small town. If you do, a cutting of prices surely will result. 10. Do not put two varieties in the same box or crate unless the berries are so nearly alike that the difference could not be detected. I think that by combining these sug- gestions with your own ideas a good profit may be realized from your crop this sea- son. Those who have been reading the "Autobiography" can see what difficulties I passed through before hitting upon a profitable plan for marketing my berries. I hope that in these articles the reader may receive many valuable suggestions on mar- keting as well as concerning other features of strawberry production. Crop Outlook in the Southern Sea- board Strawberry Field By F. L. M. WITH the actual opening up of spring in the South much activity is being displayed on the splendid truck farms of eastern North Carolina and tidewater Virginia. These areas have long been famous for their early vegetables, but this \'ear, if one may judge from pres- ent prospects, the crop is to be earlier and larger than ever before. The young plants already are far advanced and, unless some unforeseen disaster overtakes them or the season proves unfavorable, truckers in this section will have their products upon the Northern markets at an unusually early date. The warm winter has aided greatly in this work. The temperature has not only been high but very even— the most desirable kind of weather for pushing early vegetables. These remarks apply to strawberries and other fruits quite as much as to vege- tables. Though the strawberry outlook is quite bright, all reports indicate that the acreage will be considerably reduced from what it was last year — some say by 25 per cent. The farmers in some sections have, in the past several years, and par- ticularly last year, suffered severe loss on account of lack of transportation facilities. Discouraged by inability to get their pro- ducts to market promptly, they have this year reduced their acreage of berries and increased their acreage in other truck crops. In the Norfolk, Va. and Newbern, N. C. areas there has been a slight increase of acreage and larger shipments of the lus- "Better Than Gas," says this NEW YORKER. ■^ "1 bave ased The Angle Lamp far beyond tfae time Bet for trial and find that one caaoot be too enthusiastic over it." writes Mr. Graaville Baroum, of Cold Springs, N. J. *'lt certainly gives the brightest and at the same time the softest illamiaation one could desire. "We lived In New York City for some years and used all the latest and most Im- proved appliances, devices, etc. in connection with gas or electricity and yet I must sin* cerely nrge the superiority of this simple yet wonderful metiiod of lUuminaUoa. One c fa&rdly say too much In its praise." THE Angle Lamp makes common kerosene the best, the cheapest and most satisfactory 01 allli^htlii^ metbodB, Safer aud more reliable than gasoline or anetylene, yet as con- venient to operate as pas or electricity. The Anple Lamp is lighted and extinguished like gaa. May be turned hitrh or low witbout odor. No smoke, no danger. Filled while liffb ted and without raovintr. Requires flllinir but once or twice ft week. It floods a room with its beautiful, soft, mellow light that has no equal. Writs lor Our Catalog *5^ * and our proposition for a 30 DAYS* FREE TRIAL. Write for our catalopr "64" listing 33 varieties of The Allele Lamp from 11.80 op, now— befON yon torn this leai— tur it gives you tue benefit of our ten years' experience with all lighting methods. THE ANGLE MFG. CO., 78-80 MURRAY STREET. NEW YORK. s PRAYING TRAWBERRIES Potatoes, Vegetables, Trees; White-washlne. etc., quickly and effectively done with the new ti KANT-KLOG" SPRAYERS Spraying time will soon be here. If any of your neighbors are likely to purchase sprayers this spring, send to us. at once for booklets and we will tell you how to get your sprayer free. ROCHESTER SPRAY PUMP CO. 12 East Ave., ROCHESTER. N. Y. The BURPEE IDEA is "to tty all things, hold fast to those that are good,— and then make them betterl" If you would have pleasure or profit n om. your garden you 3^^^^^::^^ri:^^=:^r:^^^nn^^^^^^^^^ should plant the BEST SEEDS that Growl Shall wi mail you a copy of ** Th« Ijeadlng American Seed Catalog »' 5 It is an ele» gaut book ci 2co pages and is mailed ouly to tliose who can appreciate the BURPKK QUAljlTTf til S<'€tls, Most Important Kovelties for 19C7, — including the two most r"'Tiarkabie •* New Creations,'' — which can be had ouly direct from us. "Write TO-DA\ I W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO.. Seed Growers, PHILADELPHIA, PA. rf^ft^.ir^ SWEET CHESTNUT TREE To get this valuable "Blizzard Belt" Chestnut quickly introduced and at same time gain new friends, we offer to send a Hardy Sweet Chestnut tree 1 year old, entirely Free to a limited number of property owners not already our customers. Mailing expense Sets which send or not as you please. A postal will bring the tree. Our Catalog containing 64 colored plates of our "Blizzard Belt" Fruits, Orna- mentals. Evergreens, etc., and a mine of valuable infor- mation for fruit-growers is free. Write today. The '. MRS. J. H. PKATT. Three Rivers, Mich. AKE HONEY CANNING FRUIT for others. They'll pay hiph cash prices. Send for Iree, money-makinp: catalog. Tells al. about coats and profits made with our canning ootflt. Send now. Bepin to reap profits this season. MODERH CAITNER COMPANY. fiept.M* Bridgeport, Alabama. NATURE'S RIVAL BROODERS THE Brooder that rivals nature because it has a hover as natural as an old hen. Send today for my circular explaining why they raise more and stronger chicks than other Brooders, also why they eoit you only 75c to $1.00 each. S. G. ROBINSON, Jr. , Inxntor tad Pttantea, R. F. D 7, Wast Tolado, a cious berries may be expected from this territory. In the great berry section around Chad- bourn, N. C, also, there will be only slight reduction in acreage. At that point individual shipments are large and in some respects the facilities for handling the ber- ries recently have been improved. For instance, a new refrigerating plant has been built at Chadbourn for the special purpose of a larger supply of ice for refrigerator cars during the berry season. The crop at present is in splendid condition, and the prospect is for a large yield in this territory. Last year it required 2,600 cars to handle the berry crop in eastern North Carolina, and the number required would have been greater had the truck growers been able to get help enough to pick all the berries. It has become a problem in some sections of North Carolina to get help during the berry season. The first shipment of berries last year was on the 5th of April, and the season lasted from then until about the 10th of May. The greatest shipment last year in one day was 212 cars. The railroads already have be- gun to make preparations properly to han- dle the crop, and it will not be many days now before refrigerator cars will, be seen on all the sidetracks in that great straw- berry field. Last spring when the season opened fourteen hundred cars were with- in the territory ready to be loaded. Nowhere else may be found soil and climate better adapted to the culture of strawberries for the Northern markets than in that vast extent of territory stretching from Norfolk, Va. to the southern limits of North Carolina. It is only within comparatively recent years, however, that this fact was discovered and the cul- ture of berries for market begun on any considerable scale. Even now the indus- try is in its infancy. With ten months in the year in which there is no frost, with a soil that is in every way ideal for the growth and culture of the early berry, one has here every advantage that nature can give. It would be strange, therefore, if it should not become the greatest straw- berry growing territory in the world. Norfolk, v«. .^ .^ WRITING on the "Garden of Small Fruits" in Suburban Life, Prof. Samuel T. Maynard of Massachusetts says that "No other fruit is so distinctly a home fruit as the strawberry. It is one of the most prolific fruits, yielding some- times as high as one hundred quarts to the square rod, though the average yield under good, ordinary conditions may not be more than from twenty-five to fifty quarts per rod." On the much-discussed question of fall-planting of strawberries, we are glad to note that Professor Maynard ranges himself squarely on the side of the question taken by The Strawberry. He says on this point: "Fall planting is often recommended, and while some good fruit may be obtained in this way, and it is better to plant at this time than not at all, there will be litlla or no profit, while there should be considerable from spring-set plants." The Compulsory Marking of Fruit Packages OREGON has taken a step in the right direction and one which will be, in the ultimate, of as great ad- vantage to the fruit-grower as it will be to the general public. From the Fruit- Grower we learn that the Oregon legis- lature has enacted a law under which every fruit package sent out from that state must bear the name of the packer, and if grown by any person other than the person packing it, the package must also bear the grower's name. This law ap- plies to shipments made within the state as well as those sent to other states. This law becomes effective three months after the present legislature adjourns. The passage of this law is a part of a general plan to provide a guarantee of the quality of the Oregon fruits. It is de- sired that every package of fruit shall stand on its own merits, and the grower and packer of it shall assume responsibil- ity for its quality. The bill was intro- duced by J. W. Perkins of Medford, one of the best fruit-growers in America. For many years recommendations have been made by experienced fruit-growers to the effect that "all fancy fruit should be shipped in packages bearing the grow- er's name or trademark, but that low-grade Page lOS Stuff should be marked in plain packages, and sold for what it will bring." How many times we have heard this recom- mendation made at horticultural meetings. And now the (Oregon law says, in effect, that one should not market any fruit which is not worthy to bear the name of the 'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen now TO GET THEM 'TiRIOTS rOR 8. SO THREE CHARIOTS FOR 12.S0 Special prices on larger quantities. Anyone buying a chariot not satisfied after one day's trial can return same at my expense wben allmoDey paid will at once be returned. GEO. WEBSTER, Christiana, Pa. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 grower. If you are not willing to own up to its production, then don't market it. It will be interesting to note the effect of this law. It will doubtless have a ten- dency to make growers more careful as to the quality of fruit they send to market. It will not affect the fruit sent out from Hood River, Medford and those other places where the shipping associations have such stringent regulations, but it will call a halt in those localities where the growers are not so particular. .^ ^ IN an address before the VVestern New York Horticultural Society at its recent meeting, O. G. Bishop of Pontiac, Mich., himself a successful originator and improv- er of varieties of small fruits, declared that "quality's the thing in small fruits," and proceeded to offer suggestions that open up delightful vistas to all fruit-grow- ers and point the way to better things. He said that progress must come from new varieties or the improvement of old ones. He believes propagation from the best to be found among our present varie- ties more important than the originating of new varieties. Variations are always taking place, and the growers should be on the lookout for variations that show an improvement. Change of environment and high culture are both very apt to cause variations. Fix on an ideal and breed to it, selecting each year from the best and you will be surprised at the re- sults and surprised how critical you will soon become in noticing these variations and improvements. Select from an ideal plant rather than from ideal fruits, as an ideal fruit may be the only one borne on the plant and a plant bearing nearly ideal fruits in quantity and showing the plant to be strong and vigorous is much to be preferred as a parent. '^j^ITH the assurance that every member of "^ The Strawberry family will be vitally in- terested in it we call attention to theextraordinary catalogue and offers of Gordon, Van Tine & Co., the largest manufacturers of sash, doors, blinds, windows, and all lines of millwork in the world. In one word, this company sells to its customers everything that enters into house or barn construction at prices just one- half those they would be compelled to pay elsewhere. How can they do it? That is a perfectly natural question, when one considers their wonderful offer; but the answer is simple. In the first place. Gordon, Van Tine & Co. own the timber land' from which come the raw materials they make up into myriad forms. They own and operate the sawills that reduce the timber into workable shape, and they own and operate the splendid factory at Davenport, Iowa, vi'here the lumber is turned into the complete line of millwork stuff for which this company has become famous. These are advantages which readily are appre- ciated and indicate with what degree of economy the finished products may be turned out when thus organized. But this is not all. The com- pany has organized its selling department on an up-to-date, systematized basis, so arranged that the consumer gets all the benefits of intermediate profits. Indeed, it eliminates all intermediate profits, because it eliminates the middleman en- Let Me Prove That 10 Acres this Irrigated Land Ca earn il $250.22 MONTH For You I Will Sell It To You For $2.50 a Week Irrigated, under cultivation, ready to earn at least $250 a mon Algodone^ rCanal IHe&4 'Gat* E. W. SHUTT. PrsBldcnt Rio Grande Lund, Water iV Power Co. Old Albuqueique ALBUOUEIJoi YOU know, or can easily learn fmni United States Government Heporis, that irrlij:ated lauds In the Great Southwest, In selected crops, are made to net $300 to tl.iXWayear per acre over and above the entire cobt of culti- vating them, .Anyone who knows the country wltl tell you that absoliit«?ly the pure.'it, safest way in the world to Rain a liittfe and permanent income for a small outlay Is to Ret hold of a few acre» of Irrigated land In the Grent Southwest. But always before It has required at least a few . ^^ hundred dollai-B and It has been necessary for Pajaritn the investor to live on the land and develop It. \ Now, my company makes It possible for you ^i in -et ten acree of the tlnest Irrigated land In -*^-' the world If you can save $2.50 a week. Vou ean roand Uveon It — absolutely assured that It can o« made to earn 83.000 to 810,000every year withoat fall. Or you can remain In your present poeltlon and add almost llmt much to what ynu earn. For my company will cultiviite yonr prfVperty for a small share of the crops. You don't have tc .:now a thing In the world about farming. Now, I can and will prove all this from the highest authorities in the land. All you have to do Is— write me and say, "Prove tome that ten acres of your land can be made to net from $3,000 to $10,000 a year above all cost of cultivating it." I have the proof, so read what my company will do for you. I will deliver to you at once a Secured Land Contract for ten aerea of Irrigated land In ibe Klo Grande Valley. You must pay mj- company $2.F>0 a week or as much more as you like. Instead of your having to pay Op.™-,.^, Interest on deferred payments, I *'^""*'.^ aifree, for my company to pay _ , . y jou f'% per annum on the money Sabinal you pay In. 1 also bind my company to fully Irrigate your land and turn it over to you underfiiH cultivation whenever ynu desire to mature your contract. = $3.50 a week will mature your contract In 10 years. But after you have paid $2.50 a week for three years, or the same total amnnnt'ln a shorter time, I agree and bind my conip..nv lo lend you enough money to make all futuiw pay ments and mature your contract. Kemember, the land n-lll be fully irrigated and completely under C" livatlon, so your fir,-t year's crop should net ;'ou enough over and above the cost of cultivating It to fully pay your loan. You would then own land outright that can be made to net you $3,000 to $10,000 a year. fan you hope in any other way as xafeand sure as this to have so large an Income In a fww yearsi Not In all the wuild have I ever heard of so goi d an oppor- tunity lor nil n of small means. Ir this smalt space 1 Cannot tell you all the steps that have been taken to s:i fe- guard your money In every way. This Is Investment- no t speculation — yet J? you get ) etiirns eiual to ' those from successful Bj^eculatlon. And all the while you ■are seen red a gainst loss bv the tlnest larnj land In the world, and your interest In water -rights that no man could buy fora million dollars. There is no qu.stlon like find- Ingtroid Of sti Iking oil about tl'ls proposition. The land la there for all time. The water la there for all time to nourish and fertilize It. You don't have to dig in th*> ground deeper than to plant seed. There are no Insects that destroy crops In this country.' There Ig no chance for drought. There Is no chance known toman for a single crop failure, ever. „„ And the abundant crops of lari^e and in every other W'ay superior o hays, irralns, vegetables and fruits * are eiiualed in only a verv few fa- 2 vorcd spots, such as the Ko.ky Ford country. But I am going to prove by case after case that ten acres of this propertv can be made to net you $3.000 to $10,000 a year, aecordinir to the kind of crops grown. The difference Is not accordlni? to location of land or season or anj- thing oi_the kind. The land is near a prosperous and growing city— Albuquerque — the larg- ■ Ity In New Mexico. Our main Irrigation canal to run thro igh the city. The main line of the Santa Fe Railroad runs through our land from end to end. And our own electric line Is to supply ad- ditional ch.ap and convenient transporta- tion to every section of these lands. If you want to see the country for your- sell", you can go with the next party I take til look at the property. Or you and your friend^ can bandtogetherandsend a repre- sentative, pr 1 will send you names of prominent men vho have gone or will go and you can a*k them what Conditions they Und. But this la the merest outline of what I will show you in detail. There are many features of this Secuied I-and Con- tra.-t that make It safe and prolltable which 1 haven't K, ace to touch upon. I am only attempting to make it clear to you that If you can possibly save $2.50 a week you can bUy land that can be made to net you a three to ten thousand dollar Inrome in a few yearv. Don't doubt^I have proof. I have promised to lay Itbefore you. All you have to dn Is to write for It— that can't coat you a cent more than postage. And as fast as the malls can carry. I will send you proof that as sure as crops grow where climate, soli and water conditions are perfect, you can be tlnanclally In- dependent In a few years. Now not to hurry your decision In the lea.'^t. but to protect the price, write me personally at once I tor after the first lot of ten acre tiacts Is contrai-ted for we will jtsk more. But I make this lOmlse. Every man or woman who answers this advertisement at ome can have at least ten acres on there terms unless, of course, all our land should be already contracted for from this one advertisement Now. write at om-e. I can say nothing more in tb Is advertisement except that. If I could 1 would not tell you all you can confidently expect from this Investment. For you would not believe it without the proof which I cannot put in an advertisement. Address me personally, and believe me sincerely, E.W. SHUTT. Pres.Rio Grande Land.Water & Power Co.. 634 HouserBId^ St.Louis.Mo. THE DICKY STRAWBERRY The best one to plant with the Cardinal. A Strong, Vigorous, Healthy, Staminate va- riety. Fancy truit, great cropper. Send for circular and price list. C. S. PRATT, READING, MASS. Page 106 —"SARATOGA"— THE N£W STRAWBERRY Introduced this season: with a record of 5918 quarts per acre at one picking in ltX)6. under the same culture given entire neld of many va- rieties by the originator. Fully described in catalogue with many other new and all the beet jitandard varieties. Write for catalogue today and buy your plants of a specialist. GEO. R. SCHAUBER. Bo« S. BallstoD Lake, N.Y. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 TWO PIANOS! CASH! BIG PRIZES FREE! If this chart g%t9 destroyed anotber printed upon heavy paper will ba seat apoo receipt of 2citamp for postage. rn\niTTnMC~^Ocents pays forayear'B subscription to ^I'Uiil/l I lUliO Successful Farmixq and one count; II .00 pays for two years and three counts and mp.kes you CAN YOU COUNT THESE DOTS ? SUCCESSFUL FARMINC WILL SIVE TO THOSE WHO CAN COUNT THE DOTS IN THE PUNO CORRECTLY OR NEAREST CORRECTLY, THE rOLLOWINt UST OF PRIZES: CAN YOU DO IT? Two Elegant PianOS|Onetoalailyanilonetoagentle.iian. 2na7 Two Hundred Dollars Cash. 3rd. One Hundred Dollars Cash. 4th. Fifty Dollars Cash, 5th. Twenty-five Dollars Cash. Next 5. Ten Dollars Each. Next 10. Five Dollars Each. Next 25. Two Dollars Each. CONDITIONS: 50 cents pays for one rear and one count. SI. 00 pays for t\yo jears and tbree counts. You get §50 extra if you have three counts. It Vf^ pay you to have three. See conditions below. DON'T DELAY! IP YOU WANT A PIANO OR OTHER PRIZES J?'Jb<.E;:El SEND YOUR COUNTS AT ONCE PRIZE WINNERS IN PAST CONTESTS A rldnOlOrSl.UU* your contesto knowing that they will receive fair treatment. How glad I Wat to Win a piano for bo eni&ll an amount and wholly unexpected. The paper alone is worth all I paid. MiiS. L. W. NOTT. Marlon, la. UaUfAn«Di9nA Refer people to me If they nc imn d ridnUi wanttokuow whether you are boneet. I got ■ plane for a prize and never heard of you until I answered your ad. Yourpaperls worth twice the eubscriptlon price. W. C. ELLIOTT, Audubon, Iowa. tmnnnPriTa IgotmrJIOOandUwaethe alUU.UUrriZC. easleet I ever earned. The dots are hard to count but I know the prizes go to those who win them fairly. AilY R. BARNES, Van Horn. Iowa. WnntlRnPach Jo Whom It May Concern: nun 9iJUU uddll. I won grand prize of $390 Cash In last coDteEit. I was much surprised. I A Ff AWO MBS. L. W. NO IT, AlarioD, Iowa. A PIANO eligible for the special %bO.\iQ prizes given to winners of Us prizes if thef wantteToachaeto Successful Farmlntr's fairness to any have three counts. See below. and everybody. JOHN A. GOODWIN, Richmond, Va. there In Canada I Won $50. never knew there was such a AW ADn^w-illbemadeaafoHows— The person giTingcorrectornear- Arn nnt^^fi^^^A^ Wayup rt TT ftlvl/J estcorrectcountwillBetflrstprize. Next nearest second, etc. ^DU.UU lOrUanaOa. I nevei •C^fl PDI7FC~^® ''^^'^^^ ®'^®''y'^°''y ^'^**"^<^*^^6**^reecountsso they paper until I answered ad. now I will never be without It ^Ov riVlLLtJ can have one each side of what they think is correct to again. MISS E. FORNIER, Mantane, Quebec be more sure to hit it. To encourage this w© will give $50.00 extra to win- ners of 1st prizes if they have three counts. Kemember if you have one count you get pinnoonly, but if you have three counts you get$60extra. Tl MP DDI7F^— S'^^'**^ ^*^^^' ^® f^el «arly counters should I liUL riVlLL^ be rewarded and we will give 125.00 trtra to the person winning piano If count is mailed by May I6th. flUR RFSPflNSIRit ITV'"^® ^""^ *'"®^P"^°^^'^'® business house, and every prize must b« and will be paid as stated. We refer to Iowa National Bank, Central State Bank. German SaviDgt Bank; in fact any Bank, Express Company^ business house or individual in Des Moines, as well as Dan or Bradstreets Agency, or the ptbllsber of this paper. U/nn a Pienn ' received the elegant piano which I won In nun a riailllsyourrecent contest, and all was perrectly grand. lam recommending you to all my friends and you are at liberty to use my name as reference any time you wish. ISAAC aHOTWELL.Kockland,Ohlo. » OTHERS WHO HAVE WONt » gBg_---j, — ■ — Mvra A. Fureman, Panola, 111. E. L. Jonei, V^fftfflOo 82Cottage Ave.. Aneonla. Conn. Mr. Lib- bleUreulick.St. Paul. Minn. W. 8. Keever, 817 Freeman 8t.. Cincinnati, O. J. Oemachlloh, Kensington, Kan. Edith Hutchinson, L/eonard. North Dakota. W. 0. ELUOTT, AudaboD, Is. ^so.ooTash . . _ 1 _ ." r . \SJ Omltli Rnmo (llrla. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: We havt batn atktd by thg publlthtrt el SUC- CESSFUL FARMING te act at Judge* In their contest and see that prizea are all awarded fairly. This we will sladly do guaranteeing each contestant absolute fair trtatment. Signed— W. W. MORROW. Treasurer State of Iowa; HUGH BRENNAN, Judge District Court; Rev. A. J. WILLIAMS. In case of tie we will write each person so tied asking them to make as few words as possible from the letters of the alphabet, using each letter of the alphabet twice and only twice, and no one word more than once, each letter left overcounting as one word. To the one tied In the counting who gives us the fewest words as above will be awarded first prize. This practically eliminates all question of tie, but If there should by any possibility be a tie in this the prise will be divided equally be- tween those 60 tying. Subscription without counts is 25 cents per year, additional counts after you have tiiree entered as per our terms In paragraph **oondition" above may be entered at 25 cents each. This contest is not to be confused with tbe guessing or estimating con- tests. Our contest is a test of skill in planning and ccuniing and the best person wins. Nobody connected with our paper will be allowed to compote. Contest closes Jnne 30, bat get yonr counts in at once. See about time prize above. W. Smith, Rome, Okla. 4fi C?n 8- Irving Bteyer, 226 K. Bait. Baltimore. U<3. L. K. v'*^!* Stlnson, Areata, Calif. A. J. Perdue, Altoona, la. Albert Peterson, Uoldrege, Neb. Chas. McBrl'ie, Peoria. lU. Jos. Unser, Belleview, O. Mrs. D. H. Stoner, Granger, Ifv. iUGENIE FOTmNIER, aUtsDe, Quebec, THESE ARE BUT A FEW OF MANY. WE COULD OIVE A LIST OF HUN- DREDS. YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE A WINNER IF YOU OO AT IT AT ONCE. Publisher SUCCESSFUL FARMINQ, 443 Tenth St., Des Moines. Iowa. I enclose S for Bnhscrlptlon to Sl-ccessfi'l Farming, and I wist to enter the (write ladles' or gents') Contest. If Ji.OOispaldsendthreecounts; If only 50c Is paid seud OShY ONE count. The extra t50.00 go only to those having THRBB or more counts entered. .(2). My connt is; (1) , NAMU f. O State, (3). ^ Address ail letters fo SUCCESSFUL FARMING, 443 Tenth, St., Des Moines, Iowa. ^ tirelv, and the goods go from factory to con- sumer direct. Selling for cash, honest customers are not compelled to make up losses sustained through bad accounts, as is true in so many cases. There you have the why and how of it in a nutshell. The catalogue of this company is the most complete of anything of the kind ever published. It tells you how you can build a house or barn or green-house or poultry house or pigpen for half the usual cost, and Gordon, Van Tine & Co. back it up by selling you the roods on that basis. Write to-dav for the cata- logue, addresssing Gordon, Van Tine c^ Co. , 88 Case-St., Davenport, Iowa. 'Twill pay you well. Ic M^E present to our readers' attention this month something about "Bonora", a new and wonderful fertilizer that has been used with large success by many prominent growers throughout the United States. It is highly en- dorsed by Luther Burbank, Eben E. Rexford and many others. Bonora is well worthy of a trial. The manufacturers are well known and prominent people. Read the advertisement carefully, and if endorsements and further in- formation is wanted address, mentioning The Strawberry, Bonora Chemical Company, 488 Broadway, New York. Page 107 'T'HE "Kant- Klog" nozzle of the Rochester * Spray Pump Co. has « on an enviable fame for its effectiveness, and the sprayer to which it is attached is one everybody is proud to own, so fine and handsome and durable is it. This company makes a full line of excellent sprayera and will be glad to furnish full information to Strawberry readers if they will send their ad- dresses to the Rochester Spray Pump Co. , 12 East- Ave., Rochester, N. Y. THE STRAWBERRY especially urges the importance to its flower-loving friends of its great Groff's Hybrid Gladioli-bulb gift offer. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 I Am the Paint Man 2 Full Gallons Free to Try— 6 Months Time to Pay I Guarantee FpeigM Ghargesm St. Louis. Mo. ftAM the paint man. I have a nezv way of manufacturing andseUine paints. It's unique — /V'j httter. It revolutionized the paint business of this country last year. Before my plan was invented paint was sold in two ways — either ready-mixed or the in- gredients were bought andmixed by thepainter. Ready-mixed paint settles on the shelves, form- ine a sediment at the bottom of the can. The chemical action in ready-mixed paint, when standing in oil. eats the life out of the oil. The oil is the very life of all paints. Paint made by the painter cannot be proper- ly made on account of lack of the heavy mixing machine. My paint is unlike z.ny other paint in the world. It is ready to use, but not ready-mixed. My paint is made to order after each order is received, packed in hermetically sealed cans with the very day it is made stamped on each can by my factory inspector. I ship my thick pigment, which lis double strength, freshly ground, in separate cans, and in another can, I ship the pure, old process Linseed Oil — the kind you used to buy years ago. Any child can stir thera together. I sell my paint direct from my factory to user youpayno dealer ormiddleman profits. Ny $100.00 Cash Guarantee I guarantee, under $100 Cash Forfeit, that the paint I am offering you does not contain water, benzine, whiting, or barytes— and that nvy Oilo is pure, old- fashioned linseed oil and contains ab- solutely no foreign substance whatever. I s^uaranteeth,' freight onsixeallnnsor over. My paint is so good that I make this wonder- fully fair test offer: When you receive your shipment of paint, you can use two full gaflons^\)AZX will cover 600 square feet of wall— iw« coats. If. after you have used that much of my paint, you are not perfectly satisfied with it in NOTE— My 8 Year Guarantee Backed by $50,000 Bondm every detail, you can return the remainder of your order and the two gallons will not cost you one penny. No other paint manufacturer ever made such a liberal offer. It is because I manufacture the finest paint, put up in the best way, that I can make this ofter. I go even further. I sell all of my paint on six months' time, if desired. This gives you an opportunity to paint your buildings when they need it, and pay for the paint at your convenience. Back of my paint stands my Eight- Year officially signed, iron-clad Guarantee. For further particulars regarding my plan of selling, and complete color card of all colors, send a postal to O. L. Chase, St. Louis, Mo. I will send my paint book— the most com- plete book of its kind ever published— abso- lutely free. Also my instruction book entitled "This Little Book Tells How to Paint" and copy of my 8-year guarantee. Om Lm CHASEf The Paint Man. Dept, SO St» Loitim, Mo» NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA, OFFERS A WELCOME THE wealthiest, most progressive and most prosperous state in Greater Britain, with an area of 310,000 square miles, and ,20,- 000,000 acres of virgin wheat land within the 20-inch rain belt. To the Emigrant Settler, to the Rural Laborer and to the Capitalist. Emigrants Sound in Health, and Skilled in any Industry Will Be Assisted. The New South Wales climate is kind to the farmer, and wheat is produced there more cheaply than in any other country in the world. The great range of climate possessed by the State, permits almost every known crop to be raised. A young country, close to the teeming East, with a fast growing population and rapidly expanding industries, and the converging point of many important trade routes, New South Wales offers many avenues of activity for the capitalist. New South Wales produced last year $230,000,000. The men engaged in the Primary Industries produced $875.00 per head. New South Wales has many entrancing tourist resorts, great natural wonders in the limestone caves, and the oldest land surface on the globe in Mt. Kosciusko. Full information, handbooks, etc., may be obtained on application to THE DIRECTOR, Intelligence Department, SYDNEY, N. S. W. OUR THOROUGHBRED PEDIGREE STRAWBERRY PLANTS are going off "like hot cakes." At this date a large number of our varieties are completely sold out. This is to notify our friends and patrons who have not as yet filed their orders that they should do so at once; also that in doing so they give us liberty to substitute varieties still in stock. We still can fill orders for Excelsior, Clyde, Warfield, Glen Mary, Thompson's No. 2, Beidler, Senator Dunlap, Pride of Michigan, Brandywine, Dornan, Marshall, Sample, Stevens' Late Champion. R. M. KELLOGG COMPANY, THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN P&ge 108 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ^?%,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION MEMBERS of the Correspondence School are to be congratulated upon the extremely interesting nature of the questions which will occupy the time of this session. It is remarkable how many questions arise in the work of strawberry production when a field which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska is considered; and that is the size of the field covered by this school of ours And yet scarcely a question is asked by one member which does not possess interest for every other, even hough the conditions of soil, climate and market vary so widely. Here is a letter from one member whose home is in Perth County, Ontario, in which he says: I have received every number of The Straw- berry since first it was pubMshed, and have read and re-read all the numbers. It has been a great help to me as a beginner in the business. I have kept ail of the numbers together for the year and am going to have them bound in a book, and will continue to follow this course from year to year. Soon I shall have a regular en- cyclopedia on strawberry theory and practice. Thus the influence of the school is not only widespread, but it is permanent in its nature. What so many of our members already are doing we hope other members will imitate, as we desire that every member of the school shall feel that this depart- ment belongs to him equally with every other, and that it is the highest pleasure of the instructor to answer questions as they come to him. Send in your ques- tions; send them in in regular order and numbered so that each question will be in a paragraph by itseif, and try to have them reach us by the 10th of the month preceding date of issue, as the number of copies of The Strawberry printed is in- creasing so rapidly that we have to put forms to press very early in the month. Remember that it takes a question to draw out the answer. Therefore the questions are quite as essential as the an- swers themselves. A. J. F. , St. Louis, M ch. Would ground that raised sugar beets l.i^t season be suitable for strawberries.' It is free from grass or weeds. 2. What would you think of tl e refuse beet pulp from a sugar factory as a fertilizer.' 3. Would leached ashes be of any value to the soil? 4. Would the waste lime from a sugar fac- tory be beneficial to the soil? We have never grown strawberries on land where beets have been grown, but see no reason why the beets should not put the ground in ideal condition for straw- berries. Prepare the ground thoroughly and get it in good condition. Then set well developed plants and give them good care, and we are sure the results will be entirely satisfactory. 2. We would not recommend beet pomace or the refuse from beet pulp as a fertilizer. 3. Leached ashes contain some value as a fertilizer. The leached ashes can be applied at the rate of 100 bushels per acre. 4. Lime of any kind is good for sandy loam, but it is not good for clay or stifl soil. <^ ^ T. T., Cleveland, N. Y. I plowed up my old bed, put on a good coat of manure, plowed under a good crop of buckwheat, (wanted to sow to rye, but could not get the seed). Do you think it will need anything more before setting plants? 2. I put on one acre a ton of phosphate in the spring; had a good big crop of berries. Can I get as good results by using eighty or one hundred pounds of nitrate of soda as I did with that amount of phosphate? 3. I sow my phosphate on the plants and sweep it off with a broom. Will it do to use nitrate of soda the same way? 4. Will it do to use Pride of Michigan and Klondike to fertilize Sample, and Klondike and Ridgeway for Downing' s Bride? What male plants would you use with Crescent and Warfield? ^ As you have plowed under so liberal a dressing of manure and a crop of buck- wheat, it will not be necessary for you to use any more fertilizer, unless it would be to put 500 pounds of Mapes fruit and vine manure, which can be purchased from the Mapes Peruvian & Guano Co., 143 Liberty st., New York City, N. Y. 2. We doubt if nitrate of soda will give you as large returns as the one ton of phosphate. We presume that you worked the phojphate into the soil before setting the plants. One hundred pounds of nitrate of soda, scattered directly over the row wnen the foliage is dry, will in- crease the yield of berries wonderfully. One-half of it should be applied when growth starts in the spring, and the other half before buds open. 3. If you are careful when scattering the nitrate of soda, it will not be necessary to brush it off tne foliage. We always aim to throw it on the bare space between the plants. Of course, if the plants grow very thick in the row, this would be im- possible, and in such a case it would be Page 109 well to go over the rows with a broom, or something of the kind, to jar the soda off the plants before it dissolves. 4. By setting Sample in rows between Klondike and Pride of Michigan it will be perfectly mated. And Downing's Bride set in rows between Klondike and Ridge- way will be perfectly mated. Crescent will do best when set between such vari- eties as Splendid and August Luther. Warfield should gq- between Texas and Senator Dunlap. .,?^.- J. J. F. , Slayton, Minn. I have about two acres to set this spring to strawberries, all being well. About one acre was garden last summer, which was covered with a heavy coat of stable manure before cropping, and this winter I am giving it a coat of poultry droppings. One acre was clover and timothy stubble plowed un^ji^nd sown to buckwheat. When this was 5; bloom, I gave it about three to four tons5-gf.,£omposted manure and plowed all under, seeding to rye; but the rye did not do well on account of drouth. I am intending to give this a light sprinkling of hen droppings and plow again, then put in condi- tion for setting berries. Am I right or wrong in my plan? 2. What varieties would you advise setting this ground with? Would prefer late varieties that I could set in single-hedge row, as help is hard to get. 3. Could I harvest a crop of cowpeas from land, then get second crop large enough to plow under? Have two acres I would like to get ready in this manner. Land is all good, and of the black sandy loam quality. I pro- pose to follow the directions of The Straw- berry, and I believe with its aid I can make a showing this season. From what you tell us of your two acres, it should be in splendid condition for straw- berries. We would suggest that you ap- ply the fertilizer from the chicken coops very sparingly this winter, then work all manures thoroughly into the soil next spring before setting the plants. 2. Inasmuch as you have made your ground quite rich, we will suggest varieties that thrive in such soil. August Luther, Clyde, Warfield, Haverland, Splendid, Pride of Michigan and Bubach. These varieties should give you exceedingly big crops of fancy berries. 3. We doubt very much if you could harvest one crop of cowpeas and then get another crop suflicientty large to do any particular good. However, you could harvest the first crop, and even if the sec- ond crop did not make much growth, the roots and stubble of the first crop would THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 greatly improve the mechanical condition of your soil, as well as add quite a little nitrogen that the peavines would draw from the atmosphere. J. C. D., Lakeport, N. H. I understand my Brandywine and Aroma will pollenize only the later bloom of my Haverlands. Now my plants are under a heavy mulch. Why can't I leave the mulch on my Haverlands a few days longer than I do on my Brandywine and Aroma. That would make the Haverland a few days later. If I am right, how many days later should I keep the mulch on the Haverland than I do on my Brandywine and Aroma? Last fall I put a good coat of ma- nure on my strawberries after the ground was frozen. 2. Would it be a good plan to put on some hard-wood ashes as soon as they com- mence growing in the spring? Will ashes do any damage to the leaves if they come in con- tact with them? By leaving the mulching on Haverlands a few days longer than on the other va- rieties, it would help somewhat in causing the bloom of all the varieties to open at the same time. This will do where you have the plants already set, but we would not advise you to set a medium pistillate with late bisexuals again. The mulching should not be left on the Haverlands longer than five or six days. In fact, you can tell the length of time better than we. Watch the plants under the mulching, and if they start growing, uncover at once. 2. If wood ashes were applied now, some of the plant food would leach out during the winter rains, and the plants might be benefited a trifle, but we doubt if the value would warrant the expense. The best way to apply wood ashes is on top of the ground, and work them into the soil before setting the plants. A small amount of ashes would do no in- jury to foliage; if applied when the plants are dry the ashes would not adhere to the leaves. it ^ H. H. B., Garnett, Okla. Having had ample moisture in this county the past year, my strawberries have made a wonderful growth. They have made a perfect mat over the whole surface. I wish to take up several thousand plants for spring setting. Will those do that now cover the walks or spaces between rows? 2. In this latitude it does not freeze very deeply. I have covered plants very lightly with short, chaffy wheat straw. Shall I rake this off or let lay in spring? 3. The plants in places are as thick as they can possibly stand. How should I thin these out so they will produce more abundantly? 4. I live twenty miles from a good market. Can I get them there in good shape in a spring v^agon? It is not a good plan to take strawberry plants from the alleys of the fruit bed, be- cause by so doing this would give merely A VALUABLE pOpp FRUIT TREE ^^^^ The New Apple. "DELICIOUS" BY Special arrangement with the introducers of this fine new apple, the publishers of The Fruit-Grower, St. Joseph, Missouri, are enabled to offer a tree ABSOLUTELY FREE to their subscribers. We show in this advertisement a half-tone cut from photograph showing actual size of **Delicious'* apple. A photograph of tree in bearing will be found in the advertisement of the introducers on last cover page of this issue of The Strawberry. The ''Delicious" apple originated in Iowa and is perfectly hardy; quality is of the very highest. The introducers say this apple was first sent out by them ten years ago and during that time have not received a single adverse report either on tree or fruit, although planted from Maine to Pacific Coast. Probably a seedling of Bellflower, which it some- what resembles in shape, but is much superior in quality, color, hardiness and bearing. Size large to very large; skin yellow, striped or almost covered with dark brilliant red; flesh very tender, crisp, juicy, with an ideal, delicious flavor. Tree a strong, upright grower, hardy and a heavy bearer. Hangs well, keeps well. Bruises dry up instead of rotting. Has been held in cold storage until June a number of years and each time ''Delicious" kept better than Ben Davis. THE FRUIT-GROWER is the only magazine in America which is de- voted solely to the in- terests of those who grow fruitof all kinds; handsomely illustra- ted, it contains from thirty-six to seventy- two pages each issue. It tells all about fruit, and nothing but fruit- how ID market, culti- vate, spray, prune, how to make more money from fruit crops. Everyone who answers this advertise- ment will receive a copy of the March is- sue, our Gardening Number, containing seventy-two pages with coverand insert in col- ors, and this one num- ber is guaranteed to be worth the price of one year's subscription. While the regular price of The Fruit-Grower is $1.00 a year, for a limited time we will send the paper one year on trial to Two New Subscribers for One Dollar, will mail to each a "Brother Jon- athan" book and the SENDER of the club will get absolutely free, prepaid, a fine tree of the new apple "Delicious". The Brother Jonathan series of fruit books is admitted to beihe most valuable set ever print- ed on different phases of horticulture. While the regular price is 25 cents each, one book will go free to each subscriber sent through this advertisement. The series comprises ten books as follows: No. 1, Propagating Trees and Plants; No. 2, A Treatise on Spraying; No. 3, How to Grow Strawberries; No. 4, The Home Garden; No. 5, Packing and Mar- keting Fruits; No. 6, A Book About Bush Fruits; No. 7, Growing Grapes; No. 8, Hints on Pruning; No. 9, Ap- ple Culture with a Chapter on Pears; No. 1 0, Success with Stone Fraits. Order by number. ''DELICIOUS" APPLE, NATURAL SIZE, FkOM PHOTOGRAPH Fniit- Grower Trade- Mark ' ' Brother Jonathan ' ' Accept Special Offer At Once This offer must be accepted at once as trees cannot be sent out after May 1. Send remittance of One Dollar, coin, stamps, currency, personal check or money order, and The Fruit-Grower will be sent one year on trial to the names of i'vo new sub- scribers, each subscriber will receive free a choice of any one of the ten Brother Jonathan" books, and the SENDER of the remittance only will receive a tree of *'Delicious" apple free. It is a condition of this offer that you also send the names of three friends or neighbors who grow fruit. Write at once to FRUIT-GROWER CO.. St. Joseph. Missouri Page 110 THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 THE EVOLUTION OF A FOUR-TINED MANURE FORK ^FHINKOF IT! Tu-cnty-flvi* export tonlmuk.Ts and eight- -i eeii assistants nrn reiV'ii'pd to manufacture a four-tiin.' manure fork that you (-an hiiv for about fieveiity-flve cents. Thirty-tliree intrinttc niju-dini's. forties Biid devices of special invt-ntion. and worth tliousands of dollars, are iiiso employed in tin- umklnf; of this fork. This Interesting inforniutlon Is furnished hy the American Kork & Hoe Company in its free b|i- funiace and an immense two men are necessary at Is difflcnlt and takes skillful Workmanship In the next step we see take the form of a fork. The steel is heated aL'ain I operation of two maehines M(Kirately rolled, and ersizeforthetine.s. One Miuchine operated by this stage. The work uch more time and than one would judge, the piece beginning to It is now "shaped." and subjected to the The hummer and anvil are ft also brought into use by the expert operator whlaced in a machine fi>riu"er. which gives t the proper dish and final accurato shape. It immediately goes through the fa- mous "Tnie Tempering Process" per- fected by the American Pork & Hoc (Vimpany. after years of experience and experimenting. For obvi<»U8 reasons, the process is not made public. It Is claimed for it, however, that it brings the tool up to the highest degree of toughness. and gives the elastic "sprinK" so nmch soujrht after by toolmakers. During the final operations, the fork is crit- ically Inspected and trued up on the anvil by hand and hammer. The men who do this work are experts, skilled to the highest degree in tool making, and when thev have tempered and passed a fork, it is indeed genuinely true. Three rigid tests are now applied to the fork to see that it has ( 1 ) the proper elasticity of temper. (2) the required toughness of temper, Ci ) accurate dimensions. That is how "True Temper" tools are proved "highest grade by special test. ' ' After the tempering and testing, the fork goes to the finishing shop, where it is subjected to the oper- ations of three machines. It comes out with a bright, smooth, metal polish. In the next step, the fork is treated to a special liquid solution, which prevents rusting or corroding. In the making of the handle, second-growth ash timber. .*.T.r. I will nlsn send you a copy of my lar?p illus- initi'd catalomie. P- -d to-d;iy. Address. J. R. Cote, Box K . Cbatliam, Out. CfinadA. HATCHING TIME IS HERE! AUTOMATIC BUCkEYE INCUBATOR OPERATES WITHOUT A THERMOMETER. All Mi-tal. Fin- Pr.mf. lontlnuons Uatoher. SOLD ON INSTALLMENTS with Ave years guarantee. a(i,in>ted ready to run when you get It. C.\TALuGUE FREE. BUCKEYE INCUBATOR CO., Box 40, Sprlnalleid, O. EATON'S FAMOUS POULTRY FOODS CHICK SCRATCH MASH LIFE SAVER CLIMAX PERFECTION Ask yimr dealer, or write R. li. Eaton Grain & Feed Co., Norwich, N Y. Mention this paper. FREE ONE YEAR'S READING .Send 10 <-cnrs for a year's subscription to American Stories, tbe best story magazine publislied, and we JviU send you tbe King Magazine (the popular " Oman's and Home Magazine) one year free, and also give you a year's subscription to Rural Young People, the big boys' and girls' magazine. All for only IDc. and your name on our big mail list free. Send tnrlav. BURGES PUB. CO.. Depl. T. X.. Grand Rapids. Mich. 'l^IRGINIA FARMS, IfSOO in.liidlnL' nc«- Sroom ' eottatre and 25 acres for i»oulIr\-. fruit and ve-'etahles. Onlidnle tract. Wav,.rlv. Va. Midway Norf.,lk and Rich- niond. Finest elinuile, water and niarketa. F. H. I.a- Baume, A. 4 I. A|,-t. N. &, \V. Ry., Box SB, Koanokc, Vu. vating with hand tools until the vegetables are marketed. 2. For the double-hedge row we would suggest that you make the rows three and one-half feet apart, then when these rows are formed there will be about thirty to thirty-four inches of bare space between the rows. If you intend to use hand tools throughout the season, it will be all right to make the rows two and one- half feet apart. 3. If your ground has not been well manured, it would be a good plan to use 500 or 600 pounds of some commercial fertilizer. Write the Mapes P. & G. Fer- tilizer Works, 143 Liberty St., New York City. They make a complete fertilizer for this purpose. 4. If snow in your locality falls early in the winter, and remains on the ground until spring, it would be all right to defer mulching until about March. I'he mulch- ing could be put on top of the snow and it would settle to the ground as the snow melted. R. R. H., Sebastopol, Calif. In a propagating bed is it best to let a mother plant raise all the young plants it will without any restriction whatever.' 2. In the case of a mother plant with long runners, with five or six plants on one runner — will the end plants make as good fruiting plants as the first one or two next to the mother plant.' 3. Do you know of a variety of strawberry called the British Queen? Do they go by some other name in different parts of the country, or is it just a local variety her* in California.' I can suggest a few pointers that may help some one. I take a common hoe and cut off the sides at an angle, from a point near the stem to the comer at the cutting edge, mak- ing a triangle of it, and sharpen all three edges. If the handle is too long, cut it off, and if too large around plane it down. I find it very light and handy, and remember it will take a long time to wear out a hoe if you sharpen it with a file every few minutes. I have a hoe of the same pattern as above de- scribed with a handle eight or ten inches long, to use with one hand, holding the plant over with the other hand, for working extra close to old plants. I like The Strawberry very much, and I find it very interesting and helpful. Plants in the propagating bed should be restricted by cutting off all lateral runners — that is, the runners that start from the side of the principal runner — and do not allow the plants to mat so thickly that they will not have roon to develop to good size. 2. If the soil has been well supplied with plant food, and the mother plant kept perfectly healthy and vigorous, all progeny should be of equal value. 2. We know nothing apout the British Queen variety. We often have cut the top corners off hoes as you describe, and it makes an ideal Page 115 18 D.&C. Roses for $1.00 ^ Our "KILLARNEY fa .. tolli-ttli»n "for 1907 8ur- .' ■ >!' passes any llofee CuUec- tiou iHTftofme offered. 1 8 mucnlll' oit Kose Plant I* on Ihvlr own root". st:nl piiNtpalt) OUT* wher« t\*r ^1.00. No two alike an'i nil hibelpd. W ill bloom routuuKiuBly (/us year. one of the 18 in a »tn>tiL;, llinfly plant of " Kil.LvVR.NKV " - a hardy, pink, eviT-hlooiiiiug Irish hybrid tea rose; without queBtion the ni'jst exquisite (garden rose ever produced. The ••KILL.4R.NKV Colleetloii " also lueludee a strong 1)laiit each of the Kuuvenir I>e 'IfrreNottinic, a inagnilii-etit new yellow tea rose; C«i>u\eiiir !><• Francis 4>ualuln. a rich, veivety, crimson tea rose ; and the superb White Mamnn I'ocliet. Sati- de- livery and satibfartiun |j:uaranieed. Orders booked fi-r ib-Iivery when directed. Mention this niaeazine when ordering and we will send check for 25 ceius EO"d as cash on a future order, 'lo all who ask for it, whether ordnring the above collection or not, we wdl seiiil our Neiv Guide to Rose Culture for 1 907— (Ae Leading Rose Catalogue a/ A/ntnca. in pages. Tells how to grow and describes the fa- ^^^ nious n. it C. Hoses and all V gff^ other (lowers worth grow- ■ 2l^ft ing. (.)ffei-B a complete il vj^^B list of FLOWKR and 11 I^HHi VKGKTAHLESeedsat II ^^^^^^1 lowest cost. Askfora *^' *^^^^^ copy— it's FREE. The Dingee & Coharo Co. Leading Rose Grotoers of America^ WEST GilOVE. PA. Est. 1860. 70 QreenhoQsee. ROBU They live, grow, make money for you. Got our catalog? If not, send for it today. Millions of plants, trees, bushes — general nurs- ery stock ready. Free catalog tells all. Valua- ble spraying calendar in it. Order stock now for fall setting. ARTHUR J. COLLINS Box 415, Uoorestown, N.J. Peaches Pears Apples California Privet BERRY PLANTS We are headquart-Ts for plants of the new -'Uswct'o" strawberry and 60 other best new and old varieties. Also the *'Plum Farmer" raspberry and other desirable kinds of Raspberries, Blackberries and other Fruit Plants, etc. 23 years experience. Hip hest awards at World's Fair. We Invite correspondence. Catalog free. L. J. Farmer, Box 732. Pulaski, N. T. Detroit Fruit, Poultry, Dairy and Farm Gardens Pay Handsome Profits We have them tltti^d up ready f''>r operation andrantrini: in siz*-, locution and price TO SUIT CUSTOMERS For particulars write to BOLTON REALTY CO., Detroit. Mich. BERRY BASKETS 'ZTis A1.SO Beekeepers' Supplies sold at a reduced price and shipped from Central Michlpan. Send for 32-page cata- logue free. W. D. SUPER, Jackson. Mich. tool for working around strawberry plants. However with a hoe thus made great care should be used when working close to the plants that you go not too deeply or too close to the plant, lest the roots be cut. THE STRAWBERRY APRIL 1907 THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Published the First ot Each Month by The Kellogg Publishing Company Three Rivers, Michigan W. H. BURKE Editor F. E. BEATTY - Instructor in Cultural Methods ARTHUR D. AVERY - . - . Manager ROBERT S. FOUNTAIN Western Representative 315 Dearborn St., Chicago, III. S. E. LEITH Eastern Representative 150 Nassau St., New York City Address Communications and mal^e all Remittances to The Kellogg Publishing Co., Three Rivers, Mich. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: One Year, postpaid .... $1.00 Two Years, postpaid .... 1.50 Three Years, postpaid - . - 2.00 Five Years, postpaid .... 3. 00 Foreign, 25 cents per year additional RATES OF ADVERTISING: 15 cents per line, agate measurement, or $2. 10 per inch, with 2 per cent discount lor cash. Classified ads. Scents per word; cash to accompany order. No questionable advertisements inserted at any price. Entered ae second-class matter at the Postoflace at Three Rivers, Michigan. APRIL 1907 APRIL in the northern latitudes is the month for beginning things. It is tlie month for so many of us that proves the old adage that "well begun is half done." We need to remember it at the very start and to see to it that we be- gin right this spring in our berry patches and fields so that when fruiting time comes we shall have the satisfaction of reaping an abundant harvest of beautiful and lus- cious berries. It's all very simple if you follow the right combination, and The Strawberry, with its Correspondence School will show you the way so clearly that you cannot fail. Now, then for a good beginning with the first days of spring! <^ ^ "W^HEN a rascal will he will, and we ''* sometimes wonder how much of actual value is to be accomplished through pure-food and anti-fraud laws enacted by legislatures and congress. A striking in- stance of how the laws made by the gov- ernment to insure that proper brands are placed upon goods sent from Canada to the old country can be evaded is given by J. A. Ruddick, commissioner of dairy- ing and cold storage, before the Dominion committee on agriculture a few days ago. The particular case to which he referred was the case of an Ontario packer, who shipped a number of barrels of apples by the Grand Trunk via Portland, Me., to England. When they left Colborne they bore the packer's name, the sign No. 2 appearing between the two lines "put up by" and the name of the firm, James Coyle. During the time the barrels were at Portland a man entered the freight sheds and added the words "No. 1 XXX" to the marking on the barrels, thus creating the impression that the No. 2 mark was a private mark of the person who shipped the goods. What is needed is not more legislation, but a vigorous enforcement of laws already on the statute books. And more than that, a public sentiment that will brand a fraud a fraud, and a thief a thief and make frauds and thieves unpop- ular. So long as successful" frauds are publicly admired they will continue their fraudulent practices. NOW is the time to be "doing things" in preparation for the rush season of spring, and we don't know of a more im- portant work than the making of con- veniences like the one herewith illustrated. This is an old-fashioned device, as all our old pioneers will recall, but E. D. Donald- son of Covington, Ind., has applied the principle in a way very suggestive to strawberry growers, and we take pleasure in "passing it along." You will see how it adds to the "one-man power," and swinging free as the berries do, and with- out jar, it is better than two men could do without the double yoke. TO the burgomaster of Mannheim, Germany, Herr Ritter, The Straw- berry acknowledges its indebtedness for a courteous note announcing a unique ex- position which will open in that city on May 1, and will be of peculiar interest to horticulturists everywhere. It is nothing less than an international exposition of horticulture in combination with a very important art exposition. It is especially desired that American florists and garden- ers shall participate, and we need hardly point out the advantage to all commercial horticulturists of attending such a novel Page ll« yet suggestive exposition. It is announced that England, France and even the prim- itive forests of South America will con- tribute to the exposition of orchids. Be- sides cultivated plants from England and France there will be exposed as curiosities the strange forms of wild orchids gathered with difficulty in Mexico, Brazil and on the banks of the Orinoco river. The cac- tus display will contain a great number of interesting and peculiar plants, representing a rich collection from all tropical countries. There will be exhibited gigantic cactus plants from Mexico and South America. Herr Ritter also is chairman of the expo- sition. BE sure and read the announcement this month of our Photographic Con- test for 1907. Every strawberry grower in the world is invited to compete. You will see that we have doubled up on our prize offers, by making two classes — com- mercial strawberry fields for one, and family patches for the other. This will give everybody a chance, and ought to interest every person who is engaged in strawberry growing, no matter on how large or small a scale. EVERY woman would like to keep her hands smooth and soft and free from marks of labor and the discomforts of chapping. But washing dishes and washing clothes, using strong lye soaps and going out into the cold air from the steaming hot laundry, will leave their marks — if you don't protect the hands. Mrs. J. H. Pratt of Three Rivers, Mich. , has a way to save all that discomfort and displeasure, and it is so inexpensive that every woman in the land may enjoy its benefits. One pair of her Economy rubber gloves transforms all this disagreeable- ness into a delight. Read her advertisement in this number of The Strawberry and never again have occasion to complain that your housework is spoiling your hands. Those gloves are per- fection itself. 1^ ^ FEW housewives but have heard of the Bissell carpet sweeper, one of the greatest inventions for the relief of the housekeeper the Nineteenth century produced. Carpets and nigs when swept with the hand broom quickly show wear, while the woman who does the work finds them the cause of back-breaking labor. With the Bissell sweeper the carpets and rugs are thor- oughly cleaned without injury to the fabric, and the work itself becomes a pleasure to the house- keeper. We would like to have every reader of The Strawberry take advantage of the offer made in the advertisement of this company in this issue of The Strawberry, confident that it will give them more satisfaction than would any other similar investment. <^ ^ FOR the past two years the H. L. Hurst Mfg. Co., whose advertisement appears in this paper, have been selling the entire output of their large factory direct to the consumer by mail at wholesale prices, giving the buyer an opportun- ity to test the machine before paying for it, which certainly proves thst their goods are first- class and that they give good satisfaction. They also guarantee all their sprayers for five years. Their valuable "Spraying Guide" and full infor- mation will be sent free to any of our readers. Address the H. L. Hurst Mfg. Co., 75 North St., Canton, Ohio. Don't fail to ask for it. Make 2 Berries Grow where 1 — Double Your Strawberry Crop Grew Before _ Every Strawberry Grower is anxious to double his crops. It is easy if you go at it in the right way. When you remove a crop, you also take with it a certain percentage of the soil's nutrition. You reduce fertility in just that proportion which was consumed in growing that crop. It is reasonable, then, that you should be vitally interested in returning to your land adequate means every year to keep up its fertility. Feed your land Swift's Strawberry Special A high-grade concentrated Strawberry fertilizer that has proven in actual test to be the best plant food. It quickens the growth, assists development and improves the quality of the plant. There are many good reasons for this. Its analysis,which is guaranteed, shows it supplies the soil with special elements practically advantageous to strawberry plant life. Its base is Pure Animal Matter comprising Dried Blood, Bone and Meat Tankage so proportioned in Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Potash from Sulphate of Potash, to produce an ideal plant food. ___ . Get our instructive Ferilizer Book. It will help you to make your Strawberry vv ntC Beds pay bigger profits. Ask your nearest dealer for Swift's Strawberry Special. np_^ J Remember "Two Berries grow where one grew before " — that is. Double Profit X OQciy — ^j^j j^g more labor. To find out about " Swift's Strawberry Special" write to Swift & Company, Fertilizer Department, Chicago. Feed Your Hungry Land ^&"' 200 lbs. )Wift's Blood & I Bone irtilizer ^Manufactured W iff^Compai^ The Delicious Southern Strawberry :^^* 1^ 4Kk. r-i. ';-. -K u- ->f < -■.: *.»*>. if-kin;; Slr;(\v)>erries on line of llliiioi.. first to the last jiiek- iuy:. The Illinois Central Railmad Coinpiuiy. upprc^eiating to the fullest extent the necessity of haWni: fruit and vei;etable.s trrowni on it.s line reach Northern markets in the best possible condition, has not only provided the best of refriirerator cars. but. •11. run fruit trains from N'«\v Orleans to Chieairo. shipments beiuL' picked up from all stations, say within one hundred miles, and fn>m the last puint the train is nin thruutrh to Chleano on fast scdiednle. stopping only for coal and water, and at certain points for re-icins. In addition tn its system for handlim: jierishable products en route, the ■ 'Central" has a storehouse or fruit warehouse at Chicago in which fifty ears can be quickly handled at one time. Sftiifl for I issued by the III l>ii;;f I lliist ratf il Itonk t'itlitl*'il "Aliotif llic Soni i :)is Central R. R . Co. and describins various matters of intei'^'st to the home seeker and investor, tncludiu:; inf«jrmation as to FVuit Gwjwimr. The book is free and can be had by addressiiis; .J. V. MKKRV. C;K>KKAI IMMMiKATION A<;KNT, I. C. K. U.. IU>0>l .\ . H IVK HI.OCK. M\Niiii-iit,s cimtiniie until .tune, or uiiti) suuh tiiiio as the Northtrn niaiki-ts an.' so :.'lutt''nients being pii'ked up from all stations, say within one hundred miles, and I'l-.uii th>' last point til'' train is run through to Chicago on fast schedule, stopjiinir mily for coal and water, and at certain points for re-icing. In addition t<) its system for handling perishable products en ronte, the ■ 'Central' ' lias a storehouse or fruit warehouse at Chicago in which fifty cars can be quickly Innidled at one time. Send tor G4-i)aKe Illustrated Hook entitled "About the South" issued by the Illinois Central R. R. Co. and describing various matters of interest to th« home seeker and investor, including int'ornuvtion as to Fruit Growing. The book is free and can be had by addressing .1. F. MKRUY, GKNKRAL IMMIGRATION AGKNT, I. C. K. K., ROOM A, HIVK BLOCK, MANCHESTKR. IOWA THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 5 Three Rivers, Mich., May, 1907 $1.00 a Year STRETCHING from the James River in Virginia down to the keys of Florida and westerly and northerly to middle Texas and away up into Missouri, is a section that has come to be known as "Uncle Sam's Strawberry Patch," because within that area are grown many millions of dollars worth of the luscious fruit each year for the benefit of the people who live at the North as well as for local consump- tion. One writer refers to the patch that extends along the Atlantic seaboard as being as long as the railroads that occupy the long stretch from Virginia to the Gulf; and it is not a large exaggeration of the actual facts. And what is true of that por- tion of the South is rapidly coming to be equally true of the interior states of the South. From the extreme South strawberries have come North practically all winter, but May finds extraor- dinary activity all over the great field, and thou sands of pickers are at work and thousands of others are engaged in the work of transporting and selling its rich products. How fine is much of the product of this great region — a verit- able empire of fruit — may be judged from the illustration that adorns our cover this month. It is a pyramid of Gandys grown by O. O. Ellison of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and we can hardly blame him as we look at them, for the words of praise he speaks of a section whose soil and climate produces such fine specimens of fruit. How much is due to the intelli- gent care and cultivation Mr. Ellison's plants have received at his hands, the reader is left to judge for himself. That they are of primary importance every successful grower very well knows. In his letter to us Mr. Ellison says: "The photograph I am sending you is of fruit of my own growing. The variety is the well-known Gandy. The size and quality is attributable to the soil and climatic conditions existing here. We are over 1,200 feet above sea level and the universal cool nights resulting tend to mature all fruit very slowly, which gives size, flavor and carrying qualities. E. D. Caward received the gold medal award at the St. Louis World's Fair on the strawberries he grew here, especial mention being made of the flavor. All things considered, I think this the best fruit section in the country. "Last season I had six acres in bearing from which I picked and shipped 742 crates (twenty-four quart). Part of these were of the Klondike variety. I consider the Gandy the best berry to grow here for profit. I received from $2.25 to $3.00 per crate for entire crop. The acreage here was decreased last season, many going into cantaloupe growing, which, notwithstanding the extreme wet season proved, as a rule, a very paying crop. "The cultivation of the strawberry followed in any climate will apply here. Mine were set the latter part of February two years ago. I used two hundred pounds high-grade fertilizer and two hundred pounds bone meal per acre the first year, following the succeeding year with one-half the amount. It is a great satisfaction to receive from a practical grower, as Mr. Ellison has proved himself to be, such a clear statement of the methods employed to produce such results. What Mr. Ellison says of a decreased acreage in his sec- tion is true also of other sections of the South. This has been due to several causes. One of them is the fact that the growth of the business has been so -^ rapid that the railway companies and the re- frigerator-car companies could not keep pace with its rapid march. The result was that thousands of carloads of ripe ber- ries have been left to rot ^ in the South because "3::^ they could not find transportation facilities to take them North. Naturally, grow- ers could not stand the losses thus en- tailed, and although the transportation compa- ^^ ^"^ nies were compelled to pay ^ ■' hundreds of thousands of dollars, this did not reimburse the growers for their time and trouble, and they gave up the business. But even a more powerful factor to discourage growers in the South has been the difficulty exper- ienced in securing pickers — a difficulty by no means confined to the South. And still another, which is equally universal, has been the unwise haste of some growers who, without proper preparatory training in the production and marketing of fruit, set out large acreage, and even when they succeeded in raising a good crop, failed to market them to advantage. However, these are, we trurt, but phases incidental to any rapidly expanding line of enterprise. Certainly, with the huge and growing demand for the strawberry in every city in the United States, and a growing demand, also, for the extension of the time when the strawberry may be available, we shall see this work so systematized that strawberries shall be produced by hundreds of thousands of acres, both North and South, and so economically handled and so perfectly distributed among the markets as to make the production of strawberries on a commer- cial scale a permanent and highly profitable industry. Indeed, THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 reports from the South indicate that al- ready the experimental stage has been passed, and that the growers are so ar- ranging their systems of planting, cultivat- ing, picking and marketing as to insure regularity and permanency. Acreage is being graduated to the conditions of the particular neighborhood, organizations are formed and forming under whose admin- istration there must be uniform grading of fruit, and marketing is so conducted as to secure an evener distribution of the pro- duct and better prices. That there is as wide an opportunity in the North, where late varieties may be grown and a hungry public supplied weeks after the Southern crop has been consumed, we have the ut- most confidence, and we need not say that we hope to see this great opportunity utilized to the full. One Doctor's Experience with Strawberries By W. H. Terrell, M. D. IN January, 1904, after reading "Great Crops of Strawberries and How to Grow Them" I decided to send for some plants and try my hand at growing berries. At that time I lived in Stilesville, Ind., a small town of some four hundred people, four miles from the railroad. I am a practicing physician and at times, especially in the summer season, have quite a little leisure time from professional work. I always had cultivated a garden each summer for several years. Being a lover of plant life, I took great pleasure in working with the plants and vegetables. But I never had grown strawberries. I had only a small piece of ground at my command, so I ordered 500 plants, con- sisting of the following varieties: Warfield, Excelsior, August Luther, Tennessee Pro- lific, Haverland, Splendid, Sample and Brandywine. The plants came to hand about the 1st of April in good condition, but I did not get them set until about the middle of April, owing to a spell of wet weather at that time. I got them planted in fine condition and they started right out to growing. The soil was fertile and well drained, having been used as a garden, and it had been well manured that winter. They were set in single-hedge rows. The rows were two and one-half feet apart and the plants two feet apart in the row. There were twenty rows fifty feet long, thus makmg a plot fifty feet square. Each plant was allowed to form two runners, one on either side. Al other runners were kept cut off, except a strip about six feet wide across one end of the rows where they were allowed to become tolerably thickly matted, to make plants for next year. The plants were well cultivated with hand-plow and hoe on an average of once a week during the entire season. All bloom buds were kept cut off as fast as they appeared that summer. The plants made a splendid growth that season, and when the ground froze they were well mulched with straw. They went through the winter in fine shape and in the spring they started out for business. It was a fine sight to see them loaded with bloom, and then the fine large berries that fairly crowded one another for room. That season we picked 500 quarts of berries besides what were eaten while picking — and that was no small quantity. I am confident that there would have been fifty or seventy-five more quarts had the plants not been allowed to mat at the ends of the rows as spoken of above. They were too thick there to make many berries. We sold $24 worth of berries from the patch that season beside what we ate and canned up, and we had all we wanted to eat — a family of six — at every meal and between meals; and we are all lovers of strawber- ries. We sold all we had for sale, at ten and fifteen cents per quart in our little town, and could have sold more. We also sold $13.50 cents worth of plants that spring. At the end of the fruiting season the vines were mowed off and burned. The plants were well cultivated during the re- mainder of the summer and fall. They made a splendid growth and in the spring of 1906 bade fair to do better than the previous summer. The ends of the rows where the plants were too thick had been thinned out. Just after the bloom fell, and when the berries began to form and grow, a dry spell came on, one of the worst for this country and time of year, that we ever have known. I thought the crop of berries would be ruined, but finally rain came, too late to do the good it would have done earlier, but not too late to keep them from making some fine ber- ries. We picked from the patch that season 508 quarts beside what were eaten in picking. We sold $30 worth of ber- ries after having all we wanted to eat and preserve. This is an account of my first experience at strawberry culture. I did all the cul- tivating of the plants and seeing after them during leisure hours from my pro- fessional work. I am a subscriber to The Strawberry and read it with a great deal of pleasure each month. If you think this narrative, or any part of it, of suffi- cient interest to publish in The Strawberry you may do so. Pitisboro, ind. We certainly do regard this little nar- rative of interest and of great value as well. Dr. Terrell has told it in such a way that others will understand the basis of his success, and it should not fail to inspire them to try their hand in this work. To sell $67 worth of produce from ap- proximately one-twentieth of an acre of ground in two seasons, besides supplying a family of six with all the delicious straw- Page 118 berries they could eat; to produce a big crop under conditions such as were created by the unprecedented heat and drouth of 1906 — to do all this from an investment in 500 plants is a record most encourag- ing, and the Doctor need not hesitate to engage in the work on a more extended scale. And add to all his material returns the joy that a nature-lover would get out of his experience — well, no one may meas- ure that; it is of incalculable value, and beyond all cash returns. — Editor The Strawberry. ^ <^ From Shoes to Strawberries By A. D. Stoneman 1HAVE been a reader of The Straw- berry from almost the first number, and it is to me almost the same as my bread and butter; and like others of the many readers of the paper, I think I am asked to give in my testimony and exper- ience the same as we are asked to testify in a Methodist class meeting. For many years I had been in the shoe trade until a couple of years ago I traded off my stock of goods and am now a happy man, as I am growing and selling strawberries and raspberries. While I was yet in the shoe trade I purchased a small piece of ground — about four acres — with the intention of working it by raising vegetables, etc., for the close confinement to the store and shoe bench made necessary plenty of out-door exer- cise. Along with other stuff to grow on the ground I thought to set out a small strawberry patch and also a few raspber- ries— a piece about the size of a town lot, 50 by 150 feet. That was four years ago. Do you know, that little piece of ground hypnotized or converted me, and now I have the whole four acres in strawberries and raspberries, or will have this spring, as I plowed up one-half of it last fall which I had in strawberries for two sea- sons and a little of it for four seasons. The white grub got into them and de- stroyed most of them. Then, too, I think it a good plan to plow up a patch after it has grown a crop for two or three years and put the ground into potatoes or beans for a season or two. Now I put my berries in somewhat dif- ferently from other growers. My ground is quite high— some forty feet above water level, the river runs quite close to it. The soil is a sandy loam with a clay subsoil, just an ideal piece of land, I think, for berries. The wind from the northwest has quite a sweep across it, as the timber was all cleared away some years ago; so, to keep the wind from blowing off the mulching I put a stop to that by planting three or four rows of raspberries of either kind and then six or seven rows of straw- berries, running the rows north and south so that I stop the straw from blowing away; also catching the snow which drifts in, and I think it a number two mulching. THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 And when I am done with the straw for the berry covering I foric it over into the rows of raspberries, which is a great benefit to them. Then, too, the raspberries make a fine siiade in which to set your crates and boxes of strawberries to protect them from the hot rays of the sun. Last season and the season before I set out a new patch of berries of about two acres and I see Mr. Beatty is taking my plan of setting them out or advocating it, and that is by setting the berries four feet apart in rows and planting potatoes be- tween, which is I think an excellent plan where one has as fine a soil as I have. In that way I do not lose the use of the ground for one season, and when I am working the potatoes I am working the berries also. Your potatoes, if you plant the early varieties, can be dug and the ground all leveled down in plenty of time for the berries to run out as far as you want them, and if there are any grubs they will most likely be in the potato hill and you will find them. And woe to the grub when 1 see him! Then, too, I had some late-hatched chickens and I put the old hen's coop near where I was digging the • potatoes and those little chicks were soon busy helping me kill grubs. By the way, if W. H. R., Cascade, B. C, would put a few hens with little chickens in his strawberry patch they will clean out the cut-worms. Those little chicks will be out of their coop at the break of day and gather up the worms before they have time to get back into the ground. The worms do their work at about day-break. I am putting quite a large quantity of ashes on my berry ground, which I think is very beneficial, and it is an enemy to the white grub. I am intending setting out some 8,000 plants of different kinds this spring and think the most of them will be thoroughbreds. If I can help any one in giving them any pointers in the line of growing berries of either kind — straw- berries or raspberries — I want to do it. Quasqueton, Iowa. Picking and Marketing Strawberries HOW shall I handle my pickers.' is the question that comes to us fre- quently at this season of the year. The Strawberry has in the past had some- thing to say on this subject. Herewith we publish the method outlined in Rural New-Yorker by H. W. Jenkins, an ex- tensive grower of strawberries in Missouri. Mr. Jenkins says: "Picking and marketing strawberries is a business of itself and requires a man of energy with the skill and genius of a Jap- anese major-general to manage success- fully a gang of pickers on the one hand and a lot of impatient customers on the other. "My pickers are each given a number, their names and numbers entered on a pass book, and each is required to sign his name to a printed berry ticket containing printed rules, which specify that all work shall be done quickly and neatly. No fussing, swearing or playing is allowed in the berry field, and 25 per cent of wages held back till the close of the season. Anyone discharged for misconduct or who quits the job before the work is finished, loses the 25 per cent. On going to work each picker is furnished with a picking stand and seven quart boxes and also given printed slips containing their number, one of which the picker is required to deposit in the bottom of his box. This way each picker's berries can be identified and traced. This keeps them all on their guard to do good work. When the boxes are filled, the pickers bring their berries to packing shed and get their credit, which is always punched in their tickets kept by them. When the amount of $1 is punched, then a new ticket is issued. "An overseer stays with the pickers at all times and every row begun must be Acting on the theory that "testing is proving" we will send any responsible person, on certain very easy conditions, one o£ our three h. p. gas or gasoline engines on 10 days test trial. This engine is no experiment, but has been proved by actual use to do any work (where the rated amount of power is required) in the most practical, reliable, safe and economical way. On the farm it proves especially valuable for operating feed grinders, wood saws, cream separators, corn shellers, pumps, etc. It furnishes ideal power for operating machinery used in mills, shops, printing offices, private electric-light plants and water-works. Speed can be changed from 100 to 600 revolutions per minute while engine is running, which is a very desirable feature. DIRECT FROM FACTORY TO BUYER We sell direct from factory to buyer, thus saving you all middle- men's profits. Lion engines are so simple and practical in construction that with the explicit directions which we send with each engine, it is unnecessary to have an expert come to your place to set it up and start it for you. Get a Lion engine and increase your profits with much less labor and time devoted to the work. Write now for full information concerning the Lion engine. Please mention this paper when you write. Write us a Letter Like This; Balloo Manufactukino Co., Beldinfe', Micu. OeDtlemen:— I am about to purchase agasorgaeu- line engine for purposes and wish you to send me full partleului'.> about your approval offer as ailvertiseci in Yours very truly. Name Tow n • State street No. or P. O. Boi R. P. D .£^ When writing, please state definitely for what purpose you wish to use this engine and whether gas or gasoline is to be used for fuel. This information is very important to us. Please remember we send the engine, r.ot the enfjine a^ent. BAXXOU MANXTFACTtrKING CO., Successors to Lyons Engine Co. BELDING. MICH. ENGINES Page 119 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 finished before allowed to begin another. When pickers get tired, they are given a few minutes' recess to play and rest. At the end of the season pickers are all paid at one time what their tickets call for in checks, payable to order. It makes a boy feel like a man to step into a bank, indorse a check and cash it and get his money all in a pile. Our berries are all sorted. All mashed, rotten or dirty ones are taken out. We use clean boxes, putting, if anything, the largest berries in the bottom. "With our regular customers we use a card, which is so arranged as to hold both debit and credit, the sum of $5, which amount is also punched out. The custo- mer is charged with the full amount in our book, but settles at the end of the season according to the amount punched on card. The customer retaining the card knows at all times what he owes. Our rule is: well-filled boxes, clean and in order. We try to keep our customers pleased and hold them from season to sea- son and have generally succeeded. Fresh Strawberries as Medicine By Edgar L. Vincent STRAWBERRIES always used to make me sick when we had to buy them. I very rarely used to try to eat them at all. But after we came on the farm and had them of our own grow- ing I never had any trouble of that sort. For some years prior to that time I had been troubled with weak digestion, so that I could not eat much fruit of any sort, or thought I could not. Things changed when we had berries of our own. We set out several varieties, among them some that ripened early and others that came along later. The mo- ment the earliest kind began to get eat- able I would go out into the garden and eat all I wanted before breakfast. There was sure to be a nice dish of the beautiful fruit on the table at breakfast, and every other meal of the day, for that matter, and I ate my share of them. The last thing at night I would go out and take my fill of them right from the vines, and I tell you they did taste good! And the best of it was that they did not hlirt me in the least. On the contrary, they were better for me than any medi- cine I could have procured from the doc- tor. How do I account for it that, where- as the berries I used to buy did me harm, those we grew ourselves had the opposite effect.' I believe it was because they were fresh and not wilted. Many times the berries we had bought had to be shipped ? long distance, but our own were fresh and that made all the difference in the world. Berries should always be eaten fresh if possible. Binghamlon, N. Y. ^ '^ pVERY year the ijuestion of box and crate •*-* materials becomes of increasing interest and perplexity, but with the higher price for the The Empire proves its claims IC' Vrl'.-'X CLAIMS are ivords, proof 8 are facts. Mere claims have y. often sold goods. Proofs are /"^ lth^ record of dollars made. oA ^ a You, or any one else, don't-"'" "l^ ^^ want the cream separator that claims the .,^;v ' ...ost. You want dollars from your handling ^-'"'•i'S of milk. • t Therefore you want the proved separator, the dollar-making Frictionless Empire Seprator Here are aome facts that will interest you : The Empire Turns the most easily — is practically frictionlesn;— Is most easily washed — a few simjile parts without a cranny or crevice in them; — Gets all the cream, and the highest qual- ity of cream at that; — Is durable — will not get out of order — will cost you practically nothing for repairs. These facts spell dollars for you, if yoti give them the opportunity. Let Us Prove Them Send for our new catalogue and proofs. Ask for our free dairy books too. They cost you nothing, but will show you where vou can make iloJlars. Empire Cream Separator Co., Bloomlleld. N. J. Cbicago. Uls. A Ralamazos Direct to You" End your stove worries! Get a Kalamazoo Stove or Ran^e on a 360 DAYS* APPROVAL TEST jind a 120,000 bank guaranty on durability, eonvanlanea and economy of fuel. You cannot get a better at any price, but you save from $5 to 140 by buying from the actual manufacturers at Loivest Factor'*- Prices— We Pay tlie Freight/ At least get our prices and compare our offer. Send j r' -'tal lor catalogue No. 348. Kalamasoe Stova Co., Mtgra.t Kalamaaoo, Mlchloan* Oar pftt«Dt oT»n tbermgmeUr niKkei bftkln^ crude materials new inventions constantly are being made which tend to preserve the balance and keep down the cost to the consumer of fruit packages. Among those who are thorough- ly up to date in this work is the Pierce- Williams Co., who have extensive works both at South Haven, Mich., and Jonesboro, Ark. You can- not make a mistake by getting into close touch with this company. If you are in the South, send for information to Jonesboro, Ark. ; if in the North, to South Haven, Mich., in either case mentioning The Strawberry. I N the entire realm of horticultural machinery * it is doubtful if in any single branch greater progress has been made than in mechanical ac- cessories to potato culture. And standing in the front rank of invention and manufacture of P»ge 120 these practical aids is the Aspinwall Manufactur- ing Co. of Jackson, Mich. The machines in- troduced and made by this company have brought about a revolution in potato produc- tion, and make possible the handling of ten acres with little more labor than formerly was required to produce one acre. Beginning with the Cut- ting of the potato for planting (which is done more accurately and economically in the matter of seed-saving than may be done by hand) to the digging of the ripened tuber, there is not a feature of their production but the Aspinwall Co. has invented a machine that saves labor and money. What is true of potato machinery also is true of this company's excellent spraying machines, and we are sure our readers will be well repaid for sending for this company's cat- alogues, if interested in either subject. WHAT MAY BE DONE WITH A HAND CULTIVATOR-J. D. ULRICH IN HIS PATCH AT THREE RIVERS Intensive Strawberry Culture— The Value of Cultivation By Frank E . Beatty IN order to comprehend the necessity of cultivation one must understand the efFect it has upon the soil and upon plant~life. In this article we shall discuss the advantages of thorough cultural methods, rather than the import- ance of it, because I believe almost any berry grower will take more interest in giving his plants thorough cultivation after he understands the reason for doing it. There is a reason for doing everything, crumble, is to prevent the forming of any crust. The cultivator teeth will make a loose soil mulch which will not only aid in conserving moisture, but also will keep the soil at more even temperature. Scien- tists claim, and I am sure it is true, that bacterial germs will work more actively when the soil is kept at an even tempera- ture. Thus it will be seen that there are seven reasons for cultivating after each rain: THE SINGLE HEDGE SYSTEM OF PLANT SETTING The single hedge is made by layering the runners in a straight line. The three large hills are tnother plants, each one sending out two runners,'as shown in picture. The distance for setting will depend on the variety. In the hill sys- tem set the plants about fifteen to twenty inches apart in the row and have the rows about thirty inches apart. and the better we understand the reason the more capable are we of carrying the work to success; and we enjoy the work more, too. Even the little boy who hoes in the garden or gets in the wood has a reason for doing it, and that reason is gen- erally because his father threatens to larrup him if he does not do it. And some grow- ers cultivate their strawberries with about as much interest as the little boy does his work, who does it rather than be laid across his father's knee. Especially those boys who have fathers who do not believe in doing things under cover. It does not matter how well the soil has been prepared in advance of setting the plants, it will settle down and become hard. The rains will run the soil grains together; and after the sun shines upon it a crust will form, leaving the surface al- most like cement, thus preventing the de- sired amount of air from circulating through the small air spaces which always are un- der the crust. The reason for cultivating after each rain just as soon as the soil will 1. It prevents the forming of crust. 2. It admits air in sufficient quantities to keep bacteria active. 3. It aids in retaining an even tem- perature in the soil. available form for the plant's immediate use. 6. It disturbs weed seed while in the germinating stage. 7. It breaks the sweep of the wind and prevents it from blowing sand against the plants, which would injure the leaves (leaves are the stomach, liver and lungs of the plant), besides causing a waste of plant food that might lie on the surface. After this loose soil mulch lies undis- turbed for eight or ten days it becomes settled, letting the moisture work up so near the top that much of it is carried away by the wind and the sun. This settled condition of the mulch also increases the capillary power to such an extent that the lower moisture is soon exhausted. And here are seven reasons why cultivation should be repeated every seven or eight days whether it rains or not: 1. It disturbs the old dust mulch and fixes a new one. 2. It stops the escape of moisture and makes capillary action normal. 3. It destroys all weed seed that have germinated since the last cultivation. 4. It mixes with soil the plant food THE DOUBLE HEDGE SYSTEM OF PLANT SETTING In forming a double hedge row, allow each mother plant to make four runners, layering them zig-zag or X fashion, as shown in picture. Keep the vacant spaces between young plants well hoed to prevent the forming of crust. Varieties making long runners can be set farther apart in the row than short runner makers, allowing them to make eight plants instead of four. 4. It prevents moisture from working so near the surface as to allow it to be wasted by evaporation. 5. It stops the moisture brought up by capillary action, which is charged with mineral matter, at a point where the soil is warm and where it can be put into Page 121 that has been brought to the surface by moisture. 5. It keeps bacteria, moisture and plant food in a harmonious condition, supply- ing plants with balanced food, and keep- ing them in a continuous growth. 6. It builds up a heavy vegetative THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 growth and crown system, which in turn will develop productive fruit buds, and lots of them. 7. It keeps plants from starving and becoming stunted in a dry time. We ought not to expect any more from plants than we may from animaW. 1 ake a calf, for example. Feed it heavily and give it the best of care for a few weeks, then because you are busy or become negligent, starve it and give it no care for a week or so — what would the result be? A stunted calf, of course. The same is true of plant life. A strawberry plant gets just as hungry for its kind of food as does the calf for its mainstay, and to over- feed it one week and neglect it the next will result in failure with strawberries just as it does with the dairy herd. Make your plants your pets and treat them as pets, and if you cannot learn to love them enough to make them your pets, you never will make a big success in the strawberry business. I never heard of a man who hated cows gaining a big reputation in the dairy business. Love is a wonderful thing. It makes rough places smooth, and dark days bright. All animals know the dif- ference between love and hate, and I be- lieve plants do also. At least they re- spond liberally to good care and lots of petting. One year ago I bought a saddle horse that had been abused and neglected until he became poor and ill-natured, and would fight his master. To-day Captain is one of the most beautiful and best-natured saddle horses in Michigan. He is fat, sleek, and affectionate. He hands me his right foot and shakes hands before I mount him, and again after I dismount. He will pace, fox-trot, square-trot, single-foot and gallop, or walk, and quickly will change to any of these gaits. He understands the gait I wish him to go by a certain move of the rein. This great change in Captain's life was brought about by affec- tion, the currie-comb, good feed and good care. Just try it in your strawberry work and see if the plants do not show it as quickly as did this horse. ONE well-known authority on the sub- ject, Harry Snyder, professor of soils of the Minnesota Experiment Station, says that the indirect value of manure is greater than that as a fertilizer. Chem- ical changes result from the contact of decaying manure with inactive mineral food in the soil, which render it available, besides producing humus. Continuous grain farming uses up humus, making it stapled nnl . ■ ■ runci ,.ri ANDREW REESH I MANUFACTURER OF BERRY BASKETS AND BERRY CRATES ^ All sizes of berry boskets I fniiij half-pints tu the I Htnndard quart. All Ma- \ <*lihi« ItlRde, Bottom noil or BasHWOod. Send foi i THE UNSURPASSED National Berry Boxes l^ ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY Patented Nov. 17. 1903. A SANITARY FRUIT-PRESERVING PACKAGE Made of tough, smooth paper stock, coated on both sides with best paraffine wax. Three years of practical use have made these boxes the favorite of all who have seen and used them. They are stronger than the wooden boxes, as each box will stand up under eighty pounds of pressure w ithout being crushed. This is more than any other box will stand. They will take the lowest possible freight rate, being shipped in the flat condition. All testimonials we furnish are unsolicited. All samples we are sending are folded up and packed in a box, thus enabling those not familiar with the box to fold and interlock box properly to give the desired result. Sales during 1906 in 31 states and some foreign countries, and 1.400 new names were added to our already large list of customers. Communication with 47 States. NONE so GOOD AS THE BEST NATIONAL PAPER BOX COMPANY KANSAS CITY, MO. Folded up sample and circular sent on receipt of ten cents. Palentee will sell his rights or organize a special company. Demands arc too large for present arrange- ments. All who are interested, write above company. ANDREW REESH, New SpriDgfield, Ohio 1 less capable of holding moisture, and as there is no decay of vegetable matter, the time arrives when the soil must have a long period in which to recuperate itself. Success with Twin Double-Hedge Row By Mrs. A. Andrews HAVE read The Strawberry journal the past year with great interest and think it the very best fruit journal printed, as it deals with the straw- berry alone and does justice to the work in every detail. I have grown strawberries the past six years, and have been very successful. Have always grown matted row simply because I knew of no other or better meth- Pa«e 122 od. Last spring after reading The Straw- berry, I decided to try the Edgerton plan of setting, set two and one-half acres, twenty inches between narrow rows and three feet between wide rows. Runners were layered to form the single-hedge row and all runners cut off after that and I followed The Strawberry method of cultivating. Last fall the field was a picture. The plants were thoroughbreds, and they cer- tainly showed their breeding as I never have had plants that grew so thrifty. I am ready to endorse all you say in regard to growing fancy fruit, and too much cannot be said about packing care- fully. My berries have the reputation of being the very best on the market; in fact, they now have a reputation of their own. I set my own price, and never have grown enough to supply my customers. This THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 year ] am looking for a big crop of fancy fruit, and will report my success later. Will also send some views. I wish the strawberry and all of its readers the best of success, with the grandest of all fruit the strawberry. Vassar, Mich. GROWERS of apples on the Pacific coast have fine prospects. A man- ufacturer of apple wrappers in Seattle has recently taken orders for ten cars of the small squares which are used to wrap apples before packing them for shipment. This indicates that the largest crop ever gathered is expected this fall. Notes From the Strawberry Field By Edgar L. Vincent M.AY is the month, in many parts of the country, for setting out straw- berries. This- is largely true of places all along the latitude in which The Strawberry is published and for a belt fifty or one hundred miles each way, north and south. The choice of a location for the berry fields is quite an item. Where the land slopes to the southward one may expect berries to ripen earlier than where the trend is to the northward. Low lands are more liable to be visited by frosts than those which are higher. On our own farm we have two fields. One is near the house and the other out under the shadow of a piece of woods. The field near the house often catches the late frosts while the one which is protected by the trees escapes. It is, for that reason, a good plan to have two or three pieces set out to berries. Our land is a clay loam, and it certain- ly bears fine berries. Just to look at some of them when they are ripening is good for sore eyes. This kind of soil does not bring berries to maturity quite as early as would a warmer one, but we can afford to wait a week or two, if we get good ones when they do come. But don't stop because you have not a clay loam. If your soil is sandy, you will beat the rest of us having early berries. You may not get quite as many to the acre, but you will get into the market earlier. If you have a piece of ground that has not been plowed in years, or a little patch where logs and stumps recently have been cleared out, you can have some berries that will make your eyes stick out. They just love such a soil. There is enough of the native fertility of the soil there to give you the best kind of results. But if your land is old, you will have to use some kind of barnyard or commer- cial fertilizer. Nothing is better in this line than manure from your own yard that has been well rotted. Try to get that which has lain in the heap till all the weed and other seeds have been destroyed. If there is anything that will discourage a man it is to have his berry plants all swamped with weeds the first pop. And then, if you have hard-wood ashes these are splendid to scatter along the rows. I mean ashes that have not had the strength all taken out of them by water. I would not give much for leached ashes for any- thing. It is the potash in the ashes that does the good, so if you have no unleached ashes, it is a good plan to buy some kind of commercial fertilizer that has a liberal percentage of potash in it. One advan- tage, from the viewpoint of beauty, and that is a viewpoint that attracts us all more or less, in favor of the potash is that it gives us fruit that is more brightly colored than fertilizer that has more nitrogen in it. The leaves are larger on the plants, too, and some have thought the plants were freer from rust. But the folks down in Florida have found that they must not use this for at least three months before th ; shipping season begins, as it is apt to injure the quality of the berries when sent for a long distance. After your plants come, keep them where they will not dry up till you get around to set them out, which ought to be at the earliest possible moment. Mark out the land three feet each way if you are to grow for your own use in a small way. Most commercial growers set their plants three feet apart one way and let them run into a mat of plants the other way. More berries can be picked from the matted rows. The best thing I ever found to make the holes with is a small trowel. Rim a hole out big enough to take the plant with the roots spread out. Some do set them deep down into a small round hole, pay- ing no attention to the position of the roots. Seems to me that is not the way I should want my feet cramped up. Give the plants a chance to push out in every direction. Pack the soil around the roots well. Have the bottom of the stalk just about even with the top of the ground. If you get it too deep it is apt to rot and die. Then give every plant a generous drink of water. A dear old strawberryman, now gone over to the other side, said what strawberries want most is water, and N abundance of fruit of highest quality, finely colored and flavored, is the direct result of supplying a complete fertilizer con- taining from 7 to 1 2 per cent, of Potash to the tree, vine or bush. "Plant Food" is a book well worth a place in the library of any fruit grower. Wc will gladly mail it to all applicants. GERMAN KALI WORKS 93 Nassau Street, New Vork Established in 1869 Headquarters For Experience Counts BERRY BOXES Peach and Grape Baskets Also Melon Baskets Fruit shipped in our packaeos insures hi^'h- est prices. Order boxes now and make up at your leisure, orite u» for Berry Box Machine. Illustrated Price List Free. Wells, Higman Company Box 10. ST. JOSEPH, MICH. The BASKET with the RIM That is the distinguishing feature of the WAX LINED PAPER BERRY BASKET The height of Clean, Odorless, Taint- less, Pure ami Perfect Basket Perfection IF YOU ARE A BERRY GROWER you want our Basket and we want your name MULLEN BROS. PAPER COMPANY Send lor FREE Sample and Catalogue of this 20th Canluor Basket Dept. B St. Joseph, Mich. Page 123 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 then water and then some more water. Make up your mind that you will keep the runners off the first year. This will mean business, for it "beats all" how strawberries do seem to wanf to send out runners. They are just like all good busi- ness houses in that respect, and they know it pays, but what we want the first year is strength. After we get that we may look for berries. Finally, keep the weeds down, or they will down your pretty plants. Binghamton, N. Y. ^ '^ T OOK out for the bogus seed and plant '-' men. One fraud practiced for many months on amateur gardeners, recently was exposed by a young woman of New York, the exposure leading to a man named Reiber obtaining the limit of one year and $500 fine. This impostor ad- vertised, in a gorgeously colored catalogue, a marvelous new flower that had been "discovered in Japan, American rights bought for $50,000. A very small quan- tity of the seed will be available this sea- son and we shall dispose of it to early comers at $1 the package." Hundreds of amateurs sent their dollar but none of the seeds (.'') grew. Miss Reineix, after one failure, decided to investigate and sending for a second package submitted this to a professional florist. He pro- nounced the contents of the packet to be palm leaf fans broken into seed-like frag- ments and not seeds at all. AS spring advances, most of our readers are ■''■ taking an active interest in garden, farm and lawn. This is as it should be, for now is the time to make final plans for the setting out of trees, shrubs, etc. , and the planting of vegetables and flowers. Those who contemplate setting out young trees should give special care to the selection of hardy, vigorous stock which has been properly started. In this connection we take pleasure in directing attention to the ad- vertisement of Arthur J. Collins, the well- known nurseryman of Morristown, N. J. , in this issue. We advise those who are interested and have not already done so to write at once for Mr. Collins' attractive, interesting booklet en- titled "For Horticulturist and Gardener," which is fully illustrated with many views of trees, fruits, flowers, etc. This book is a veritable mine of information and will be of great assist- ance in making spring plans. '^ ^ WHAT NEXT! One of our advertisers, "^ Mr. R. F. Bieber, General Manager of the famous 1900 Washer Co. of Binghamton, N. Y., is so enthusiastic over the work done by his wonderful Gravity Washer that he makes a wide-open, unlimited offer to let the machine do all the family washing for a month on free trial. Mr. Bieber has sold a great many washers and everybody who has tried the Gravity Washer has been so delighted with the work it does that he says he will be glad to send out washers on free trial to any reliable reader of our paper. He feels sure that anyone who lets the Gravity Washer do four big washings as a trial will n-ant to keep it. So he not only takes all the risk of the full month's free trial, but even pays the freight. 'V'oli need not send him anv money in advance or sign any bonds or make any deposits. It washes the clothes by gravity power; all there is for the hands to do, when once the washer is set going, is to guide its movements, which is nothing more than play for a child. The hard part of the washing is all done by the machine itself. It does a washing so quickly that you can hardly believe your own eyes. Washes a big tubful of dirty clothes spotlessly clean in six minutes! It washes fine lace curtains without tearing them. Yes, and it will even wash carpets! Mr. Bieber states that any responsible person wishing to let the Gravity Washer do a month's washing as a free test can get a machine on free trial, without being obli- gated to keep it unless perfectly satisfied. He also says he is not particular whether parties who decide to keep the washer pay for it by the week or by the month. He lets the buyer choose the way most convenient. He says: "Pay me out of what it saves you." You can get full particulars of this liberal free trial offer and "Pay as it Saves for You" plan of selling by sending your name and address to Mr. Bieber. Address your letter or postal to the General Manager of the 1900 Washer Co., Mr. R. F. Bieber, 510 Henry-St., Binghamton, N. Y. A GOOD THING to have before you when •'* selecting a sprayer is the new complete catalogue of The E. C. Brown Co. This com- pany is an extensive manufacturer of all styles and sizes of sprayers, operating one of the largest plants in the country devoted entirely to this busi- ness. They sell direct to the user at money-sav- ing prices, and the quality of their line is too well known to need comment. The Brown sprayers are known as the "Auto-Sprays" and are used and endorsed by the U. S. Government, and many of the State Experiment Stations, to say nothing of thousands of fruit-growers and gen- eral farmers all over the country. To thui who have heavy spraying work before them ut want to recommend an investigation of the Auto-Spray No. 28. This is a traction- power outfit, which combines great power with re- markable simplicity of operation and economy in the use of solution. It is equal to the very largest operations, with power to spare, and the best of it is that it costs nothing to generate this great power. The power is produced by gear- ing the pump to the wheels of the truck. It is built to last a life-time, and so simply con- structed that the inexperienced find no difliculty in operating it. Send a postal for their free catalogue. Address The E. C. Brown Co., 61 Jay St., Rochester, N. Y. This catalogue is more than a catalogue — it is a book of ready reference in anything pertaining to spraying, pOR nearly forty years the house of Wells- *■ Higman Co., St. Joseph, Mich., has stood for high-class goods and a square deal in fruit- package matters. New processes of manufac- ture, improved packages, up-to-date methods in every way, have been the constant aim of this company, with the result that age has only served to strengthen their hold upon the trade, and old customers are their best customers. Get acquainted with this company by sending for their printed matter. it * DAPER is coming to occupy an important *■ place in the fruit-package interest, and "the basket with the rim," made famous and popular by the Mullen Bros. Paper Co., of St. Joseph, Mich. , is everywhere recognized as an invention of large value. Strong, durable, light, and al- ways ready for business, this berry box is winning hosts of friends every year and extending its field by leaps and bounds. Mullen Bros, will be glad to tell you all about the box if you will send them your address. Page 124 [fruit packages] THE PACKAGE SELLS THE FRUIT l^EEP this in mind when ordering your *^ packages for the coming season. Remember that we have been making Fruit Packages over a quarter of a cen- tury and know how to make them right. We use the best timber we can get, make it up with modern machines, and the result comes as near package perfec- tion as can be attained. Order early wherever you buy, but don't forget our Trade Mark. We make all kinds of boxes and baskets. Send for catalogue and price list. THE PIERCE-WILLIAMS CO. SOUTH HAVEN, MICH. AND JONESBORO, ARK. MANUFACTURED BY THE COLBr:: HINKLEY CO.. BERTON HARBOR, MICH. BERRY BOXES BERRY CRATES In flat or made up. All kinds of BASKETS BEST GOODS RIGHT PRICES Send postal card for catalogue Colby-Hinkley Company BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN Fruit Packages of all Kinds Before ordering your supplies write for our Descriptive Catalogue and Price List. BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO.. Erie Co. Berlia Heights, Ohio. AND HALLOCK BOXES BERRY BASKETS Also Beekeepers* Supplies sold at a reduced price and shipped from Central Michig-an. Send for 32-page cata- logue free. W. D. SOPER, Jackson, Micb. When ^Vriting: Plense Mention The Strawberry TYPICAL SCENE IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF NORTH CAROLI NA- DELIVE Rl NG STRAWBERRIES TO NORTH BOUND REFRIGERATOR TRAINS The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter VII — In which is shown the Value of Executive Capacity in a Foreman THE arrangements I had made for marketing the crop of berries that had just been harvested were very satisfactory indeed, so far as my fancy berries were concerned, but my mistake this time was in failing to provide for the sale of my second-grade berries. This did not bother me much, however, as I knew that it would be an easy matter to decide upon a plan for selling the second-grade fruit at a fair price. I was too busy just then to give it any thought. My whole time was taken up in overseeing the work in the field where several men were busily engaged in burning over the old fruiting beds and narrowing down the rows for second crop. The fire had swept over all the fruiting beds except one acre which was situated just west of a raspberry patch, and the hay-tedder was being rushed over this acre as fast as the horse could take it. The wind was blowing quite hard, and everything was so favorable to burning that I was rushing every man on the farm to the very limit. From the appearance of the clouds, which were rapidly spreading, I felt pretty sure that everything was going to get a good soaking before sundown. When the hay-tedder was far enough ahead I or- dered the men to set the mulching on fire. Two men started for the west side, one at each end of the patch. They filled their forks with straw and set it on fire, and started towards each other, going al- most on a run. The burning straw was held close enough to the mulching to set fire to it as they went. The wind was blowing much harder than I had realized, and in a second of time the flames were leaping higher than our heads. This fright- ened the horse hitched to the tedder, and he came across the field between a trot and a run. I tell you that maclime kicked straw higher than an old rooster ever kicked gravel when scratching for his favorite biddy, but the driver held on to the lines and kept him in place. I judged that the driver was in about as big a rush as the horse. The flames were getting close enough to make it rather uncomfort- able for both. This little excitement started everybody to laughing. I have heard of smiles that never wear off, but this was not the stick- fast kind; at least it soon changed to a decidedly serious expression. The flames had leaped over into the raspberry patch. These also had been mulched around the hills with coarse strawy manure. Every- one of us was soon fighting fire like a Chicago fire department. Our only fire extinguishers were pitchforks, and the harder we beat the flames the faster and more greedily they licked up the dry material. The green foliage on the berry bushes were crackling like eggs roasted in a country fire-place. The raspberry patch was just south of our house, and it was Pa«e 125 not long until the "cook" was on the scene with two buckets of water, and in her ex- citement she dashed the water where there was no fire, and not likely to be any, and rushed to the pump to refill the "fire de- partment" she was operating. By the time she returned the fire was subdued and so were most of the raspberry bushes, and, to be honest about it, the spirits of all the firemen were subdued too. Our clothes were wringing wet with perspira- tion, and eyebrows were scorched a little. "Why didn't you think of water in the first place.''" my wife asked, almost out of breath. "Well, if you think the water you carried had anything to do with putting out the fire just go and look where you threw it." The joke was so good that she laughed harder than any of us. By this time the men who had so faithfully fought the fire came up to where my wife and I were talking, and they expressed their regrets of my loss. "I greatly appreciate your sympathy as as well as your untiring efForts to save my berry patch, but I am not going to lose any sleep over the raspberry patch. If the bushes are killed we will put the ground in shape for strawberry plants, and will set the whole block in Clydes, Hav- erlands and another good early bisexual next spring. Boys, I believe the gain in getting the strawberry field burned over before the rain will be greater than will the loss of the raspberrj' patch." It was now raining so hard we had to seek shelter in the packing house, and it continued to rain until the next day. Just as soon as the ground was fit the strawberry rows were narrowed down with a bar-shear plow, and two teams were put to work hauling manure, which was spread THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 between the rows. This was a new ex- periment with me, and it proved to be the proper thing. In a few weeks those o'd remodeled fruiting blocks were almost up with the spring-set plants. We had plenty of rain that season, and everything was making splendid growth. Weeds and grass were coming in for their share of the foods which are so enticing to plant life of all kinds. And it was only by pulling weeds by hand when it was too wet to cultivate that our plants were kept from being crowded out by them. The cultivators and hoes were kept on the move when the soil was in condition for the work. I staid right with my men until the latter part of August at which time I was to go to Spokane, Washington, to spend a few weeks with a friend. Before leaving for this anticipated pleasure trip, I took my foreman all over the farm and explained to him just what I wanted done, and how to do it. When the day came for me to start I left with the full assurance that everything would be run in apple-pie order. But the very first letter I received from my wife carried the news that the foreman had left the same day I did, and had never shown himself on the farm since. But she told me not to worry; that Dave Evans was taking right hold of the work; and she believed he was going to be able to keep things going nicely until my return. Dave was only a boy, but he had worked for me for years and he understood my way of doing things pretty well. There I was, two thousand miles from home. My friend and I talked the situation over, and finally I decided to stay my visit out. Thirty days were spent in Spokane, and in the mining district of Sumpter, Oregon. I was having a good time fishing and was getting a much-needed rest. But good times must come to an end, and it seemed only a short time until I was again on the train headed for Covington, at that time the dearest spot on earth for me. It was a three or four days' ride, and each day seemed like a week, for I was getting anxious to see how Dave had managed things. To my great delight I found the farm and everything on it in prime con- dition. "Well, who would ever have thought that Dave could have done so well with- out any instruction," I said to my wife. "Yes, and the best of it is, he never bothered me about anything; he just went ahead and ran the farm as if it were his own. As this recommend came from my wife, I felt sure that Dave was the coming fore- man of the Beatty farm. That is just the kind of foreman I want. A foreman is not a foreman at all unless he does possess the ability to take the lead and run things the same as he would his own. And it is a fact that Dave Evans was my foreman for nearly one year and he didn't know it. 'I'hat is, I never had told him that he was foreman, and he remained foreman until I sold my Covington farm. And the man who purchased my farm arranged with me that Dave was to stay with him as his foreman for a year, which he did. Last September I sent Dave this telegram: "Come to Three Rivers at once. Good place waiting for you on the Kellogg Strawberry farm." And he now has full charge of all the plant setting and hoeing on this farm, the largest of its kind in the world. 1 hirteen years ago little Dave Evans started with me as a berry picker, and by faithful attention to his duty he has worked himself into a trustworthy position at a good salary, with excellent chances for promotion. This shows that it pays a young man to work in the interest of his employer. Well, to go back to my plants again, they grew to mammoth size and went into winter quarters in the best condition I ever had seen plants at mulching time. Every plant was well developed, and the crowns were large and lots of them. We mulched earlier that fall than in previous years. Every plant on the farm was covered before Christmas, and my prospects for the coming harvest were the most flatter- ii^g since I had become a strawberry grower. (Continued in June Numberl ^ <^ Some Causes of Plants Dying When First Set By S. H. Warren MANY plants die because they are kept too long after being dug be- fore transplanting. Some die be- cause set too deep and the crown or cen- ter of the plant is covered. But in a dry time more plants die from a lack of pres- sure on the soil about the roots than from all other causes. In a wet season they will live if left on top of the soil with no earth to cover the roots. Plants out of Defender Sprayer All brass, easiest work- ing, most powerful, auto- matic mixer, expansion valves, double strainer. Catalogue of Pumps and Treatise on Spraying free. Ar.FNTS Wanted. J. F. Gaylord, Box 18 CatskUl, M. \ . Horse-Power Spramotor Will pay for itself the first season in removing wild mustard from your fields. Automatic in action throughout; everything under control of driver withoutstopping. Machine automatically stops at 125 lbs. pressure, starting again at 100 lbs. Tell us your needs. You will get expert advice. Our 86-page Treatise D free. Agents wanted. SPRAMOTOR CO., BUPrALO, N.Y> LONDON. C4N. s PRAYING TRAWBERRIES Potatoes, Vegetables, Trees; Whiie-washing, etc., quickly and effectively done with the new ii KANT-KLOG" SPRAYERS Spraying time will soon be here. If any of your neighbors are likely to purchase sprayers this spring, send to us. at once for booklets and we will tell you how to get your sprayer free. ROCHESTER SPRAY PUMP CO. 12 East Ave., ROCHESTER, N. Y. SAVE YOUR HANDS No more stnincd. chapped orroueh hands, while doiiis housi.woik. Kl'ONOSIY RlIBBtB 'KS Hr(! an absolute protection and when used leave the liaiids Biift and wliite. Each pair guaranteed. Sent postpaid for 57 cents. When ordcrinLT send for size larger than your glove num- ber. Order now. Do it today. MRS. J. H. PBATT.TIvree Rivers, Mleh. P»ge 126 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 the ground are like fish out of water, therefore the sooner they are in their nat- ural element the lower the death rate. If, after ordering your plants, your land is not ready to set them out at once, pre- pare a small piece of moist, not wet, land, and trench them in closely together. Plow or spade over the land, level it with an iron rake, then lay down a long board six inches wide, using the board as a line. Then with a spade or shovel cut a slanting trench six inches deep; in this lay the plants, after wetting the roots, one inch apart or more, having the crowns even with the bottom of the board. The trench being cut on a slant, the plants will lay where you pur them till you have placed fifty or a hundred. Then draw the earth about the roots and press it down firmly wit^ your feet; now fill the trench even with the bottom of the board and again repeat the pressure, putting a little loose earth on the surface. These trenches niay be six inches apart, with three or four rows, then leave a space of eighteen inches for a path to work among them to keep the surface free from weeds. They may remain in these rows six or eight weeks, or till your land is ready for them. Select a cloudy, moist day to trans- fer them to the land where they are to grow for fruit bearing. When digging them from the trenches let all the dirt stick to the roots that will. If the trenches are very dry, soak with water before removing the plants. You will find that they have thrown out many new white roots, and if well transplanted into the permanent bed, will grow without any check. Wesmn, Mass. One Further Suggestion By A. Beck 1READ with much interest the article in the March number of The Straw- berry entitled, "A Convenient Tool for Strawberry Folk," because being in need of some tool to use for the purpose of cutting the runners on my three-quarter- acre patch of plants, I too conceived the i4ea of utilizing an old worn-out hoe as de- scribed by Mr. Sabin; but I had the black- smith attach a blade eighteen inches in length, using a portion of an old cross-cut saw for the purpose. With this tool I found I could sever every runner in four strokes to each hill, and do it nearly as rapidly as I can walk. When blade be- comes dTiU I sharpened with a file, and find it both economical, and effective. Kelso, Washinglon. Doing a Week's Washing In 6 Minutes— Read the Proof THIS woman Is nsing a 1900 Gravity Washer. All she has to do is keep the washer goiiiK, A little push Rtiirta it one way — a littli' pu7l brings it back— the washer does the rest. TheclothesBtuy still—the uuterruMlies til rough and Hi'ouiid them — and the dirt is ttiknii cut. In hIx minutes your tubtut of clothes Is clean. This machine will wash anything— from hu-o curtains to carpets, and get them absolutely, Bpotlps^iy, epeckle^wly clean. There Isn't auytlilnff about a 1900 Gravity Wuslier to wear out your cluthcs. You can wat^h the finest iinun, lawn and lace without breaking a thread. "Tub rips" and "wash tears" are unknown. Vour clothes last twice bh lone* You save time — labor — and money. You WQnh quicker — easier— more economically. Prove all this ut my eAjnense and risk. I let you use a 1900 Gravity Washer a full month FttEE. Send for my New Washer Book. Read particulars of my offer. Say vou are willing to test a 1900 Gravity Washer. I will send one to any responsible par^, fVel«ht prepaid. lean ship promptly at any time— so you get your washer at once. Take it home and use it a month. Do all your washings with it. And, if you don't find the machine all I claim — if it doesn't save you time and work — if it doesn't wash your clothes cleaner and better — don't keep it. I agree to accept your decision without any back talk— and I will. If you *ant to keep the washer — as yon surely will when you see how much time, and work, and money it will save you— yon can take plenty of time to pay for it. Pay HO much a week— or so much a month— as suits you best. Pay for the washer as it soves for you. I make you this offer bei-ause I want \ou to find out for yourself what a 1900 Gravity WaslltT will do. I am willing to trust you, becuuse you can prob- ably ^et trusted at home. And. if your credit is good m your own town, it is just asgooil witli me. It takes a big factory— the largest waslu-r fuc- tory in the world— to keep up with my ordt rs. So far as I know, my factory is the only one ever devoted exclusively to making wnsliers. Over half a million of my wasliers are in use. Over huif a million pleased women can tell you what my washers will do. But you don't have to take even their say-so. You can test a 19U0 Gravity Washer yourself. Then you will know positively. Write for my book todity. It is FKEE. Your name and address on a post card mailed to me at once, gets you my book l>y return mail. Vou are welcome to the book whether you want to buy a washer now or not. It is a big illustrated book, printed on hea\'y enameled paper, and has pictures showing exactly how my Wasiiera work. You will be pleased with this iKiok. It is the finest even I have ever put out. Write me at once. Find out just how a 1900 Gravity Waslier saves your time and strength— preserves your health — and protects your pocketbook. Write now— Adajvwi — B. F. Bieber. Manager *'19O0" Washer Co., ^10 Henrv 8t..BinBhamton. N. Y. Or, if \oa Jive in Ciinnda. write to mv Canadian Branch, 365 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario. WHO has suggestionsof a helpful na- ture to makeP We'd like to have a department in The Strawberry devoted to what we might call "Helpful Hints From Our Folks," and believe if all the readers of this magazine would send us in very brief form, the results of their experience and experiments with plants, with fruit, with fertilizers, with devising tools and other aids to berry growing, etc., it would make a department of high value to all. Send us along your suggestions; they may not appear to be particularly important to you, but may be of large value to the .thousands who would utilize them. Next! HERE is a warning from Farm Jour- nal worth passing along: "About this time of year irresponsible parties go around attempting to sell so-called recipes for making fertilizers. If any of our read- ers are offered an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the fertilizer business — to learn how to make fertilizers for $1 a ton — all by purchasing a $5 recipe for makmg fertilizers, we wibh to offer this Page L27 advice: Don't. We have seen several of these recipes, and have yet to see one that was not worthless." THE best soil for strawberries is dis- cussed by the Twentieth Century Farmer, which says: In the first place the strawberry is at least 99 per cent wa- ter and hence one of the requisites to a large yield must be retentive soil; after the question of fertility, etc., this must be taken into consideration. To grow the largest berries we believe sandy soils are the best, but to produce the most bushels we would suggest a deep, loamy soil, one that was rather retentive of moisture and yet had sufficient drainage as strawberry roots are very short and superficial. The soil must be one that requires constant shallow cultivation and by so doing keep- THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 ing the plant in the best working condi- tion by supplying an abundance of mois- ture at the surface. If it is plants that one is after we should then use the sandy soil, as it is very essential and allows the roots to penetrate the soil deeper. Delights of the Strawberry Patch By Cora June Sheppard From tlie FHrmei's Voir*- WHO is there, with a little land at hand that would be without a few rows of strawberries? They give one a continuous feast for a month or more. And who would buy berries when they can raise their own and have them fresh from the vines, at every meal. Soon after we were married in June, 1904, my husband placed strawberry plants in the space between our barn and the neighbor's. The next season, they were a joy indeed. We ate the fresh berries, NICK HESS' PATCH AT FT. SMITH, ARK. we canned them for winter, and we gave some away. Early in the season '05 before patch No. 1 had yielded, patch No. 2, consisting of four rows in the garden, had been planted. Walter L. Minch, the strawberry man of this section, has unbounded faith in the strawberry. He has several large patches and picks every day of the season. He claims the plants call for a year's attention before fruition — and the man who enters the undertaking is pretty sure of success if he sticks to the duty at hand. An authority says it means getting right down in the dirt — and going into it with your hands. No man or woman addicted to the glove habit when at work need compete for the prize along this line. Dirt is healthy and full of life-giving qualities. My husband for one, seems to love to get his hands dirty. In imag- ination I can now see his fingers sprawled out and working in the pliable earth, plac- ing the plants with a magic touch that seems to make every one grow. Patch No. 2 contained two rows of Bubachs for early berries and two of Stevens' Champions for a late variety. We picked the first May 20; by May 25 we were picking them by the box — and ere Get Your Name In Quickly! You can have a splendid Edison Phonograph sent to you on trial, simply by sending your name. You need not send a cent until you have given it a thorough trial in your own home. PHONOGRAPH On Request No Cash Needed We Send A Genuine Edison Here is our wonderful offer ; such an offer as you have never seen before, and may never see again. You send us yourname and address, and we will send you a Genuine Edison Phonograph, with large Floral Horn and a dozen Genuine Gold-Moulded Edison Records. You may have two days to test it, and if not entirely satisfactory, return it at our expense. Rememher, no C. O. J).: no cash in adi>ance. We can sell you a Genuine Edison Gem Phonograph outfit complete, including twelve Edison Gold-Moulded Records, for $14.20. No one could sell it for less, even for cash in advance, but you may pay us as little as $2.00 per month if you wish. ■Write for free Guide to Latest Music, and have Phonograph sent at once. MUSICAL ECHO CO., Edison Distributors, Dept. No. 74, 1215 Chestnut St., Pliiladelpliia, Pa. 34 Years Selling Direct Our vehicles and harness have been sold direct from our factory to user fur a third of a century. \S n sblp for examination and approval and guarantee safe delivery. You are out nothing if not Batisned as to style, quality and price. We are the Largest \ Manufacturers In the World selling to the con- sumer exclusively. We make 200 s-tyles of Vehicles, 65 styles of Harnpss. Send lor large, free catalog'ue. No. 756. Bike Wagon with Fine ^MuL' Dash, Automohlle Seat and % in. Guaranteed Rubber Tires. Price com- plete. $58. 60. As good as sells for $25.00 more No. 313. Canopy Top Surrey with Auto- molijle Style seats. Price complete, $73.60. As good as bells for J2&.00 more. Elkhart Carriage S Harness Mfg. Co. Elkhart, Indiana Throw Old-Style Harrows on the Junk Pile! ^^^ Naylor 2-in-l Harrow Does the Work Better in Half the Time "-^^ What's the use of goingr over your fields twice when once over Tpith my Combination Spring and Spike Tooth Harrow will do the work and do it better? This 2-in-l Harrow makes a perfect seed-bed in half the time and with half the labor of man and team required with old- style harrows and drags. The 2-in-l turns up the earth and pulverizes it AT THE SAME OPERATION. The Httle picture at the bottom tells part of the story. My Catalogue tells more of it, and hundreds of farmers all over story. You ought to hear them praise it. pays for itself in 7 days' use. It's a light you ever saw. If you order one and it doesn't paid me. Special Confidential Price to first Naylor's Flint-Coated Rubber Roofing $1.45 and up per Square of 108 Sq.Feet. 3 different weights to nolect from. For all kindsof farm buildings. Steeper flat roofs. Guflranteed. Nails and cement with every roll. Samples fre& J. R. Naylor. NAYLOK MFG. CO. , 4 Hillgrove Ave. La Grange, 111. \ telling the rest of the much time that it fine a seed-bed as refund every cent you writes. Catalog FREE. long by the crate. When once they had been tasted by neighbors and friends they wanted more. They came to the patch and bought them as fast as we could pick them, paying from 7 to 10 cents per quart. We ate them three times a day from May 25 to June 25. 1 made a strawberry shortcake all but four or five of the days of that month. Page 128 We were still hungry for strawberries — and wish Luther Burbank would invent a berry to last all summer. We have some particular friends with whom we share our abundance and sent each a quart of berries each day — to others we gave as the spirit moved. Mrs. Sheppard is a regular reader of The Strawberry, and her enthusiasm and THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 fine spirit have communicated themselves to many others. Domestic economy of the highest type naturally associates itself with a love for out-of-doors, and thus do contentment, good health and a world- inclusive intelligence abide together Insects in the Strawberry Field And How to Deal With Them By R. L, Adams THE insects that attack the strawberry and how to deal with them are matters of vital im- portance to the strawberry grower. We present herewith the initial instalment of an article dealing with the subject prepared for The Strawberry by Prof. R. L. Adams of Califor- nia. The numbers of this magazine containing the series should be preserved for future reference by our readers. Remember, that many of the insects mentioned appear only in par- ticular sections of the country, and that many others attack the strawberry very rarely. But the writer has sought in his comprehensive article to inform our readers everywhere and thus prepare them to meet and cope with any emergency that may arise in their experience. PRAYING TINE '.^- Why carry loads of water to apray! Do the •' Work more effectually, quietly and easily by ^ applylug the insect poison direct with the ^ ACME POWDER GUN J It puts the powder ripht to the Bpnt— under and all ttbout the leaves and utems. Bugs, ^ worma and insects can't escapf; anil just a ^ puff to the plant does the biisirn^Bs. It your 9 dealer hasn't it, eend ll-OO and his name— we j0 will ehip Puwder Gun, chnrffs paid. Handles '^ any kind nf powder Insecticide. Ask for Uttla book for particulars, sent free. ^ POTATO IMPLEMENT COMPANY, Bojt63l Traverao City, Mlchlgani Jn»4> WHEN a plant sickens and droops the first step towards supplying a remedy is to find the cause of the trouble. If it is not from lack of food or water, it should be examined for fun- gous diseases. If these, apparently, are not present, hunt for evidences of insect work. Examine the leaves, roots and blos- soms carefully, dissect the crown and large roots, and lastly, look in the soil in the immediate neighborhood for grubs, beetles and the like. It is the insects which will be considered here. For convenience the injurious insects are divided into five class- es according to the part of the plant they infest: (a) root, (b) crown, (c) leaf, (d) bud, and (e) fruit. It is impossible to list every insect which attacks the strawberry plant, for, as with nearly all cultivated plants, certain insects are especially injurious in one part of the country while others affect other sections. So a description of only the most injurious is given. A list covering all that enjoy a banquet on this plant, would be formidable and of little practical value, as many attack it only secondarily. The less important ones will yield to the same general treatment as the others and will seldom trouble. If a new species is found at work send specimens to your experiment station and they will give you the necessary information. The first general class to be considered are those Insects That Attack the Roots 1. The white grubs are the worst pests on the roots. There are several dif- ferent kinds of grubs, but the work of the larvae (young) of the June-bug, May beetle or dor bug (Lachnosterna fusca) as it is variously called, is typical and will serve as a general example. They exist in nearly all pasture and grass lands. The glossy white eggs, one-eighth inch long, are laid early in June around the roots of some herbaceous plant, almost never in plowed land. These hatch in about twelve days and the young grubs immediately begin to feed on the young rootlets. For two, possibly three, seasons they live under ground before reaching matur- ity, consuming an immense number of the tender roots, so many indeed, that they the plants. By the end of the season they make a small, oval often ki second cell, three to ten inches below the surface of the ground and change from a grub to a mature beetle, a process called pupation. The time required is about three weeks, being completed by September. The beetles, however, do not emerge until the following spring, when they lay the eggs for a succeeding generation. The beetles do great damage to fruit and ornamental trees, feeding in large numbers at night. Remedies — As the strawberries are very susceptible to their attacks it is a poor plan to set out a bed on land that has been in sod previously for less than two years. The eggs are not laid in plowed or cultivated land and if some immune crop follows the sod and then the straw- berries, no fear of grubs need be felt. In badly infested land, late deep fall plow- ing, or the pasturing of swine and chickens will help. Rotation of crops is the surest Get something reliable when you buy. DEMING Barrel, Bucket, Knapsack, Hand and Power Outfits. N o t^reater variety nor better types than Deinini; SPRAYERS For trees, shrubs and vines. Model ippliances for poultrymen for whitewashing. disinfecting, etc. Write for catalogue with full particulars. Ttie Deming Co.,. 415Depot Street. Salem. Ohio. Central ^gtncies in Prxnctpal Ctties IUdIuo A Hubbell., Weatera AgenUitlilcBgo. URST POTATO* ORCHARD SPRAYER ON FREE TRIAL, No money ia nhonef— Pay when rnnveulfitt. Bpr&.is ETerjthlnir— Trees; PotatocB. 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And they are manufactured from selected materials, by the oldest and largest manufacturers in the world Therefore, you are sure to ^et the best Forks. Best Tools You Have Ever Bought Same Prtce You Have Always Paid Not only Hay Forks, but all kinds of Forks, Hoes, Rakes, Weeders, Beet Tools, Hooks, Potato Tools— every desirable pattern of farm and garden hand-tools. Scientific and intensive methods of land culture are now pursuedby intelligent farmers nearly everywhere. This calls for special-purpose tools which will help you todo your work with a saving of time and labor, and produce best results. in the production of crops their use means less expense and more profit for you. Ask for True Temper when you want such tools. Our FREE BOOK. "Tool, and Their U.ei," will in- terest you. It is fully illuttrated, and teU> HOW to save time and tabor, by using special* purpose tools. Write for it today AMERICAN FORK & HOE CO.. 645 Am. Trust Bldg. Cleveland, 0. Page 129 THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 ••Worth All the Gas Li^hts;£ver Made" *'[t Is difficult to find wordstoexpress our pleasure and satisfactloa with The Angle Lamp," writes Mr. P, B. Leavanworth. Grand Rapids, Mian. 'It la cer- tainly the jtreatest illuminator ever made. Our nelgb- bora thought we must have a gas plant but we consid- er our lamp is worth all the gas or gasoline lli^bts ever made. Such a clear, steady, brilliaot aod beauti- ful light and so easy to core fori" The Anple Lamp Js the new method of burning common Kerosene oil. and i3 as different from tlie ordinary lump3in results as it Is in appearance. It makes common kerot^ene the bi. ^c.tbecheapeist and most satisfactory of all li^rhting methods. Safer and more reliable than pa-'^ollne oracetvlene,yet as convtnient to operate as gas or electricity. THE ANGLE LAMP is Kghted and extinguished like gas. May he turned high or low without odor. No smoke, no danger. Filled while lighted and without moving. Requires filling but once or twice a week. Itfloorisa room with its beautiful, soft, mel- low light that has no equal. WRITE FUR OUR CAT- ALOG "6i" and our proposition for a 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL Write for our catalog "54" listing 33 varieties of The Angle Lamp from $1.80 up, now— before you turn tliis leaf— forit gives you tile benefitof our tea years* experi- ence with a/i lighting metliods. THE ANGLE MFG. CO.. 70-80 Murray St.. N. T. EVERY READER OF THE STRAW- BERRY SHOULD HAVE ASETTING OF GROFF'S HYBRID GLADIOLI BULBS-THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS IN THE WORLD, AND THEY BLOOM FROM JULY TO OCTOBER. READ OFFER ON OUTSIDE COVER PACE. :: method, however. Old beds should be carefully cleaned out. 2. The strawberry root-borer (Typo- phorus canelliii) is troublesome in certain parts of the central states. The larvae causing the damage hatch from eggs laid by stout, polished, brownish beetles, one-eighth inch long, and marked with four black spots, which appear in great numbers about the first of May and feed on the foliage. The grubs are small, white, with red- dish brown heads, and one-eighth inch long when mature. They feed on the roots until the last of June, when they pupate in a small oval cell made in the ground by twining round and round. The beetles soon appear and lay the eggs for a second brood, which reaches maturity by fall, passing the winter as adults. Remedies — Spray the plants before they blossom with Paris green or arsenate of lead. After the fruit is set use hellebore. Never set a new bed on infested land or near enough to an old one so that infection can follow. This is a precaution which will apply in dealing with most insects. 3. Wire-worms, the larvae of click beetles, will attack the roots, especially in beds set on sod land. If they become numerous the land would better be rotated with immune crops unless it is a small plot, when resort may be had to poisoned baits such as clover cut and sprayed with Paris green (one-fourth pound to a barrel of water) or bran mash poisoned with the Paris green. No extended description is necessary, for wire-worms are familiar to ail. (Continued in June Numberl ■^ -^ Why He is Enthusiastic By M. M. Luzader THE STRAWBERRY is all right so far, and if any one can read it a few months and not catch the fever of an enthusiastic berry culture he had better buy some good clothes and a pack- age of cigarettes and loaf the rest of his days. It would be a shame for a good honest, intelligent, industrious strawberry plant to fall into such a man's hands. I began growing strawberries three years ago with one-eighth of an acre, and by following the directions in "Big Crops of Strawberries" I made the patch yield $75. Last year the hard freeze the 10th of May cut my crop about half, but from the half-acre of fruiting bed I sold $135 besides what we used in the family and gave away. Parsons' Beauty and Haver- land are my best money makers. My plants are looking fine this spring, and if old Jack Frost tends strictly to his own bussiness I will have a heavy crop of big berries. Harrisville, w. Va. 25,000 TOMATO PLANTS GIVEN AWAY READ BELOW Choicest and earliest variety known Growing Tomatoes for Quality, Quantity and Earliness ■rz TS thf iianio of the best booklet ever issued on the sub- if*! J. ject of toinatoeulture. It contains 30 paires and illns- trations fully describing the Potter method of raising: tonmtMc8. By this method you mm ba\'i- bi^rger and bet- ter fruit and weeks earlier tlian otlnTwi-s*-. It teacben the secri't and seifnce of tnmat" i-ulturc: fuicinL^the fruit by systematic cnUiviitiou itml pi'unintr. This book is in- valuable t.o evei-y gardener. w)iether ho trrows one dozen or one thousand Wnes. The subjfcts covered are: His- tory of the Tomato; Its Nature and Habit: Tomato Cul- ture in General: The Potter Method; Plants and Planting; Home Grown Plants; Preparing the Ground: Setting the Plants; Cultivation; Pruning and Staking the "Vines; Pit-king the Fruit; Ripe Tomatoes at Christmas; 40 To- mato Recipes; Best Tomato Seeds. The information is condensed and to the point— just what everj- grower wants . The cut herewith shows one of a large number of \ines in my garden last season. Notice that each stalk isload- ed with large, perfect fruit from top to bottom. This is the result of my method. It is easy to raise this kind of fi-uit when you know how. .Tust send for my book — price 50 cents, money order or coin. Your money back if not satisfactorj'. 1?T>T?T? T:>T a ATT'C To ever>'one ordering Jr IXrjIZi i: ±jJ\.iy XO my booklet before June 10. I will send free one dozen plants, the kind I raise, that will grow and produce fine fruit and it ^vill be better than anv you have ever raised before if you will follow my directions; but please remember, no fi-ee plants after June 10: booklet only after that date at the above price. T. F. POTTER, Tomato Grower, Dept. H, Downers Grove, 111. Planet Jr No. 12 Double- I wheel Hoe hoes two I or three acres of onions \ I or similar crops in one day, \ better and faster than three ^ to six men with hand hoes. Wheels adjustable from 4 to «i " inches apart, and the hoe works ciiually well astride or between ^ rows. Also a thorough weeder and a neat furrower. the tool for good work all the time There is one brand that always returns full value for your money. Every Planet J r. is practical — guaranteed to do the "work with least effort, and mos* benefit to crops. Ail cultivating parts are of high-carbon steei; the workmanship is highest-grade; tests and inspection thorough. Results-Planet Jrs. do the work of three to six men and keep on doing it for years. No. 4 Planet Jr. saves time, labor, seed and money. It combines every useful garden tool in one strong, ligbt, easy-running, simply adjusted imple- ment. Changed in a few seconds to an Adjustable HillBdropplng Seeder, Continuous Drill Seeder, Single-Wheel Hoe, Furrower, Cultivator, Weeder, or Wheel Garden Plow— each tool the finest of its kind Pays for itself quickly even in small gardens- Write for our New 1907 Catalogue showing the complete Planet Jr. line — Seeders, WheelHoes, Horse Hoes, One- and Two-Horse Riding-Cultivators, Harrows, Orchard- and Beet-Cultivators — 45 kinds in all — with photographic views of practical, suc- cessful gardening. There is a Planet Jr. for every gardener's need. S. L. Allen & Co., Box n06D Philadelphia. Pa. ■ In Writing- to Advertisers Please Mention The Strawberry Pftge 130 Serving and Preserving the Strawberry EXQUISITE in flavor, appealing to a larger number of tastes than any other fruit, the apple alone excepted, the strawberry is not only universal in its habitat, but is susceptable to a wider range of treatment and more varied and delicious forms of preparation that delight the epicure than any other. It is the one fruit with which those who like them at all never become satiated, no matter how often served. Three times a day and "between meals" is the rule with straw- berries wherever they are grown to per- fection, and good health waits upon him who enjoys to the full the opportunities presented by the strawberry season. Some of the many wa\s in which the strawberry may be made a source of gastronomic pleasure by the skillful housewife are given here, as well as the latest and best receipts for preserving the fruit so that the "straw- berry season" may be extended through the winter months; and we trust that mem- bers of The Strawberry family may make the best possible use of them. The photo-engraving at the head of this page suggests an ideal way of serving the strawberry when they may be had fresh from the patch. It is a plate of Pride of Michigan, served with stems. Make a mold of powdered sugar in a wine glass and turn it out on a small individual butter dish. Set this in the center of a large plate and surround it with just such berries as these, and you will have one of the most delicate and attractive dishes of strawberries ever placed on the table, as well as one of the most delicious. Strawberry Sago Pudding Select fine ripe strawberries, dip them in a little dissolved gelatine and arrange them around the sides of a glass dish which has been chilled on ice. Make a syrup with a cup of water and two-thirds of a cup of granulated sugar, add one quart of sound ripe berries and let them simmer until soft. Flavor with the juice of half a lemon. Stir into the hot berries three table- spoons of sago and let cook until it is done. Remove from the fire, and fold in grad- ually the stiffly whipped whites of two eggs. Then cool, and pour gently into the berry-lined dish. Chill on ice and serve with sweetened, whipped cream. Sun-Cooked Strawberries Strawberries, sun cooked, are the best, says Farm Journal. Select perfect ones not overripe. To a pound of fruit allow three-quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. Do not try to do more than six or seven pounds at a time. Put the fruit with the sugar in alternate layers in the preserving kettle; stand the kettle on the back of the stove till there is sufficient juice to prevent the fruit from sticking, and then heat it slowly till it boils for about fifteen minutes; remove the scum. Do not stir as this breaks the fruit. Pour into shallow plates to the depth of about an inch, and put the plates in the sun, placing some higher objects near them to Pkge l» support a piece of mosquito netting, which will keep flies and bees away. As soon as the sun is low, take the fruit indoors and put it out again next day. Three days is usually long enough to make the juice jellylike. It is well to put the fruit all together in one crock before putting it into jars, so as to have an even amount of juice in all. If the weather turns rainy, it is better to finish cooking the fruit on the stove. Strawberry Bread Pudding Cream together two tablespoons of butter and one and one-half cups of gran- ulated sugar; add the beaten yolks of four eggs and two cups of breadcrumbs soaked in one quart of milk. Turn into a round buttered baking dish and bake in a hot oven. As soon as the pudding is firm in the center, spread over it a thick layer of mashed and sweetened strawberries, and on top of these spread a meringue made with the stiffly whipped whites of two eggs and four tablespoons of powdered sugar. Delicious either hot or cold. Mother's Strawberry Shortcake Make the cake with one quart of flour sifted with a teaspoon of salt and three teaspoons of baking powder; rub in well two rounded tablespoons of butter, and then mix smooth with enough sweet milk to make a soft dough. Roll out an inch thick and bake in two layers in a hot oven. When done, tear quickly apart and spread over each piece soft butter. Put the layers THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 together with slightly crushed and sweet- ened berries and plenty of dry whipped cream. Heap whipped sweetened cream over the top and serve as quickly as possi- ble after taking from the oven. Strawberries in Jelly Make a pink and white jelly after the directions on the gelatine package. Put a shallow layer of the pink in a plain wetted mould and set on ice to harden, keeping the rest of the jelly in a place where it will not harden although it is better to get cool. Over the pink layer place fine, ripe strawberries close together and sprin- kle with powdered sugar and a little chopped nut meats, turn carefully over the berries a layer of the clear jelly, when this is set put in another layer of the berries and cover with more of the pink jelly. Proceed in this way until the mould is full, having the last layer of jelly. Set in a cold place until firm. Turn out carefully and serve with sweetened whipped cream. Canned Strawberries This is my recipe for the most delicious canned strawberries, and I never have had one can spoil, writes Mrs. K. T. P. in Farm, Stock and Home. When I have the berries picked over, I wash them, and let the water run off; then I take a crock or graniteware vessel that will hold the amount of berries 1 want to can, and put in a layer of berries and a layer of sugar alternately, until the vessel is full, or the berries used up, and sugar on top. If sealed jars are used it is not necessary to use half and half — one cup sugar and two of berries make good preserves. Let the berries stand in this way for at least three hours, or over night. Drain off the syrup into some good cooking vessel, put over the fire and let it come to boiling point, then put in the berries and cook slowly for ten or fifteen minutes. If half sugar is used the berries will keep in open crocks. If not they must be carefully sealed in jars. I have put up strawberries in differ- ent ways, and always had good success. Water should not be put in the pan with strawberries when cooking them, there are other kinds of fruit spoiled by mixing with water, which would be very delicious cooked in their own juice only. Strawberry Layer Cake i or strawberry layer cake cream a liberal third of a cupful of butter, a cupful and a half of sugar, using with the white a few spoonfuls of pink sugar. Heat the bowl first before creaming the butter and sugar. Add half a cupful of strained straw- berry juice to the sugar and butter, and then two cupfuls of the best pastry flour, with which a quarter teaspoonful of soda has been sifted two or three times. The STT"AM For small Cannlner Factories aud ^AXTX Home Use. Price $10. CANNING *^''" J'^'"" ®^'" ^om. peas, pumpkin, 13/^¥T r-T3 fruit, lish, .•ornid Ijfef . D\JlL,tMK At-eiits and Dealers Wanted. NORTHWESTERN STEEL i. IRON WORKS, Boi B. F. Eau Claire, Wis. acid juice will render cream tartar unnec- essary. Fold in the whites of five eggs, stiffly whipped. Bake in layer cake tins and when cool spread each layer except one with a soft icing made by boiling a cupful of sugar with three tablespoonfuls of strawberry juice, and two of water. When it threads pour it over the whipped white of an egg and beat it a little before putting on the cake. Strawberry Wine Take well ripened strawberries and crush them finely and let them stand until fermented sufficiently so that the solid substance floats on the surface. Then press the juice out. To each gallon of j uice add seven pounds of granulated sugar and one-half gallon of water (or in this proportion). Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved, and place in a clean keg leaving the bung hole open until all the refuse matter has worked off. About three days after fermentation ceases, put in a wooden plug, with a small hole through it. Seal tightly with beeswax and rosin. Through this small hole run a rubber tube and seal it in, placing the outside end into a quart jar of water. It will be necessary to keep the keg full so that the refuse matter can work off and out of the bunghole. For this purpose sweetened water may be used. When fermentation ceases, close the bung- hole tightly and let the wine remain with- out disturbance for about four months, at which time it may be removed from the keg, using a rubber syphon, so that the dregs will be left in the keg. When all the cleared wine is removed the keg should be scalded out, then thoroughly rinsed with cold water, when the wine may be poured back into the keg and closed up tightly and permitted to remain until one year old. Strawberry Pie , A good strawberry pie is always wel- come. It can be prepared the same way as huckleberry and raspberry pies, by simply lining a pieplate with pastry, filling it with sweetened berries and covering them well with an upper crust. Another way is as follows: line the plate with del- icate pastry, fill with bread crumbs and bake until slightly brown. Then turn out the crumbs and fill with sweetened berries. Cover them with crisscross strips of pastry. Place the pie in a very hot oven for a few minutes, or until the strips are well browned. Serve cold with a little whipped cream. Strawberry Float Scald one quart of milk and pour it over the yolks of four and the whites of two eggs which have been beaten with one- half of a cupful of sugar. Pour into a double boiler and stir over the fire until the custard thickens; add a pinch of salt and when partly cooled flavor with vanilla. In a glass dish put a layer of hulled and washed berries, pour over them a portion of the custard, then add another layer and Page 132 the remainder of the custard. Whip the whites of two eggs with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar until stiff and glossy; add a few drops of vanilla and heap over the fruit. Dot the top with a few berries and serve. Strawberry Macedoine Cut off the top of a large pineapple and trim it at the bottom so it will stand firm; scoop out the pulp with a strong spoon and separate it from the hard core, which should be rejected; pare several oranges, divide into sections and cut into suitable pieces, stem a few strawberries, pit a few cherries, slice some peaches or apricots and add any other fruits in market; mix the pineapple pulp and other fruits, add the juice of a lemon and powdered sugar to sweeten; place on ice for an hour or longer, and when ready to serve fill into the chilled shell of the pineapple and gar- nish it at the base with the crown leaves. Strawberry Pickle Seven pounds strawberries, one and one-half pints cider vinegar, three and one-half pounds brown sugar, one-half ounce cloves, one-half ounce cinnamon. Place the strawberries and spices in alter- nate layers in a deep dish; boil the sugar and vinegar three minutes and pour over the fruit. Next day boil all together one- half hour and seal. Strawberry Ice-cream Wash, stem and mash a quart of ber- ries; scald a pint of cream with nine ounces of sugar; stir till the sugar is dissolved; cool, and add another pint of uncooked cream. Put into the freezer and slowly turn till icy cold, then rapidly turn until it is nearly frozen. Remove the top of the cooler and add the berries. Re-cover and turn until it is frozen a second time, then remove the dasher, scrape down the sides, draw off the water and repack. Put a cork into the hole in the lid, and cover it tightly with a piece of brown paper. Cover the freezer with old carpet and let it stand an hour to ripen. This rule will answer for all kinds of fruit, but sweeter fruits require less sugar and are improved by the addition of the juice of a lemon. Strawberry and Lemon Ice Delicious To one quart of strawberries add a pint of water and a pound of sugar. Let it boil twenty minutes. Then add the juice and rind of two lemons. Strain through a course cheesecloth strainer or sieve that is fine enough to exclude the seeds. Freeze it, using about six or seven cupfuls of salt to a gallon freezing can. Sometimes more water is added to the berries, but the ice is not then so rich. Strawberry Layer Cake One-half cup butter, one cup sugar, three eggs, two cups flour, one-half cup milk, one measure baking powder, six quarts strawberries. Beat the yolks of the eggs well, add the sugar and butter, beat in a part of the flour; mix in the THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 milk, then add the remaining flour with the baking powder sifted in it, and last the white of the eggs, beaten stiff. Bake in two layers. Spread each layer of cake with icing made of one cup powdered sugar and the white of one egg. Put the white of an egg in a bowl and add the sugar gradually beating with a spoon. Do not beat the egg till you begin to add the sugar. Just before serving sweeten and partly crush one quart berries, put them on one cake and place the other layer on top. Strawberry Salad Wash and stem one quart of strawber- ries, sugar with powdered sugar and put in glass bowl. Pour over it the strained juice of two oranges and one-half cup claret. Let it stand on ice until ready to serve. Strawberry Shortcake One large spoonful butter and' lard mixed, three gills flour, one-eight tea- spoon salt, one-half teaspoon baking pow- der, one-half box strawberries, one cup granulated sugar, one-half cup powdered sugar, milk. Sift baking powder and salt with flour; with the hands work butter and lard into flour and use milk enough, handling as little as possible, to make a soft dough; divide dough into two parts and roll each into a thin cake; butter the top of one cake and place the other on it, then put in a quick oven and bake ten minutes. Tear apart and butter well the inside of each part. Crush the berries during the baking, sweeten with granulated sugar, put between the cakes and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. It is fine. Strawberry Meringue Crush two teacupfuls of strawberries with one cupful of powdered sugar, and press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth, adding gradually one small cupful of powdered sugar, and then by degrees add the strawberry juice; continue beating until it will stand in peaks. Make a soft custard with the yolks of the eggs, four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and one and one-half cupfuls of sweet milk; cook in a double boiler until as thick as cream, pour the custard into a glass dish and slip the meringue upon it. Strawberry Sauce One-half cup butter beaten to a cream with two cups powdered sugar. Mash well one pint strawberries, beat into the sugar, and butter and set on ice to harden. Good with any plain pudding. Strawberry Sbortcake One pint flour, one and a half teaspoons baking powder, one-third cup butter, one cup sweet milk. Mix ingredients and divide into three equal parts; roll out and bake in tin. Spread each layer with melted butter and place them one on top of the other. Bake twenty minutes; when done separate them and return to the oven THE ECONOMY JAR THE ONLY JAR THAT SEALS B Y SUCTION -^'^ ^^^^^ J^^^ °°'y fasten, clamp, snap or screw, and are held closed only by a mechanical device, which loosens as the rubber ring decays or gets old. The Economy is sealed air-tight by suction from within, and stays sealed forever. Other jars are imitating the Economy's outside appearance and claiming to posses.s its scaling qualities, but none of them are sealed fast by suction as is the Economy. The Economy is the only jar that has U/l g9ttM9M9 FD DMBIf* -^1 others use a rubber nU KUaUt.K Ktnbm ^ng, which in time leaks air and taints and spoils the contents. The Economy is the only jar that will keep forever vegetables, meats, game, fish and unsweetened fruits. Put up your fruits and vegetables with their fresh, natural flavor. Sugar is not needed. Write and learn about this wonderful glass jar, which saves sugar and drudgery and makes easy the home canning of meats, vegetables and all other foodstuffs. No other jar can do this. Nothing can spoil in the self-sealed Economy Jar. FREE RECIPE BOOKLET telling all about the Jar. bow to can all kinds of food products and giving dozens of new, tried recipes for home canning every day in tbc year, will be sent to you on request. Economy Jars are sold by dealers in the United States and Canada. If your grocer hasn't them, send his name t^FDD f*l ^ OO lUICf^ t*f% to us and we wiU teU you how to WKKmt\t% ML,#IOO IwlrVIm OC/a vet one dozen Economy Jars free 265 Hoyt Street, Portland, Oregon WIDE MOUTH Has no rubber ring Stays sealed forever Ho mould Is held airtight by suction Seals Itself Easy, Quick and Simple A child can seal and open It ei:tern ofricE. oept. r PHILADEtPHIA.PA. five minutes. Have one quart strawberries mashed and sweetened, and spread be- tween the layers, with a generous supply poured over the top. ONE inch of rain on one acre of ground means a hundred tons of water on that area. Rainfall is a condition which has much to do with our health. A wet district with a good deal of subsoil water, making houses damp, is a locality in which rheumatism and consumption are likely to prevail. Over England and Wales the average yearly rainfall is about thirty-four inches; in Scotland, it reaches forty-six; and in Ireland about thirty-eight inches. Pos- sibly the wettest parts of Britain are in Cum- berland, where the rainfall may attain 150 inches per year. — Tit-Bits. White Grubs Again By S. H. Warren AS I am short of land that is free from these pests I am trying an experi- ment, although expensive, for I think it will pay in the end. This piece of land which I wish to set with straw- berry plants this spring had not been plowed for twelve years. I turned the sod September, 1905, and in 1906 it grew a heavy crop of oats; but when I plowed the oat-stubble last September in one-third of an acre I picked up 2,500 grubs. I followed the plowman and picked them up before the next furrow was turned. I then harrowed the land and picked them up again. I then cross-plowed and har- rowed and picked up the worms as before. But as I do not feel sure I have got th«m all yet I shall plow this land again this spring to find what may be left, then. Page 133 BOYS BOYS ThisRiileFree I want a good boy in every community to have one of these splendid rifles abso- lutely free, prepaid — just give a little time to Introduce "The Fruit-Grower," the handsomest farm paper in America. This rifle is not a toy, but is made for business; finely rifled steel barrel, true sights, breechloader, rim fire, safety cock — in short, it is a perfect gun, and will be highly prized by every boy who se- cures one. Write today and learn how to get one of these rifles absolutely free. Editor Fruit-Grower, Box R8, St Joseph, Missouri THEY LAST FOREVER STANDARD STEEL FENCE POSTS Are to be driven one-third cheaper than w^ood posts Posts made for all purposes Fftrm, field, lawn, clothes, hiteh- iut;. strcet-8it;n and grape posts. Plain, barbed and woven wire of cvfry deeciiption can be used with these posts. 250,000 Sold I^ast Year. .'JOO.OOOfor sale this year. :^0 miles of 53 inch, heavy woven wire fence erected on Standard Steel Posts on one estate. Write for circular price list, and reference to J. H. DOWNS, 299 Broadway. New York City Detroit Fruit, Poultry, Dairy and Farm Gardens Pay Handsome Profits We have them fitted up ready for operation andrau^lnc in siz-'. locution and price TO SUIT CUSTOMERS For particulars write to BOLTON REALTY CO., Detroit. Mich. AKE MONEY CANNING FRUIT for others. They'll pav high cash prices. Send for free, money-making catalog. Tells al- about costs and profits made with our canning outfit. Send now. Begin to reap profits this season. MODERN CAITNER COMPANY. Cept .U . Bridgeport. Alabama. VTIROINIA FARMS, $500 Indudlna new li-room ' C(ittaij;e and 25 acres for pou!tr\'. fniit and veiretables. Oakdale tract, Waverly. Ya. Midway Norfolk and Ricti mond. Finest climate, water and markets. F. H. Lu Baume, A. &l. Agt. N. &W. Ry., Box SB. Roanoke. Va. THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 if I find many, I shall have the land shov- eled over one foot deep and each shovel- ful spread back on the surface so all the grubs can be picked up and given to the hens. Perhaps you will say it won't pay. This extra labor will pulverize the soil and I shall feel sure there will not be many grubs left in it to aggravate me later by eating the plant roots. Now the question with me is, How soon do the grubs come up in reach of the plow.? Where we have been plowing the land April 9 we did not find any. The common angleworms were seen as plentifully as in summer. If we must use this land for strawberries when we take into consideration the destruction that these grubs make where they are plentiful it will pay to spend lots of time to get them out of it before setting the plants in it, for they can be worked out better be- fore setting the plants than after. Setting the plants on land where the grubs are plentiful not only means a great loss but a great aggravation and disap- pointment and a setback of a whole year. Weston, Mass. T^HERE are 60,000 acres devoted to A grapes in New York. The Chau- tauqua region leads with 30,000 acres, mostly Concord. The Keuka region ranks second with 13,000 acres, growing Concord, Catawba and Delaware. The Hudson region third with 10,000 acres growing mostly fine table varieties. Suc- cessful grape growing began in the Chau- tauqua region with the introduction of Isabella and Catawba in 1825. In 1859 the Concord was introduced by Lincoln Fay and was so successfully grown that the industry rapidly increased. There are 25,000,000 vines in the nurseries of Chau- tauqua county. IN this day of scarce help and high wages, ' there is no question in which the farmer is more concerned than in the labor problem. How to get the greatest results at the least cost from hired help is interestingly shown and ac- tually demonstrated in figures, in a 48-page book, published by the American Fork & Hoe Co., Cleveland, Ohio. It will pay our readers to write for this book, which is free to those who mention this paper. Souvenir Post Cards Photo post cards from your photoerapha. Send photo of yourself, home, flowerbeds, favorite horses, or pet doi:s. Accompftny order with photoerapU and 7't cents; we do the rest, retni-ning your photograph with 12 photri post cards reproduced from the photo, poet- afie paid. Reference, The Strawberry. MRS. J. H. PRATT. Three Rivers. Mich. H GOLDEN GATE" STRAWBERRY At the Maes. Horticultural Exhibition in 1V»06 it won $'23 in prizes on 7 qts. Seven berries have filled a quart. It won the $10 prize for the best one quart of any new seed- linpr introduced since 1902 In competition with the highly praised Cardinal and other varieties. PAIf-AMKKICAN STRAWBERRY set in May will produce as mnch fruit the following August, Septem- ber and October as any variety in the sprlnK and will sell for .'>0 cents per rpmrt by the crate. Send for circular. S. H. WARREN, WESTON. MASS. to$i-iOOOa year. Mr. J. F. Rosenfleid, of Nebras- alAf A A 1/ l^^i makes more from his W K K K """'*^'' ^^^ ^^^^ ^'^^ ^^^ II U U II therestofhitilarge-farra. I have earned as high as .f.'-t.'j in a single week with flowers in niy yard and garden. In or near a city or large to^m. or even within twenty miles of a city, splendid money i-nn be made gro\vint; flowers. Will you let me kIiow you how? My plan of helping you sent free, but three two-cent stamps ^vith the names and ad- dresses of six flower lovei-s brings you four seed packets of my most profitable flowers. 80x876. MRS. A. FACKLER. UNGLESTOWN, PA. PAGE PoultryFence StronpeBt. best on the market. Fences poultry in. Rtoek ouf, and InstB. - Costs leas erected than . common netting, because 4*~ '* requires tjo bonnis at ' top or bottom and so ffia posts— one every 50 feet. You can't afford to buy pnuitr.v fence without in- vestipatinK Paee. Write for descriptions. Z Page Woven wire FenceCo. Z Box ]06, Adrian, Mich. ■, — .* - 1»» *> JM^-^-fl ■ *;-».-Jt.''»»;-3U»-'- CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT BELIEVING that you (reader) who have helped make possible the splendid advertising benefits offered by our circulation, should be permitted to share them with business houses of large capital, the publishers of The Strawberry have inaugurated a department for tliis purpose. It ie not always easy to find a purchaser, at the particular time you T\-ish to sell something. However there arc in- vestment seekers everywhere and somewhere there is some- one who is looking for exactly what you have for sale and_ vice versa. It is simply a case of finding the ri^ht man. Your "right man" is among The Strawberry's 30,000 families. You can And him for 50 cents. This is your opportunity. Whatever you want to sell, you must advertise it. And you cannot advertise it in any other way so widely, at such small cost as in The Strawberry. Do you wish to dispose of a farm, house, wagon, horse, cow, boat, gun. plow or any other of the countless conveniences of daily life? Someone is waiting for a chance to buy it. 50 cents will bring you a purchaser. On the other hand — Do you want to buy a good horse, cow or dog, some par- ticular kind of chickens, sheep, tree or fruit? Make your wants kno\vn. Someone has just what you are looking for. Do you need help on your farm or in your business? Someone is lookini: for that job. Insert an ad. in this de- partment and flnd him. It's very easy. Simply write what you have to say in the fewest words possible, send it to ua wilh three times as many cents as there are words, and we will placoit attrac- tively in its own particular class in tliis department. As you can see, each thinu hei>it: under its ovrti particular headiuii, every ad. is displayed to ecjual advantage. Ever)'- body is in ' "on the ground floor. ' ' In sendini: is an advertisement for thi.^ department re- memtier that — The prioo is 3 cents per word each issue. NuiiiVtera and initials count as words. No illnstratlons or black-face type admitted under this clas&ificAtion. No ftd, MMtpted for less than '»0 cents per insertion. Car«h mutt in all instances accompany order. All copy must reach our office on or before '20th of month preceding date of issue. Be careful to write your copy plainly. The Strawberry is sent free to each advertiser while ad. is running. AGENTS WANTED, CHANCES, ETC. "IT^E want one lady or gentleman to take orders and de- *' liver for us, rapid seller, highest quality goods, sales in almost every house. Best of pay and no money required to eariy on the work. We will send a proposition as soon as we hear from you, also sample pair of 6-iuch shears for •JH cents — stamps or silver. Write at once. United Shear Co., Wpstboro. Mass. tf BOOKS AND MAGAZINES . DO YOU WISH to secure copies, of the first volume of The Strawberry/ If you do wc are now in position to siipplv tliem. A notice inserted in the January issue offer- in t; $'- for a volume has broutrht offers of severnl sets. Only one was needed to fill the order. We shall fill all ve(|uests in the urder received. They cost us $2 a set. Plrase remit $2.2r> to cover postage. The Kellogg P\ib- lishingCo., Three Rivers, Mich. COLD STORAGE A COLD STORAGE PL.ANT will ofteu pay for itself in a single season. Kruit growers without a modei-n cold room are handicapped. Write for description of the Gravity Brine System, stating size you are interested in. and for purpose wanted. Madison Cooper Company, No. 100 Court St. , Watertown, N. Y. tf FARMS AND LANDS FOR SALE FRUIT FARM FOR SALE— Fort>-- acre tract, 2^ miles fromNortheni Pacific station at Woodland, Wash., and one mile from landin:.; of boat line running to Portland, Ore. Twenty acres under cultivation; between six and seven hundred fruit treOB in bearing — one orchard fifteen years old iinother sevent*ei' yejirs; one ijcre in L'rapes; three in Page 134 strawberries: currants, gooseberries, three kinds of rasp- berries; four-room frame house; stable for ten head of stock; boat house, chicken house, tool shed. Horse, two cows, farm implements, and other thinirs too numerous to mention — all for sale by owner, on good terms to purchaser. George W. Winters, Woodland, Wash. QTRAWBERRT FARMS and Countrj- Homes in the Tide- lO water section of VirL'iuia. Some beautiful waterfront properties. Wilcox and (_«oodenow, Norfolk, Virginia. 7 DOGS, PETS, ETC. C CHOICE Fox Terrier Puppies for sale. Thi-y are nicely ' marked and siiarp as tacks. No lietter house or rat doL' ever lived. If yoti want a standard bred Fox Terrier at iM for females and $5 for males, write at om-e. I guarantee satisfaction. Arthur Dicken, Route?, Belle^Tie, Ohio. H PLANTS AND ROOTS RIDGEWAY'S STRAWBERRY PLANTS (Kellocir's Ped- igreed strains) from mulched propatrating beds. Shipped in May and -lune. (iood true service. Several standard varieties. Small orders accepted. Ridgeway's Uai;den, Osakis, Doutrlas County, Minnesota. 5 POULTRY, EGGS, ETC. 4 WINNER." My White Wyandotte Pullet, by LambeH. j"V scored 'JG!^. Stock and ei£f.s from Duston strain fur sale. Kaiyl Wright. Conneaut, Ohio. 5 B ANTAM EGGS. America's Best. Send '2 cent stamp for circular. A. A. Fenn, Box 20, Burlington, Wis. 5 DICKEN'S WHITE ROCKS have fine, shape, size and color. I have some choice matinys for this season, if yi'U want birds of quality. Book your order with Diek<'ii for White Rock Eirirs; none better at any price. Ten chicks LiiJinintCi-d from each settinir. 10 eggs, #2.00. Arthur Dicken, Kout« 7, Bellevuc, Ohio. 5 1/r ROSE COMB Brown Leshorn Eggs, 75 cents. Heurv tJ Tiedemann, Hammond, Ind. 0 FOWLS, $1.50; El'us, $1.00— White Leshoms, Buff Rocks, tine lar^e" Mnired Rocks, good color ButT Cochins. H. S. Arnold. Lawiirk, Ml. ' C FOR SALE, White Le-horn, Wlii"- Rock and Pekin Duck eggs for hatching. Collie Pups. Homer Pigeons. If yon want something elcL-^ant and reasonable write The Michaelis Poultry Farm, Marinette, Mis. (J MATCHMARK"' COCKERELS, s"ore 90 to fl3S. Barred Plymouth Rocks, also Wyandottes, Le;;honis. Bronze Turkeve, Jersey Cows, Calves. Thirty years breeders. Eiies for hatching. Circular, prices; saiafaction guaran- teed. F. M. Munger & Sons, DeKalb, 111. 5 PEDIGREE White Plymouth Rocks. Rred to lay. Blue Ribljon winners. - Circular free. Tassie, 3030 Clin- ton Ave., Minneapolis. 5 RHODE ISLAND REDS. LiL'ht Bralnnas, White, Buff. Black atTdBari-edRo.-ks. Buff. Silver. White and Golden Wvan'dottes, Brown, BulT and White Leghorns, Black.Tavas and Minorcas. Hardy, proliilc. faini-bn-d, pure stock. For Birds, moderate prie.s, or " Eijirs to Hatch" at 10 cents each, write Walter Sherman, Beny Patch, Ne^vport, R. I. K Ind. OSE COMB WHITE anil Rose Comb Brown Leghoni Eggs, 15, $1.00; 3(1, $2.00. J4ck Cook, Bluffton. C C. WHITE LEGHORNS, bred for hea\T Inj-ina of largo t^. white e'gs and standard requirements. Eggs — 1.'>. f'^ 00; :^0. *2.75; 45, *5.00. V. E. Deiismoro, Spring- water, N. Y. 5 SECTIONAL CRATES 'prPTS' SECTIONAL CRATE. Neat in appeiranee. 1 Well ventilated. No division racks. No iniisned finiil . I)isplays fntit to best advantage — investigate. Free eat- alogne. Manufactured by Elmer G. Tufts, Aurora, Ind. 5 WATCHES 8,^ CENTS mailed to us will get you by return mail the 9j Best Dollar Watch nuide. Stem wind and stem set Snd gmiranteed for 1 year. A. Smith, .Teweier, 151 St. Joe at.. Three Rivers, Mich. tf OUR CORRESPONDENCE 5CH00L^|i,0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION SPRING is here, and e\ery straw- berry grower in the land welcomes its coming with genuine joy. This is the season in which the work is done that in great part determines whether our venture in strawberries is to be a success or a failure. It is most gratifying to us that we are receiving at this time so many letters of cheer from members of our Cor- respondence School, letters that tell us they are entering upon the work of 1907 with a feeling of courage that makes for success, because they can depend upon The Strawberry to carry them over the rough places and furnish them the needed information and advice when a critical problem arises. We sincerely hope that our friends are to take advantage of this particular opportunity. They may be assured that every question they ask will be in the minds of many of their fellows and that the answer to their questions will be a solution of the problems that vex many another. In this way one who asks questions really is doing a very large co- operative work. We wish to call the attention of our members to the necessity of sending us their names when writing. We do not like to have a memiier sign as "A Sub- scriber," for we wish to address the real person, and when his name does not ap- pear, we feel as though we were sort of talking to an empty house — and you know that isn't a very inspiring experience. We have one letter from Franklin, Ky., in which the writer does not even sign as subscriber, and just now comes another letter from Enterprise, W. Va., in which one of our friends tells us a very interesting experience, but gives us no clue as to who he may be. Hereafter we shall not con- sider ourselves bound to answer any ques- tions where the name of the one asking them is not attached. This is absolutely necessary, not because we would publish the questioner's name, but we feel as a matter of good faith we must know with whom we are talking. Let everybody bear this in mind and see that his or her name is attached to all letters that come to us. Now that the strawberry season, at least in some of its aspects, is actually with us, let us each determine to do the very best we may to achieve success. And do not forget that The Strawberry wishes to know all about your experience, and if you have something nice in the way of a patch that you think will look well in a photograph, you should enter our Photographic Contest, and give your fellow members a chance to see what you have done and are doing. We wish that every member of the Correspondence School could send us a photograph of his strawberry field some time during the year 1907. How many members will do this.' F. I.. C. , Jefferson, Me. I am a new sub- scriber to The Strawberry, and a beginner in strawberry culture. I intend to set about 2,000 plants this spring in a young orchard, the soil being "rocky," as it is called. It has been In various crops for three years, and I propose to spread on some barnyard manure, plow it in and harrow thoroughly, then spread on some fertilizer, perhaps ashes, harrow again, roll, and set out the plants. What do you think of my method? 2. Is nitrate of soda a good strawberry fer- tilizer? Is Swift's special to be recommended? What do you advise as the best commercial fertilizer? 3. I have ordered 500 Warfield, 200 Excel- sior, 200 Senator Dunlap and 200 Pride of Michigan. How shall I set them to get the best results? It is a splendid plan to set strawberry plants in a young orchard. The plants soon come into bearing, which keeps the bank account on the right side. Straw- berries may be grown in an orchard for several years, at least until the trees begin to shade the ground. The year the trees are set out a row of strawberry plants may be set in the row of trees as well as between rows. The plants may be al- lowed to produce two crops of berries, and then be turned under. After this you should grow but two or three rows of berries between the rows. Barnyard ma- nure should be applied sparingly. If much of it is used, it will give the trees too much woody growth. 2. Nitrate of soda is most profitable when applied on the fruiting bed, as has been described in The Strawberry. Swift's special brand is very good. It should be applied and thoroughly worked into the soil before the plants are set. 3. Warfield should be set in rows be- tween Excelsior and Senator Dunlap. Pride of Michigan is an exceedingly strong poUenizer and may be set alone. P. D. , Muskegon, Mich. Could you please tell me the best way to protect berries from frost? We generally get our frosty nights in May. (jrowers sometimes have saved their plants fiom frost by throwing the mulch- Page 135 ing over the plants. This should be done in the evening when weather is chilly and threatens frost. The best way to do it is to take a long rake handle or some- thing of the kind and run it under the mulching, turning the straw over on the plants. Other growers find that a smudge is effective as a preventive of frost, and in the spring have piles of combustible ma- terials in the fields ready to fire when frost approaches. The objection to ttiis plan is the danger that the mulch may catch fire, which, of course, might serious- ly affect the plants. E. P. G. , St. Joseph, Mich. I have a question that I would like for you to tackle and tell just what you would do under similar circum- stances. Last year I set quite a large bed of strawberries and about July 10 to 12 an army of rose bugs swarmed down on us and ate it almost entirely up. All the old timers here told me it was impossible to get the best of them in any way, as they had in the past had whole vineyards ruined by them. Now before they come again I appeal to you for some relief if you can suggest any. All other wants in your line I get answered from month to month in The Strawberry. Think it would now be as hard to do without that little mag- azine as to do without our telephone. Con- tinued success and best wishes for your enter- prise. The rose chaffer is a leaf-eating insect, but is such a light feeder that it requires a very poisonous solution to kill it. We have found that spraying with arsenate of lead is the best thing we ever have tried. Take five pounds Swift's arsenate of lead, and pour o\er this enough hot \\ ater to thoroughly dissolve it, and when thorough- ly dissolved add enough water to make fifty gallons. If weather conditions are favorable, one spraying with this solution will destroy the insects. E. E. S., Tylerville, Conn. How many quarts of strawberries would you expect from an acre of good strawberry land, in hills, in single- hedge rows, and in wide matted rows? Hills eighteen inches apart each way with every fifth row left out for walks. Single-hedge rows thirty inches apart. Matted rows four feet apart; runners allowed to root as they will, forming a solid matted bed three feet wide. It is difficult to make an estimate of the number of quarts one acre of plants should produce, as this depends upon so many factors — the vigor of the plants, conditions of the weather during blooming THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 and fruiting season and mechanical con- ditions of the soil. One acre of thrifty plants, grown in hills as you describe in your letter, should produce at least 7,000 or 8,000 quarts of first-class berries. A single-hedge-row acre should produce at least 6,000 quarts of good salable berries. The matted row system should produce as many or more quarts than either the single hedge or hills, but of course, the berries would not be fancy. You under- stand this is only an estimate. We have known acres to produce many more quarts than we have estimated. i^ ^ E. W. C. Pittsfield, Me. After the fruiting season of '06 I plowed my berry patch under. Then gave a good harrowing, but did not apply stable manure as I could not get any suitable. This land has been set to strawberries several years by other parties, but has been allowed to fruit only one year before plowing. Commercial fertilizer has been used. The soil is red and almost sandy and will grow almost anything. I set forty-five hundred plants last spring, but had to use phosphate. My varieties of plants are Haverland, Bubach, Crescent, and Brandywine. I set them in separate pieces, as I thought they might mix. Is that right? I mulched them with swale hay in November. They did not throw out runners as they would had the ground received a good coat of stable manure. Now I want to know: 1st. How would you set the above named varieties? 2nd. Would it pay to apply nitrate of soda on my fruiting bed this spring? 2. What had I better do with the piece of ground I plowed after the fruiting season? The Strawberry has been a great help to me, and expect it will be of more help in the future. I am a beginner. We doubt if the Haverland, Bubach and Crescent will give you enough berries to pay for the setting as they are pistillates and should be set with bisexuals of their own season. Haverland should be set with Parson's Beauty, Bubach with Clyde and Crescent with Splendid. We would not spend any money for nitrate of soda to be used on your plants. 2. After plowing the piece of ground which has been growing strawberries, we would sow cow peas. ^ 4^ J. A. C. , Western Springs, III. A part of my one acre of strawberries will have fruited for the third time this summer, and I intend to reset it after the coming crop is harvested. Do you advise plowing it this summer and then raising some other crop like potatoes for next summer before again putting it into strawberries, or can I manure it thoroughly in July, plow it under, and then plant to strawberries next spring? Where one is limited in area, and must use the same piece of soil over and over again, it is all right to plow under, fertilize and reset the next spring, as you IGENT 4 ■ I NAILS. TACKS OR GLASS WON'T LET OUT THE AIR IS ALL IT WILL COST YOU to write for our big FKKE BICYCLE catalogue showing the most complete line of high-grade BICYCLES, TIKES and SUNDKIES at I^BICES BELOW any other manufacturer or dealer in the world. DO NOT BUY A BICYCLE IrZ/T^, or on anv kind of terms, until you have received our complete Free Cata- logues illustrating and describing every kind of high-grade and low-grade bicvcles, old patterns and latest models, and leam of our remarkable LOW PRICES and wonderful new offers made possible by selling from factory direct to rider ■with no middlemen's profits. Wf SHIP ON APPROVAL without a cent deposit. Pay the Freight and allow 10 Days Free Trial and make other liberal terras ■which no ot,h<-r house in the world ■n-ill do. You will learn everything and get m.ucli valu- able information by simply writing us a postal. We need a Rldc^ Agent in every town and can offer an opportunity to make money to suitable young men who apply at once, $8.50 PUNCTURE-PROOF TIRES ?." kl Regular Price tm Q r\ j'l-L'lLilLlLil^'^- ^il-OVF $8m50 per pair. *JH -«^l. J ^^^^ ' -iAjM^S-^ ^f To IntroduoB We Will Sell You a Sample Pair for Only (cash with order $4.S5> NO MORE TROUBLE FROM PUNCTURES. Result of 15 years experience in tire making. No danger from THORNS. CAC- TUS. PINS. NAILS. TACKS or GLASS. Serious punctures, like intentional knife cuts, can be vulcanized like any other tire. Two Hundred Thousand pairs now in actual USO. Over Seventy-five Thousand pairs sold last year. DESCmPTiOHl Made in all sizes. It is lively and easy riding, very durable and lined inside with a special quality of rubber, which never becomes porous and which closes up small punctures without allowing the air to escape. We have hundreds of letters from satisfied customers stating that their tires have only been pumped up once or twice in a whole season. They weigh no more than an ordinary tire, the puncture resisting "' ^"'^ "^ ^ postal today. 1>0 NOT THINK OF BUYING a 0%3 n%M m WW ski m bicycle or a pair of tires from anyone until you know the new and wonderful offers we are making. It only costs a postal to learn everything. Write it NOW. MEAD CYCLE CCMPANY, Dept. "J L" CHICAGO, ILL. Notlc" the thick rubber tread "A" and puncture strips "B" and "D," also rim strip "H" to prevent rim cutting. This tire will outlast any other make— SOFT. ELASTIC and EASy RIDING. suggest. Of course, where it is possible to do so, a system of rotation should al- ways be followed. After plowing under the old strawberry bed, it should be sown to cowpeas or some other legume as soon as possible, and this plowed under late in the fall, when rye should be sown and allowed to grow as it may in the fall and winter months, carrying out manure and scattering it over this growing rye during the winter season. In the spring when this rye is plowed under it will be found that the soil will have been thoroughly renovated as well as fertilized, and in fine condition for the reception of plants. D. N., Ontonagon, Mich. Please give us in- formation regarding nitrate of soda, — that is as to the place nearest us where we could pur- chase it. What is the price? Write Swift and Co., Union Stock Yards, Chicago, for prices. A. L. Ran- dall Co., 19-21 Randolph-St., Chicago, 111., quote nitrate of soda at $64.00 per P&ge 136 ton. W. R. Grace & Co., Box 86, New York Citj', quote the soda at about $3.00 per hundred pounds. J. A., Ea^ton, Ind. The article in March Strawbeny by Mr. Beatty is I think one of the best of the many good articles in The Strawberry. I would like to know tiow he would plant his bisexual berries — how many rows of tach? I have never planted more than two and one-half acres and always plant eight or ten rows of each. They all appear to make perfect berries, but I keep ten or more hives of bees. 2 Do you not think that bees are an ad- vantage to berries as they fly from bloom to bloom and help to distribute the pollen? I would like to have your opinion on the subject. We would set three rows of each kind alternately. Some growers think this makes a little more work at picking time, but we never figure the extra work so long as the extra profit will justify it. In some seasons the results would be just the same THE STRAWBERRY MAY 1907 if six or eight rows of each kind were set alternately. But we never know what the season is going to be. 2. Thereis noquestion but honey bees are helpful in distributing pollen While they are taking nectar from a flower, they are always moving over the flower in such a way as to collect pollen on their lower parts, and when they light on the next flower, much of this pollen is deposited. In this way many blooms' are pollenized that would remain barren, were it not for the bees. Mrs. J. E. C. Brandon, Minn. Will you please tell me how to prepare hellebore for spraying? The way to prepare hellebore is to use one ounceof the poison with three gallons of boiling water. Remember that helle- bore soon loses its strength and it should be used immediately after making. E. W. H., Ft. Valley, Ga. 1 have one acre and a half of strawberries set this spring — Lady Thompsons. The land is fresh, new ground; loamy soil. I broke it up with a two-horse plow and then harrowed it, laid off my rows three and one-half to four feet apart, and strewed barnyard manure in the furrow and then bedded it up; setting the plants on the bed about two feet apart. I have more barnyard manure; how could I apply it and when to get best results? 2. What system is best for the Lady Thomp- son— the single or double hedge row? 3. How many runners should each mother plant be allowed to make? Your land is now in excellent condition as a result of the manure already applied, and the way to get the best results from the balance of the manure is to apply it to the land just before the last cultivation in the fall. 2. The double-hedge row. 3. It depends upon the system you are following. Jf you follow the single- hedge row, you will permit two runners to develop; if the double-hedge row, four runners. Please note illustrations of single- hedge and double-hedge rows on page 121 of this issue. S. N. , Newton, Kan. Have a nice patch of berries — over one acre — that was set out in 1906. I mulched them in November with wheat straw. Now the patch is covered with green wheat. Is there anything I can do to get rid of the wheat? The wheat which is coming up through the mulching can be removed in several difi^erent ways. If this wheat is just coming through the mulching, a large percentage of it can be smothered out by raising the mulching up with a fork and laying it back on the ground again. This will put the mulching on top of the wheat and to a large degree will smother the wheat down. Or if you will take a wide, sharp hoe, and work it under the mulching, the wheat easily may be cut off just below the surface. If the wheat is grown through the straw, and has made quite a growth, then the best way to get rid of it is to pull it up by hand. By doing this work after a heavy rain, it will come up very easily. J. A. P. Ripon, Calif. I have just finished setting 17,000 plants. Do you mean that I should go over the whole patch every few days and pick off the blossoms? That would be a terrible job. 2. I put them twelve inches in the row (single-hedge) and the rows thirty inches apart, intending to allow no runners to grow. Is that too close? I put them close on account of water; this land is almost pure sand and we must irregate two or three times a week. 3. My plants have berries large as brown beans now and full of bloom. Some have fifteen or twenty even twenty-five berries on now. Shall I take them all off? 4. Last fall when I came here my soil was just full of small red ants and they are appear- ing again. Neighbors tell me they will dam- age my fruit. What can I do to kill them? 5. Berries ripen here the last of March and the first of April and Northern growers will not ship plants until April. Would that not be too late to plant them? This sand soon dries out and there is no rain after March to speak of. 6. How often will I have to cut runners and when will I have to beg n? 7. Do you think I could mulch any here where I have to irrigate so frequently? 8. My Splendid plants do not look half so well as the Marshall planted at the same time. Is that their nature or have I poor plants? y. There is here a bug or fly resembling a lady bug. They come in June and just clean out all the cucumbers, beans, cabbage, melons, and nearly all garden truck. Do you think they will eventually go to the berries? What are they and what spray can I use on garden truck for them? Just as soon as your young plants bloom, you should go over the entire field and remove the bloom. This is done by cut- ting or pinching off the fruit stems. It is not a very long job. The buds from your 17,000 plants should be removed in less than two days by one man. 2. The distance apart you have set those plants is correct, inasmuch as you intend to remove the runners. 3. If the berries you speak of are on the young set plants, by all means cut them off at once. If you do not, they will draw all the strength from the plants and this will possibly result in losing a large per cent of them. 4. Ants of any kind can be discouraged a great deal by thorough cultivation. They love to work in solid soil and the looser you keep your soil and the oftener it is stirred, the more it discourages the ants^ P»ge 137 'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM 'T'HE sixth edition of the book, "200 Eggs a Year L per Hen. • ' Is now ready. Revised, enlarged, and in part rewritten, 9{) pages. Contains among other things the method of feeding by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro, N. H., won the prize of $100 In gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best egg record during the i^-lnter months. Simple as a, b, c — and yetwe guaranteelt to utart hens to laying earlier and to Induce them to lay more eggs than any other method under the sun. The book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used* by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 68 eggs from 72 hens; and for flvedays in succession from thesame Bock G4 eggs a day. Mr. P. P. Chamberlain of Wolfboro, N.H., says: "By following the methods outlined in your book 1 obtained 1,490 eggs from 9] H. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." From 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 eggs In one year— an average of over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition In writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the standard book on egg production and profits in poultry . Tells all there Is to know, and tells It In a plain eom. mon-senee way. Price 50 cents; or with & year's subscip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 pages, 60 cents pe. Tf-ar. 3 months' trial. 10 ct-nts. Sani- l>le free. CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 65 Hogan Block, Syracuse, N. Y. Id Trusty Incubators and Brooders^ The really automatic incubator- start it and it runs itself- Regu- lator so periect that jou might throw away the tliermometer. It ou wanted to. Sold oa 40, 60 and 90 DAYS' TRIAL and 5 YEARS' GUARANTY More Bold ill iy06 than any other make and every patron satisfied. Yi>u will be, tuu. SEND FOR FREE BOOK. Johnson's Chicken Book— bigger and better than ever Full ol'coni- mon-sense chicken talk, 3oo pit-- tures. It will save you money. Write today sure. M. M.JOHNSON CO., Clay Center, Neb. Poultry Magazine, Monthly, 50 to 100 paees, its writers are the most Buccessfu! PouUrymen and women in the United Stales. It la The POULTRY TRIBUNE, nicely illuBtrated, brimful each month of information on How to Care for Fowls a'ld Make Ibe Most M .ney with them. In fact 80 good you can't afford to be without it. Price, 50 cents per vear. Send at once for free sample and SPECIAL OFFER TO vou. R. R. FISHER* Pub., Box 86 > Freeport, III. Automatic BUCKEYE Incubator All Metal, Fire l*roi " Better Than Gas. " The Anijle Lamp ... certainly tlie best lamp we have ever had in the house." writes .Mr. Jubn- snii of Flint, ]\rirli. "We like it bctierthiHiiGasor l.le.lricity. We have both, but iirefer to use the Lanii'- Itisnotsoex- in-ii^ive as eitlier and Kivesa nuii.-li better, softr er lit'ht fur the eyes." the; AivaLE) u>vmf> is the now method nf oil liphting. In its oonstruc- tionaU"oUl touuy" ideas have beenabandoned. The cliinniey (Irii ft itiimiple of air supply wliich for so hmp: has iii;t.le oil-binniotj devices sniokv. smelly and troublf.'^.iiiie, has Iteen replaced bv ;i n entirely new metliod. The result is a la thj' it s rl(-';iM and coii- vcnii-iit to operate as tras and of such splendid Itk'lilinu pou er that even such people as ex-Presi- dent <'level;ind, the Rockefellers, Caniegies, etc., use it for lik'htiug their estates in prefereuce to all other systems. 30 DAYS TRIAU. But write for our catalog"54" giving full infor- mation and ourSu days trial proposition. All styles Si. 80 Up. THE ANGLE MFG. CO., 159-101 W 24(Ii H. New York Better Fruit A Fruit Journal devoted ex- clusively to commercial fruit growing. Articles on up-to- date methods by able and suc- cessful men. Metfiods of the West, famous as producers of fancy fruit and world renowned as high-price getters Subscriptions, $1.00 per Year Sample copies mailed ou request BETTER FRUIT PUB. CO.. HOOD RIVER, ORE. Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Three Rivers, Michigan THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 6 Three Rivers, Mich., June, 1907 $1.00 a Yeir THE preparation of the strawberry bed for a second crop is one of the interesting and important features of June work. It should be done as soon as the last picking of the berries is made. The best way to do this work where all the conditions are favorable is first to go over the field with a common mowing machine, allowing the horse to walk astride the row, and mowing off one row at a time, being careful to see that the mower does not get too close to the crown, although there is very little danger of doing this, as the crown usually is well protected by the surface to the soil, or a scythe may be used for the purpose. The mowing ^'^ " should be done in dry weather, and when the indications are that no rain will fall until after the field is burned over. If this dry weather continues for thirty-six or forty-eight hours after the mowing is done, the fields will have become suffi- ciently dry to burn very readily. In the event a heavy rain should fall between the mowing and the burning, the / vegetable matter f would be so wet as to make it dangerous to burn over at all, as a smoul- dering fire would be sure to destroy the crowns of the plants. But assuming that the plants are thoroughly dry, select a day when the wind is blowing quite briskly, and set fire to the plants In doing this you should go to the windward side of the plants, and set the entire bed on fire as quickly as it can be done. Five or si.K acres frequently have been burned over in a space of time not exceeding fifteen minutes. If the mulching has been put on quite heavily, it is best either to remove part of the mulching or to loosen it up, a work which may be done with a hay tedder if the field be a large one. If the patch is not large, the work mav be done with a fork. Narrowing down the rows should be done immediately after the burning over is completed. To do this take a common breaking-plow or bar-shear, and throw a furrow from each side of the row into the center. This will leave a ridge directly be- tween the rows, which may be leveled down or thrown back to place by the use of a one-horse five-tooth cultivator. After the cultivator has been run through, a reversible harrow with the teeth thrown slightly backward, drawn across the rows, will level the surface nicely. It also will draw fine soil o\et the crowns and bury them completely, a very important work b" the way. One strawberry reader asked the other day why the crown was covered in preparation for second crop, whereas, when we set out the original plants, we leave the crown above the surface of the soil. The reason for this is that after the plants have fruited a crop, the original roots are entirely exhausted, and have be- come a lifeless mass of wire-like vegetation. By covering the crowns, a completely new root system will be encouraged. This new root system is established just above the old roots, and beneath the crowns of the plants. If we fail to cover the crowns of the plants at this time with soil, the roots will grow very sparsely, the plants will send out no runners, the foliage will be small, and the fruit-yield insignifi- cant. But where the crowns are covered as described, the plants will come up through the soil in a few days, and in a short time \ the foliage will ' have the bright, glossy appearance of health, and the bed will be as vigorous and capable of producing as fine a crop of fruit as would be the case with newly set plants. After the plants have started to growing again, go over the field very carefully, looking for the weak ones that should at once be cut out v\ith a hoe, leaving nothing but strong healthy plants to act as mothe plants in this old-new field. The mother plants should be leti about sixteen inches apart, and if you have adopted the double- hedge row, allow four runners to form and layer them the same as you would do in settmg out the new bed. In cultivating the field for second crop, follow the same general plan as that observed in cultivating young plants, carrying forward this work until the early fall. Keep the runners in check, never tet the weeds and grass get the start of you, and your second crop will be a bumper. Many of our readers doubtless grow strawberries among their orchard trees. Wherever this is done we advise most emphati- cally against burning o\er the bed. Simply mow off the vines, then rake up the litter and haul it away, narrowing down the rows in the same way as if the bed had been burned over While the excellent eff^ects of the fire is lost upon beds grown in orchards, one cannot afford to take the risk of destroying the THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 permanent trees for the sake of the straw- berry bed, of course. We are often asked, What about the third crop? From our point of view there should be no third crop. Certainly, no one who grows strawberries commercially should think of allowing his plants to fruit for the third time, and we always advise new settmg every second year. After the second crop has been picked, we mow over and burn the plants, the same as is done in the case of preparing for second crop. The burning at this time is for the purpose of destroying all insect pests and fungous diseases. After burning, plow the plants under. Thoroughly prepare it and sow the ground at the rate of about six pecks to the acre of cow peas or field peas. Let this crop mature and plow under peas, vines and all, and sow the ground to rye for a winter cover crop. We consider it always best to grow some other crop the succeeding year, rather than to reset the same soil to strawberries. Another crop, such as potatoes or corn, renovates the soil, cleansing it from all impurities which may remain from the preceding crop, and pre- pares it once more to develop strong, vig- orous plants. This is one of the most important efFects of crop rotation. An- other imporiant result is that insects and fungi are thus discouraged. The renew- ing of the soil resulting from such treat- ment is especially felt by the strawberry plant, and the benefits of rotation are no- w here more marked than in strawberry production. ^ '^ The Young Man's Opportunity HO\V many youny men who, be- cause they do not have the cash in hand with which to start them- selves in business, continue to seek em- ployment at a daily wage which little more than gives them the bare necessities of life, and certainly never is sufficient to enable them to start out upon an independ- ent career! Such young men fail to re- cognize the large opportunities that await them in the culture of fruit for market. Given a young man of clear mind, strong muscles and a heart that is ready to meet any fate, and he will find it a simple mat- ter to secure possession of a piece of land lying within easy distance of a ready mar- ket for all the small fruit he can grow. Such a man would have little difficulty in thus securing what might be made into a handsome property, paying for it out of the results of his adventure in strawberry growing. The other day we met a man who told us of an incident in his own life, that in- dicates what may be done in this direction. A bright young man living in a Michigan town who knows how to prepare soil, plant and cultivate, garner and sell a crop of garden truck, went to a gentleman in the town who owned twenty-six acres of fertile land just outside of the limits of the town. The young man had resolved that he was going into an independent line of work, where he no longer had to de- pend upon the caprice of others or chang- ing conditions for a livelihood. He went to the owner of these twenty-six acres to tell him that he desired to start a truck garden on the land; that he had no money to pay down, but that he would pay over to the owner all surplus revenues as fast as they were received The owner was pleased with the man's frank way, and readily consented. That was three years ago. Today that young man has paid out of the earnings of the land every dollar of the indebted- ness upon it and has a property valued at no less than .$4,000 representing the earn- ings and savings of but three years. This is a homely example, but what an inspir- ing one after all. Opportunities like this exist practically everywhere, only awaiting the action of the man with the skill and HIS LIGHT RADIATES AFAR L. A. BORCHERS, LIGHTKEEPER OF TURN POINT STATION AT PREVOST, WASH., WRITES US AS FOLLOWS: "1 HAVE EVERY COPY OF THE STRAWBERRY FROM THE FIRST ISSUE. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP TO ME AS A BEGINNER, AND 1 VALUE IT VERY HIGHLY. YdU COULD NOT BUY MY LAST YEAR'S VOLUME FOR ANY TWO DOLLARS!" ' — -, ' — , the pluck to open for himself the door <.f opportunity. As we look over the field of strawberry culture, and see how year by year, the de- mand for this delicious fruit is growing, and how rapidly, we almost had said greedily, the public seizes upon all first- class fruit that is placed before it, we are led again to urge our young friends to con- sider the extraordinary opportunities this field presents for enterprise. Don't be afraid to ask for time on land that is lying usel:fs. Very few land owners but would be glad to sell, when they know that they take no risk whatever and that the work one does upon the land enhances its value, rather than decreases it. Don't be afraid to trust your own judg- ment in these matters. The man who goes to work with vigor and courage, has a troop of friends at hand, who will lend him encouragement and, if needs be, assist- ance. There is a great field here for bright minds and strong hearts, and the P>«e 138 field will grow broader under the influence of cultivation. Now is the time to make your arrange- ments for such an enterprise. Now is the time to get your land into condition for the setting of the plants in the spring of 1908. Do not dela.\', but lay hold upon this great opportunity and get to work, thus laying deep and broad the foundations for an in- dependent business and a iiome. Growing Berries in Florida By E. B. Rood I HAVE found the growing of straw- berries in Florida both pleasant and profitable, but as I have been largely the pioneer in this section, I have had to blaze the way and often without a compass or chain, and as a result, in the earlier stages the course was zig-zag. I did not know the varieties to plant and experimented with about fifteen be- fore I found the one best suited to my conditions, viz., the Excelsior, a plant that will fruit and ripen early, even in cool weather and produce a highly colored and firm berry. I commence picking about Thanksgiving and continue to pick till May or even June. I began to grow berries with the idea of shipping, and I am satisfied that I could ship profitably, but I found that few berries were grown in this county and our own city of Bradentown and all the surround- ing towns consume large quantities of ber- ries at 25 or 30 cents per quart — your money in your fist, no berries to spoil on the way to market and no commission man to fall out with. I believe there are many such places in Florida where hundredsof dollars worth of berries could be grown and sold prof- itably. This is because the same skill required to make a success of strawberries, yields handsome returns in growing winter vegetables, .'fSOO to $1,000 per acre not being very uncommon. A thousand dol- lars per acre is my mark for strawberries, and while I have not yet reached it I be- lieve it can be done. At any rate I intend to stick to berries as one of my specialties, for a reasonably sure and remunerative crop. One of my first serious difficulties was when to set out my plants. September and October, especially the latter month, were recommended, but I have found after a dearly-bought experience that July and August and up to September 15 possi- bly, are much preferable and I must grow my own plants I think, from plants im- ported from further north the spring pre- vious. However, I am not sure of this, and am now doing some experimenting along this line. Then I suffered from cut-worms. If I had had the remedy The Strawberry now gives, Paris green, shorts and honey, (1 am a bee keeper) it would have been THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 worth hundreds of dollars to me, but the book I had, written by a man claiming to be an expert, said the only remedy was previous clean culture, and so the cut- worms nearly ate me up. What a wonderful advantage there is in beginning in any calling where the other fellow left off, and with the splendid strawberry literature you are giving us, this is largely possible for the growers of the finest fruit in the world! I think that strawberry growing has a fine future in this section, as we can pro- duce magnificent crops of fruit for many months when the greater part of our coun- try has gone into winter quarters. Later on I may give my method of planting, fertilizing, etc., if you think your readers would care for them. Bradenlown, Fla. Certainly we and our readers shall want Mr. Rood to give us his experiences. A man who is working for the .$l,UOO-an- acre goal is the sort of strawberry grower we like to hear from, and very much should like to know just how the trick is done. And as the Southland is attract- ing many a Northerner to its sunshine and salubrity, we are sure that the recital will be as interesting to folks up this way as it will to those who reside nearer the Gulf. And even those of us who never may go South may get some helpful hints applicable to Northern conditions. By all means, let us have the account of the way Mr. Rood is making his fine success and expects to make a more monumental one still. — Editor The Strawberry. * ^■ The Influence of Associates By S. H. Warren MY READERS will admit that the influence of associates is an im- portant factor in human life, but probably few of them think that associa- tion has much to do with the products of a strawberry bed. In our valuable publication. The Straw- berry, we are often reminded of the im- portance of proper mating of pistillate and staminate varieties in order that all the blossoms of the pistillate varieties may be well pollenized so as to form fruit that shall not be "nubbins" or "buttons", as imperfect berries sometimes are called. Now there are other influences concern- ing which some of you may not agree with me, such as influence of color, influence of size, and influence of quality, all of which go into effect the same year the berries are growing. Some of these effects may not be as evident as others. I ha\e noticed that a light-colored pis- tillate variety, pollenized by a dark stam- inate, has darker-colored fruit than that pollenized by a light-colored staminate. If the color of the pistillate is thus affect- ed, why will not the staminate variety The Empire Proves Its Claims A dollar saved is a dollar earned. Any cream separator will make some money for you. £u/, if you knew of a cream separator that would not only ///cti'e the most dollars, but would, at the same time, jaj'^" the most dol- lars you'd buy it, and buy it now. Investigate the Improved Frictionless EMPIRE Cream Separator It's the separator you need, and want. That sounds like a big claim. But claims proved become facts. The Empire proves its claims. Send for our new catalog aud proofs. Empire Cream Separator Company, Bloomf ield, N. J. Cbicago, III. transfer its other characteristics as well, even its size and its quality.' ^'ears ago, when the Charles Downing strawberry was cultivated, some of these were once exhibited in Boston. Among the Downings of normal shape were some coxcomb in form, so conspicuous that the judges questioned their being true Down- ings. i"he exhibitor said that the berries all grew in beds strictly free from plants of any other variety than the Charles Downing. The only way in which he could account for the coxcomb shape of some of his fruit was through the influence of pollen from a bed of Sharpless on the other side of the path from his Downings. .All old growers of strawberries know that the Sharpless, more than any other va- riety, produces berries of coxcomb shape, whereas the normal shape of the Downing is conical. Since the pollen of the stamen has been known to affect the color and the shape of the developed fruit, may it not affect other characteristics as well? So, we should keep these things in mind when we choose the staminate varieties which are to pol- lenize our pistillates. An old friend of mine once said that in ex'ery strawberry bed, set out for his family use, he should put a few particularly choice plants, his own favorite variety, even if they were not very productive, for the sake of the influence of their pollen on the other va- Ptge 139 rieties. T his same friend of mine had grown and fruited two hundred thousand seed- ling strawberry plants, from which he had chosen but one variety that he wished to put on the market. Even this one never was introduced, for he died suddenly and, as no one knew where this particular va- riety grew, it was lost. I was given the privilege of taking plants from any of his seedlings, but I did not find his chosen seedling. I am well aware that many writers say that pollen has influence only on the prod- uct of the seed polleiized, but they are mistaken, according to what I have seen with my own eyes, and seeing is be- lieving." Weslon, Mass. THE Minnesota State Horticultural Society has a very interesting and val- uable feature as a part of its plan of work in its annual reports from the vice-presi- dents of the society, these vice-presidents being apportioned one for each congres- sional district in the state. These reports give conditions of the fruit crop and the names of varieties of all kinds of fruit grown which do the best in the district repre- sented by the respective vice-president. We note that H. J. Baldwin of Northfield, vice-president of the third congressional district, reporting on strawberries says that Warfield, Senator Dunlap, Sample and THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 Bederwood are found to be the most suc- cessful in his district. Henry Haggard of Excelsior, representing the fifth district, reports in the same way concerning Sen- ator Dunlap, Warfield and Bederwood. John B. Katzner of Collegeville, repre- senting the sixth district, names Dunlap, Splendid, Bederwood, Enhance and Lov- ett. H G. Westman of Sandstone, rep- lesenting the eighth district, favors Beder- wood, Warfield, Senator Dunlap, Splen- did and Clyde. O e J. Hagen of Hen- drum reports that Senator Dunlap and Perfection carried off the laurels in 1906 in his district. Some Strawberry Pointers By George Wright ON a basis of the results of the analy- sis recorded by the Oregon Ex- periment Station, a crop of 6,000 pounds of fresh strawberries, which is considered a fair yield per acre, will re- move from the soil 8.4 pounds nitrogen, 10 pounds potash and 3.5 pounds phos- phoric acid. It is thus seen that the strawberry, relatively speaking, is not an exhausting crop upon the land; yet prac- tice has shown that it returns a more val- uable profit from liberal manuring than most other fruit crops. This may, per- haps, be explained from the fact of its comparatively short-growing period in the early part of the year. Strawberries use large amounts of immediately available nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, and these elements must be in the soil in abundance to meet this early demand. As to the experiment stations, all that have conducted experiments along the line of fertilizers for strawberries, recom- mend the use of well-rotted stable ma- nure. Care should be taken that the stable manure is not used fresh, because of the large percentage of weed seeds which may be introduced into the land. Better results, however, may generally be expected from the use of barnyard ma- nure, if it is supplemented by the use of the mineral fertilizer;, phosphoric acid and potash. The great necessity of using the latter substances as a supplement to any other material which may be employed for this crop is clearly shown by the large portion of potash which this crop remo\es from the soil, as indicated above. It is an open question whether it is not cheaper in most instances to use commer- cial fertilizers instead of stable manure. At the Maryland Experiment Station a carload of stable manure costing .$31 was tried in comparison with commercial fer- tilizers costing about .$7, with a change in growth of vines and early maturity of fruit decidedly in favor of the commercial KEEP STRAWBERRIES RED And serve with all the piquancy they had when Freshly Picked, by using the AIR-PROOF, SELF-SEALING ECONOMY JAR RTD, PLUMP, Di:i.KI(n'S StraHhcrrifs in mid-winter are now e-isily po.ssible. For years, comparatively few strawberries have been priserved. The faded, "sickly," mouldy, mushy resuhs (from using imperfect jars ) made the housev. ife drea 1 the attempt — and she couldn't afford to waste materials. Put up all the Strawberries you want, now; and del itrht father, children and g;uests. It's the tiny inicrobes in the air that spoil your fruit (there's no way to keep them out of the rubber-ringed jars). But you can keep them out of the perfectly air-proof ECONOMY JAR. The ECON- OMY has been tested over and over — ii in use, today, by big packers and caiiners every- where. Seals by suction and cannot work loose or shrink — forms an absolute seal — stays sealed uiiti! doomsday. Use tlie ECOVOMV. and you can liave Strawberries on your table next winter as fresii. Iijseiuus add red as tlie day tljey were plucked. FREE RECIPE BOOKLET telline all about the iar. how to can The Only Jar that SEALS BY SUCTION Has No Rubber Ring all kinds of food products and giving dozens of neve, tried recipes for home canning every day in the year, is in every case of Jars. One will be seTit on request. Economy Jars are sold by dealers in the United States and Canada. If your grocer hasn't them, send us mMwr%r% f*m m OO lUtCf* f^f% his name, and we will tell you JfCnfC C*C.#IOO flWr VTa C#C/» """«•'"". "t". « howtoget one dozen Jars free. 2SS //o,y#«ree# Portland, Oregon PH'l-AliEtPHIA.PA. QXrAM *■'*•>' KuiiiH Cttiiiiiujc Fa<.tories and •^ *'""■*" Home ll»e. l"ri'^'"' '^"■" eoni, pens, pumpkin, ^^.^wy T*13 ^f"l* •^^'t, corned beef. DvJiJ-.£jX\ AL-eiits anil Dpnlorn AVanteil. NORTHWESTERN STEEt &. IRON WORKS, Boi B. F. Eau Claire, Wis. mixture. Where barnyard manure is scarce or its cost is high, commercial mix- tures of the mineral fertilizers should al- ways be used to supplement the natural material. The Georgia Experiment Station has also conducted experiments in the use of fertilizers on strawberries and with satis- factory results. At the latter station the following formula was used: Superphosphate, 1140 pounds Nitrate of soda, 540 pounds Muriate of potash, 300 pounds the mixture being applied at the rate of 800 to 1,000 pounds per acre. The first application of the fertilizers was made in rows just previous to planting in the fall after which the fertilizers were drilled in on each side of the rows in the spring. The above formula was tried in compari- son with sixteen other mixtures. The best results were secured when 1,280 pounds kainit were used in place of the muriate of potash in the normal formula which furnished about the same number of pounds of potash. The New York Cornell Station also has done considerable cooperative testing of a large number of fertilizers for straw- berries, and while some contradictory data were secured on the different farms and plats, yet on the whole there was consid- erable uniformity of results. In general, it may be said that the potash and phos- phatic fertilizers were more effective than the nitrogenous fertilizers, especially on lands well supplied with humus. The fruit produced with these fertilizers were better colored, better flavored and firmer. It is undoubtedly true that far more effective results will be obtained by the use of a complete plant food, that is, one which contains all three of the elements, namely, phosphoric acid, potash and ni- trogen, than by the use of an incomplete Pftge 140 formula; and this is the general truth which holds for nearly all kinds of fertil- ization. These three elements are essen- tial to the growth of plants, and if one of them be deficient, the others never can make up for that deficiency. How to Care for Manure WHAT is the best way to preserve the manure from the poultry house.'^ asks a subscriber to the New York Tribune, and the editor an- swers as follows: What do you want to preserve it fo,.'' Get it out on the land as soon as possible. The sooner it gets into the soil the better for the soil and for the hens, too. I have no patience with those fellows who lay such great stress upon penny economy. They make me tired, and being forced to deal with them has made me poor. And they are no better off than folks that do business. They work harder to save a cent than they need to work to earn a dollar The whole secret of the manure pile is, get it out on the land as fast as it is pro- duced. Summer or winter, the place for it is back in some field or lot. I've read ad- vice to some 3-cent farmers, by some 2-cent editor, that would make a man up a tree sick. Such advice as: Put it into a barrel, and put the barrel in the cellar, and, after it has .stood two weeks, wet it with warm water and add an equal bulk of leaves and an equal bulk of stable manure, then put it into the attic until the last of July, and so on and so on. Such advice, I say, makes one sick of farming. Get all such stuff back upon the fields. Haul every day, if you have a load. Spread it upon the snow, or upon the ground, be it dry or wet. Don't make a fertilizer factory of your cellar. CULTIVATING, HOEING AND SPRAYING IN A COMMERCIAL STRAWBERRY FIELD Intensive Strawberry Culture-- Importance of Adopting a System By Frank E. Beatty HAVE you decided upon the system you intend to follow in growing strawberries this season? What is your decision? Hills, single- hedge, double-hedge, narrow or wide mat- ted row? It is very important that you decide upon the kind of row you prefer before runners start forming abundantly. If hills are your choice no runners should be allowed to make plants. 1 hey should be cut or pinched off before the node de- velops into a plant. It does not matter whether you cut the runners close to the mother plant or just back of the node. When the single-hedge row is wanted, each mother plant should be permitted to make two strong runners. Layer one on each side directly in the row. By placing soil on the runner cord uist back of the node it will hold the rimner in place, also hold moisture until the little plant takes root. In case a mother plant fails to grow, leav- ing a vacancy, then the two mother plants on each side of this vacancy, should make two runners and each runner allowed to make enough plants to reach across this vacant spot, so as to maintain a continuous line of plants. Or if an occasional mother plant appears less strong and vigorous than the others, the mother plant on either side may make two runners each, and each of these ruuners be allowed to make plants enuu'jh to reach to the weaker mother plant. Do not allow the weak plant to make anv runners at all. The double-hedge row is made by allov\ingeach mother plant to send out four strong runners each, and these run- ners can make one or two plants each, depending upon the space between the mother plants. If the mother plants were set twenty inches apart in the row, then allow each runner to set one plant only, if the distance from one moth- er plant to the other is thirty inches, each runner may set two plants, layering the run- ners zig-zag or X fashion. While this is known as the double-hedge row, yet there are really three rows in one. 1 he mother plants make the center row, and the run- ner plants the two outside rows. The width of a double-hedge itself should be about one foot. I mean one foot from one outside edge of the plants to the other outside edge. If there is a vacancy follow the same course as with the single-hedge row. The narrow matted row should be made by allowing each mother plant to make about six runners, and each one of these should set two plants. Spread the runners so that the plants will set about si.x inches apart. This will give each one plenty of room to develop itself. The wide matted row is not a desirable way to grow choice berries, but some growers insist upon fol- lowing this system. The mother plants should be set thirty inches apart in the row, and the rows should be four feet apart. This gixes plenty of room each way to spread runners so that the plants will not be crowded. Do not expcet to get fancy berries by the matted-row sys- tem. Whichever of these systems is followed, after the desired number of young plants are layered to make up the row, the bal- ance of the runners should be treated as weeds. Cut them off with roller runner- cutter or hoe or pinch them off. Some growers use a knife or shears for this work. For choice fancy berries and lots of them, I prefer the double-hedge row, with plants well spread. Now just a few don'ts before closing: Don't allow mother plants to make runners until they are well established and are making a vigorous growth. Don't lose any time in layering the runners after the node begins to swell. Don't start to grow the single-hedge row and get careless and let it run into a matted row. Don't wait until your plants have matted thickly and then try to get single or double-hedge row. Don't jerk runners off by the handful. SCENE IN THE STRAWBERRY PATCH OF D. B. LACEY, MAYLENE, ALA. Page 141 THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 This loosens the mother plant and inter- feres with its growth. The many runners pulling and tugging at her is strain enough without any jerking from the grower. Don't forget to hoe between the runner plants and keep a dust mulch there the samj as between the rows. Don't blame anyone but yourself if your plants mat thickly and get the start of you. Don't mind the backaches, but just keep on keeping on. Planted Three Acres of Strawberries and Grew a Home With acknowli'd-fiiients to Tlic Soutli-West fcir photo- firaphs and story . WHEN J. C.Wadley bought twenty acres of farm land near Stillwater, Okla., he planted three acres of strawberries between the trees of a young orchard by way of experiment, and then set to work growing cotton and oats to assure his family a living. This farmer had no previous experience in fruit cul- ture, nor did he have any book theories about its possibilities, but he had strong arms, a willingness to work and a firm belief in the quality of his soil and advan- tages of the climate — he believed that berries could be grown on his land as easily as cotton if they were as carefully cultivated. But there could be no chances taken, and the field crops were put in to make the success of the farm doubly sure. There was much to be done that first year, the improvements had to be made, the nursery stock purchased, and the only revenue was from the twelve or fifteen acres of cotton, the milk sold from a few cows, and the poultry and garden products. Mr. Wadley was anxious to build a com- fortable home on his little farm plot, but THE HOUSE THE STRAWBERRIES BUILT it seemed that this desire would be long unfulfilled, if cotton alone was to be de- pended upon. He started in the second year courageously, however, cultivated his berries with hopeful enthusiasm, and went again to the cotton field. Then came the first berry crop, and it was a dandy. The vines were red with fruit, and although a late frost cut the yield it improved the quality of the berries and stimulated the market. Mr. Wadley came out of his cotton held and called in his surprised neighbors to help him gather the most profitable crop that had ever been grown in that county. When the berries were marketed the cash was cotinted, and there proved to be $950, just enough to build a new home, and ever since the people of Stillwater have referred to the pretty two-story cottage on the Wadley farm as "the strawberry house". It is in plain view from the windows of the class rooms at the Okla- homa Agricultural College and is pointed out to the young men and women of that institution as an object lesson in profitable horticulture. "Any man can make a good living and lay aside a little money by growing berries in Oklahoma," said \ir. Wadley. "When 1 bought this land it was covered with wild sunflowers. 1 put out my berries as a side crop, but the first yield showed me that there was more in them than in any other line of farming. "Berry growing is light work and much more pleasant and entertaining than raising heavier crops, but it requires close atten- tion. Experience is required to secure the best results, but a man can go into the business on a small scale and get this ex- perience. It is the new knowledge that 1 gather each year that fits me for better effort, and that keeps me from getting discouraged. There are no problems in berry culture that can't be reasoned out by working among the plants. Nature has a way of suggesting what you should do, and when you should do it, but one has to keep in pretty close touch with nature all the while. "My idea is that the hedge row is the best for planting strawberries. 1 place the rows three feet apart and the plants eighteen inches to two feet in the drill. 'I'his enables me to cultivate with a fine- tooth plow, and I turn the soil just enough to maintain a good mulch and keep the weeds down. The first year I plow my berries once every week until they are through bearing and until the weeds are through seeding. It takes rich soil to produce large strawberries, and I have learned that it is best to fertilize every year. "Winter mulch is applied after the first freeze, when plant growth is stopped. 1 take the bedding and manure from the stables for this purpose, making sure that its consistency is about one-half straw so the vines will not be weighted down but can easily push their way through when they start in the spring. I mulch heavily in the middle of the rows and aim to let it barely cover the plant bed. I do not remove this litter, but permit it to remain on as a fertilizer, plowing it under in spring. "We have no trouble here with insects, and I never have had to spray. The coun- try is not favorable for vine diseases of any kind. The prevailing winds, our horti- Page 142 culturists tell us, discourage such pests. "In gathering my fruit I pick the stem short, never touching the berry, and drop carefully into the bucket. The grading BERRIES BETWEEN THE TREES AND BEES BETWEEN THE BERRIES is done by the picker who rejects all un- sound fruit on the vine. It doesn't pay to handle over-ripe or blighted berries; they degrade the better ones and bring nothing themselves. Our crop is gathered in boxes — every box heaping full — and taken to market in twenty-four-box crates. Stillwater buys all the berries I can raise; 1 have never shipped. The harvest sea- son usually lasts eighteen days, and in that time the people of a town of that size can consume a lot of fruit. Mr. Wadley finds time to look after his cotton and grain crops and to give ample attention to his orchard and apiary after the berry crop is out of the way. He believes in getting the full value from his land, for his berries are grown between the trees, and between the berry rows he has fourteen hives of bees, which last year gave him 550 pounds of first-class honey and seventeen strong colonies. These other interests fill out to make a complete year's work. 'Work with Both Brains and Hands SEVENTEEN years ago "Vincent Anderson's "residence" was an Okla- homa "dug-out," his menu com- prised corn-bread and molasses, and, al- together, he was at the very bottom round of the ladder, we learn from the Kansas City Star. Now Mr. Anderson has an orchard of 800 apple trees and 3,000 peach trees, and is worth ,$30,000. "Thousands of Oklahoma and Indian Territory farmers have just as good soil as I have, but I guess they work too much with their hands and not enough with their heads," said Mr. Anderson recently. "Farming is fast becoming an exact science, and the sooner we all learn this the better it will be for us. I have 240 acres, situated about fourteen miles north- west of Oklahoma City, and my 800 ap- ple trees and 3,000 peach trees net me about $3,000 per annum. This year I raised about 6,000 bushels of corn and a lot of cotton, that produced over $300 per THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 acre. This is my new kind which is storm proof and a great producer. I crossed seed from India and other foreign countries, and these seeds are worth their weight in gold. 'I have sixteen acres of alfalfa which ] cut five times every year, besides I pasture it with a hundred head of hogs and about fifty head of cattle and horses. I find al- falfa a most valuable hay, and it would be almost impossible to get along without it. "I think American farmers should be very happy and contented, but they are not always so, because we all have an idea that town life is more attractive, and many learn their mistake when it is too late. As for me, I prefer the farm, and I man- age to make it pay by strict application and hard work. The farm is where one can find real pleasure and solid comfort. Insects in the Strawberry Field And How to Deal With Them By R. L. Adams WE present herewith the second instalment of Mr. Adams' in- forming article dealing with in- sects that attack the strawberry and the preventives and remedies that horticultural experience has suggested up to this time. We repeat what was said in introducing the first instalment, that the numbers of this magazine containing the series should be preserved for future reference by our readers. Remember, that many of the insects mentioned appear only in particu- lar sections of the country, and that many others attack the strawberry very rarely. The insects first to be considered this month are the Insects That Attack the Crowns and Large Roots 1. The strawberry crown borer ( Tyto- derma fragariae) is of widespread impor- tance, the damage being done by a small, white footless grub, one-fifth of an inch long, with a hard yellow head. He hatches from an egg laid at the base of a leaf on the crown by a snout beetle belonging to the curculio family. The beetles appear in June, are one-sixth inch in length, and brown in color, with indistinct markings of a darker shade. They cannot fly and so spread slowly. One egg is laid on the crown and the grub on hatching bores downward, tunnelling and excavating in all directions. The change to a pupa is made in one of the numerous passages, the adult beetle emerging any time from August to October. These beetles pass the winter hibernating in the fields. Remedies — Being worse in old stawberry fields, the best method is to plow up old run-out ones in June or July after fruiting and plant some other crop, confining the berries to land that has not been used for that purpose for some time. The plants must be pulled before the beetles emerge and destroyed. Spraying and burning oxer will kill the adults. 2. The second crown borer or so- called "strawberry root borer" or crown miner (Aiiarsia lineatclla) is a reddish-pink caterpillar, one-half inch long, covered with reddish dots from each of which a hair arises. This caterpillar works inside the crown and larger roots, making numerous passages. The egg is laid on the crown in late July or August by a small, dark gray moth with a wing expanse of one-half inch, and marked with brownish-black spots on the fore-wings. The caterpillars feed through- out the summer and then hibernate in the channels. Early in July they change to reddish brown pupw in rubbish or de- caying leaves, appearing a couple of weeks later as the adult moths. Remedies — Dusting with lime or wood ashes is said to be helpful, but there is no practical method to get rid of them except to pull and burn the bed while the cater- pillars are in the crowns, resetting the bed with clean stock. Insects That Attack the Leaves 1 . The leaf \o\\iix(Phoxoptera comptana) is probably the worst insect attacking the foliage. The damage is done by brown- ish caterpillars which roll the leaves into cases, fasten them with silken threads and feed on the pulpy part of the leaf inside the shelter thus formed. This causes a withering and part discoloration of the foliage. When full grown the caterpillars are one-third inch long and vary in color from brownish to greenish. They are sparsely clothed with hair and have a brownish jellow head. The eggs hatch in June, after having been laid a few days, and the caterpillars become mature later the same month, appearing as adult moths in July, when the eggs are laid for a second brood which appears the same season. The second brood attain their growth by the last of September and enter into the pupa stage, remaining thus until the following spring, when they emerge as delicate, reddish-brown moths, marked with white streaks and dots, and having a wing expanse of about one-half inch. These lay the eggs for the early brood. This insect occurs over nearly all the United States and there are three and perhaps four broods in the South. Remedies — Spraying with hellebore, Paris green or disparene is a preventive. If the caterpillars have curled the leaves they are beyond reach of poison, but a good spraying will help the second brood. Another method is to mow the leaves and burn them, or the plantation may be Page 143 plowed under and replanted with clean stock. 2. The smeared dagger (Apatela obli- nila) has similar habits and yields to the same treatment as the leaf roller. Instead of tying one leaf they fasten three or four terminal ones together. The moth has plain gray forewings marked with a black criss-cross line and white hind wings. The larva is a beauty, one and one- fourth inch long, deep velvet black with bright red tubercles, from each of which rises a tuft of hair, those on the back red and those beneath yellow. There are two rows of yellow spots down the back and a number of white dots placed irreg- ularly. Once seen it is not likely to be forgotten. 3. Another leaf roller is luropsis per- miuidana which binds several leaves and berries together, eating the whole ball. The moth has variable yellow-brown forewings with oblique cross marks and light brown hind wings. The larva is green with a black head and is one-half inch long when full grown. It feeds until the last of June when it pupates, appearing in a few days as the perfect moth. Remedies — Dust the plants with lime or ashes or spray with stomach poisons. 4. Cornell University has discovered another leaf-roller which has been called the oblique banded strawberiy-leaf roller {Ciicaecia ohsoletatui) which is oli\e green when mature, while the moth is various shades of brown, marked with darker wavy lines and a broad band, broken in the middle. The life-history is similar to that of the first leaf roller and it will succumb to the same treatment. 5. Young plantations especially are subject to the attacks of the strawberry slug or sawfly (Em[>hytus maeu/atiis), a member of the Hymenoptera, and not Lepidoptera, the order to which the pre- vious four belong. The insect causing the trouble in this case is a four-winged black sawfly with brown legs and two rows of white spots Paint Without Oil Remarkable Discovery That Cuts Down the Cost of Paint Seventy- Five Per Cent A Free Trial Package is Mailed to Every- one Who Writes A. L. Rice, a prominent manufacturer of Adamft, N. Y., has dise-oveied a prucess of mukiriir a new kind of paint without the use of oil. Ho calU it Powdrpaint. It comes in the farm of a dry powder and all thftt is r<^qtilred is cold water to miike a paint weather pronf , fire proof and as dur- able as oil paint. It adheres to any surfai-e, wood, stone orl)ri('k. Bpri'uds and looks like oil paint and costs about uuu-fourth as much. Write to Mr. A. L, Rice, Manufacturer, 613 North 8t., Adams. N. V., and he will send you a free trial pat-kuge; also eolor eard and full information showlug how you oau aave a ^viid many dollars. Write to-duy . THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 down the abdomen, which feeds, in the larval stage, en the leaves, eating small circular holes and often completely rid- dling them. 1 here probably are two broods a year, the first maturing in July to lay the eggs for a second. The white eggs are in- serted in the stems of the leaves and hatch in about two weeks. The slugs or worms attain their growth in five or si.x weeks and arc three-fourths inch long, pale green in color, with a semi- transparent skin and yellowish beneath. The second brood reaches the chrysalis stage the same year and then passes the winter as pupa; in cocoons just under the surface of the ground. Ri'int'dies — Spraying with hellebore or some stomach poison. Burning o\er is helpful. 6. There is another sawfly (Mcnos/cgia igiiota) which attacks the strawberry, but it is similar in habits and appearance. 7. The spotted paria (Paria aten-i>na) is a small spotted, pale, active beetle, three- tenths inch long which riddles the leaves in June. The grubs live on the roots and all forms are easily recognized. Remedies — Spray the foliage with a stomach poison to kill the adults. 8. The striped flea beetle {Phylloslreta vitla/a) is a small, active, jumping beetle, one-tenth inch long crossed with wavy yellow lines. They feed on the foliage as adults and on the roots in the grub stage, the latter being one-third inch long, white, with head and tip of abdomen brown. The remedy is the same as for the spotted paria. 9. A number of varieties of cut-worms (Agroslis) attack the strawberry, cutting the plant off close to the ground while it is young. The perpetrators of the deed are the larvae of several moths of a gray- ish or ash color. The cut-worms hide just under the surface of the soil during the day, coming out at night to feed. They are so com- mon that no e.xtended description seems necessary. A'einetiies — If the planted area is small they can be killed by the use of poisoned baits made of bran sweetened with molas- ses and poisoned wiih Paris green. Clover cut and sprayed with a stomach poison will attract them, or they may be caught at night while at work. On large areas late fall plowing is advisable. 10. Species of Aleyrodcs, white fly or mealy wing, as it is variously called, sometimes attack the foliage. When numerous the adults rise in clouds like snow at the slightest disturbance. There are two, possibly three, broods a year. The young hatch from eggs laid on the lower surface of the leaf and resemble the larvae of the scale insects, being cov- ered with a white, flour-like substance. They suck the juices of the plant, dwarf- THE UNSURPASSED National Berry Boxes IN ALL STYLES The IDEAL IN REALITY :. KNOGKIDSDOWN FLAT Patented Nov. 17. 1903. A SANITARY FRUIT-PRESERVING PACKAGE Made of tough, smooth paper stock, coated on both sides with best paraffine wax. Three years of practical use have made these boxes the favorite of all who have seen and used them. They are stronger than the wooden boxes, as each box will stand up under eighty pounds of pressure without being crushed. This .'s more than any other box will stand. They will take the lowest possible freight rate, being shipped in the flat condition. All testimonials we furnish are unsolicited. All samples v/e are sending are folded up and packed in a box, thus enabling those not familiar with the box to fold and interlock box properly to give the desired result. Sales during 1906 in 31 states and some foreign countries, and 1,400 new names were added to our already large list of customers. Communication with 47 States. NONE SO GOOD AS THE BEST NATIONAL PAPER BOX COMPANY KANSAS CITY, MO. Folded up sample and circular sent on receipt of ten cents. Patentee will sell his rights or organize a special company. Demands are too large for present arrange- ments. All who are interested, write above company. ing and causing it to curl up, thus cur- tailing the crop. Remedies — As these are sucking insects, Paris green or other stomach poisons are of no use, and resort must be had to stime form of contact poison stich as kerosene emulsion, whale-oil soap or the like. This must hit the insect to kill and needs to be repeated as often as the live insects appear, touching the under side of the leaf. Burn- ing the plantation will take care of them. (Continued in July Number.! CANADIAN members of The Straw- berry family are advised that owing to a new rule agreed upon by and between the post.nasters-general of the United States and the Dominion of Canada, in- Pagc 144 creased postage must hereafter be paid upon all second-cla^s mail malter going from the United States into Canada, and stamps affixed to each package. The additional expense of sending The Straw- berry to Canada will be at least 15 cents a year. The.'-efore from this time on all Canadian subscriptions to this magazine will be $1.15. All Canadian subscriptiins now in force will be fulfilled, of course, at our expense. As this rule applies to all of the publications contained in club- bing offers heretofore offered by the Straw- berry, we are compelled to withdraw all clubbing offers so made, so far as Cana- dian subscriptions are concerned. All of our friends throughout the Dominion who are working for additional subscribers will please note this enforced change of rates. The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter VIII— In which is shown the Value of Attractive Advertising and Effective Selling Methods IN the last preceding instalment you will note that 1 had finished mulch- ing my berries before Christmas, and just as soon as the holidays were over I put one team to hauling manure and spreading it over the ground which was to be set to plants the following spring, and every foot of the ground received a liberal dressing of this best of all fertilizer. The ground had been broken up and sowed to rye in the early days of October. This with the manure made an ideal winter covering for the soil. The fact that every- thing on the farm was in such good con- dition made me impatient for spring; I was so anxious to see what my berry plants would do. If thorough cultivation through- out the entire growing season, and proper mating of varieties had anything to do with getting a big crop of berries I certain- ly W'ould get more crates to the acre than ever I had grown before. One block of about two acres was set to Warfields, Michel's Early, and Lovetts. The first row was set to Michel's Early, then three rows of Warfields, followed by one row of Lovetts, and so on until the entire two acres were set. The balance of my fruiting fields were principally Clydes, Gandys and Marshalls. In my experimental bed were about thirty-five varieties, many of which I never had seen fruit. In this experimental bed I was continuing my experiments to determine more definitely the value of exchange of pollen with bisexuals. This little plot made me wish for another fruiting season more than all the other fruiting beds com- bined. When spring finally came we started uncovering the plants; and fine ones they were, too. In fact, they double-discount- ed any plants I ever had grown, and they made me more enthusiastic than ever. Dave (my young foreman) carried a wider smile than did I, and he had a rii;ht to feel happy, because he had a hand in growing those \'ery plants. It seemed to me that they were greener and fresher looking than they were in the fall when the mulching was put on. In about ten days after the mulching had been removed from the plants, Dave and I went out to see them, and the beautiful sight would actually cure the blues. I had a car-load of box material all made up into berry boxes. Dave made them during the winter at the rate of 4,000 quart boxes a day. "If these plants produce berries in ac- cordance with their appearance we will need more boxes," I said to Dave. "^'es, they do promise a great crop that is certain; but don't you think it will be best to defer ordering until the crop is more sure?" was Dave's reply. "Possibly that is the best thing to do, and I am glad you feel free to make sug- gestions. That is just what a foreman should do. "Foreman! you don't mean to tell me that I am to be your foreman, do you.''" Dave exclaimed. "Why yes, boy; you have been my foreman ever since last August; but I never told you, as I thought best to wait to see if you were of the mettle of a fore- man, and now 1 am convinced that you are entitled to the honor." It was actually worth a quarter to see the look of deep appreciation in that boy's face. A hat full of silver dollars could not have pleased him more. In fact, a promotion of this kind should appeal to any young man as being of greater value than money. Although the season was no more favor- able than the average, the plants grew to enormous size. The manure I had spread between the rows of the old fruiting bed had leached into the soil during the winter rains and snow, and the plants were surely making use of it. The other plants which were to give their first crop had been set on exceedingly well-prepared soil. A light coat of manure had been turned under, then sowed to rye, the fall previous to setting the plants. This ground was again covered with manure in the winter, which was turned under and the manure and rye well mixed with the soil before setting the plants in the spring. One or two light frosts came during the blooming season, but the few blooms killed did not affect the yield, as the vines carried all the ber- ries they possibly could mature. The Michel's Early gave the first pick- ing, and in a few days the Warfields and Lovetts were showing red spots on the outer edges of the row. By the time these three varieties were at their best, the Clydes came in with a big donation of extra-large berries. The dealers who handled my berries the year before had engaged them again for this season at 15 cents per quart, oi two quarts for 25 cents, less 15 per cent commission and express charges. This price was for the fancy stock. The second grade mostly was sold at the farm. I pui big ads in the home papers and prospective buyers would come from near-by towns, some coming a distance of twenty miles, and they would go home with full cases strapped on to the hind part of their bug- gies. Some days there were so many of these buyers that several wagons would be waiting for their turn to be served. Several days before the largest picking I would notify each dealer to take orders among their customers for canning-berries at $2.00 per twenty-four-quart crates, and when these big days came, all of the second-grade fruit was engaged as well as the fancy berries. During the entire season I received only one or two complaints about high prices. "Standing pat" on prices the year before had convinced the dealers that it was useless to bother me about any complaint their customers might make. They would tell SOME FIRSTS AND SOME SECONDS Page 145 THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 their trade that Beatty named the price, and that they had no control over it what- ever. "We think his berries are worth all he asks for them, for they are nicely and honestly packed in full quart boxes." This little explanation satisfied their cus- tomers, and the demand for Beatty's cel- ebrated strawberries grew far beyond the supply. The Dennison Hotel at Indianapolis contracted for enough fancy berries to supply its guests. T. J. Cullen was at that time manager of this great hotel. From there Mr. Cullen went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and took charge of the Burnett house, and my berries were ordered for the table of that hotel also. This was a dis- tance of 225 miles from the farm. The distance and transfers made it rather diffi- cult to get the berries there in good con- dition, except such good shippers as Gandy. The crop of berries and the price ob- tained for them this season were both perfectly satisfactory, and I felt that my plan of marketing was now a perfect suc- cess. The extra-big crop of berries I harvested from Warfields convinced me beyond a doubt that my method of mat- ing pistiUates with two bisexuals was just the thing. The experimental bed was a great instructor. Here where different varieties of bisexuals were set side by side, I could see a great gain in quantity and quality of fruit. From this experimental bed I would fill small tomato baskets with the choicest berries, and then put a wreath of leaves around the baskets. These we used for show windows and advertising purposes. Another good way I had for advertising was to furnish a four-paged circular filled full of valuable recipes for preparing Beatty's celebrated berries, and of course these recipes were a total failure unless my berries were used! Fancy la- bels were on each crate of fancy berries, and all stationery used was of the very best and neatly printed. All of the good dealers expressed regrets when the berries were gone, and everyone engaged them for the next year. (Continued in July Number. I Helpful Hints From Our Folks Tile Firsl Coniribulion By R. C. Sabin YOUR idea of having a department called "Helpful Hints From Our Folks" is surely a good one. 1 he great diawback to strawberry growing is the great amount of hand labor it requires. Any tool that will reduce or expedite that labor is a boon to strawberry folk. Now, to give the new department a send off, I wish to tell you about narrowing up the rows after the picking season is over and the old mulching burned. Take a sharp common disc and remove some of the outer disc, so as not to throw soil on the rows on each side. Now spread the disc so as to leave the row just as wide as you like. With a steady team you can cut a row down to as fine a line as possi- ble. The disc throws the soil away from both sides and does not disturb what is left of the row. A bar-shear plow is sure to loosen up the row too much when cutting it narrow. Of course, the disc can not be used to advantage unless there is room to turn at the ends. Ludington, Micii. OUR thanks are due Mr. Sabin for this initial contribution to what we hope is to become an important depart- ment in The Strawberry. The very best aids the strawberry grower can receive will come out of the practical experiences of his fellow-growers. What may seem very simple to you may prove of infinite help to someone else if you will tell him about it. Tell him just how to do it, and when to do it, and why is should be done. The thousands of readers of The Straw- berry who are immediately interested in the cultivation of the strawberry will ren- der the world a very large service if they will give it the benefit of their experiences. ■^ -^ AMONG the great associations having for their object the up-building of horticultural interests in the United States must be accounted as one of the leaders the American Association of Nurserymen, and Michigan may feel especially pleased that the annual meeting of that association is to be held within her boundaries. De- troit has been fixed upon as the place and the time June 12 to 14 next. The pro- gram prepared for the event, both as it relates to questions of a technical or busi- ness nature having to do with nursery and fruit-growing interests, and to the events of interest and pleasure arranged by the entertainment committee, is said to be the most attractive in the entire history of the association. All who can do so should attend this convention. It will be of large profit to the fruit-grower and nurseryman. IGENT IS ILL IT WILL COST YOU to write for our big FKEE BICrCLE catalogue showing the most complete line of high-grade BICYCLES, TIRES and SUNDKIES at FRIGES from anyone, BELOW any other manufacturer or dealer in the world. DO NOT BUY A BICYCLE., any m«. or on anv kind of tertns, until you have received our complete Free Cata- logues illustrating and describing every kind of high-grade and low-grade bicycles, old patterns and latest models, and learn of our remarkable LOW PKICES and wonderful new offers made possible by selling from factory direct to rider with no middlemen's profits. ¥tE SHIP ON APPROVAL without a cent deposit. Pay the Freight and allow 10 Days Free Trial and make other liberal terms which no other house in the world will do. You will learn everything and get much valu- able information by simply writing us a postal. We need a ff/dier Agent in every town and can offer an opportunity to make money to suitable young men who apply at once. $8.50 PUNCTURE-PROOF TIRES ?." kl r Price tm Qr\ ^ as^^^ »fl.OV ner t^air. *J1 ,rSl J ^^^^^^^^^Hl^_ ^ PER PAIR NAILS. TACKS I OR GLASS WON'T LET OUT THE AIR Notic* the thick rubber tread A** and puncture strips "B" and *'D," also rim strip *'H" to prevent rim cutting. This tire will outlast any other make— SOFT, ELASTIC and E.VSVr RLUING. > Regular $8m50 per pair. To Introduce We Will Sell You a Sample Pair for Only (cash with ORDEH $4.55) NO MORE TROUBLE FROM PUNCTURES. Result of 15 years experience in tire inaking. No danger from THORNS, CAC TUS, PINS. NAILS. TACKS or GLASS. Serious punctures, like intentional knife cuts, can be vulcanized like any other tire. Two Hundred Thousand pairs now in actual use. Over Seventy-five Thousand pairs sold last year. DESCRIPTION I Made in all sizes. It is lively and easy riding, very durable and lined in.'iide with a special quality of rubber, which never becomes porous and which closes up small punctures without allowing the air to escape. We have hundreds of letters from satisfied customers stating that their tires have only been pumped up once or twice in a whole season. They weigh no more than an ordinary tire, the puncture resisting (jualities being given by several layers of thin, specially prepared fabric on the tread. That "Holding Back" sensation commonly felt when riding on asphalt or soft roads is overcome by the patent "Basket Weave" tread which prevents all air from being squeezed out between the tire and the road thus overcoming all suction. The regular price of these tires is $8.50 per pair, but for advertising purposes we are making a special factory price to the rider of only $4.80 per pair. All orders shipped same day letter is received. We ship C.O.D. on approval. You do not pay a cent until you have examined and found them strictly as represented. We will allow a cash discount of 5 per cent (thereby making the price S4.55 per pair) if you send FULL CASH WITH ORDER and enclose this advertisement. We will also send one nickel plated brass hand pump and two Sampson metal puncture closers on full paid orders (these metal puncture closers to be used in case of intentional knife cuts or heavy gashes). Tires to be returned at OUK expense if for any reason they are not satisfactory on examination. We are perfectly reliable and money sent to us is as safe as in a bank. Ask your Postmaster. Banker, Express or Freight Agent or the Editor of this paper about us. If you order a pair of these tires, you will find that they will ride easier, run faster, wear better, last longer and look finer than any tire you have ever used or seen at any price. We know that you will be so well pleased that when you want a bicycle you will give us your order. We want you to send us a small trial order at once, hence this remarkable tire offer. ftW^M^rrt* OOAI^e^ built-up- wheels, saddles, pedals, parts and repairs, and (v V#IO I tn^BnnKt^f everything in the bicycle line are sold by us at half the usual prices charged by dealers and repair men. Write for our big SUNDRY catalogue. no Minr lA/Air ^"^ ""'« "= * p°='^' '°^^y- °** ''°''" think of buying a U%M n%M § wwf\w& bicycle or a pair of tires from anyone until you know the new and wonderful offers we are making. It only costs a postal to learn everything. Write it NOW. MEAD CYCLE COMPANY, Dept. "J L" CHICAGO, ILL. Page 146 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL, ff^,OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION STRAWBERRY-RAISING is quite irresistible to one who once has felt its charm, and we are glad to know that there are many mem- bers of this school who are so full of the ;ubject that they "can't stay away," even though they feel they ought to be some- where else than in the strawberry patch. Here is a sample letter from one member who raises strawberries in New Hampshire: I'm a fool for taking The Strawberry, for it and your catalogue will make me imcomfortable because I haven't time to put into strawberries; but I just can't let it alone. I grew at the rate of 5,500 quarts to an acre a few years ago. This is not large for \ou, but good for this section. Your catalogue did it. Well, we plead guilty to the soft im- peachment, and are sure that with the passing years our friend will be glad that he was thus "goaded on" to his own edi- fication. The finest and sweetest old men we meet are the men who thus have had some touch of the soil in their life-expe- rience, and we usually find that it is the strawberry patch that lingers longest and most delightfully among those tender memories of the days gone by. Don't give up your strawberry patch! It is the most satisfying vocation or avocation you will find, and old age will be all the bright- er and happier for the hours spent in cul- tivating the fruit and watching the luscious berries bud and grow and ripen into de- licious and health-giving beauty. Miss I. C, Loveland, Ohio. What shall I do to stop black ants working on my fruiting bed? They make little dirt mounds around each plant and when I brush them away the dirt seems to stick to the plant and stops growth. I tried Bordeaux and Paris green before the blossoms opened, then flower siilphu , and lastly tobacco crushed up, still the bad work increases. 2. Shall I cut off runners that start in a fruit- ing bed while the fruit is growing.' 3. Can I cultivate my berries after all the blossoms have fallen off and the fruit growing? 4. If a plant seems overloaded with young berries shall I cut part of them otf- My Sen- ator Dunlaps have so many blossoms they look like they could not make large berries. The black ant is \ery hard to get rid of. Thorough and clean cultivation has a tendency to drive them away, as the ants love to work in firm, solid .soil. However, it is not the ants which are doing the in- jury to your plants. The fact that they are present is evidence that there are root lice working upon the roots of your plants. 1 he ant's mission is to carry the lice from the roots of one plant to another, and while the lice suck the juices from the roots and tender parts of the plant, the ants are getting their reward by taking up the honey-like substance which comes from the lice. Neither lice nor ants may be destroyed by Paris green or Bordeaux mixture. These lice have long beaks which penetrate into the tender parts of the plant, through which they suck the juices. There is really no practical way to destroy these enemies, as they are a sucking insect, and can be killed only by spray material that comes in direct con- tact with them. Coal-oil emulsion, or whale-oil soap will destroy them, but the trouble is, the lice work on the under side of the leaf, hid away in the crowns in such a manner that it is almost impossible to reach them with these spray material.s. Finely ground tobacco dust sprinkled around the plants is quite effective: also clean and thorough cultivation, and burn- ing over the bed after fruiting season. All these have a tendency to make it dis- agreeable for these pests. 2. It is unnecessary to sever the run- ners from plants which are to fruit. 3. The cultivating of the fruiting bed may be begun as soon as all danger of frosr is over, and continued through the entire fruiting season; but you should not cultivate while the plants are in bloom unless the soil is moist enough to prevent any dust from flying, which would have some effect on the pollen. 4. Removing some of the berries from overloaded plants, will make the berries which are left grow somewhat larger, but it is impracticable and unprofitable to do so. The Dunlap is a very productive \ariety, and is capable of maturing all of its berries to good size. C. E. \'. W., Alpena, .Mich, .-^fter reading the different experiences in The Strawberry I have concluded to use nitrate of soda on my strawberries but have been told that it has a tendency to make the berries soft. Would you kindly advise me through The Strawberry if this is true? Nitrate of soda when used too freely tends to make the fruit soft, but when used in proper qtianti ties stimulates growth and is altogether a benefit to plants where there is a deficiency of nitrogen in the soil. An application of forty pounds of nitrate of soda, scattered along the rows of plants just as growth starts in the spring, and the second application of the same amount, Puge 147 made in the same way just before the buds open into bloom, has been found to be of very high value in the production of a crop of strawberries. Be very careful that the nitrate of soda is not allowed to come in contact with the foliage of your plants. A. H., Dennis, Mass. Will strawberries ripen well on a north slope, or will they rot? 2. I am planning to grow some of my straw- berries in the hill system this year and next year let them grow a few runners. Is this right? 3. Will eighteen inches apart in the row be too far apart or not far enough? My rows are three feet wide. It is advisable to set late varieties on a northern slope. This retards the ripen- ing somewhat, making the berries later than they would be if grown on level ground. Berries will not mildew or rot on a northern slope any quicker than they would on the level. 2. You can grow your plants in hills the first season, then after the first crop is picked, mow off the foliage preparing for the second crop Allow each hill to make several runners, layering them around the mother plant. This is what we call the cluster hill. 3. Eighteen inches will not be too far apart to set the plants for the system you intend to follow. ^ <^ W. W., Sunrise, Minn. Is there enough humus in a heavy blue grass sod well manured and planted to potatoes to make a crop of large strawberries? 2. How would you arrange to apply Bor- deaux mixture e.ery week on a very small patch of strawberries? 3. Is cultivation by hand with hoe and rake as good as to cultivate with a horse? 4. When you cultivate by hand how clo.se may the rows be made when you want to economize space? '^'es; this piece should contain an abun- dance of humus and be in ideal condition for a big crop of strawberries. 2. You might use an old broom. Dip it into the Bordeaux and apply it in that way; or, if you have enough plants to jus- tify the investment, a knapsack sprayer is a good thing to have on hand. The sprayer is better than a broom, because it puts the poison on in a fine spray. You might join your neighbors in the purchase of a sprayer. 3. Some' very large crops of berries have been grown where hand-cultivation THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 has been followed. Where soil is loose the hoe will do as well as cultivating; with a horse. 4. Rows may be as closely placed as two feet. All that is necessary is to have sufficient space to walk while hoeing and picking berries. C. W. W. , Crookston, Minn. Can you give any remedy for cut worms? Prof. L. H. Bailey offers the following remedies for the cut worm: "Encircle the stem of the plant with heavy paper or tin. Arsenites sprinkled upon small bunches of fresh grass or clover, which are scattered at short intervals about the garden towards evening. They will often collect under boards or blocks. Arsenites mixed with shorts or bran, and placed about the plants. Make two or three deep holes by the side of the plant with a pointed stick; the worms will fall in and cannot escape. Dig them out. Plough infested land in fall to give birds a chance to find the worms. Kainit or muriate of potash applied lib- erally as a fertilizer has been advised." F. B. L , Saxtons River, Vt. Kindly tell me if there is any trouble with the enclosed straw- berry leaf other than what is caused by the cold weather of winter. Quite a good many on my old bed have dead leaves and leaves like this. If it is any insect that does it should I destroy the plants to keep them from the new ones you sent me o will the Bordeaux mixture cure it? The leaves enclosed in your letter are affected with leaf spot, called rust. Spray- ing with Bordeaux mixture will prevent the spread of it upon healthy leaves, but it will not cure the leaves which are al- ready affected. It will not be necessary for you to remove the affected leaves, as in time these will dry up and disappear. The Bordeaux mixture should be sprayed over the plants about every ten days until the buds open. W. J. K., Maclay, Ore. Is it detrimental to wait with transplanting strawberry plants until blossoms form in propagating bed? 2. What is a smutty-like affection on blossom buds causing them to rot? Just as soon as strawberry plants begin to bloom, the roots turn dark and become somewhat wiry; much of the vitality of the root going into the foliage; and for this reason transplanting at that stage of development is not as successful as when the plants are entirely dormant. 2. The smut is a fungous affection. If the leaves are covered with a whitish, moldy substance, plants are affected with what is called slime mold. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture will prevent this, as well as all other fungous diseases. Make the first spraying when growth starts in the Throw Old-style Harrows on the Junk Pile! >^^^ Naylor 2-in-1 Harrow Does the Work Better in Half the Time »— ^ What's the use of going- over your fields twice when once over with my Combination Spring and Spike Tooth HarrowwiU do the work and do it belter? This 2-in-l Harrow makes a perfect seed-bed in half the time and with half the labor of man and team required with old- style harrows and drags. The 2-in-l turn* up the earth and pulveriae* it AT THE SAME OPERATION. The little picture at the bottom tells part of the story. My Catalogue tells more of it. and hundreds of farmers all over story. You ought to hear them praise it. pays for itself in 7 days* use. It's a light you ever saw. If you order one and it doesn't paid me. Special Confidential Prico to first Naylor's Flint-Coated Rubber Roofing $1.45 and op per Square of 108 Sq.Feet. .S different weights to pelect frnm. For all kinilHtof farm buildings. Steeper flat roofs. Guaranteeii. Nails and cement with every rnjl, Sanii-leB free. J. R. Naylor, NAYLOR MFG. CO. , I 4 Hillgrove Ave. La Grange, IlL 1 telling the rest of the ^«o much time that it fine a seed-bed as refund every cent you writes. Catalog FREE. STEEL ROOFING PER 100 SQUARE FEET $L50 Most economical and durable roof covering known. Ev.s.y to put on; requires no tools but a hatchet nr a hammer. With ordinary care will outlast any other hind. Thousands of satisfied customers everywhere have pioven its virtues. Suitable for coverinfranybnildinp. Alsobest for ceiling and siding. Fire-proof and water-proof. Cheaper and more lasting til an shingles. "Will not taint rain-water. Makes your build- ing cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Absolutely perfect, brand no^v. 31. SO is our price for our No. 15 prade of Flat Semi-Hardened steel roofing ard siding, each sheet 24 ins. wide and 24 ins. long. Our price on the corrugated, like illustration, sheets 22 ins. wide x 24 ins. long, S 1 ,75. At 25c per square additionalwe will furnish sheets 6 and 8 feet long. Steel pressed brick sidinff, per square, 92. OO. Fine Steel Beaded Peiline, per square, 92.00. Can also furnish standing scam or "V" crimped "Mt WE PAY THE FREIGHT TO ALL POINTS EAST OF COLORADO I e"^cept Okla.. T'^x. ani\ Iii'l. T'T. Quotations to «:itluT points on application Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. Vie will send this roolintttoai.y one answering this a«l O. O. p.. with privileee of examination if you will send tis " of the amount of your order in rash: balance to lie paid after material reaches your Station. Ifnot tn'l as repre;;Tted, vou do not have to take the shipment and we will elieerfullv refund your deposit. k for Catalog No. WE 733. Lowest prices on RooflnL-, F.ave TronL'h. T\'irc, Pipe. Pcncinc, Plumbings, i'lrs, TTotischc.Id Ooods and evervthip!.' nc.MlM.l on the F.Trni or in tlic Home. "W-' bm- nnr c*o.>.ls at cyjlT's anil recciver'.s sales. CHICAGO HOUSE WRECKING CO., 35TH AND IRON STS.. CHICAGO spring; a second in a week or ten days, and a third just before buds burst into bloom. ^ <^ B. H. G., Santa Cruz, Calif. Am sending you specimens of a small black beetle that is on my plants. What are they, and what shall I do to get rid of them.' There also is a cater- pillar at work on the plants. The insects you send us belong to the beetle family, and are leaf-chewing insects. These can be destroyed by spraying with Paris green. Use at least ten ounces of Paris green; sprinkle it over two pounds of lime. Pour over this two gallons of hot water, and when thoroughly slaked add enough water to make forty gallons. This will also destroy caterpillars, or any other leaf-chewing insects. W. R. G., Trout Creek, Mont. I enclose three insects which I find in my strawberry patch in great numbers, and they are eating the leaves. Please tell me what they are and the remedy for them. I am giving them a taste of Bor- deaux and Paris green. The insects which you sent us were badly crushed, but after placing them un- der a magnifying glass, we feel safe in saying that they belong to the beetle family. They resemble the flea-beetle, which does not do a great deal of damage. When I was located in Indiana, these beetles attacked my plants in large num- Pk«e 148 ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A HOME? No farmer should think of buyine land or a home until he has seen a copy of The Farm and Real Estate .Tounnil . It has the lartrest list of farms, city property and stocks of goods advertised in it of any paper published and reaches .50,000 readers each issue, S5 per cent of which are fanners, and is one of the best advertisini: mediums in Iowa. Advertisinj; rates !.'> cents per a«:ate line. Send 7,3 cents and we will mail you The .loumal for one year. Or for 10 cents in silver or stamps we will send it for two months on trial . Farm and Real Estate Journal TRAER, tOWA bers, but in a few days they disappeared. They are a leaf-chtwing insect, and may be destroyed with Paris green. Ten ounces of Paris green poured over two pounds of lump lime, and over this pour two gallons of hot water. When thoroughly slaked, add enough water to make forty gallons, and spray the plants thoroughly. N. J., Sawyer, Wis. What do you think about the patent folding berry box.' Is it any better than the common one which is put together with staples? 2. Can more bushels of berries he grown from the acre, in the single-hedge row than in the matted row.' How many more.' The question of package is largely a matter of taste, convenience or economy, the situation of each grower determining THE STRAWBERRY JUNE 1907 his preference. The extensive grower who owns a wire-stapler is quite liicely to prefer to buy his materials and make up his own boxes „nd perhaps his crates. This is good work for stormy winter days. The plan for the new grower to follow is to send for catalogues, samples, etc., and solve his own problem in the way best suited to his needs. 2. It is quite likely that, taken on the average, more berries may be grown on an acre in the matted row than on the same space set in the single-hedge row. But little fancy fruit is to be expected from the matted row. C. H. S. .Ottawa, Kans. I have one-fourth acre of plants set in the spring of 191)6. Kept the blossoms picked off, and trained in single- hedge row. The warm weather in March of this year forced an early bloom and the freez- ing weather of April killed two-thirds of the bloom — a great many of them before they were half open. Now I want to know if I may let them bear what fruit they may, then mow and burn the patch and use it for propa- gating plants for next spring's setting? 2. If so, how should I train the runners, i. e. , is it necessary to remove part of runners in a propagating bed? 3. Will a bed like the aho\'e be all right to use for the third crop of fruit? 4. Would it be best to confine onesself to a single variety or use more than one variety in attempting to raise three or four acres of strawberries for market? We would advise you to allow the plants to fruit all they will this year, and CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COLUMN AGENTS WANTED, CHANCES, ETC. ■y^'E want one* lady or gentleman to take orders and df- »* liver for us, ni])id seller, hiirhest quality eoods, sales ill almost evprj' house. Best of pay and no money required to r'iirrj- on tbi- work. Wo will send a proposition as soon as we Qpftr from you. also sample pair of G-inch shears for 2H cents — stamps or silver. Write at once. United Sheiir Co., Westboro. Mass. tf COLD STORAGE A COLD STORAGE PL.\NT will often pay for itself in a Bin:_'le season. Fniit irrowers without a modem cold room are handicapped. Wnte for descrii>tion of the Gravit>- Brine System, statins size you are interested in. and for purpose wanted. Madison Cooper Company. Xo. 100 Court St.. Watertown. N'. Y. tf DAIRY CATTLE HOLSTETN BUM, CALF for sale— one month old— for iF2.%.00. I'un- l.n-il. reiiistered and fmm the best strain of tbe nirist prntitahle dair\' cattle known. Dr. Haines Three Rivers. Mich. FARMS AND LANDS FOR SALE 2TKAWBERRY FARMS and Country Homes in the Tide, water section of Viririnia. Some beautiful waterfront properties. Wilcox and (Joodenow. Norfolk, Virginia. 7 S'' POULTRY, EGGS, ETC. T^ ROSE COMB Brown LPL'horn Eggs, 75 cents. Henn- O Tiedemann, Hammond. Ind. 6 FOWLS, !fl..'>0; Eiiss. if 1.00— White LeEhorns, Bnff Rocks, fine lari:e Biin-cd Rocks, good color Bnff Cochins. H.S.Arnold Lanark. III. 6 FOR SALE. White Leihom. White Rock and Pekin Duck cEes for hat<-hinir. Collie Pnps. Homer PieeonK. If you want something elCL'ant and reasonable write The Miohaeli'' PonUr\- Farm . Marinette . Wis . 6 PROPRIETARY ARTICLES IETTLCECKEAM. oldest and best for the skin. Won- J derfnl for snnbnm . Sample free . Lettuce Cream Soap with conpoti for real L'old rinL': 10 cents. Lettuce Cream Co., Dept. S, Brooklyn, N. Y. 6 after the fruit is picked, mow the vines ofT and burn the foliage over, and then pro- ceed to prepare the bed for a second crop. But we would not advise you to take any plants from this bed, as it is always best to get plants from newly set plants. We think it is quite likely that you will get a better crop of berries than you now an- ticipate, as many of the later buds will mature into berries, that otherwise would not have done so if all of the bloom had been saved from the frost. 2. It is not necessary to remove any of the runners in a propagating bed, ex- cept the weaker ones, and all laterals. By laterals we mean the weak runners that start from the main cord between the mother plant and the runner plant. 3. When a bed of plants fruits lightly, the third crop generally is profitable. 4. It always is best to use several va- rieties, at least one variety for each season. We recommend this for two reasons. First, because you have berries through a longer season, and second, because if the bloom of one variety should be destroyed by frost, there remains a chance for the other varieties to escape. F. S., Walworth, Neb. Two years ago I set out six hundred strawberries, and would have had a fine crop last year but for an insect which my neighbors call rose slugs. They made their appearance about the time berries began to ripen and ate berries, vines and all. I was afraid to use poisons, as Paris green, on account of affecting the fruit. If you know of a remedy for these rose slugs will you please advise. The remedy for rose slugs is arsenate of lead, or disparene. It is unsafe to use Paris green in sufficient strength to kill the rose slug. In fact, the rose slug seems not to be affected by Paris green. Of course, no arsenates must be used when fruit is on the vines. A. H. D., Reidsville, N. C. I wish to ask for a little information of you, in regard to some kind of insect that is destroying my berry vines. These insects injured them very much last summer and fall; in fact they killed some of my vines; and this spring they have spread most all over my patch. Unelss I can learn how to destroy them I shall have to quit the berry business. These wevils or bugs seem to do their feeding at night, as I've never been able to see them on the plants. They puncture or eat the leaves full of small holes, and keep the plants weak and small. Many of the plants will not fruit at all because of their weakened condition. From the description you have given us of the insect which is causing you so much trouble, we are lied to believe that it is the saw-fly. This is a little greenish worm that works on the under side of the leaf. It does a great deal of this wOfk Page 149 Fruit Packages of all Kinds Before ordering your supplies write for our Descriptive Catalogue and Price List. BERLIN FRUIT BOX CO.. Erie Co. Berlin Heights, Ohio. RELIABLE FRUIT LANDS \Vf t;-!! dosirablo Roal Fstn'e nnywhpre in tho Paoifle Nnrl Invent \Vc will frivcy<»;i any information dftsir^d, L:r!itis, i'bnnt th'.'; I)c,>t Strjiwlu'iTV. Kniit and Farm Ivaii'1;^ in tlie Korthwist . Writt* us at once for free iiifuriuatinji, PURSE AND COMPANY No. 315 Chamber Commerce, Poritand, Oregon, HOMESKEKER'.S OPPOKTIINITY The Tnlafin Viin.v. thirty minutes ride from Port- land. .Mild, hi-ultht'ul (d'iraate all tlif year— ideal fruit, walnut and dairy lands, on easy terms. *liO an acre upwards. Two intenirban railways — tjood markets — thrivine towns — excellent schools. Write for further particulars. Iiivestiuent Company 244 .Stark St. Portland, Ore. \'IRGINIA FARMS, *.W0 includine new 3-room * cottaue and 25 acres for poultry, fruit and yeL'etables. Oakdale tract, Wayerly, Va. Midway Norfolk and Rich- nnind. Finest climate, water and markets. F. H. I^a- Baume, A. & I. Agt. N. & W. Ry. , Box SB, Roanoke, Va. during the cool of the day and evenings. It is very seldom found working upon the leaf where the sun strikes it. It always hunts the shady part of the leaf. At first sight spray with Paris green, using about eight ounces. Put this on two pounds of lime, pouring over it about two gallons of water, and when the lime is slaking it will absorb the acid in ;he Paris green, which will prevent any injury to the foliage. After the lime and Paris green are thor- oughly slaked and mi.xed together, add enough water to make about forty gallons. One spraying generally will destroy these insects. I. E., La Luz, N. M. I enclose herewith two strawberry leaves, which are turning yellow> and wish to ascertain the cause, and remedy. This is the Senator Dunlap variety, and plants were set otit one year ago last March, and have been well cared for, having had water every nine days during berry season. They are on medium-rich land — clay .soil. We are just through picking for this season. There was a great quantity of bloom but two-thirds of the berries did not mature. There was no other varieties of strawberries near tliis bed of Senator Dunlap. The leaves you enclose appear to be affected by some fungous disease. We advise you to spray them with Bordeaux mixture. While this will not cure the plants already afFected, it will prevent it from spreading over the healthy plants. Sometimes a lack of potash in the soil will cause the foliage to turn yellow, but in your case the trouble is due to a fungous disease. Prompt action will prevent its spread over the healthy plants in the field. 'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM THE sixth edition of the book, "200 Egce a Year per Hen, ' ' is now ready. Revised, enlarged, and in part rewritten, 06 paces. Contains amonff other things the method of feeding by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro, N. H. , won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best etrg record during the winter months. Simple as a, b, c— and yetwe guaranteeit to start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more eggs than any otlier method under the sun. The book also contains recipe for egc food and tonic used by Mr. Foi, which brought him in one winter day 6fe eggs from 72 hens ; and for five days In succession from the same flock 64 eges a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain of Wolfboro, N. H. , eays: ' 'By following the methods outlined in your book I obtained 1,496 eggs from 91 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." From 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 etrga in one year — an average of over 214 esse apiece. It has been my ambition in writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the standard book on egg production and profits in poultry , Tells all there Is to know, and tells it iu a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate. both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 pagea^ 50 cents pe. year. 3 nmnths' trial, 10 cents. SaiiL- pie free. CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block, Syracuse, N. Y. INO TIME carry loads of water to aprayt Do the m . : rnoreefTeclui W, qin-kly an-l easily by % applying the Insect poir. ACME POWDER GUN J It puts the powder ripht to the spot — under and all about the leaves and eteras. Bugs, worms and insects can't escape; anJ ju^t a puff to the plant does the business. If your dealer ha^sn't It, send 11.00 and his name— we ■will ehip Powder Gun, charges paid. Handles any kind nf powder insecticide. Ask for little book for particulars, sent free. POTATO IMPLEMENT COMPANY. Box 631 Traverse City* Michigan^ ;««JK> URST POTATO* ORCHARD SPRAYER ON FREE TRIAL. ^o miiney Id mihancc — I'ay when r'-ntpiiii>iit. SprniR Efprjlhlnfc — Trees; Potatoes. Tiuck etc. 4 mng at a time— 20 acres a day. Ilooblrg Vnar I'rgB— extra yield one acra will pay ft first ten sun, A boy can oiiemte It. crAUA.NTFFD FIVE YEAKS. Wholesale Price twiner* no aRent). Ai:;ENTS WANTKD. After tiial. if yuu keep It— pay when yoa can. S|iecial FREE OFFFR fnrllrst one in each locality. "SPRAYINR riUIDE" and full information FRKK. HrlUTodaj. We Tny Freli-lit. H. L. HURST MFG CO., 7 5 North St.,Canton,0. THE HILTON HOE A moisture saver : A pulverizer ; A weeder : A labor saver : Cultivates row faster than wheel hoe. Operator walks backward avoiding water- wasting footprints. Makes ideal dry soil mulch. Hoe can be worked with either face down. Standard size nine inches wide. Handle six feet long. Write H. R. HtLTON, POBT AuEMHY, Pa. ^PRAYING ^ ^^ .,JB<'%ifc Strawberries Potatoes, Vegetables, Trees; While-washing, etc., quickly and effectively done with the new ^^ 4^^^n^ ' '^^^ "KANT-KLOG" SPRAYERS ffi ^H Spraying time will soon be here. If any of your neighbors are likely to purchase spray- ers this spring, send to us. at once for book- lets and we will tell you how to get your sprayer free. 1^^?^ I^^^K^Pi Rochester Spray Pump Co. 12 East Ave., ROCHESTER, N. Y. In Writing to Advertisers Please Mention The Strawberry Edison Outfit No Free Concerts! At any time you wish you can have a free concert in your own home — not a concert of one instrument or voice alone, but a concert of band and orchestra music, vocal solos, grand opera as 1 well as comic opera — any thing you like. The world's greatest artists are at your command if you own a new 1907 model Edison Phono- graph, and you don't have tn pay fancy prices for a one night' s entertainment, but can have free concerts as often as ; "COLO »"'■'■ , Mf>. Edison says: ' '/ want to see a Phonograph In every American home. ' WONDERFUL Edison Phonograph. Offer WHILE this offer lasts we will send to any reader of this paper a Genuine Edison new style 1907 model Phonograph for free trial In your own home— a t ial lasting two days to a week. Try the new 1907 model Edison in your own home. Tfien, if you do not want to kei'p this won- derful instrument, you may send ii; b-icli to us at our expense and we charge ynu absolutely nothing for the free trial. II you like the Instrument with Its marvelous variations of entrr- tainment. including the latest t)opu!ar songs, side splitting minstrel dialogs, beautiful operatic airs sung by the greatest artists, its dreamy waltzes and stirring two-steps, its orations and elocutionary recitals, you may keep the Instrument and send either cash in full or the small- est monthly payments at the iurprisina rock-bottom prices on the finest Edison outtits. §2 alVIontliS.7.''Srm'^fS Edison outnt Including one di'zea genuine Edison pold moulded re- cords. The finest Improved 1907 model Edl- Bon onttlt only 03.50 a month. And at rock ^ bottom price no matter whether you sena cash la full or pay oa our easiest terms. P^M^n^V. InlulhSomanycashpur- r V£ V^<»&11 cliaserf me ^ettlnp; the finest Edbon outtlta on frt'f trial that we are obliged to announce attain that Mr. Etllenn allows no diecount for cash. We have already given those who buy on easy payments the lowest poiilble price and we must treat all the Edison customers alike. TItAOe MARH Edison^S'l'^^. U CdAAOIV' 8TGN the Coupon and get the great Edl- BOQ CHtalojr, quoting the rock-bottom pri- ces—s»rpr/.si?(ff pricefi the finest Edison oiitfltB. Ri-memberyou getanab' Bolutt'ly free trial and can send either cash ^^K FREE COUPON ison Phono- Oistribtrs. F.K. BABSON.Mgr. OIC-ON BUILDING. ite 336X1. Chicago without any obligations on e please eend me free, prepaid. Edison catalog. Edison poster and catalog of Edison lecords. Addresn I DoD'tbotherirlthi letter; tbeconpoDwllldo. I July 190' THES 'The Lord might have made a better fruit BERRY than the strawberry---but He never did." th' PUBLISHED BY lll©ii FoslbDn^Ihininii C(wmpmmj THREE RIVERS. MICHIGAN 3fr. JTarraer- FfiCtorj to Farm. How much is your time worth at 1 time? Youoansavehalf of itby "ou^ Combination Spring and Spilte Tooth Harrow. Special Introductory Price and fri-iaht paid to first buyer in your ocalitj". Send forfreeillustrated buoklet and surprising special offer. NAYLOR MFG. CO. (Not Inc.) 4 Spring Ave. LaCrange, III. URST POTATO dr ORCHARD SPRAYER ON FREE TRIAL, No money in sthance — i'ay whon contenleiif. Sprnya E^t'rjlhlnp — Trees: Potatoes, Truck etc. i rows at a time — 20 acres a day. l>oubI< B Your Crop— eictra yield one acre will pay rt first season. A lioy can OJierate it. Gr.\RA>TEED FIVE yE.\IiS. Wholesale Price (where no asent). AiiENTS T\'ANTED. After tri^il. if you keep it — pay when you can. Special FREE OFFER for first one in eacli locality. "spRAYING fil'lDE" and full inf<. I Illation F1;KK. >trll« Today. He Vay Frelt'l'l. H. L. HURST MFG CO., 7 5 North St.,Canton,0. This Sprayer used by leading straw- berry growers. FALL-FRUITING STRAWBERRIES PAN-AMERICAN AND AUTUMN strawberry plants that have been trans- planted in pots or otherwise can be set as late as August 15 and produce fruit the following September and October. Pot rooted plants of the leading spring- bearing varieties can be furnished in- cluding the new "Golden Gate" which won $23 on 7 (seven) quarts at the Massachusetts Horticultural Exhibition in 1906. Send for circular. S. H. WARREN, WESTON, MASS. "The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM THE sixth edition of the book, "200 Eggs a Year per Hon, ' ' la now ready. Roviaed, enlarged, and In part rewritten, 9fj paces. Contains amone other thlncBthemethodof feeding by which Mr. S. D. Fox, ofWolfboro, N. H., won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best ej^g record during the winter months. Simple as a, b, c— andyetwe guaranteeltto start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more e^'ss than any other method under the sun. The book also contains recipe for ecrg food and tonic used by Mr. Fox^ which brought him in one winter day 6b e^gs from 72 hens; and for flvedaysln succession from the same flock 04 egys a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain ofWolflioro, N.H., says; "By following the methods outlined in your book I obtained 1,496 eggs from 91 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." From 14 pullets picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 egce in one year— an average of over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition In ^vriting "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make It the standard book on egu production and profits in poultry . Tells all there Is to know, and tolls it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our pnper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to 80 paces. 50 cnis pe. V'-ar. 'S months' trial. 10 cents. ISaui- ple free. OaTALOQUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block, Syracuse, N. Y. CHAMPION POTATO (lACfflNEKT Book- FREE POTATO BOOKF-^ Every farmer who plants potatoes should have this great book on Potato Machinery. describing the O. K. Champion Planter, a machine that opens the trenches— plants the potatoes any distance apart and marks forthene.xtrow- ALL IN ONE OPERATION. Unfailingly accurate. Increases the yield. Saves most of the labor. CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY inclmies every machine necessiir\ to raise potatoes and get rich out of them. Why not commercinlize your farming and get all there is in it ? \yRITE Tt)DAY for this instructive and money-saving catalog. It will pay you well. Be sure to ask for Catalog 161. 'VJ^ITt CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY CO.. HAMMOND. IND. FOR IT.PEALER-'^ Our spocial prnpr.sitjr.n t/^yoiiand big dealers' ralalr.;.- G i-; r^ady Write foritatonce j EVERYTHING OVER THE COUNTER AT THE THREE RIVERS BUSINESS COLLEGE A postal brings fine catalogue and good office $5 bill, such astheseyouuL' people are using. Write ii.n The Strawberry Photographic Contest for 1907 LAST YEAR the photographic contest between members of The Strawberry family aroused much pleasant rivalry, and resulted in giving to the world many beautiful and instructive views of strawberry fields. It is our purpose to make the contest this year of even greater interest to all. We therefore shall oPFer a duplicate set of prizes--one for the best photograph of a field of strawberries not less than one acre in extent; the other set of prizes for a photo- graph of a family strawberry patch--as follows: A— COMMERCIAL STRAW- BERRY FIELD 1st prize Photograph, cash - $5.00 2nd prize Photograph, cash 3.00 3rd prize Photograph, cash - 2.00 B— FAMILY STRAWBERRY PATCH Isl prize Photograph, cash - $5.00 2nd prize Photograph, cash - 3.00 3rd prize Photograph, cash - 2.00 It is to be understood that all photographs submitted in this contest are to be the property of the Kellogg Publishing Company. The season will extend from spring until late fall, the individual contest- ant choosing his own time for taking the view; the desire being to show ideal conditions at every stage of development of the plants. Expert photographers will pass upon the merits of the photographs and award prizes. THE KELLOGG PUBLISHING COMPANY Three Rivers, Michigan Entered «s second-class matter at the Postoffice at Three Rivers, Michigan THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 7 Three Rivers, Mich., July, 1907 $L00 a Year TH P' celebration of the semi-centennial of the Michigan President Hopicins on the other end, would be a good enough A(;ricultural College, culminating with the address of university for him." Somewhat of the nature of this influence was President Roosevelt to the class of 1907, was an event that possessed by the famous Dr. Kedzie, so long the central and of profound significance to the world of agriculture. inspiring spirit of this great school, and his "boys and girls' , It was a fitting tribute to an institution which bears the honor of many of whom are gray-haired now, never fail to give him due being the pioneer center devoted to agricultural education, and credit for his untiring and intelligent efforts in their behalf, may be accepted as the national recognition of the place occu- Therefore, both in its local and in its broader significance, it v as pied to-day by agriculture in higher education. A provision for fitting that the President of the United States should take cog- ihe establishment of an agricultural college is contained in the nizance of this important anniversary, and lend to its celebration constitution of the state of Michigan which was adopted some the dignity of his high office. And his address on that occasion sixty years ago, and as some one remarked upon the occasion of was one which paid noble tribute to the man who tills the soil the recent" celebration, it is unfortunate that we do not know or labors otherwise with hands well directed by a trained mind. the name of the man of far-see- ing intelhgence who suggested the incorporation of this impor- tant provision in that document, a document which must be im- mortal because of this provision if for nothing else. I^OT alone is the Michigan Agricultural College the pioneer institution of its kind, but it has ranked, and still ranks, as a leader in this great work. It is doubtful if there is a state or territory in our broad land wherein the influence of from one to a dozen men who are proud to call this institution their alma mater has not exerted an inspiring influence for better agriculture. A roster of the men who have graduated from this school to take high place among theirfellows would besurprising. Without reference to any list of THIS illustration indicates the manner in which A. A. Halladay of Bellows Falls, Vl., a member of The Strawberry family, sends his fruit to market. For the use of the photograph we are indebted to the New England Homestead. Writing the editor of that journal, Mr. Halladay says: "This shows how all our berries go to market. We use special crates, holding twelve boxes. The band tucks down between box and rim. There arc no mussed berries in these boxes, and the boxes are filled just as you see them. The photo was made from an average crate that was ready for market and not put up for show." Is it any wonder Mr. Halladay's berries always top the market? What he has done in this direction others certainly may do. He took for his theme "The M;m who Works With his Hands," and after paying an eloquent tribute to the college whose guest he was, and to the place occupied in the minds and hearts of the people by the com- mon schools of our country, he took occasion to emphasize anew the great defect in our system of education, which he declared to be the lack of proper attention to industrial training, finding, howevei', in tlie achieve- ments of the agricultural col- lege, gratifying evidence of what may be accomplished along these lines. PRESIDENT ROOSE- * VELT laid especial stress upon the need of cooperation among farmers, and declared that if they would attain the highest results they must learn names, but depending wholly upon memory, we can recall at the vital need of cooperation one with the other, and its practical once Professor L. H. Bailey, dean of Cornell Agricultural Col- adoption into their daily life. Next to cooperation with each lege; Eugene Davenport, dean of Illinois Agricultural College; other in importance was cooperation with the government Kenyon Butterfield, president of Amherst; H. W. Mumford, chief through the agricultural department, and the department could of animal husbandry at Illinois; F". B. Mumford, chief of animal husbandry at Missouri; W A. Taylor, pomologist of the Depart- ment of .^Agriculture at Washington; Perry Cj. Holden, whose work in spreading the gospel of better corn and more "f it in Illinois and Iowa has made his name famous the world over — the list is too long to give in further detail. But what a magnificent tribute is this list of names to the work and influence of this institution! PRESIDENT GARFIELD once remarked, in referring to the influence of President Mark Hopkins of Williams Col- lege, "that a log in the forest with himself on one end, and accomplish much more in the interest of agriculture through associations of farmers than it could possibly do by dealing with farmers as individuals. This is a suggestion to which strawberry growers and growers of all lines of fruit should give serious thought. The manifest value of cooperation is seen in the suc- cess which attends the practical conduct of many cooperatirig industrial enterprises, and throughout the South and the Pacific Coast states, horticulturists already have adopted cooperation as the most economical and safe method of conducting the com- mercial side of their business. Some of the epigrammatic sen- tences spoken by the president in his address follow: No THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 growth of cities and no growth of work can make up for loss in number and char- acter of farming population. . . . The bulk of people should work with both head and hand. . . . Progress cannot permanently consist in abandonment of physical labor but in the development of physical labor, so that it shall represent the work of the trained mind in the trained body. . . . We must have a higher plane of efSciency and reward with conse- quent increased growth of dignity for the wage worker. . . . We must develop a system under which each citizen shall be trained as an economic unit. The greatest of crops is the crop of chil- ten. The address of President Roosevelt was the climax to a week of conventions and celebrations at Lansing ranging all the way in importance from class dinners to the twenty-first annual convention of the Association of American Agricultural Col- leges and Experiment Stations. These various celebrations began May 27th, clos- ing on the 31st with the address of Presi- dent Roosevelt. The work being done by the association above named is among the most important now going forward in the interest of scientific agriculture. That the world outside our own country recog- nizes the value of the work this associa- tion is doing is indicated by the fact that special representatives were in attendance upon its sessions from England, Germany and Italy, while many of our Canadian neighbors were present to express their sense of its importance. Five foreign universities and one foreign agricultural college sent special representatives, while from American educational institutions came representatives from thirty-eight col- leges, twenty-iwo universities, twenty-two experiment stations, twenty-four scientific societies, and eleven agricultural journals. ^ <^ How One Boy Began By Edgar L. Vincent IT was rather hard work for the boy to convince Father that there was any room on the farm to spare for straw- berries. "Got to have the land for things that pay. The garden? We need every cor- ner for potatoes and such things. None too much now. They wouldn't amount to anything, anyhow None of the folks here raise strawberries. You can get 'em out in the field — all you want of 'em. Less work than to raise 'em, too." But the boy stuck to it that if Father would only let him try a few he would do all the work himself and he believed it, would pay. Finally the father told the lad, just to get rid of him, that he might dig up a bed ten feet square out jack of the meadow in the pasture. He It't sure the boy would soon get sick of his ba-.^ain to keep the weeds down. The boy had a dollar in his bank ai.^^ he went and got some wire netting and put up a little fence around his lot. Then he borrowed a few plants of a man who was thinning his out, promising to pay "when he made". He studied the papers to find out all he could about berries and kept them free from weeds and clipped ofF the runners. This latter was the hard- est of all to do. It does come a little tough to snip ofF every blossom and cut the runners, when all the time you are so anxious to see what the berries — the pretty berries that you have raised with your own hands — will look like. But he did it, and possessed his soul in patience till the second year. It paid to wait. Father never went near the little field. One day Mother did and she and the boy had a nice visit there all by themselves, thinking and talk- ing about the surprise they would give Father some day. It was a surprise, and no mistake. How his eyes did stick out when he saw the first little handful of ripe red berries from his little man's field! They tasted as good as they looked, too. And then one day the boy picked a couple of quarts and took them down to the village and sold them for twenty-five cents. No king ever stepped higher than he did then. That quarter was the big- gest piece of money ever made. As he turned it over and felt of it in his pocket it was certainly as big as a cartwheel. Well, that was the beginning. After that Father could not refuse a little bigger piece of ground for the berries. And he helped the boy some into the bargain. The last I knew they were every year selling a good many bushels and having hard work to furnish all the people wanted. They had plenty of them on the table, too, and now and then they took a basket to some of the neighbors or to an old and sick lady not far away. And the neighbors began to set out some for themselves. That is the way it usually works; one man does something and if it is a success, others want to have a little of the success themselves. When things are going our way the berry patch moves down from the back lot close to the side of the road, where folks can see what we have been doing. It was that way with our boy's berry patch. It was the biggest thing on the farm. Binghamton, N. Y. PRICES for strawberries have been higher this year than last, and growers in the South and Southwest have done well in the main. This is partly due to the influence of organization. At Neosho, Mo., where there are two associations of growers, the season's sales aggregated about eighty cars. From a local paper we learn that "last year the growers netted $1.80 per crate for their berries delivered on the cars at this place, and this year it is thought they will realize not less than Page 154 $2.25. This will bring them about $108,000, or $21,000 more than last year, for the same quantity of berries. It has been estimated that the actual cost of growing, picking and loading berries on the car is 90 cents a crate. So it will be seen that at $2.25 the grower is making a very handsome profit on his crop. From a financial standpoint 1907 is certainly the banner year for strawberries in the Neosho field so far." Reports from the Southwest indicate that the acreage set to strawberries will be largely increased as a result of the improved market and stead- ily increasing demand for the fruit. Bees as Pollen Carriers RECENTLY the instructor in The Strawberry School bad something to say about the importance of pol- lenation in successful strawberry produc- tion, which brought out the following letter from A. L. Boyden of Gleanings in Bee Culture, himself an expert in matters pertaining to the bee: Dear Mr. Beatty : I am considerably interest- ed in your article on "Intensive Strawberry Cul- ture" in the March number of The Strawberry and the illustrations of the male and female blossoms. Years ago I used to grow the Jessie and have never forgotten the pleasure the grow- ing of those berries gave me. I write to inquire whether or not you have some experience or any information relati^'e to the value of bees in fertilizing the imperfect blossoms? I believe you did not mention the agency of the bees in your article and I would like tc have your opinion a= to what part they play in the proper fertilizatic of these blossoms. Yours ver5 truly, A. L. Boyden. To which Mr. Beatty made the fol- lowing reply: "In regard to the value of the honey- bee in distributing pollen, the work of these industrious little fellows '~an hardly be overestimated. When growing berries at Covington, Indiana, I purch.''sed ten hives of bees chiefly for the purpose of distributing pollen, and they performed their duties to my entire satisfaction. I realize that in some seasons much depends upon the honey-bee and other winged insects to carry the pollen from one variety to another. Recently while giving a talk on strawberry growing to the class in r.or- ticulture at Lansing, Michigan, the value of the honey-bee was discussed. Profes- sor Fletcher said that some experiments with the honey-bee had been made and that a large amount of pollen dust was found upon the bees. "In watching honey-bees while at work, I find that they never are still when tak- ing nectar from the blooin, and in moving about from the center cone of the flower many of the matured anthers will burst, and the pollen dust will settle upon the bees, which of course is in turn carried to the next flower they visit. By this meth- od many flowers are pollenized which THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 otherwise would be left barren. Even when all bisexuals are grown the honey- bee is of much value, as they will carry the pollen dust from flowers of one va- riety to another, causing exchange of pollen which is quite essential. "I believe it would pay all fruit grow- ers to have a few hives of bees to work among the flowers of the different kinds of fruits. Their work in connection with the honey produced would, in my judg- ment, pay handsomely. The honey-bee seems to be exceptionally fond of the nec- tar found in raspberry and blackberry bloom. My fields of this fruit were a veritable brass band of music made by the hum of the bees while passing from one flower to another. If all my help would work with the same vim and enthusiasm as does the honey-bee, I would not have so many gray hairs worrying over the labor problem." Importance of Restriction By M. N. Edgerton ONE of the most important features of work connected with profitable fruit production is that of judicious restriction in the matter of wood growth and number of pieces of fruit produced by a single tree or plant. Each tree and plant must be considered and dealt with as an individual. The time and manner of pruning re- quired differs with the different kinds of fruits, but the principle remains the same. Restricting wood growth promotes healthiness of foliage and greater size and better quality in fruit, aided by timely thinning. The usual time of pruning trees and bushes is in early spring while the wood is yet dormant. The work of pruning the strawberry is done during the growing season; that is, during the time of plant multiplication and bud formation. To get the best results it is necessary to pinch or clip ofF all unnecessary runners as fast as they appear. Unnecessary growth of vine is a useless expenditure of vital energy in the plant. Every atom of the plant's energy should be directed toward the development of a large crown and extensive bud system. How are these runners best removed: Some advocate the use of a runner (disc) cutter attached to the cultivator. We have such a tool but do not find it practi cal. With our twin double-hedge rov system a small share only of the runner can be removed with a roller cutter, good share of the runners will follow th • direction of the row and beside we ain. to remove the runners just as soon as they are easily seen, before the leaves put out from the nodes. In short, we find the most satisfactor>- method with us is to get down on om knees and pinch them off with thumb and finger or cut them with a knife. In this way we can remove a large number just as they are starting out. Some will think this way "p^'ttering", but it suits us very well. But few growers realize the importance of this feature of the work, hence the few faithful ones will continue to excel in the production of high-grade strawberries. Petoskey, Mirh Strawbe ries in the Mountains 3y F. W. Sturm I READ ivery line of The Strawberry and fee that I profit by the experience of oth.i=, so will give you a short history of s lie of my eighteen years' ex- perience in he culture of strawberries. I keep under 'Itivation from two to three acres each se son and find that we learn a great deal by experience and close obser- vation. I find the first thing of all is to find a kind of berry that suits your soil and climate and then be careful in the location of your bed. At least it is so in our mountainous West Virginia, as they do best generally on high land where they are best protected from frost. I have tested some fifty to seventy kinds and have discarded all but three. Most kinds I have found some good in, but were in- ferior as compared with some other va- rieties. As to soil, I think each one will have to study that in a measure for himself, as a soil that may be good for one kind of a berry will not do so well for another. I prefer a clay soil mixed with a black loam or clay and sand, but I find that any land well drained, that will grow a No. 1 crop of corn will grow strawberries if properly prepared before setting. As to prepara- tion I plow in November or December and at least two inches deeper than I would for corn, and at as early a date as possible in spring I start the harrow and drag and do not set my plants until I have my beds in shape to sow onion seed. I set plants from the 1st to the 20th of April. After plowing in the fall, if ground is not of the very best quality, I give it a thorough coating of stable manure. As to drawbacks we have but two — they are the white grub and late frosts. The surest and only way to rid the ground of the grub is to follow plow, harrow and drag at every cultivation and pick them up. As to the frosts, one of which we have just passed through (which was a very severe one and took one-third of our crop), we as yet have no remedy that has been tried. Enclosed find photograph of a two- year-old berry bed and pickers. I have some beds this spring which I am very proud of and would be glad to show to any one, let him be a lover of strawberry culture or not. If this does not find its way to the waste basket will write you again as to manner of setting beds, cul- ture, marketing and management of pick- ers. Enterprise, W. Va. THE avidity with which the public seizes upon a really good article in the way of fruit and renders success cer- tain to those engaged in its production is suggested by the experience of the navel orange. It seems almost incredible that a little over twenty-five years ago the crop of seedless oranges available for shipment was only one box. In 1898, 14,000 car- loads went out of California, and in 1904 26,000 carloads were shipped, a total of 10,000,000 boxes. This year the amount MR. STURM'S STRAWBERRY PATCH ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE Pa«e 155 THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 was much greater. The navel was first in. reduced from Brazil in 1872, and three years later a California woman obtained two of the slips from the government and planted them at Riverside. In 1879 the buds were selling as high as .$5 apiece, and in one year .$1,500 worth of buds were sold from these two trees. Now cney are found over a wide area of Cali- fornia and the fruit is one of the state's most valuable articles of export, being shipped in millions of boxes and bringing in vast sums to thousands of growers. The navel orange rules in the markets of the world and has been a prime factor in developing California. The demand for first-class strawberries is quite as steady and as strong. Quality's the thing; the people will pay a high price, and gladly, for all the really choice fruit offered them. Insects in the Strawberry Field And How to Deal With Them By R. L. Adams I 'HIS is the concluding instalment of I Mr. Adams' valuable contribution on one of the subjects of first im- portance to the strawberry grower. To those who read it with intelligent care this article will prove of large benefit when insect pests suddenly appear. The insects first to be considered in this number are those that appear On the Blossoms 1. The rose beetle or rose chafer (J/a- crodactylus subspi)iostis), familiar to every- one and similar in history to the June-bug, will cause great damage to the blossoms. Coming in enormous numbers, spraying has little effect on them, every one killed being replaced by a horde of new-comers. As the beetles are attracted to the straw- berry only secondarily in regions where they abound, the best — and then not wholly satisfactory — method is prevention. Do not choose a situation near rose-bushes, magnolias, raspberries, or other favorite hosts of this insect. On small beds hand picking in early morning or evening is productive, as the insects are sluggish at that time of day. 2. The second insect which attacks the blossoms is Thrips tritici which at- tacks the pistils, thus partly or entirely preventing fertilization, consequently they lessen or eliminate the crop. Ihe insect is especially harmful in the South. The adult is about one-sixteenth inch lo'igi yel'ow in color with an orange tint, and has feathery-like wings which fold up horizontally down the back like a fan. It is very lively and difficult to catch. Remedies — Spraying with kerosene emulsion or whale-oil soap is the only available method. Burning will destroy large numbers. On the Fruit 1. Ants, myripods, and many beetles eat the fruit, but the worst pest is the strawberry weevil (Anthononnis signatiia) which is a small, blackish snout beetle, one-tenth inch long covered with a gray pu'uescens The female is often found puncturing the stems and buds of staminate varieties. The eggs are laid in the buds while they are developing. The stem is then partly severed which arrests further growth and causes it to droop over. The egg hatches into a small grub which feeds and develops inside the bud until mid-summer, when it pupates, com- pleting the life-history in about four weeks from the time the egg is laid. There ap- pears to be but one generation. They winter over as adults, coming out in April. The greatest injury is done to staminate varieties especially Sharpless. Remedies — Insecticides are of little use. Clean culture, removal of old vines and any blackberry bushes in the vicinity all help. The most satisfactory method is to grow a few rows of early flowering kinds of strawberries from which the adults can be caught or the plants dug up and burned after the eggs are laid. Or the staminate varieties may be grown in rows and pro- tected with cheap coverings until the buds are ready to open. 2. Insects commonly found eating the fruit are the common stalk borer (Hy- draecia nit el a) and 3. Harpalus peniisylvaiiicus, or the common ground beetle, one inch long and jet black in color. • Remedies — If numerous, poison baits, hand picking, or a contact spray will clean out both of these. 4. The last insect to be taken up is the tarnished plant bug iLygus pralensis), common nearly everywhere in the U. S. living on a wide range of plants. It is very fond of the fruit and leaves of the straw- berry, causing the irregular, lumpy appear- ance known as "buttoning" by sucking the sap. The adult is a variable mottled brown- ish or yellowish bug, one-fourth inch long, which hibernates unier rubbish coming out in early spring to eat any tender vege- tation. Here the eggs are laid which hatch in April or May into young which resemble the adults. There are two or more broods a year, but there is no distinct line, all stages often being found together. Remedies — A contact poison will kill them. Kerosene emulsion is excellent, Page 156 but cannot be used after the berries attain any size, as it is liable to taint the fruit. Pyrethrum powder may then be used. Keep the fields clean and do noi per- mit a lot of old rubbish to remain on the bed over winter as a shelter for hibernating bugs. Conclusion In the fight against insects a few pre- cautions are often invaluable. Do not set a new bed with stock from an old infested field unless it is properly fumigated, a process it is well to put any lot of plants through before they are set out. Plant the new bed on land that has been under cultivation for at least two years and at considerable distance from the old spot. Rotate with other crops every two years or when the beds are past their prime. Plow under old plantations or pull and burn. Burning over the field consists in mow- ing the leaves after the crop is gathered, drying for a few days and then burning over. If the bare spots are covered with a little straw a more uniform clean-up will result. This will kill many insects and won't hurt the crown unless a long drought immediately follows. One must take the chances of this. On the whole the strawberry is fairly free from insect attack. One point that it is well to bear in mind is that one kind of treatment is advised for many insects. For instance, spraying with arsenate of lead will take care of all leaf-eating insects. In spraying the following amounts are recommended: Disparene or arsenate of lead, 2 tea- spoonsful to a pail, 5 lbs. to a barrel of water or Bordeaux mixture. Paris green, 1 teaspoonful to a pail, one- fourth lb. to a barrel. Hellebore, 1 ounce to a pail or three lbs. to a barrel. Paris green or arsenate of lead can be used safely until the fruit is set, after that, if more sprayings are necessary it is better to put on hellebore until after the crop is harvested, when a return to the others may be made. If this article falls into the hands of a man about to set out a strawberry bed I trust he will not lose his courage and give it up as a bad job at the outset. Many of the insects enumerated are peculiar to one locality. Others appear only at stated intervals. Parasites aid materially in the warfare against most of them. It is only in times especially favorable that one kind will gain headway enough to be- come very destructive. It is to have a guide to go by at these times that this paper has been prepared, to help the aver- age man when he finds himself over- whelmed at, apparently, a moment's notice with some unknown and unwelcome guest. AWAY DOWN SOUTH IN THE LAND OF (REVISED VERSION) STRAWBERRIES The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower By Frank E. Beatty Chapter IX — In which is shown the Secret of Success in Selling Strawberries AFTER I had hit upon a successful plan of putting my berries upon the maricet, I began to realize how easy it was to succeed with strawberries compared with other lines of business I had been connected with. I now had been growing strawberries for about ten years, and my only failure in getting a big crop was in the first year, and that failure was due to improper mat- ing of varieties. I never had had any trouble in disposing of all the berries I could grow, but the principal drawback with me had been to get a plan of putting the berries upon the market at a price which would pay me a liberal profit for my work. I always was too independent to allow customers to set the price on my products. After having worked hard all the year to grow big, fancy berries, and packing them in up-to-date fashion, and then to have the grocer, who knew noth- ing about the cost of producing such ber- ries, tell me what I should sell them for, did not strike my fancy a little bit. It is too much like giving entertainments and depending upon a hat-collection for pay. I never knew any showman to get rich in that way. Some growers will argue that it is easy to sell berries from one or two acres at your own price, but that this might not be done with a large acreage. I found that this argument did not hold good. It was just as easy for me to sell the berries from eight acres at my own price as it was from one acre. It was simply a mat- ter of arithmetic. The more acres, the more dealers and towns; and if it can be done with eight acres it can be done with twenty acres. If the grower is careful in packing his fruit he wins a reputation, and as his acreage expands so does his reputa- tion. I had the reputation of being the high-priced man in my locality. If a stranger came to town and inquired where he could get a case of choice berries, he almost invariably would be referred to me, and he would also be informed that he would have to pay a good big price for fancy berries. There was really no greater honor my friends could bestow upon me than to call me the high-priced fellow, for that is one thing that made the stranger desire to see my berries. Anyone realizes that in order to get high prices it is necessary to have high-class goods. No one ever objected to the price after they saw my berries. "My conscience! what big red fellows those are on top! Will they stand inspec- tion at the bottom?" would be the first Page 157 remark. "Yes, sir; just pick out any quart box from a crate, and if you don't find the berries just as fine at the bottom as on top, the whole crate is yours tree," was always my answer. And if the customei did not pick out a box I did, and it was tipped enough to show the berries cleai to the bottom of the box. "Did 1 understand you to say thai whole crate was only $3.00?" was the next question. Before they had seen the bernes they would say: "What! $3.00 for one little case of berries! It is no use to look at them for I never can pay such a high price'' But I showed them just the same, tor I knew that when they gazed upon a crate of those enticing berries, their $3.00 would not look half so big to them. I tell you, dear reader, the eye and the appetite work in perfect harmony, and they have a big influence upon the pocket book. I learned from my experience in sell- ing goods upon the road that it was noi good business policy to be stingy, and there were always a few extra quarts of the choicest and sweetest berries set aside to treat customers with. While this was undoubtedly a great help in effecting sales at good prices, yet it was not done es- THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 pecially for that purpose, but more to be sociable. I always did enjoy making friends, and then treating them so they always would be friends. I believe any- body admires a high-priced liberal man better than a cheap-priced stingy man. I believe this out of actual experience, be- cause my reputation grew, my business grew, and my acreage grew, and the fact that I sold my little thirty-seven acre farm for $10,000, and that the purchaser made about $5,000 upon his investment the first year, are evidences that reputation fig- ured largely in the transaction. IN a letter containing a subscription to The Strawberry for a friend W. R. Marshall of Sedgwick, Ark., says: "I sold $154 worth of strawberries off 100 rods of ground and we used lots of them ourselves. What do you think of Klon- dikes as large as hen's eggs.'' We had them." The Part the Package Plays By Ray G. Johnson WE have been one of The Straw- berry family for a year or more and enjoy its visits greatly. In the May issue appears an article on "Pick- ing and Marketing Strawberries", from Rural New Yorker, written by H. W. Jenkins of Missouri. This article inter- ested me because we are about to face the problem of marketing ourselves. We have been growing strawberries for market for about twelve years, but our strawberry crop is a side issue, peaches, plums and apples being the main crop here; unless one has only a few acres, it is useless to grow the large and small fruits and make them both the main or dependable crops. Therefore, while we like strawberries and love to work among them, we do not make a business and study of them, al- though we are successful with them. Our strawberry area consists of three small patches of one-fourth acre each, two of which are two years old, and the third one year old; and at present we are busy setting out one-half acre of young plants. We have tested more than seventy-five varieties of strawberries and find from ex- perience that for earliness and abundance nothing quite excels the Michel's Early and Crescent. Lovett and Seaford are good producers, but not so early. The varieties which are growing into favor here as market and shipping berries are the Sample, Senator Dunlap and New York on this soil (which is a rich black loam with clay subsoil). Sample is a wonderful plant grower and very prolific. Our market is a local town of about 4,000 population. There is a strong de- mand here for the strawberry, consequent- ly the price is good. We sell direct to the grocers and fruit men, not to just one, but to nearly all. I notice Mr. Beatty advises selling to only one firm in a town. I believe he is right; if we sell to one dealer we can build a reputation with that dealer and hold the price where it belongs. We advertise for pickers and usually have a score of boys and girls respond. They are interested to get some Fourth of July money. We pay two cents a quart for picking, but the sorting is done by the overseer and packed for market. Mr. Jenkins' method of providing num- bered slips for each picker to put into every box is a good plan; also the holding back of 25 per cent of wages till the end of the season. We have not tried either of these plans, but believe they are just the thing, and will try them this season. In the last few years we have had some difficulty in keeping our quart boxes; up- on getting our empty crates of the grocer we usually find a lot of old broken boxes in place of our own and frequently half of them gone. It is impossible to get our dealers to take care of our boxes. 1 would like to know if some one can suggest some good plan to overcome this common trou- ble.? The prospects for a good crop of berries are good. I am looking forward to the June issue of your excellent paper, as well as to the berry itself. Port Clinton, Ohio, May 17. IN our judgment, the best thing to do in the matter of the berry box is never to use one a second time; for what may be "saved" by so doing is more than lost in the moral influence of a poor-looking package. "The package sells the fruit, is the claim made by one of the well-known fruit-package manufacturing houses that patronizes The Strawberry's columns. There is no doubt that the effect upon the public of a neat, clean, sweet package is incalculable, and the fraction of a cent that a box costs is more than covered by the added attractiveness of the package where the bright new box is used. A stained box, showing signs of previous service, is quite likely to stand in the way of the sale of very nice fruit. Don't "economize" in that way! ONE report to the Minnesota State Horticultural Society has special in- terest for strrwberry growers. G. A. Chaffer of Long Lake, Minn., says that he had an unusual success with a straw- berry field of one and one-half acres, planted on a clover field, turned under just before planting. The clover growing in amongst the strawberries the year after planting partially shaded the fruit. The crop yielded at the rate of $400 to the acre. After securing one crop the field was turned over. AT its recent meeting the Western New York Horticultural Society elected officers for the ensuing year as follows: President, W. C. Barry, Roch- ester; vice-president, S. D. Willard, Gen- eva; J. S. Woodward, Lockport; T. B. Wilson, Halls Corners; B. J. Case, Sodus; secretary-treasurer, John Hall, Rochester. JOHN RUCKER OF BOSTON, N. Y., STARTING TO MARKET WITH HIS STRAWBERRIES Pafie 13S Intensive Strawberry Culture— Preparing for Second Crop By Frank E. Beatty IN this article on intensive strawberry growing I want to discuss the im- portance of preparing the strawberry bed for the second crop. When this issue of The Strawberry reaches its readers most of the strawberries will be gathered and fields that have produced only one crop of berries should be prepared for a second crop. If the work is carefully and properly done, there is no reason why the second crop should not be as successful as the first. ]n treating upon this subject it is my intention to give my own experience, and I believe that every one gets more of value from an article based on actual ex- perience than from any other. I have al- ways been very successful in getting a prof- itable second crop of strawberries and I want our readers to be just as successful as I have been. I never try to put any "flowers" in what I write — nothing but boiled-down facts. i)l course, there are some fields of strawberries in such poor condition that it would not pay to expend the work neces- sary for a second crop. In this case the grower must be his own judge. No mat- ter how particular the grower has been, the fruiting bed is almost sure to be en- cumbered with some weeds or other ob- noxious growth, but this should not dis- courage him in preparing it for another crop. Everyone who has grown straw- berries realizes how hard the ground has been tramped by the pickers and how the vines have been pawed over. This, in connection with the big crop of berries produced, has greatly weakened the plants, and if the grower w 11 mow off the vines just as soon as the last berries have been removed and burn the old foliage and mulching, then take ^ bar shear or com- mon breaking plow and turn a furrow over from each side of the row into the space between the rows, this will make condi- tions quite favorable to a second growth. The cutting off of the tops will throw much strength to the roots. The burn- ing over process will destroy fungous spores and insects of all kinds, and cutting a furrow from each side of the row breaks up the soil in such a way as to make it easy to get a good bed of loose soil in which the plants may make their new root systems. Now after this work has been done, and while the plants are setting in the narrow space left by the plow, the grower should go over each row wi:h a hoe and thin out all of the older plants, leaving a good strong hill every twelve or fifteen inches, and when this is done a five-tooth cultivator can be run over the top of the ridge which was made by the breaking plow. This will level the ridge down to i's proper place. Then go o\ er each row with a garden rake or a hoe and fill in all the places around the plants that the cul- tivator did not fill and in doing this draw a little soil over the crowns. The soil should not be more than one-half inch deep over the crowns. Covering the plants in this manner assists them in build- ing up a new root system, which is made just below the crowns and above the old roots. If the field is too large for hand work, a common harrow can be drawn cross- wise over the ridges. This will draw soil enough over the crowns of the plants to enable them to build up their new root systems. Some growers claim that they have lost plants by burning over the bed, and this is because they did not do the work properly. They would mow the tops off and defer the burning for a week or ten days, and during this time the crowns would send up new growth and then, of course, a hot fire would kill the plants. During hot weather the vines will dry in twenty-four hours and the burning should be done just as soon as the foliage will burn. Sometimes rain will come di- rectly after the plants have been mowed off, and it will remain wet for several days. In such a case as this a grower should examine the plants, and if they have started to make new growth it would then be best not to burn at all, but rake off the coarsest of the mulching and foliage and haul it from the field; but nine times out of ten, if the grower will watch the weather conditions closely and act prompt- ly, the burning can be done successfully. Before the burning is done the mulch- ing should be loosened up a little. In small beds this work can be done with a long rake handle. Just run it under the mulching and raise it up so the air will get under to dry it on the under side. In large fields a hay tedder is a valuable tool. This will kick up the straw in such a manner that it will dry out thoroughly and will burn very quickly. The burning is always most successful if it can be done on a windy day. I al- ways do the firing by taking a fork full of dry straw and set it on fire, then walk along the rows of the side from which the wind is coming. In this way with the help of two men I can burn ten acres in about one hour. If the straw and vines are loosened up the fire licks it up mighty quick. After I had narrowed down the rows and covered the crowns with soil I would take a weeder and go over the field in both directions. This levels it up and gives it the appearance of a field without anything planted in it, but in a few days plants would send up their foliage above the soil, showing bright green streaks clear across the field. Just as soon as the plants were large enough so that the row could be followed easily, the Planet Jr. twehe- tooth cultivator was put in service. Hoe- ing and cultivating was carried on the same as in a newly set field. Each hill was allowed to make enough runners to form a rather wide double-hedge row. After my ideal row was formed the rest of the runners were treated as weeds. If the soil was not rich enough to suit me, I had manure hauled and scattered between the rows. This was applied before the plants began to come up, and tlie manure was, of course, incorporated with the soil in cultivating and hoeing. When a field is prepared and handled in this manner it takes an expert to tell it from a field of newly set plants, and at fruiting time the berries were just as big, and just as many of them, as during the first crop. Now just a few suggestive "don'ts" and I am done. Don't leave the plants stand a day after the last picking, but mow the vines off at FRINGING STRAWBERRIES TO HUMBOLDT, TENN , FOR SHIPMENT TO THE NORTH Ptie ISJ THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 once, and don't neglect the loosening up ot the mulching. Don't neglect to burn the bed over after the mulching is dry. Don't be afraid, or so tender hearted after the rows have been narrowed down, to cover the crowns with fine soil. Don't neglect the cultivation and hoe- ing after the plants have come up; and above all, don't allow the runners to mat thickly. Don't get tired or discouraged and give up, but just keep cultivating, hoeing and cutting runners, and layering runners to make an ideal double-hedge row. I think by coupling these ideas with your own, you always will be successful in getting a good and profitable second crop of strawberries. Berries from the Viewpoint of Health By Edgar L. Vincent CARING for strawberries is one of the most healthful occupations one can engage in. When we came on the farm, I had quite poor health — stomach all out of order, so that I had to be very careful all the time about what I ate. In fact, that was one of the reasons why I was led to give up town life and move out to the farm. We wondered why none of the farmers in our part of the country ever set out strawberries. If we ever had any we had to wait for an old man to drive up to the farm from his place ten or twelve miles away. Then at times, especially when they had a lot of fruit on hand that they were afraid would spoil, the grocers in town would get a man to go out into the country with some, but they were mostly poor and indigestible fruit. In a day of great hope we ordered a couple of hundred plants. They came and we set them out on a nice plot of ground near the house. It was our first experience with berries, and we made some mistakes. But one thing we did do, we watched those plants and kept the weeds out of them. Another good thing resulted; and that is, health came to me. l^'gg'ng i" the ground was a fine thing. The smell of the fresh earth is better than medicine. Changing the mind is another fine thing. One stops thinking so much of self. I don't just know who it was that dis- covered the first big red berry, but I will venture to say that it was a boy with the sharpest kind of eyes. Probably that berry was not so very red all over when the keen eye of Laddie traced it to its hiding- place under the rich ambush of leaves. It was a great day when he piloted us out to look at the glorious thing. When I saw that splendid cluster of star-bright fruit on the cover of the May number of The Strawberry, it made me think of that ALL THE BOYS IN THE FAMILY TAKE A HAND IN THE STRAWBERRY PATCH beautiful first berry we found in our little garden. The sight of that did us all good as it doth always the upright heart to look upon the fruit of one's own hands. It brought health and strength to us that will never be forgotten. Binghamton, N. Y. Some Wonderful Friends of Ours BEES are not only wonderful little beings in their achievements as honey producers. Scientists who have carefully noted their methods of con- ducting afFairs have discovered that they have a clear and definite form of govern- ment, having the mixed characteristics of a monarchy and a democracy; they have a system of cooperation and are guided by a code of ethics far in advance of any- thing yet devised and observed by man. Prof. Gaston Bonnier says of his observa- tions: "My experiments have revealed the fact that the division of labor among bees is carried to a surprising extent. Bees which are seeking for pollen or nectar do not carry it, but merely carry the news to the hive. A number of bees are sent out to strip the flowers, a number carrying pollen only, others nectar only, others again water only where water is needed. The number sent out is proportional to the number of flowers to be stripped, and by marking the bees with colored tale it was proved that each bee confined itself for the time being to one class of work. The same bee might be seeking for flowers in the morning and collecting in the after- noon, but did not change the nature of its work without returning to the hive. There seemed to be something in the nature of a working agreement between bees of difi^erent hives, as when the work of clearing a certain area of flowers had P»«e 160 once been commenced by a few bees from one hive these collectors were not inter- fered with by bees from other hives." ON E member of The Strawberry fam- ily who grows the most popular ber- ries in his part of Oregon has won special distinction this season. The Coquille (Ore.) Herald, after quoting the Portland Oregonian to the effect that the first Hood River strawberries of the season had reached Portland May 16 and sold for 50 cents a pound, goes on to say: "What of it.? H. A. Todd of the Round Hill farm, Arago, Coos county, Oregon, had elegant fully ripened strawberries in the Coquille market May L beating the Hood River grower just sixteen days, and his custo- mers did not have to pay 50 cents per pound for them either, as they were re- tailed at 25 cents per pound." Brother Todd certainly has reason to be proud of his record, and The Strawberry is proud of him. THE farm-la "lor question is intelligently treated and certain aspects of it soi.ed in an attract- ive and expensively gotien up forty-eight page, illustrated book, published by the American Fork c*;: Hoe Co., 745 Am. Trust Bldg., Cleveland, Ohio. VVe urge every reader of The Strawberry to procure a copy before the present limited edi- tion is exhausted. Write for it at once. ANNOUNCEMENTS have been issued for the National Purity Con- gress to convene in Battle Creek, Mich- igan, October 31 to Novembsr 6, 1907 This congress will be held under the aus- pices of the National Purity Federation, an association having for its object the cooperation in a national sense of all forces in the United States that are striving to promote purity in the life of the Individ- THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 ual and in social relations. Eminent speakers from all sections of our countiy and some from abroad will address the congress. A program is being prepared which will cover every phase of the move- ment, including pre\enti\'e, educational, rescue, legislative, law enforcement and sanitary lines of effort; the white slave traffic, social diseases, and good-health topics. A general invitation is extended to all who are interested to attend this congress. The Strawberry considers its mission to be distinctly along horticultural lines, but it is glad to aid in giving pub- licity to this movement whose sole pur- pose is the uplift of all. We are sure that strawberry folk everywhere will bid godspeed to this noble endeavor. Preparing Ground for Strawberries By Francis A. Badger FOUR acres were selected of a deep, stiong loam with a clay subsoil, slop- ing gently toward the north-west, as this slope lengthens the season for late berries. By the way, setting early varieties on a south-east slope the early season will be made more early, which is the object sought, as we wish to make the season as long as possible. This land was broken in November, 1906, to a depth of nine inches with a sulky plow and every rock struck at that depth taken out; and while my land is not called rocky, it would make a good-roads advocate, looking for material smile a broad smile to see it after I got over it. 1 his spring it was harrowed with a disc harrow, the work being repeated once a week until about the last of May, when some who saw it told me it was too bad to waste that piece by planting it to pota- toes when it was good enough for corn. But it was planted to potatoes just the same, as I find this thorough cultivation brings the bumper crop of potatoes as well as everything else. Rows three feet apart are furrowed out straight and potatoes cut to single eyes are dropped in the furrow ten to twelve inches apart using from three-fourths to a ton of special pota;o fertilizer per acre. No stable manure. These are covered with a cultivatOi' with wings reversed leaving a ridge whch is leveled by using a float made of plank and drawn over it length- wise. This is followed by a light smooth- ing harrow once in four or five days, run- ning both ways so that the field is level when the potatoes come up. This treatment is kept up as long as the tops V- ill go under the frame of the harrow, a.iJ then the twelve-tooth culti- vator is used alternately with a fi\e-tooth, gradually working the dirt toward the plants. Just before the last cultivation the field is gone over by hand and all weeds an? grass are removed and then with cultivator they are hilled up and FRANCIS A. BADGER laid by with the exception of spraying; for if the bugs eat the tops you won't eat many potatoes. When the tubers can be handled with- out breaking the skin harvesting begins, and they are taken direct from the field to market. The tops from four rows are thrown together with any stray weeds and when dry are burned and the ground is ready for plowing about the last of Octo- ber, 1907, too late for a cover crop, but that is furnished free in the shape of heavy snows in this latitude. Through the winter this will be given a coat of stable manure, twenty cords to the acre. This would be more than could be used to' advantage on some soil, but this does not leach and the crop of grass that will grow after two years of straw- berries is good proof that it is not wasted. As soon as the ground can be worked in the spring of 1908 this manure will be turned under six inches deep and then harrowed until it is ready to plant, and then harrowed twice as much more and after smoothing, rolling and marking it will be ready to set strawberry plants, and should grow, with good care, as many bushels of strawberries as potatoes. My yield of potatoes is usually 300 bushels, or slightly over, per acre, which sell from the field in the fall to regular customers at 50 cents per bushel as a minimum price. Belmont, N. H. UNDER date of June 17, M. N. Ed- gerton of Petoskey, Mich., writes The Strawberry as follows: "We are having the finest kind of weather for proper pollenation of strawberry blossoms. Va- rieties of the Warfield class began bloom- ing middle of last week. We covered leaves with Bordeaux just previous to this. Such a luxuriant healthy growth of foliage; we never saw its beat. The bed is located in a sheltered place and the plants are just humping themselves. We shall install an irrigating outfit this week at an expense of about $200. People who like great big strawberries will help pay for it. If we don't make a success of our straw- berry crop this season we will know the reason why!" ^ >^ SIMONSCHERTZERofAda,Ohio, writes The Strawberry as follows: "If you have felt the charm of strawberry growing it will sweeten your declining years to mingle with the blooms and han- dle and taste the ripened berries. ] quite agree with S. H. Warren on the associa- tion of plants. Seven years ago I pur- chased fifty Enhance (B) and fifty each of Crescent and Bubach (P). Being a be- ginner and not caring to sell plants or berries, I mixed them all together. I still propagate a quarter-acre of the mix- ture and find them similar somewhat in fruit and foliage. Indications point to a larger crop than ever, due, no doubt, to my association with The Strawberry jour- nal. I have added some other famous IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF GEORGE CREWS, ELKVILLE, ILL. Pa«e 161 THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 varieties and will make the strawberry more of a specialty as experience has taught me that it's not in apples, pears, peaches and plums, but from the good old strawberry that I get the money. Have increased my strawberry patch to one acre. Had my associations been earlier with The Strawberry and its school of experts, I would not have made the straw- berry a side issue." Growing Strawberries On Shares HERE is a typical inquiry and one suggesting a common source of misunderstandings and vexatious disagreements. We have sought, in an- swering the questions of this member, to establish a gerffiral basis upon which to proceed in all similar cases. G. F. G. , Homell, N. Y. My neighbor wishes me to join him in planting berries — strawber- ries and black caps. He is a farmer, has good soil, lots of manure and tools. What I would like to know is, just how to divide the crop. I was thinking if I furnished the plants, set them and did all the work to be done on a strawberry bed, furnished crates and baskets and paid for half of the picking I ought to have half of the proceeds. If I am not right would you please suggest what you would think is right? You are altogether too modest in your views of what you should receive as your share, under the circumstances. The simplest way to figure this matter out is to set down in one column the value of what your neighbor is to contribute, and set down in the other column, the value of the labor you are to perform, the cost of plants, etc. Let us take one acre for example. We will call your side Mr. A, and your neighbor's, Mr. B. Mr. A. The best estimate we can make for the cost of plants, setting, cnltivatin-r, mulchine, piclt- ine. paclcinsandcratintr, fiirnishineeratesand boxes, mth (i,000 qnarts to the acre, is SF'J'JO.OO This, we understand, is the part you would perfornr." Mr. B. 1 acre of land at $5 per acre rental $ 5 00 15 two-horse loads of manure at *1 .... 1500 t'se of tools, whieh would include plow, cultiva- tor and hoes 5.00 *25.00 Of course, the value of the land may be more or less, but it certainly ought not to be more than ,$10 an acre, as that would be 10 per cent on ,$100 land, and that is a large rental, unless the advantages of the location are very superior and would tend STEAM *•"■ '*"';>l' Canning Factories and /'AXTXTTMO Home ITge. Priie $10. V^ANNING Can your own com, peas, pumpkin Ttnil ■CT> . '"''' Hsh, corned lieef. lJ*-'lLt,I\ .Virents and IJe.ilers Wanted. NORTHWESTERN STEEt & IRON WORKS, Box B. F. Eau Claire, Wis. AKE MONEY CANNING FRUIT M;.'"r,"i"i'''"''- ''"'"■-^■''1 1'^y high cash prices. ^■Smo 1 ',"■'': ™oney-makin)f catalog. Tells a al.nut costs and profits macfe with our canning outfit. Send now. ii'iUi" "■'■"P JTolits this season MODERN CAN>IER COMPANY, "'P' M. Bridgeport, AUbama. to reduce the cost of handling the crop greatly over any other available land. We note you say that B would pay one-half the cost of picking the fruit. In the esti- mate of expense above for labor we have calculated $60 for picking 6,000 quarts of berries. If he paid $30 of that it would add $30, of course, to his side of the ex- pense, and reduce yours by that much, but you see that even then the ratio would be as $190 to $55. Or Bs rights in the matter would be 29 per cent as against 71 per cent as your share. And here is a question from a Wiscon- sin member which is of importance just at this season: K. M. K. , Solon Springs, Wis. When we uncovered our strawberries this spring we dis- covered a great many green bugs or beetles among the leaves of the plants. They are about one-half inch long; body is flat, and oval, with tail slightly pointed. The head projects from the body like a beak. Are these insects injurious to the plants, and if so what is the remedy.' 2. Is Bordeaux mixture as effective against mildew as liver of sulphur.' 3. I read with great interest your article on the mating of bisexuals. How would you place Parsons' Beauty, Senator Dunlap, Pride of Michigan and Dornan so as to secure the largest results.' From the description of the insect you give us, we are unable to tell just what it is, but do not believe it will do any injury to your plants. In case they do start feeding upon your plants, spray with Paris green, 2, We always have received better results from using liver of sulphur for mildew than from Bordeaux mixture. Two and a half pounds to forty gallons of water, thoroughly mixed and sprayed on plants while it is fresh, will keep the plants perfectly healthy. 3. Set the several bisexuals you men- tion as follows: Dunlap, Pride of Mich- igan, Parsons' Beauty and Dornan, setting about three rows of each kind alternately. 4^ ^ WT'RITING from Clifton, Ariz., Ira *» Hooker, a member of the family who is working to make a big success of strawberry culture in the hot Southwest, writes us as follows: "I note in the May issue of The Strawberry that J. A. P., Ripon, Calif., is bothered with red ants, and that you suggest no practical way to destroy them. Just tell your readers to try cyanide of potassium. Put four ounces into a gallon of water and when dissolved bottle it for instant use. Pour it into the ant-hole and watch results. If the ants don't begin to die in a minute, make the solution a little stronger. The cost is very little; as to its effectiveness those who try it may judge for themselves." We have not tried this method, but cyanide of po- tassium is a powerful poison whose fumes P>ge 162 are deadly, and no doubt the pestiferous ant finds it so. In handling this poison take care that you do not breathe its fumes. All poisons should be carefully handled. ,^ ^ THE first slice of goose had been cut, and the negro minister, who had been invited to dine, looked at it with as keen anticipation as was displayed in the faces around him, "Dat's as fine a goose as I ever saw, Brudder Williams," he said to his host. "Where did you get such a fine one.?" "Well, now, Mr. Rawley," said the carver of the goose, with a sudden access of dignity, "when you preach a special good sermon I never axes you where you got it. Seems to me dat's a triv'l matter, anyway." — Scissors. /^NE of the most valuable inventions from ^— ' the viewpoint of the farmer is a new ha row which has just been put on the market, which, it is claimed, actually reduces the labor of pre- paring the seed bed by one-half. This really wonderful agricultural impleinent is called the 2-in-l Harrow and is manufactured and sold direct to the farmer by the Naylor Manufactur- ing Co., 4 Hillgrove-ave. , Lagrange, III. Mr. Naylor, the superintendent and general manager, is a practical farmer of many years' experience. This harrow combines in one implement the virtues of botii a spring-tooth and spike-tooth harrow. Where formerly it was necessary to go over new plowing with a spring-tooth harrow to break up the sods, following with a spike- tooth to complete the process, this new harrow- does it all in one operation, thus saving half the time on men and team. This harrow has also developed many other features in actual use, which are highly approved by agricultural ex- periment stations and all who have used it. \WHERE will you go this summer? If you '' desire rest and recreation why not try "The River St, Lawrence Trip?" Folders de- scriptive of the Thousand Islands, Rapids, Mon- treal, Quebec, Murray Bay, Tadousac, the far famed Saguenay River, etc, on application to any railway or steamboat ticket agent. For illustrated guide, "Niagara to the Sea," send 6 cents in postage stamps to H, Foster Chaffee. A, G, P. A,, Toronto, R. & O. Navigation Co. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COLUMN COLD STORAGE \COLD STORAOE PL.^NT will often pay for itself in a siuL'le season. Fruit Growers without a modern cold room are handicapped. "VVrite for description of the (iravity Brine System, statin? size you are interested in and for purpose wanted. Madison Cooper Company, No 100 Court St., Watertown, N. Y. If FARMS AND LANDS FOR SALE FOR $1 ,000, desiralilc home in Stoufhton, Mass. House containini: two tenements — 0 rooms and 4 rooms. One-half acre of laud, trees and shnihs. valualile aspara us lied, cood market. Less than a mile from post office, not far from steiiin and electric cars. George H. Porter, Stoughton, Mass. IP VOU WANT TO SELL, trade or buy a farm, send full description of what you have or want, with 2.'> cents, to the Farmers' Want Journal, Dept. .^H, Kansas City, Mo., and we will advertise it before SO, 000 buyers and sellers and send you a copy of the paper. 10 UTRAWBERHY FARMS and Country Homes in the Tide- V^ water section of VirL'inia. Some bcautifulwaterfront properties. Wilcox and Goodenow, Norfolk, Virginia, 7 rpHE finest small fruit farm for sale in Mahoning county. X Manasses Flohr, New Springfield, Ohio. "il OUR COIESPONDENCE SCHOOL^^k.OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN all the history of American horti- culture there has been no more try- ing season than that of the spring of 1907. This is no more true of straw- berry growing than of all other lines of horticulture, but we have taken special note of conditions relating to the straw- berry, and it is remarkable how widespread and universal have been the complaints concerning the influence of the weather upon the strawberry crop. Although spring was ushered in with a temperature of 64 degrees at Chicago and the promise that winter would soon give way to the sun- shine and warmth of spring, freezing and thawing weather alternated over large sec- tions of the country until the close of May. One of the enthusiastic friends of The Strawberry wrote us that his beautiful field of strawberries, an illustration of which adorned the cover page of The Strawberry for September, 1906, was quite destroyed by a heavy frost May 26, 1907. Thus it will be seen that not only has it been diffi- cult for new-set plants to retain their hold upon life, or take firm grip upon their new environment, but that old and well- established strawberry beds have been quite destroyed, or at least the crop of fruit has been lost or seriously reduced, as a result of the remarkable weather condi- tions which so long prevailed. And this is true of all the states extending as far south as Tennessee, Maryland and the southern portions of Kansas and Missouri. From one of our friends who has a famous fruit farm in the garden spot of Illinois, we have just received a letter which contains the following: "Our as- paragus has been no good. Plums and cherries frozen, and now it begins to look as if the pollen is to be washed out of the strawberries. Red raspberries are killed, and most of the tomato plants blackened with frost. We still have some apples and peaches hanging on, and the chicken crop is good; and we shall hope for the strawberries until all hope is gone." And yet, notwithstanding these dis- couraging conditions, reports received al- most up to the time of going to press with the present issue, indicates that where plants have managed to pull through un- der these conditions, they have thrived splendidly, and give promise of great re- turns in 1908. Never in the history of The Strawberry farm have plants looked better than at the present writing, and there is a thriftiness and strength in them that gives promise of splendid results. We are glad to say that reports indicate that this is very general, notwithstanding the sense of loss and disappointment occasioned by the havoc wrought by the long-continued season of cold winds, cold rains, and ex- traordinarily low temperatures. Nor has the peculiar season affected horticulture alone, but in the great fields of extensive agriculture, losses have been very heavy from the causes named. Tex- as, Kansas, and indeed all of the great Southwest, have been seriously affected in this way. The planting of wheat was so long delayed in the great cereal sections of the Northwest as to render a shortage in the wheat-crop almost certain, and in the cornbelt the golden cereal is not as far advanced as it normally would have been a month or more ago. So whatever disappointments our straw- berry friends may have suffered, there still is much to be thankful for. The simple fact that the season is the worst of its kind ever known is of itself a promise that we need not expect a recurrence of these con- ditions for many a year. We hope that every member of this school will go about his work determined to make the best of conditions as they are, confident that in nine years out of ten, he is sure of success if he follows faithfully the instructions re- ceived here. Whatever the crop may be this year, let us all resolve that we shall go on with our work, determined to make the season of 1908 repay us, at least in part, for the disappointments of 1907. A. B. R., Fiskeville, R. I. I send you here- with blossom from my strawberry plants. Will )'ou please tell me what the matter is with it? What causes it to blast and what is the remedy? Some of the blooms you sent us are affected with some kind of fungus, which causes the center cone of the bloom to dry up. Quite often the first bloom of any variety of strawberries will be affected in this way, but it very seldom injures the crop of berries. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture in the usual way will quite often prevent this trouble. J. J. F. , Slayton, Minn. Aitev mixing Bor- deaux I find considerable sediment at the bottom. Should this be placed in the spray- ing machine and agitated, or should the clear liquid be racked off and the sediment thrown out? The sediment of which you speak never should be permitted to settle in any large quantity to the bottom, but you should keep the entire mixture thoroughly agita- ted at all times while you are making the P»«e 163 application. It is this sediment which holds the poisonous matter upon the foliage of the plants and makes it effective. Where this sediment fails to go with the fluid matter the latter quickly evaporates and becomes non-effective. After the spraying your plants should be covered with a whitish substance, showing that the sediment has been carried to the leaf in large quantities. In other words, the loss of the sediment practically would mean that the spraying was of little value. L. M. B., Tonerhill, 111. Last spring I set out a patch of about one acre of strawberries, tak- ing the plants from the patch that was set out the year before. They did well and they look nice and thrifty, but they are not full of bloom as they should be. Would a fertilizer do them any good, or can you account for their not bearing? The poor showing made by your plants is due to the fact that you took them from a bed that had fruited one year. This is very bad practice, as the strain of fruiting causes the plants to deteriorate through pollen exhaustion and seed production. Plants should always be taken from a bed where the plants are grown for propagat- ing purposes only. It would do no good to fertilize your plants so late in the sea- son. The buds are all made in the fall, and all the fertilizer you would use on plants in the spring would not increase the number of fruit-buds. Nitrate of soda, properly applied, will increase the foliage, which also increases the size of the fruit, making more quarts, but it does not in- crease the number of berries. J. \V. S. , Bethel, \'t. My strawberries are just beginning to bloom and I notice that that part of the blossom which is to become the fruit has turned black, some are still green but partly eaten. Small ants and numerous other insects are around and on the blossoms 2. Would the application of liquified hen manure the first season and the second up to the time of blossoming (a mild solution, of course j) be an ad\'antage? 3. Why is it not advisable to water plants immediately after setting in dry weather? The bloom enclosed in your letter, hav- ing a black center were affected with some fungous growth before they became fully developed. Some scientists claim that this is caused by a small mite working upon the cone of the flower, but am confident that it is caused by blight, or sort of smut. Spraying the fruiting bed with Bordeaux THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 mixture just as growth starts in the spring, repeating in ten days, and again just be- fore the buds open will do much towards preventing this trouble. The ants you speak of will do no injury, more than to carry root aphis from the roots of one plant to another, if there should be any of these aphides present. We cannot tell what the other insects are which are work- ing upon the bloom of your plants. The strawberry weevil often attacks the flowers of strawberries; also the fruit stems. The weevil is a small black insect, and is easily recognized. 2. Liquid manure of any kind is very beneficial when properly applied. The liquid you speak of should be weakened considerably with water before applying it, and it should be applied after a rain, when the ground is full of moisture. The liquid manure would not have any effect upon insects, but it would stimulate the growth of the plants, making them strong and better able to resist the attack of insects and fungi. 3. If the soil and the roots of the plants are very dry, it is all right to dip the roots of the plants in luke-warm water before setting them out, leaving a little hole around the crown of the plant in which about one pint of water should be poured, and after the water has leached down into the soil the opening should be closed with dry soil, which will prevent the moisture from escaping. This is quite a little trouble, and would be ratjier ex- pensive where a large acreage is set. But in a small garden it would be a very good plan. The crowns of plants never should be watered, either before or after set out. F. W. M., Wausau, Wis. I notice quite a number of plants which seem to be dead, and on examining them I find that a small worm is eating the roots. The worm might be called a wire worm. I enclose a few in the bottle herewith. What is the remedy.? The worms are maggots. They feed upon the roots of different species of plants. 1 here really is no remedy we can give you. It has been recommended to place a hen with chickens near the infested patch. The little chickens will destroy I he fly which lays the egg. Rotation of crops and clean cultural methods are good preventives. C. F. S., Deep River, Conn. Will you kindly tell me whether I can plant the common white, bush or field bean, and get a crop, after our strawberries are turned under, about July 1? 2. Would potatoes come all right planted at that time? If so, early or late variety? It all depends upon the length of the growing season, whether you can mature a crop of beans after July 1 in your lati- tude. It has been done even further north, but a crop is not certain. How- ever, you would have the satisfaction of knowing that, even if you could not secure a crop of beans, the value to the soil as a renovator and fertilizer would quite equal the value of a crop. Nothnig would be better for your soil than to plow under such a mass of nitrogenous vegetation. 2. It would not be safe to depend at all upon potatoes, as the chances would be all against their maturing in so short a season. J. E. K., Berryton, Kan. Will plants that were set last season and got the fruit all froze do to let make runners this season for next season's setting? If not, why not? 2. Some of my Clydes have no fruit on them. Why? 3. Would these plants that got nipped by old Jack Frost bear fruit enough to pay to let them fruit three seasons. Of course this sea- son would be one season, the one that is now. As your plants made no fruit, there is no objection to using them for propagating purposes. 2. The Clyde is an exceedingly heavy fruiter, and we can give you no reason why they did not fruit. You did not say whether they bloomed. If they did bloom and they have no fruit it is likely that a heavy frost destroyed the flowers. 3. If your plants are in good thrifty condition it may be that it would pay to leave them for third crop. The fact that their bloom was killed this year by frost indicates that they should be strong fruiters for two good crops yet. I. H., Clifton, Ariz. In the May issue of The Strawberry you answered my question con- cerning sulphuric acid applied to bone meal. Will you now please advise me just what quantity of the acidulated bone meal you would advise to the acre on sandy soil con- taining very little vegetable matter? About 400 pounds to the acre. If worked into the soil with a little stable manure it will give much better results. C. E. R., Burton, Wash. I have one patch of about an acre all set with the Marshall except five rows set with the Oregon Iron Clad. This will be the first year for it to bear. Would you advise me to take runners from it to set out a new patch next year? 2. Would I get better results by setting some other variety with the Marshall and if so what variety would do best? The Marshall is the main berry grown here. .1. We have our rows four feet apart and from eighteen to twenty inches in the rows. We keep them in single hills. Do you think I could get more berries by planting closer? We would not advise you to take plants from your fruiting bed. Young plants should always be taken from plants that are set for propagating purposes only. Many strawberry growers are making a Page 164 failure in the business simply because they are taking plants from fruiting beds. That is, they are trying to grow plants and fruit in the same place at the same time. This cannot be done successfully. 2. While the Marshall is a strong bisexual, and produces an abundance of rich pollen, yet, like all other bisexuals, it will do better if set in alternate rows with anorher bisexual of the same season. The Pride of Michigan or Dornan mate well with it. 3. If you would make them three and one-half feet apart you would get several more rows to the acre, which of course would give you more berries ^ '^ H. E. H., Waltham, Mass. On the front page of the June issue of The Strawberry is a pic- ture of berry plants covered or shaded with strips of cloth. Does that method have a tendency to ripen the fruit later than other- wise? If so, will you kindly inform me how many days later? Also what sort of material to use as covering. Does it to any extent reduce the yield per acre? The covering shown on cover of June Strawberry is common cheese cloth, and is placed over the berries for the purpose of retarding ripening, which encourages the berry to grow larger before it ripens. This is the method used for growing large show berries. The shading should be placed over the rows after thj berries be- gin to form. This method will retard the ripening about one week. It would in- crease the yield rather than decrease it, but would not increase the yield enough to justify placing this over a large field. M. L. K., Woburn, Mass. I am sending you two leaves picked off my strawberry field which bore fruit last year for first time. I find about the plants a small, shiny black or brown bug about one-eighth inch long, which probably does the mischief. Can you tell me if they are liable to seriously injure my crop, and what I can do to stop their work? The leaves you send us are eaten full of holes. The holes in the leaves are made by beetles. There are many dif- ferent kinds of beetles — some are brown, others black — but all insects belonging to the beetle family are leaf-eating and may be destroyed by the use of Paris green or arsenate of lead. We prefer the latter because it may be used stronger without danger of burning the foliage. You may use two and a half or three pounds of the arsenate of lead to forty gallons of water. The best way to prepare it is to put three pounds of arsenate of lead in a wooden bucket and pour over two or three gallons of hot water; keep stirring until it becomes thoroughly dissolved into a creamy sub- stance. Then add enough water to make forty gallons. The larvae of the beetle look very much like a small grub. These THE STRAWBERRY JULY 1907 work on the roots of the plants. The best preventive against the beetle is rota- tion of crops, clean cultural methods, burning over the bed after fruiting and using nothing but pure, clean plants. E. E. L. , Kettle Falls, Wash. A number of strawberry growers here are bothered with what they call the strawberry maggot. It is about one-tifth or one-fourth inch long, with pinkish-brown head and white body. It works on the roots of the plants. When you take up a plant the worms curl up in a semi- circle. What is a good preventive, and also how could one get rid of them? Your plants are evidently infested with maggots, which are the larvae of a small fly and feed upon the roots and crowns of different kinds of plants. The best pre- ventives are the same as in the case of other insects — clean cultivation, burning over of bed after fruiting and the avoidance of setting plants from an infested bed. In fact, plant life, like animal life, depends more for health and vigor upon simple cleanliness than upon anything else. J. M. B.. Wabeno, Wis. Have planted 900 plants, six different kinds, but are all male. Will they bear big crops of berries? 2. How is cedar sawdust for mulching next fall? Straw or such stuff is scarce in this part of the country and the shingle mills are glad to get rid of the sawdust. Certainly; bisexuals require no mating, and will do as well when set without pis- tiUates as with them. 2. Sawdust sours the soil; that is one objection. Another is that it would be quite impossible to remove. A third ob- jection to sawdust is that in your latitude you need a covering that will protect the foliage as well as the body and roots of the plants. J. H. D., Lakeport, N. H. Will the Senator Dunlap or Parson's Beauty make good plants to poUenize the Haverland with for early va- rieties and the Aroma or Pride of Michigan for late ones? 2. If you pollenize a light colored berry with a dark colored one will it make the light col- ored one any darker? 3. How much earlier are the Excelsior and Warfield than the Aroma, Bubachand Gandy? 4. Is it because some berries are not pollen- ized enough that makes them knotty and hard? Senator Dunlap or Parson's Beauty will mate the Haverland nicely. The Arotna and Pride of Michigan are both strong bisexuals, and are ideal varieties to use in connection with the Senator Dunlap and Haverland. 2. Pollenizing a variety that produces a light-colored berry with a variety that pr,)duces a dark-colored berry, would not have much, if any, effect upon the variety producing the light-colored berry. Some scientists claim that it does add to color, but we never have noticed any difference. 3. The Excelsior and Warfield are about one week earlier than Bubach, and about ten days earlier than Gandy. 4. If the bloom is not perfectly pol- lenized it will make a knotty, hard-end berry. An ill-shaped berry of any kind always is the effect of improper pollenation. Miss M. E. C, Kirksville, Mo. What price do you pay for picking strawberries? 2. How long shall I leave the stems? 3. When and with what shall I fertilize my strawberry bed after fruiting? In this locality the standard price for picking berries is 1 '4 cents per quart. 2. The stems of each berry should be left about one-half inch long. 3. The best fertilizer we have ever found is stable manure. In your case the manure should be applied after the plants have been mowed off, and the rows nar- rowed down for second crop. Scatter the manure on top of the ground, between the rows, and work it into the ground with the cultivator. E. D. R., Gay Head, Mass. Will you please tell me what liver of sulphur is? Liver of sulphur is a sulphide, or sul- phuret, of potassium. It comes usually in a wax-like form and it is especially valuable when made into a simple solu- tion, using one-fourth ounce to one ounce to one gallon of water, for mildew and for various kinds of blight, rots and scab. H. A. B., Berzelia, Ga. What do you mean by "removing fruit stems" the first year, as appears in April instalment of "Intensive Strawberry Culture"? I simply pinch off the blossoms. Should I break the entire stem off' 2. As to proper pruning of plants before set- ting out: should all the leaves be cut off except one small one, and why is this done? 3. Relative to your statement that a plant built up twenty leaf stems, four crowns and large well-developed body. Will you kindly advise difference between body and crown of plants, and should the number of crowns in a plant be separated when plants are set eut? 4. Also please describe difference between double ahd single hedge rows, and how each should be set out, i. e. , distance apart, etc. It does not matter whether you pinch the fruit stem off, or merely the blossoms. The reason we pinch the entire fruit stem off is because the work is quicker done that way than by taking off one blossom at a time. 2. It is not necessary to remove all of the leaves from the young plants before they are set, although we often do this. If the plant is entirely dormant, then it is all right to remove all but one small leaf. Page 165 3. The crown and body of the plant are really the same. Sometimes we refer to it as the body, and sometimes the crown. In the remark quoted we referred to the plant as a whole. 4. The difference between single and double hedge row is that the single-hedge row is simply a single line of plants, each one setting about six inches apart, while the double-hedge row is a double line of plants. Please see May issue of The Strawberry for illustration and full de- scription. '^ ^ M. W. H., South Merrimack, N. H. I wish to set out part of an acre of strawberry plants. I keep no stock; I keep hens instead. The manure made by the hens must serve for the strawberry patch if it can be made to do so. But hen manure is not a complete fertilizer for strawberries. Will wood ashes serve to "balance" the hen manure? If so, please state the percentage or proportion of ashes I should use with a given quantity of hen manure; also tell me the proper time to apply the ashes to the soil, in view of the fact that ashes mixed w ,h the hen manure would liberate the am- monia and thus detract from its fertilizing power. I have preserved my supply of hen manure with all its strength by adding about one and a half of its bulk of dry earth as fast as the manure accumulated Of this com- post of manure and dry soil I have about 500 bushels. Keeping in view the fact that sorre other fertilizing ingredient must be used to "balance" the hen manure, how much ground will said quantity of compost properly fertilize for strawberries? If I cannot get a sufficient quantity of wood ashes for "balancing" this 500 bushels of compost will sulphate of potash serve instead? If it will, how much ought I to use for each bushel of the compost? You should have at least one ton of chicken droppings, mixed as you have described yours as being, to the acre. Sul- phate of potash alone would not balance up this fertilizer, but you should use the sulphate at the rate of 200 pounds to the acre, and bone meal at the rate of 400 pounds to the acre. This would make an ideal fertilizer for your strawberry bed. The proper time to apply ashes to the soil is just after you have broken it up, and then harrow it into the soil thoroughly. ^ '^ HOW widespread may be the influence of an up-to-date horticultural asso- ciation is indicated by the case of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. That organization has a total membership of 2192 of which 1862 reside within the limits of the state. The 330 remaining are scattered over tuenty-three states (North Dakota ha\ing 155 and South Dakota 45), two Canadian provinces and the Philippines, the latter boasting but one member. Manitoba contributes twentv-two members and Ontario three. 1 CENT; Regular Price $ $8m50 per pair. ^ To Introduce We Will Sell You a Sample Pair for Only IS ALL IT WILL COST YOU to write for our big FKJiE BICYCLE catalogue showing the most complete line of high-grade BICYCLKS* TIKFS and SUNDRIES at FBlCES ^1 BELOW any other manufacturer or dealer in the world. 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Tires to be returned at OUR expense if for any reason they are not satisfactory on examination. We are perfectly reliable and money sent to us is as safe as in a bank. Ask your Postmaster. Banker Express or Freight Agent or the Editor of this paper about us. If you order a pair of these tires, you will find that they will ride easier, run faster, wear better, last longer and look finer than any lire you have ever used or seen at any price. We know that you will be so well pleased that when you want a bicycle you will give us your order. We want you to send us a small trial order at once, hence this remarkable tire offer. ^%*% a OV^n ^^A I^rO buiit-up-wheels, saddles, pedals, parts and repairs, and COA^ fiCn'0n#l'€Cd^ everything in the bicycle line are sold by us at half the usual nrices chareed by dealers and repair men. Write for our big SUNDRY catalogue. „_ mmftr \Af Air ^ut write us a postal today. 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Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Onr paper is handsomely Illustrated, 44 to 80 pages, 50 cents pe. year. 8 inniiths' trial, 10 cents. Sam- ple free. CA'1\UjOGL'E of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE, 85 Hog&n Block. Syracuse, N. Y. This potato digprcr will save its cost in one season. It IS the only practical and economical potato digger ever offered. Saves money— back- ache—work-time— and is a necessity with up- to-date farmers. Big catalog" describing: CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY FREE to every one who writes It is decidedly to your interest to get this great book NOW. Address CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY CO.,Dept. 151, Hammond, Ind. CHAMPION POTATO MACHINE This is the Celebrated 'Tendall" Strawberry Actual size, reproduced from photograph. A Limited Number of Plants For Sale! First come, tirst served. $5 per dozen, $15 per fifty, $35 per Imiulred. Yields sixteeu thousand eijE^ht hundred ats. per acre. Ready for delivery from Ana. 1st to Nov. 1st, 1907, and spring of 1908. Other choice varieties for sale! viz: Cnrsioan, Senator I mnlap. Climax. Pineappl'', (^)rem andGandy, forty cents ($0.40) perdoz. , one dollar and seventy-flve cents ($1.75) per fifty, three dollars ($3) per hundred, by freisht. express or mail. The •"Fendall" beinu a pis- tillate, Corsican, Senator Dunlap or Climax are excellent mates for it. One row of the varieties named, then fovir rows of ' 'Fendall' ' , and so on. will i;ive an ideal strawberry patch. Send at once for descriptive catalogue'. CHARLES E, FENDALL, Towson, Md. The Strawberry Photographic Contest for 1907 LAST YEAR the photographic contest between members of The Strawberry family aroused much pleasant rivalry, and resulted in giving to the world many beautiful and instructive views of strawberry fields. It is our purpose to make the contest this year of even greater interest to all. We therefore shall offer a duplicate set of prizes-'-one for the best photograph of a field of strawberries not less than one acre in extent; the other set of prizes for a photo- graph of a family strawberry patch—as follows: A-COMMERCIAL STRAW- BERRY FIELD 1st prize Photograph, cash ■ $5.00 2nd prize Photograph, cash ■ 3.00 3rd prize Photograph, cash - 2.00 B-FAMILY STRAWBERRY PATCH 1st prize Photograph, cash - $5.00 2nd prize Photograph, cash • 3.00 3rd prize Photograph, cash • 2.00 It is to be understood that all photographs submitted in this contest are to be the property of the Kellogg Publishing Company. The season will extend from spring until late fall, the individual contest- ant choosing his own time for taking the view; the desire being to show ideal conditions at every stage of development of the plants. Expert photographers will pass upon the merits of the photographs and award prizes. THE KELLOGG PUBLISHING COMPANY Three Rivers, Michigan THE STRAWBERRY A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN ALL ITS BRANCHES Volume II No. 8 Three Rivers, Mich., August, 1907 $L00 a Year RP^PORTS from the strawberry fields of the country ne\er have had greater interest than those which have to do with the experiences of the present year. For everywhere has it been recognized that the sea- son of 1907, talcen in connection with tiie peculiar state of affairs that developed during the latter part of the growing season of 1906, was one of the most difficult ever experienced, not only in the strawberry field, but in horticulture in general. Of course, no general statement of conditions will cover spe- cifically particular sections, although what we shall have to say about them will apply to many sec- tions representing with greater or less accuracy some of the details in the experiences of nearly every state north of the Ohio river. The spring of 1906 was declared by old straw- berry growers to have been the worst in thirty years. One grower report- ed that ice smothered his plants; from one section came reports of drought; in another (along the Ohio river, for instance) the frost destroyed entire areas given over to strawber- ries; and still others reported de- structive floods. Late in April over a large portion of the North a re- markable rise in temperature, which continued for many weeks, checked the natural root -development of plants just foniiino;, while it has- tened the maturing of fruit. Then, to cap the climax, came, in the early days of October, such a frost as never before had been ex- perienced over the fruit sections of the North. It may be said that all other fruits suffered more severely than did the strawberry, cherry, peach, apple and plum trees were killed outright, and one Mich- igan nurseryman declared that practically all of his tree stock had been killed outright or rendered of no account by the sud- den and severe vi^it.ttion. Thus it will be seen that fruit came into the growing season of 1907 with a heritage tainted by weakness, a weakness which the conditions of the present year contributed nothing to im- prove. In fact, the early part of ihe present season has not alone affected fruits of all kinds, but corn and wheat and hay, as well, have been so influenced by conditions that no one is haz- ardous enough to venture a prediction as to the outcome at harvest time. And yet, dolomus as all this is, the reports that have come to us only go to prove that the statement so often IJERE is a model report sent us by W. Ellis * •* Pennypacker of Burchrunville, Pa. — a model for many reasons, first of which is the remarkable yield received from a patch only 108x213 feet in size, and second, because of the detailed way in which he has kept his ac- counts and presents them. Mr. Pennypacker writes: "This is the exact amount I sold, not taking any account of what was used by our- selves. The prices given are generally whole- sale, as I retailed few: Date A^o. Quarts Price Amt. Reed June 10 16 15 cents i 2.40 June 15 M 12 cents 4.44 June IS 112 1 I'-j cents 12. SO June 20 Ifi.S 10 and 1 1 cents 14.72 June 22 512 10 cents 51.20 June 24 495 10 and 1 2 cents 49.85 June 25 417 10 cents 41.70 June 27 549 8 and 10 cents 51.63 June 28 449 8 and 10 cents 41.70 June 29 465 8 and 10 cents 44.48 July 2 532 8 and 10 cents 50.02 July 3 426 8 and 10 cents 42.33 July 5 258 10 cents 25.80 July 6 134 10 cents 13.40 July 9 151 4721 10 cents 15.19 $461.66 We would like to have anyone show us another plot of ground of equal size devoted to any other crop that turns as much cash into its owner's purse as this is doing. made in these columns, viz: that the strawberry is the safest crop in the world, is at no time better proved than in such discourag- ing circumstances as above are briefly noted. I he number of Strawberry readers who have written us that they had a tough time of it in the crop season of 1907, but after all realized more than they had reason to expect, is very large, and when we con- sider that thousands of acres of peach trees, and even hardy cherry and apple trees succumbed to the stress of weather, we think strawberry growers may well take courage from the situa- tion in which they find themselves. Here is one report from a well-known woman who has won more than local fame as a strawberry grower in Illinois. We omit her name because especially requested by her to do so because she did n:)t care to ha\e her business secrets made public. She says: We had so much rain durini; ihe blossoming time this spring that we were fearful for pollenization, and we had so much rain during the latter part of the picking season that we lost a good many berries. On the whole, the only reason we had to expect very mucli was that under all these trying condiiiims :ind cir- cumstances we ha\e dmie the very best we could; and the result has been gratifying beyond our highest expectations. There are tivo acres in the patch. We sold over 8,00(1 boxes and after paying for boxes, making of the same, picking the berries, paying commissions and for straw for mulch, we had left for our share (I mean by that payment for our labor and use of land) ,$47.^00. "We picked the hist berries on the afternoon of July 17, and by the evening of the 18th it was plowed under, disked and har- rowed several times, and planted to Clay peas. On the 20th they could be seen coming up here and there and today (July 22' the field looks green. We had to broadca'^t them as we could not get a drill. "Our new bed has about two acres in it. The la'gest half of it is now in double-hedge rows. I have been working in it my- self about eight hours a day since picking is over. Nearly all my friends ques'ion both the proprien' and the wisdom of my doing this, but I am >^o interested in the work that 1 cannot keep out of it. iVly frieiui.s are all sure 1 will kill myself with work, but 1 have noticed th:it I have more strength and less illness THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 than any of my lady acquaintances. 1 have no hired man to cook for and then 1 have a hay box. The dinner goes into that at breakfast time and comes out cooked and hot when we come in at noon. The "hay box" referred to by our cor- respondent is one of those modern con- veniences that help to transform the work of the busy housewife, and is known as the "fireless cooker". If our women friends don't know about it, they should no longer remain in ignorance. This report is typical of hundreds we have received. One man writes us that the bloom of his plants was frozen three times and yet he sold from his patch this year more than .$500 worth of strawber- ries. So, when we get a little blue be- cause that bumper crop we hoped for has been somewhat delayed by conditions with the making of which we had nothing to do, let us turn our thought to the cheer- ful consideration of certain other facts, among which are: The strawberry busi- ness is the safest and surest of any purely horticultural business; complete failure or loss is seldom ever known in that line; when trouble does come to the strawberry grower it is more easily repaired than may be done in the case of any other fruit grower, and at much less cost; and that this rort of weather can't last forever, and we're bound to win out if we simply stand by and do our level best! ONE difficulty experienced by those who use lartie quantities of barnyard manure is with the seeds it contains, and strawberry growers will be interested to know that if the manure pile be well composted with kainit — kainit is said to be one of the best mediums, preventing as it does the escape of the nitrogen in the manure, while losing none of its own potash — then the weed seeds v\iil be killed by thousands and the manure itself will be more readily available as platit food. Spring-Set Thoroughbreds in a Florida Drought By Joseph Bolt IT may be of interest to the readers of The Strawberry to read of a test case of thoroughbred plants under proper culri\'ation. Three years ago this month (April) 1 set out 2,000 plants. My first experietice with strawberries — to set plants in April in this climate — had been unheard of, and to raise them on high sandy land, such as mine, was thought almost equal to madness; btit I rather enjoy doing things no one else has done before, and so 1 buckled into it with might and main. Sometimes I blundered, but never fatally. Anyway my plants lived and grew through the summer and by fall 1 had plants that my big straw hat could not cover, atid the next spring I had the first berries that were sliipped from this station, although they were of a late variety — the Brandy- wine. And such big fellows! We some- times packed a whole thirty-two-quart crate and not a quart in it with more than twenty-five berries. Well, I had lost some by a blunder and some by bad weather, or it would have been a bumper crop: but it was good as it was. Last year I was first again. I shipped the first on February 6 and picked and packed up to the first of June. But un- derstand berries don't rush down here so as they do up North, but have ripe, green, bloom and buds on all at the same time. 1 had intended to plow thetn under last year, thinking that two crops of that kind were enough for any plants, but when we were done picking the plants looked so good and started to make runners so vigorously that I felt that I couldn't de- stroy them. So I simply cut out such as showed weakness and let a runner take its place, and worked them and took good care of them as before, and in the fall they looked as if they were going to do better than before. But then the real test came. Since last October there has been very little rain; the oldest settlers here say they don't know of a time that so little rain fell in six months. The berries on the heavier lands — the real strawberry section — nearly all died. Some had a few berries and some had none, and at this writing nearly all are dead, where we have picked ber- ries from our own vines since Februarj' 5. Of course, they were not as large and did not ripen so fast as they would have done if we had had more rain, but the quality was good and we always got high prices. At this writing there are heaps of green berries, from fifty to a hundred to a plant, and they could stand it for a good while yet before they would die. The most trouble is that the leaves don't grow enough in this drought to shade the ber- ries, so a good many get sunburnt before they ripen, but it looks favorable for rain now. I hope it will come. Now f"r some time every time I go to the statior. with berries ] am asked, "How are your berries.'" "All right; would be better if we had rain, but are doing well under the circum- stances." Finally some of the neighbors came to see, thinking I was "blowing", and they were simply struck dumb, saying they never saw such a sight. Brooklyn, Fla., April 1, 1907. THE Society for Horticultural Science will hold its fifth annual meeting at the Jamestown Exposition in connection with the thirty-first biennal meeting of the American Pomological Society, September 24, 25, 26, 1907. Arrangements have not yet been made as to the time of sessions, but the three days" meetings will give am- ple time for the program of the two soci- eties. The Inside Inn on the Exposition grounds is to be headquarters for the American Pomological Society and since most of the members of the Society for Horticultural Science belong to the older association, arrangements have not been made for separate headquarters. The sin- gle topic of plant breeding will be dis- cussed and the program committee prom- ises papers and addresses of merit. The meeting is held late in the summer so that the summer heat will be avoided. The rates to the exposition are low and the routes varied. The exposition will have attractions for all. 1 he several advantages attending the fifth annual meeting of the society should insure a large attendance. RUST is a Disease Which ^ Attacks Feeble Wheat as delicate people are always taking cold. 3 Potash is the health food for wheat, as veil as the grain food — makes it strong and vi2;orous, so that it resists rust. Potash checks lodging and rust on the rich black soils. We shall be glad to send you pamplilcts and circulars and reports that show what Putash does for soils and crops. These most interesting and helpful books cost )'ou notliing except the pt>st.il card on which yii\i ask for them. GhRMAN KALI WORKS. 93 Nassau Street, New York MonadDock Bldg., Chicago Candler Bldg., Atlanta. Qa. Address otBce nearest you. Page 168 ONE OF THE RELIABLE FORCING VARIETIES. A FAIR CROP IN SIGHT The Forcing of Strawberries ONE phase of strawberry produc- tion which appears to be of in- creasing attractiveness is the growing of potted plants and' the production in the winter season of high- quahty strawberries under glass. The number of inquiries we receive concerning this Une of woric steadily grows, and that the work itself is destined to great popu- larity is not to be doubted. There are many features of this work to be consid- ered, however, before one enters exten- sively upon it. 1 he cost of production of strawberries in this way is very large and therefore the market may never be considered a popular one. Indeed, the demand for strawberries grown from potted plants must come from those whose wealth make it possible for them to pay high prices for the sake of producing unique and perhaps artistic effects at soci- ety dinners. It ma\' be said then, that it is in the neighborhood of cities of considerable size only that a hot-house plant gi\ en over to the production of potted strawberries might reasonably be expected to be profit- able. It must be borne in mind also that the growers of strawberries in the South are steadily improving their methods and ad- vancing the season of ripening as well as extending it. Last winter Florida was shipping berries to the North in consider- able quantities as early as the first of December, and there was no actual ces- sation of the flow of the delicious fruit from the South from that time on until the Northern-grown fruit was on the mar- ket. VVe have said this much by way of caution, lest the statements one reads so often in some of the prints might lead our friends to see a bonanza in this line of strawberry production. That I he work is interesting, however, and under favorable conditions, such as we have indicated, may be made profit- able, there can be no doubt. We there- fore are presenting herewith extended quo- tations from IJidletin No. 231 of Cornell Agricultural College on the forcing of strawberries, which will give to those who contemplate engaging in work of this kind some valuable suggestions. This bulletin treats upon the following points: The varieties best adapted to forcing; the length of time required to mature a crop from the time of bringing in the plants from the cold frame; the results of temperature on the crop, and economy in the handling of the plants. We (juote: A Discussion of Forcing Varieties Taking up the first question, there have been tested nearly one hundred American varieties, eight French varieties and five well known English forcing varieties. Of this number, but few have been found of value for forcing; and at the present Page 169 time, the main crop for forcing this winter consists of but three varieties, and these of American origin. Varieties of English origin, popular abroad both for growing in the open and for forcing, appear to de- teriorate when brought to ihis country, rarely holding their excellence n ore ihan two seasons, even with careful selection of runners and high cultivation. The French varieties of the Hautboy type, producing fruit of but medium size and of a peculiar musky flavor, are not liked by the average consumer. .Again, the long fruiting peiiod of this type of berry is a defect wliere successive crops are wanted in the same house. The decisive summer peculiar to this country has probably had a tendency to develop varieties that mature crops of fruit quickly, ripening the larger part of the crop within a few days. T his habit is one that is essential to a good forcing variety, so that one crop ma.\' be gathered within a short period and the pl.mts then all removed at the same time in order thai the house may be cleared foi the next crop. At first thoughr, it would appear that an extra-early variety would be preferable lo a midseason or later variety for forcing, but early varieties produce only a small crop of fruits and the berries average small in size. 'I'his coupled with the fact that with greenhouse operations one can to a large extent control the seasi ns and ripen THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 a crop at will, has discovered the addi- tional fact that the midseason varieties producing large fruits and yielding an abundant crop, are preferable to either the extra-early or late varieties. At the time Bulletin 134 was written, a variety called Bederwood was considered one of the best for forcing, although the berries were only of average size and of rather light color. Further testing of many kinds led to the discovery of t)ther varieties that forced as well as Bederwood, had larger, more uniform and higher colored fruit, and ripened practically all the berries on each plant at the same time. Among these are Mar- shall and Glen Mary, the lormer a strong- growing, perfect-How- ered variety yielding a large quantity of fertile pollen and producing fruit of extra size and of a very attractive color. Glen Mary has nearly all the characteristics of an ideal forcing berry, the only fault being that the first flowers to open are almost without stamens, and pollen must be sup- plied by another variety. If this is done, the berries set readily and swell rapidly. The plants make fine crowns and vigorous root growth and thus are able to absorb a large amount of liquid manure when the fruit is swelling. President is another variety of recent introduction that has proved of exceptional value for forcing. It is a true pistillate, and, contrary to our past experience with such varieties, is equal or superior to any staminate form yet tested. The habit of growth is all that could be desired in a forcing berry. It is stocky, has big crowns that ripen early in the fall, a strong deep root gr.'Wth, anJ iruit of extra -large size and fine dark red color. Each fruit is well col- ored over the entire surface, and is with- out the objectionable green tip. [he flow- ers of this varieiy re- main open for several days, which means that if cloudy weaiher intervenes, pollenization may be delayed until sunny weather. A minimum amount of pollen is re- quired to set the fiuiis "Inch swell rapid- ly and ripen evenly after setting. "I'l.e berry of this variety is lirmer than Mar- shall or Glen Mary aiul may be shipped to market much e.isier. The foliage, while of the large type is not heavv enough to shade the fruits, making it a desirable variety to grow either tor table decoration or where invlividual plants are required to be set before each guest at dinner parties. This method of serving strawberries is very popular, and well-grown plants bear- ing from four to six high-grade berries command high prices. In our local mar- ket they have sold for one dollar a plant and will sell in a large city for from two dollars to two and one-half dollars at Easter time. The accompanying cuts show habit of growth and, to an extent, the fruitfulness of this variety, although the first and largest berries had been picked FIGURE I THE BEGINNING OF GROWTH IN THE COOL HOUSE from each plant before the photograph was made. At this writing, it is considered that the three leading varieties for forcing are Glen Mary, Marshall and President, each pos- sessing merits of its own. Growing the Plants At the time of writing Bulletin 134, it was thought necessary to give the plants several shifts between the two-inch pot that was plunged to receive the runner and the frui'ing pot; but it was soon found that with care in handling through the summer, one shift from the two-inch pot FIGURE 2 APPROACHING THE RIPENING PERIOD direct into the six-inch fruiting pot gave as good results as more frequent shifting. This saves the labor of at least luo shifts, and allows ro t growih so continue unin- terriipteJly. Rooting the Runners and Handling the Plants The practice nov\ is to plunge two inc'- pots filled with ricli soil along rows of virgin plants, i. e , runners that were set early the same season which have never Page 170 borne a crop of fruit. Then the first and strongest runners from these plants are led over the pots and as soon as they are well rooted and established in the pots they are cut off from the parent plant, the pots lifted and taken to a convenient place where the plants are at once shifted into the fruit- ing pots. At this final potting, a soil is used con- taining a large proportion of sandy fibrous loam. If not of light texture, sand should be added in the propor- tion of one to four. To this mixture is added a four-inch potful of dis- solved rock or ground bone and a three-inch potful of muriate of pot- ash to every four bushels of soil. Good drainage and firm potting are ab- solutely essential and the latter is secured by using a potting stick to pack the soil m each pot. After potting, the plantsshould beplunged to the rim in coal cin- ders or other cool material and if protected by a frame will need less attention in water- ing than if unprotected. After plunging, water thoroughly once, then hold water from the pots as much as possible without allowing the soil to become entirely dry — until roots have well started from the first ball of roots — then water as needed until the pots have filled with roots. After this time water but little, giving the plant the same general ripening period it has in the field, thus insuring a large "tat" crown filled with buds. On the approach of winter, protect from the first few sharp frosts; and when the plants become dormant, protect from snow until they are wanted in the house. Other things being equal, a plant that has a long period of rest and has been frozen hard will g^e better results when forced, although it is possible to obtain some good fruit from pl.nnts that have but a short rest. Only in the matter of one shift in place of three has econ- omy in handling been found. Each successi\e stage needs great care and close attention. Forcing the Plants Care regarding temperature is of first importance through the entiie giowing season whether the plants are in beds or in pots. Starting with dormant plants taken from the cold frame, heat should be raised gradually from thirty to forty-five degrees by the end of the first week, increasing the heat until the plants are in bloom, THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 when they should be growing in a tem- perature of from sixty to sixty-five degrees. From the time pollination begins, the house should range from sixty-five to seventy; and while the fruit is swelling, the heat should never be allowed to fall below seventy degrees. One of the ac- companying cuts Fig. 3 shows very clearly the necessity of heat to insure a crop. The Maturing Period As to the length of time required to mature a crop of strawberries, the work carried on here leads to the conclusion that from eight to ten weeks are necessary for the best results, although the season ature on forced strawberries, six plants of four varieties used for forcing in the win- ter of 1903-4, were placed on a bench in a carnation house where the temperature was held as near fifty-two degrees F. as possible. These plants, four each of Marshall, Glen Mary, Brandywine and Dunlap, were of the same stage of growth as the same varieties that were given the usual forcing temperature, and had been grown and treated identically until the plants were in full bloom, when they were moved to the cool house, while the remainder of the plants were placed in the usual warm house. From that time until the berries on the plants in the warm house were ready for market, the treat- FIGURE 3 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE IN FORCING may be hastened by hard forcing (push- ing the crop) during the last four weeks. It is absolutely essential that the plants be grown slowly during the first half of the forcing period, allowing new roots and tops to form in about the same manner that they do throughout the spring weeks in the open. After root growth is well established, heat may be gradually increased and forc- ing hastened. If rapid forcing is the order, great care is necessary in the application of liquid manure, as the combined stim- ulus of excessive heat and quick-acting plant food has a tendency to de\elop soft flavorless fruits. Heavy firing calls for high temperature and means danger of red spider, the one dreaded trouble of the forced strawberry. Daily syringing of the plants and frequent wetting of the walks must be resorted to in order to hold this enemy in check. It is always safer on this account to bring the crop along with- out undue haste, allowing the fruits to swell normally, retain their flavor and remain solid. In order to test the question of temper- ment of both lots was precisely the same with the exception of the temperature. This covered pollination, application of liquid manure and attention to spraying foliage when needed. At the time the photograph was taken, three plants bearing an average number of fruits were selected from the two lots, growing one in the warm and the other in the cool house. In every case where fruit had set on the plants grown at the lower temperature, they were small and hard, only in a few instances growing to the size of an acorn, but uneven in form and poor in coloring. It may be of interest in this connection to say that while these plants were in this condition, a demand arose for a few pots of berries to be ripe in about four weeks' time; and these same plants among others were cleared of the immature fruits, taken to the warm house, plunged in soil that registered from seventy-five to eighty de- grees, and in the required time were ripening from three to five fair sized berries to each plant. Fhe experiment demon- strates that a cool temperature can be em- Page 171 ployed to retard strawberries, but compar- atively high temperature is necessary to a regular normal development. Look Out for the Cowpea Seed STRAWBERRY GROWERS who find the cowpea their favorite soil restorer and nitrogen producer will be interested in a circular just published by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and will do well to follow carefully the instructions it contains. The circular follows: The continuous wet weather of the autumn of 1906 worked an especial hard- ship to farmers in connection with the various kinds of agricultural seeds set aside for this year's planting. This is particu- larly true with reference to seed of the cowpea, the principal leguminous, hay, and green-manuring crop in the States bordering on the gulf and along the At- lantic coast as far north as Virginia, the excessive rainfall causing the seeds to mould and soften. During ordinary seasons cowpea seed sells for from .$1.50 to .$2 a bushel, but this year it has readily brought from $3 to .1>3.50 a bushel. Notwithstanding this high price, the farmer has found that the vitality of the seed has beceme so impaired that only a very small percentage has germinated, and in consequence of this poor quality of seed the crops grown have been thin and most unsatisfactory. As red clover and alfalfa are not gener- ally grown in the South and the main- tenance of profitable agriculture and soil fertility is largely dependent upon cowpeas, this condition has entailed very serious consequences on many southern farms. The Seed Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States De- partment of Agriculture has recently col- lected samples of cowpea seed from the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee, to the number of 3,706 packages, and these samples have been carefully tested for vi- tality. The results obtained have been startling. While a good grade of seed should show a germination of from 95 to 98 per cent, the seed from four states only — Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida — showed an average germination of as much as 60 per cent, and only four varieties of cowpeas contained as many as sixty live seeds in each hundred — -the Iron, Taylor, Whippoorwill, and New Era va- rieties. In the remaining five States from which samples were secured and with the ten or more staple varieties of cowpeas not named above, the average percentage of germination reached from 49 to 59 per cent only. In these tests the Iron variety, which stood first, showed a general average of 79.2 percent, while the Unknown variety THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 averaged but 52 per cent, the Brown Eye less than 53 percent, and the Black only 53.6 per cent. After the Iron variety the next best record was made by the Taylor variety with 68.8 per cent, and after that the WhippoorwiU with an average germ- ination of 66.7 per cent. Next came the New Era variety with a general average of 64.2 per cent, while the fifth on the list, the Clay variety, dropped to 58.7 per cent in these tests, and the Black Eye and the Red Ripper showed 57.5 and 56.9 per cent, respectively. According to the figures obtained in connection with the tests mentioned, the WhippoorwiU is the most popular variety, with the Clay second and the Unknown third. Farmers are urged to test seed before sowing in order to determine its vitality and in this way avoid disappointment and serious loss. This testing can easily be done by means of two dinner plates and a strip of canton flannel. One hundred seeds should be counted out from the package of seed which it is proposed to sow, taking the seeds just as they come without making any selection. These seeds should be placed on one end of the wet flannel and laid in one of the plates, while the other end of the cloth and the other plate should be placed over them. On the third, fourth, and fifth days the number of seeds which have sprouted should be counted and in this simple way the percentage of seeds which would sprout if sown in the ground can be definitely ascertained. Arsenate of Lead By R. L. Adams WHEN the gypsy and brown-tail moths were rapidly defoliating Massachusetts, a commission was appointed to discover means for their con- trol and if possible for their extinction. One of the methods which were employed was spraying with stomach poisons. It was found that Paris green, London pur- ple, Scheele's green and other poi«ons of a vegetable nature were of no use in the fight — the caterpillars seeming to thrive and fatten on that diet; certainly their complexions improved. And in casting about for something which would kill, the commission discovered arsenate of lead. Since then the use of this product has become more and more widespread until at the present day it occupies a wide field. It is getting to be the standard remedy against the codling moth. It is easily and surely the best poison for all leaf-eating insects and its field may well be extended, especially since Paris green cannot be relied upon for purity and cheapness. Arsenate of lead, also sold under the trade name of "disparene", is a whitish paste, smooth and clean, resembling white lead to a marked degree. Its white color shows on the sprayed foliage and thereby saves material, at the same time insuring a complete coating. It mixes easily and quickly in water and being fine remains in suspension for a long time — forty times as long as coarse Paris green, and fifteen times as long as the finest, a point certain- ly in its favor. Being almost insoluble in the water it forms a mechanical mixture and there is absolutely no burning of the most tender foliage. And, last but not least, it sticks! A coating put on in early spring, if allowed to dry, will usually last for several months. Pear leaves sprayed in April have shown plain poison traces in September, after passing through sev- eral long rains. The time and labor, to say nothing of the inconvenience of repeating Paris green sprayings several times, more than offsets the cost of the added amount of lead, so its apparent disadvantage compared with Paris green is really no disadvantage at all: that is, the increased amount of arsenate of lead necessary. On strawberries the spraying need be repeated only to cover new growths. Put on just before the blossoms open, no damage need be feared from insects which devour the foliage. 1 here are several good brands of arsen- ate of lead on the market, and it is much cheaper to buy the prepared article than to mix it one's self. While the latter is possible it is not feasible except when the basic materials, arsenate of soda and ni- trate or acetate of lead, are easier to obtain, but even then care must be exercised to get these pure. The Bowker Insecticide Co. of Boston put out a good article called "disparene", and Swift's arsenate of lead manufactured by the Merrimac Chemical Co. of the same city has an extensive sale. The price is eighteen to twenty cents a pound in small lots and fifteen cents a pound in one-hundred-pound kegs. For use against the strawberry insects a proportion of four to eight pounds to one hundred gallons (two barrels) of water is very satisfactory, the larger dose remaining on the vines the longest. A still greater amount may be used with no danger of burning the foliage, twenty-two pounds being vised by some men on the elm against the gypsy moth larvae. This material may be put in the Bordeaux mixture, thus doing away with all expense for applying it. For a safe, satisfactory, sure poison arsenate of lead "fills the bill." Salinas, Calif. FORTY years ago, when Last Chance was at the zenith of its glory as a placer camp, a miner turned rancher and planted a garden patch of spuds, says the Helena (i\ioiit.) Independent. When the camp heard the news it was astounded and for days and days chewed the morsel at every gathering. 1 he fellow was con- sidered crazy for attempting to grow any- Page 172 thing except wild hay. That was over forty years ago. This year Anton Horsky, a well-known rancher of the valley, will make net .$500 on half an acre of straw- berries. The berries rival the famed Hood River fruit in size, flavor, color and keeping qualities. This is the first demon- stration that has been made of the possi- bilities of land in the valley, and it is said that many other ranchmen intend to grow strawberries next year, while others, en- couraged by the success of the strawber- ries, will put in other varieties. Several ranchmen are considering trying canta- loupes, which have been found well suited for certain portions of the state. A NNOUNCEMENT is made that ^*- the American Breeders' association will hold its fourth annual meeting at Washington, D. C, January 28, 29 and 30, 1908. Secretary James Wilson, the president of the association, will speak and other able and prominent men are being secured to take part in the program. The sessions are to be filled with excellent speaking talent and a valued meeting will be the result. Vj^E are pleased to call special attention of "^ our readers to the advertisement on the back page of this issue of The Strawberry. Farmers who farm to make farming pay are, from far and near, becoming members of the Farmers' Accounting Society and no farmer, however situated, can afford, for the sake of a two-cent stamp, to fail sending his name to this Society so that he may learn all he can concern- ing an organization the purpose of which is to make it possible for the farmer to know the exact cost of the production of every thing he sells. $ Earn a Good Salary $ By taking a course in | $ STENOGRAPHY $ j and ACCOUNTING d» at the \ rit« Today. We I'bt Frelttit. H. L. HURST MFC CO., 75 North St., Canton.O. This Sprayer used by leading straw- berry growers. ists who thus try to hinder the natural order that everything they do will serve only to bring out more prominently the great advantages the pub- lic enjoys in dealing directly with Oordon, Van- Tine &: Co. The latter own the standing tim- ber, they own the mills that saw it into lumber, and they own the splendid factories that manu- facture it up into finished products. Of course they can sell at lower prices than their competit- ors— and why shouldn' t they give the public the benefits of the economies they thus create by modern methods of production? Better leave this great institution alone, gentlemen. It was the war on them made by country merchants that built up the great mail-order houses of the country; so will all such attacks made upon Gordon, VanTine & Co. react and add only to its reputation as the most important and reliable institutiof of its kind in the world. ^^E are in receipt of the catalogue of Charles "^ E. Fendall of Towson, Md., whose adver- tisement of the Fendall strawberr\' appears in this issue. It will be remembered that in The Straw- berry for August, 1906, we published the inter- esting account of Mr. Fendall's discovery of this berry, illustrating it with a photo-engraving of one vine of the variety laden with fruit. Mr. Fendall writes us that further experience with the berry only confirms and strengthens his first impressions of its great value. It is the day of great things in horticultural development, and we welcome everything that points in the direc- tion of improvement. STRAWBERRIES AMONG THE STUMPS L. R. WALKER'S FIELD, ALDERSON, W. VA. P<«e 175 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL- Si^OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WHILE to the person accustomed to growing strawberries the in- quiries made by beginners may appear to be unnecessary, it remains true that there are thousands of people whose lives have been so placed that they never have had opportunity to learn the first thing about strawberry cul- ture; perhaps, indeed, they have been brought up on a city street where even grass was permitted to grow sparingly. Thus they are compelled, when engaging in the work of strawberry production, to ask questions of the most rudimentary sort. Then there are people who have grown strawberries all their lives who do not know the first thing about some of the most essential principles of their growth and culture. Within a month the writer was in a patch of Warfields with the owner. The yield was small and there were many "nubbins . "What bisexual have you set with your Warfields?" we asked. "What's that?" inquired the grower who had been in the business for forty years. Well, you may imagine the surprise with which we learned that this grower knew absolutely nothing about sex in plant life ; that to him a Warfield or a Sample or a Bubach were no different from a Dornan or a Bederwood or a Pride of Michigan. So we are glad sometimes when a beginner has the courage to ask us questions that are rudimentary. If the professionals are inclined to scoff at it, all right; but we believe that many people will be glad to read the questions asked by a woman who has the true instincts of the Yankee and whose right to that title is proved by the fact that she writes us from Boston, and perhaps the answers that follow may help some others to un- derstand certain points not clear to them before. She has asked her questions by "steps" as she calls them, so we repro- duce them just as they came to us, al- though the answers do not follow in numerical order; 1. I order plants from nursery spring of 1906. 2. Put these in two separate beds — a, fruit; /), propagating. 3. Allow h to grow as many strong runners as the plants will, while keeping off all bloom. 4. These runners are the plants to transplant for a new fruit bed? 5. When should they be transplanted, fall of 1906 or spring of 1907.' 6. When will they bear their first crop of fruit' 7. If they are transplanted in the spring of 1907 should they be allowed to bloom that sum- mer.' If in fall of 1906, when.' 8. Are tfie mother plants (those bought and placed here in b to form runners) to be left un- moved and should they be allowed to bear fruit in 1907.' 9. Why should not these runners be allowed to bear just as much as those which were layered beside original mother plants in fruiting bed ir.' 10. What does the nitrate of soda do for the plants and is it wise to apply it alone while plants are budding for bloom in the spring following the original planting (1907) plants put in in 1906? 11. When should bone meal and wood ashes be applied during this season (1907) to plants put in in 1906 — before blossoms form, or after fruit is set? 12. Is if true that wood ashes soften the fruit? Would it matter if the berries are not going to be shipped and only peddled and which of these fertilizers heightens color? 13. Do you mow and burn off plants after the first fruiting season or the second? If you wish to grow your own plants you should take some plants of each va- riety and set them in a bed by themselves, which should be called your propagating bed. The bloom from these planes should be removed the same as in the fruiting bed. When the runner starts forming you should lay soil on the runner wire, just back of the node, or little leaf that forms on the runner, spreading the runners out so that each plant will have abundance of room to develop in. This work should continue until about the first of October, and the plants that form after this should be pulled off, as plants that form so late in the season will not make good plants for resetting, unless growing weather con- tinues until very late. In the winter the propagating bed should be covered with mulching of some kind. In the spring of 1908, after you have your ground all ready to receive the plants, you should then go to your propagating bed and dig up the plants and set them where you wish your fruiting bed, keeping all bloom off. The plants which are set in the fruiting bed in 1908 will produce their first crop of ber- ries in 1909. If you leave the mother plants in the propagating bed, these can be allowed to produce fruit, but while digging up the runner plants the mother plants will be injured considerably and will not give a full crop of fruit. The runner plants in a fruiting bed will produce berries the same as the moth- er plant, and so would the runner plants in the propagating bed produce fruit if they were not transplanted. Nitrate of soda is what might be called a stimulant of foliage growth, as it stimu- lates and increases vegetative growth of plants. The best time to apply nitrate of soda is in the spring, and it should be sprinkled thinly around the plants. Bone meal, wood ashes, and all kinds of fertil- izer which becomes available slowly, should be applied early in the spring, and thoroughly worked into the soil before plants are set. Wood ashes have a ten- dency to make the fruit firmer. Also gives them a higher color. After the first crop of berries is picked, the plants should be mowed off and the dead foliage destroyed by fire. T his should also be done for the second crop. D. G., Anaheim, Calif. 1 have a patch of ber- ries from which I am now picking my first crop, but the blight or rust or whatever you call it is causing them (the leaves) to dry up. Will ', hese same plants be any good for the second crop if mowed off and treated in the usual manner and sprayed after new growth starts? Would fertilizer help them? Burning over your strawberry bed will kill all the fungous spores on your plants and the new roots will start new plants as fresh and free from diseases as were the plants when originally set. Fertilizer would be no help in this case. As soon as the new plants begin to appear after the burning over, keep a careful lookout and upon the first appearance of any form of fungous disease begin to spray with Bordeaux mixture in accordance with the instructions given in The Strawberry. S. M. P., Woodside, Minn. As my plants are just beginning to blossom it will be the last of July or the first of August before I could mow the vines and cover them with dirt. Would they have time to get sufficient growth before cold weather in this latitude, and if not what shall I do with them? 2. Would it be all right to mow the vines and not cover with dirt? Or not to mow them at all, but as soon as through picking berries to start the cultivator as at first? Your plants should make fine growth within six weeks from the time they are burned over and although you say . the season v.'ill be late there is no reason or doubt but that the burning over will do just as well under the conditions which exist this year as they would in a more normal season. 2. It would not be well to simply mow them over and leave them uncovered. Covering the crown with dirt is very es- sential, as it is this which causes the plants to develop a new system of roots. If you will pull up one of your plants after fruit- ing time, you will see that it is a mass of dry, wiry fibres. The development, there- THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 fore, of an entirely new root s\stem is imperative if you would have anorher crop of strawberries. 1 he new roots will de- velop just above the old roots, hut to en- courage this growth you must cover crowns with fresh soil. In short, the thing for you to do this season is just ex- actly what you would do in any other season, and follow methods of mowing over, burning ofF and reducing the rows by plowing as we have so often indicated in The Strawberry. A. M. W., Charlotte, Mich. In the spring of 1905 I set out a small patch of Warfield straw- berries, with good fertilizer, for my own use, kept off all blossoms and runners. In 1906 had a nice crop of berries, immediately after fruiting clipped off all foliage ami runners and kept them off. This summer I kept off all runners. First picking June 27, and last to- day 'July 19). Strawberries are in hills — some few plants are dying. Why? 2. Can 1 expect another crop next \'ear with same treatment as last year.' When will they run out if treated that way, or will they con- tinue to bear indefinitely.' 3. After clipping and working the ground after bearing, would it be proper to manure the ground (stable manure) and work it thor- oughly in the soil? It is rather difficult for us to state the cause of your Warfield plants dying. It may be that some grub or root lice are working upon the roots. 02. To get another crop next year we would suggest that you allow' these hills to make a number of runners. This v\ill greatly increase your next crop. After picking the next crop we would turn this patch under. 3. After cutting and burning over the bed and after the rows are narrowed down, you may spread well-decayed manure be- tween the rows and work it in with the cultivator. Miss I. C, Loveland, Ohio. Will burning off my fruiting bed stop the ants and the other insect which are working at the roots? If not will tobacco tea or cow manure and water? The fine tobacco just seems to dri\e them to another plant. OThe burning over of the fruiting bed after the berries are all picked is very beneficial. It destroys msects and fun- gous spores, and it also lias a tendency to drive the black ants to other quarters. The black ants prefer working in \ery firm soil, and if you will keep your soil, where the berry plants are growing, well culti\ated the ants will not remain in large numbers. The ants themselves do no harm to strawberry plants, but the fact that they are present is evidence that the roots of the plants are infested with root lice. The ants carry the lice from the roots of one plant to another. Strong to- bacco tea is quite beneficial in getting rid of the lice. Also tobacco dust sprinkled around the plants has a good effect. We ibink thorough culti\ation and rotation of crops is the best thing you can do. K. A. R., Belmont, N. H. Do you consider it practicable to grow Dornan, Pride of Mich- igan and Dunlap when set three feet apart between rows in anything but single hedge? 2. Should a plant ever be allowed to make plants from a lateral or only the main runner? 3. In forming the single hedge each plant is allowed to make two more on each side, in some cases a plant seems stronger than the next one. Is it best to wait until the weaker plant makes runners to fill, or gain time by letting the stronger plant make runners to meet the other? Heavy foliage makers such as Dornan, Pride of Michigan and Senator Dunlap, where grown extensively, would better be set in the single-hedge row, unless wider space is given them between rows. 2. Lateral runners never should be permitted to develop. 3. Your question is one which will have to be answered by the grower ac- cording to the condition of the individual plant. So far as ultimate results are con- cerned, it is doubtless true that the plant having enough vigor to send out two run- ner plants before the weak plant could 'end out one, would give the larger yield. On the other hand, an apparently weak plant at the start sometimes develops great strength and will make strong and vigorous runners, although considerably later than its neighbor. W. A. J., Bradford, Vt. I have over four acres of newly set strawberries and they are quite badly infested with a small black bug, (I send you a few under separate package.) They are now under the oldest leaves and eat through them, and also eat the new ones as they start. I send two kinds of bugs, one a small black one which are the most numerous, and a larger slate colored one which works more on the crown and are very destructive. Now can you give any information or suggest a remedy for these pests? The small black insects sent us are beet- les, and the larger ones are weevil. The beetles are chev\ing insects, and may he destroyed by spraying with a strong so- lution of Paris green. l\ake ten pounds of Paris green, put over two pounds of lump lime, and over this pour two gallons of hot water. Stir to prevent burning. When thoroughly slacked, add enough water to make forty gallons. One or two sprayings will generally do the work. The larva of the beetle is a small light-colored grub, which works on the roots of the plant, and by killing the beetle you will get rid of the larva. The weevil works on the fruit stems of the plant causing the Page 177 fruit stems to droop and wilt. The best preventive against these, as well as all other insects, is burning over the fruiting bed after the berries are all picked. Clean and thorough cultivation, rotation of crops is also iinportant, and be sure and avoid taking plants from infested beds. Keep all fence rows and all places adjoining your berry patch clean. H. S. , Osnaburg, Ohio. I have one-fourth acre of strawberries and wish to mulch or cover them this winter and have not the straw, but have mowed a meadow and there is a couple of tons of sour grass on it. Now would this make good mulching? The sour grass will make an excellent mulch for your strawberries. Any cover- ing in the way of straw or hay or long grass will serve, although the most perfect mulching is wheat straw. ■^ ^ H. E. R. , Eugene, Ore. The plants I set last spring grew finely. They were looking well and the ground was clean. The first of Jan- uary we had a flood (I am on the Willamette bottom) and washed them pretty badly, and then the first of February we had another bad one. It washed ail the dirt that was loose and some besides from between the rows, .so it left the plants on a ridge from four to six inches high. When it quit raining it turned dry, so I am out of strawberries. Now what shall I do and when shall I do it? I will tell you what I thought of doing, and that is to go on after the berries are gone and plow each row up deep and reset the plants in the same place and get the ground level. Wliat do you think of this plan? If your plants are entirely covered with soil, we think your method of plowing up the patch and resetting the proper thing to do. Prom what you say we judge that the soil where your plants are grow- ing is on a hillside or slope. If you have level ground it would be better, as then the heavy rains would not wash the soil over the plants so badly. If your plants are not covered more than an inch or two, the plants will come up through it and make good growth. P. A. A.. Grand Mound. la. I find some small light green lice or spiders on the leaf stems of my strawberry plants that are to fruit thissp iiig. Plants look perfectly healthy how; will those lice hurt my plants? If so what can be done? 2. Will it do to sprav with kerosene emul- sion, or \\\\\ it hurt the plants? The green lice \ou speak of will not do any serious damage. Just as soon as your berries are all picked, mow the fo- liage off and burn the bed over. Ihis will destroy the lice as well as other insects. 2. Kerosene emulsion would destroy the lice, but the trouble is that the lice THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 work down in the crown, hidden away in such a manner that it is almost impossible to reach them with the spray material, and the kerosene emulsion only kills such lice as it comes in contact with. The best preventative against lice and all other in- sects is the burning over of the bed :ifter fruiting season. Clean cultivation is also very important. Always avoid taking plants from infested beds. R. H. S., South Harv\ich, Mass. I run a steam plant using soft coal and from time to time scatter some of the soft coal ashes over the droppings in the poultry houses. Is this det- rimental to the droppings as a fretilizer on stravvberrv plants. Coal ashes contain very little available plant food. 1 heir principal advantage is in the fact that they have a tendency to loosen neav y clay soil, but there is not enough plant food in soft coal ashes to justify the use of them for any other pur- pose more than that above mentioned. If you can get dry dust or land plaster either will absorb and hold the nitrogen while aslies of any kind tend to set the nitrogen free. P. A. A., Grand Mound, Iowa. In layering runners when one is found to have taken root in a wrong place, should it be lifted out and reset, or would it be better to remove it and layer one that has no roots.' 2. What should be done to srow a few extra large berries for exhibition purposes.' I have theWm. Belt, Pride of Michigan and Senator Dunlap to work with, on a slightly sandy loam which is probably not any too rich. Would removing all but a few berries on each plant make them grow larger? 3. Although many berries died on the vines, which I think was caused by five days of rainy and sultry weather at the beginning of picking (am I right.'), I still had a good crop of very large berries that sold at two and one-half cents per quart above local market, and at that price my berries sold first. When I brought in my first crates of berries remarks could be heard all around such as, "Gee! what whoppers! Say, aren't those beauties! Never saw such berries in my life. How do you grow such line berries.'" My answer would invariably be, By setting good plants and cultivating them in an up-to-date way. Just as much difference between my strawberry patch and the average patch as there is be- tween those berries and the average berry. If a strong runner plant has taken root to one side of the row, it is best to take it up and layer it where you want it. 2. The Pride of Michigan and Wm. Belt varieties will grow large showy ber- ries without much e.xtra work. In grow- ing exhibition berries some growers cover the vines with cheese-cloth during the heat of the day. The time to do this is when berries are about half-grown, and they should be covered every day the sun shines until the berries are ripe. Thinning the berries a dozen or fifteen to each plant will help to increase their size. 3. A large amount of rain and hot sun during the ripening period will some- times cause berries to rot and die on the vines. We are pleased to learn that you have had such a good crop of berries and that you have received big prices for them. Your answer to those inquiries as to how you got such big berries was a good rne. It certainly does pay to set well-developed plants and give them good care. .^ ^ A HDISON GREENLEE, of Sandy ^*- Lake, Pa., writes us under date of July 23, 1907: "I will give you a sketch of my experience with the plants I set in May, 1906. June 27 last the big red fellows began to come in a way that sur- prised all of us, and the season lasted until July 19. During this time we were busy night and day. My patch consisted of 59 X 280 feet, and we picked 2,003 quarts of berries from it. We followed instruc- tions given by The Strawberry, and we know now that it is all right. We burned the patch and got it plowed and at this writ- ing it looks as if we would not see a plant again." It does take some faith to burn over a patch that yielded so finely, but it is the sort of faith that always pays. 'T'HE summer meeting of the Wiscon- •* sin State Horticultural Society will be held at Shiocton, August 28, and promises to be of exceptional interest. The Straw- berry urges all its readers who are inter- ested in the progress of small fruits or in horticulture in general to attend such gatherings as this whenever opportunity presents itself. The experiences of suc- cessful growers is one of the most valu- able aids to others, and association with horticulturists always is a source of delight and edification. 'THE ROOF BOOK covers the whole sub- * ject of roofs for residences, barns, cribs, poultry houses, outbuildings, stores and fac- tories. You can get a free copy by simply ask- ing for it. With the aid of the illustrated Roof FALL-FRUITING STRAWBERRIES PAN-AMERICAN AND AUTUMN strawbeiry plants that have been trans- planted in pots or otherwise can be set as late as August 15 and proiiuce fruit the following September and October. Pot rooted plants of the leading spring- hearing varieties can be furnished in- cluding the new "Golden Gate" which won $23 on 7 (seven) quarts at the Massachusetts Horticultural Exhibition in 1906. Send for circular. S. H. WARREN, WESTON. MASS. Book, vou can lay a waterproof and fire-resist- ing roof on anv kind of a building and be abso- lutely sure of a handsome, economical and satis- factory job. No-Tar Roofing is cheaper and bettei than shmgles, steel, iron and other roofing material. Keeps any building warm in winter and cool in summer. Unsurpassed for siding as well as roofs of poultry and stock buildings. It is entirely free from coal tar. Non-odorless, vermin proof. In addition to the free Roof Book the Heppes Company will send vou free samp- les of No-Xar Roofing, and tell vou ten ways to test it and prove its superiority. Send postal for Free Roof Book to the Heppes Company, 2930 Fillmore street, Chicago, and get posted on the roofing question. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COLUMN CATTLE PURE-BRED HOLSTKIN BI'I-L for sale, ready for ser- vice. Born April 2nd. llHXj. 8end forpedip-ee, color markings aud photouTaph. Fine animal. Price i-easonable. Must sell quick. Madison Cooper, 100 Court St., Water- town, N. Y. 8 COLD STORAGE A COLD STORAiJK PLANT will often pay for itself in a sin'ou ever saw. If you oider one and it doesn't paid me. Special Confidential Price to first Naylor's Flint-Coated Rubber Roofing $1.45 and up per Siaare of 108 Sq.Feet. '! iliffcreiit wciyht^ tor^rN^i't frnin. For fill kin lis of fiirin biii blinds. SU'Cp or fl:it roofs. Guiiranteed. N;iilg and cement with every roll. Samples free. J. R. Naylor, NAYLOR IWFG. CO. 4 Hillgrove Ave. La Grange, lU. | My Harrow saves ^so much time that it puller. It makes \as fine a seed-bed as ■"make good." I'll \refi.iud every cent you vho writes. Catalog FREE. Page 178 We Want Every Reader of THE SI BERRY To be an Active Agent for The Strawberry EADERS know how good a thing this magazine has proved itself to be, and can tell others about it in the most effective way. In addition to the satisfaction you will get out of doing a good thing for your neighbor and for us, we will pay a liberal commission on every sub- scription secured. The Kellogg Publishing Co. THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN Join Our Society! ^^^^=5^^^= THE FARMERS' ACCOUNTING SOCIETY ^ Accounting to make Your Farming Pay Systems to show what Pays on the Farm THE FARMERS' ACCOUNTING SOCIETY for Farmers, Fruit Growers and Stock Raisers was organized to meet tiie demand on part of the progressive and ambitious farmer for installing upon the farm and ranch the same Up-to-date Business Methods and Accounting Systems as are today being used by all money making and modern manufacturing and commercial enterprizes. Methods of Cost Accounting, Modernized Bookkeeping and improved Accounting Systems have within the last ten years shown themselves to be so advantageous and profitable that the big money making concerns of today find them an absolute necessity. The manufacturer positively could not do without them, no more can the farm be run at its best without these systems. Manufacturing Enterprizes and Mercantile Establishments have spent thousands of dollars to educate Cost Accountants and to install thorough accounting methods. WHY? BECAUSE IT PAYS. Why not the Farmer take Advantage of the SAME SYSTEMS AND DERIVE THE SAME BENEFITS FROM LEADING BUSINESS MEN AND EDUCATED COST ACCOUNTANTS FARMING itself is just as much a business as is the manufacturing of farm implements for farm purposes. Success in farming does not depend upon hard work alone. Success in farming depends, also, upon good common sense, up-to- date business methods. The implement manufacturer produces drags, drills, plows, cultivators, etc. The farmer pro- duces wheat, oats, butter, eggs, cattle, hogs, cotton, tobacco, etc. By means of improved accounting and cost systems the Implement Manufacturer knows, to a cen, the cost of each article he sells. Why Shouldn't the Farmer be in possession of the same Information in regard to the Cost of his Product? Wouldn't you like to know exactly how much money you lost or made last year on your hay, your cattle, your corn, your fruit and every other article you produced? Wouldn't you like to stop raising those things upon which you are making little, if any, profit and put in your time upon those products which this Society's System of Books and Cost Accounting shows have paid well? Membersiiip in The Farmers' Accounting Society will put you in possession of all this information. The Farmers' Accounting Society is an organization for the purpose of introducing and installing upon the Farm and the Ranch the same Modern, Improved, Business and Cast Accounting Methods used by all Successful Manufacturing and Mercantile Institutions of today. The Plan of the Society IMMEDIATELY when application with membership fee is received at the Home Office there will be mailed to the applicant a certificate of membership together with an Infor- mation Blank which, when it is filled out by the member will give to our expert accountants at the Home Office the necessary information for furnishing, opening up and start- ing the books before they are sent. Together with the books and accounting system will be mailed personal and explicit instructions as to how to keep them. At the close of the year each and every member will be instructed as to how to close his books and to know exactly upon what and how and where he made or lost his money. Each member will be furnished with a course of instruction in the latest improved and most thorough, up-to-date business methods and cost accounting systems, also a Membership Certificate entitles the holder to free instruction at any and all times relative to any ques- tion that may arise pertaining to his general Cost Account- ing or Individual Bookkeeping System. Responsibility, Reliability and Guarantees VV^E invite fullest investigation as to our trustworthyness " and reliability and are at all times willing and pleased to furnish bank or commercial references. We guarantee that the work at the Home Office is conducted by prominent, practical Cost Accountants and Expert Bookkeepers who are engaged not only in our work but who have devised and in- stalled methods and systems for Cost Accounting in some of the country's largest and most prominent manufacturing concerns the names of which will he cheerfully given upon request. We guarantee that the books and forms we furnish are of a quality, description, binding, compleieness and value such as could not be duplicated in the open market for a price as small as the membership fee to our Association. And we guarantee that the same equipment and Cost Ac- counting information furnished to the members of our Asso- ciation lias cost many manufacturing and mercantile con- cerns (whose names we can furnish) from five hundred to one thousand dollars to install. We have only told you a few things regarding the good this Society can do you, not only will it benefit you. but it will also afford to your children a business education. Send your name and we will mail you information in detail. WRITE TODAY. The Farmers' Accounting Society 118 Portage Avenue. THREE RIVERS. MICH. September 1907 THES ERRY '°¥lb(i L®irdl esdIM fenv® mmd® m lb®liS®F SrooD(l ftHaiiDB &© sllriiwlb®!rry=!bffl!(^ H® m®^®? dladlo' PUBLISHED BY Th^ iDIl®^^ Ponlbllnslbniini CoMjpainny THREE RIVERS. MICHIGAN PAINT paint— at a I'»Mvr prirp— tlmn any Mall-Oriler House or ixiint company in the Initfil States. Uon't thiijk of l>iiying Paint any where until you pet my pmpositiou. I can save you some money on a paint that's bound to please you — because if it doesn't please you. you can send it buck after you nave used two full gallon?. Won't yttu write today for my Big Paint Book and other printed matter? It is sent FliKE — together with sample colors to clioose from. Just send me a postal ■with your name and ad- dress—and do it jtoic— while it's ou your mind. Genuine Wade -to -Order I Ship my Paint in extra size (lailon cans- guaranteed to contain full measure. These cans are dated the day the paint is made— y""»' guarantee that thePaintis absor lutely /res/i when y<»u get it. Out of any six-gallon order or over you may use two gallons on your buildings. If it is satisfactnry, use the balance. If It fsdV satisfactory, return the balance, I'll re- fund all the niuiiey paid— i)ay trausportatii>n btith ways— and the test shan't cost you a cent. Making Paint fresh to order on a liig scale for the individual user enables me tootfera hettt-r O. £. CHASE, The Paintman, Depi. u, ST. LOUIS, MO, Meas- FREIGHT PREPAID Two Full Gallons To Try THIS COMPANY does a general real estate and load business. A specialty of looking np good farming lands and locating eastern people on them; let us hear from you — we can serve you. EITKKKA I^AND CO. 411 Buchanan Bids., Portland, Oregon STRENGTH OF Page Fence stock or runaway tenms may run i ntn a Page Fence— or trees may fall across and crush it — but when the pressure is gone the fence will spring buck to its place uninjured, because the horizontal Vinrs in Page Fence are made of Steel Spring wire, coiled un- der high tension — give and take up just like a spring. Our interesting catalog tells more fea- tures about Page Fence- Write for it. FaRP WoTen Wire Fence Co. nx 1U17, Adrian, Mlcli. ''The Whole Thing in a Nut ShelV 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM THE sixth edition of the book, "200 Eggs a Year per Hen. ' ' is now ready. Revised, enlarged, and in part rewritten, 9(5 pa^es. Contains among other things the method of feeding by which Mr. S. D. Fox, of Wolfboro, N. H. , won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best eeg record during the winter months, Simple as a, b, c— and yet we guaranteeittc start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more eggs than any other method under the sun. Tht book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 68 eggs from 72 hens; and for five days In succession from the same flock 04 cgys a day. Mr. F. F. Chamberlain ofWolfboro, N. H., says: "By foUowint; the methods outlined in your book I obtained 1.490 eggs from 91 R. I. Redsin the month of January, 1902." From 14 puUnts picked at random out of a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 eggs in one year— an average of over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition in writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the standard book ou egg production and profits in poultry . Tells all there Is to know, and tella it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a yekr's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our paper is handsomely illustrated, 44 to SO pages, 60 cents pe. var. 3 months' trial, 10 cents. &»aui- ple free. CATALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block, Syracuse. N. Y. No -Tar Roofing Defies Time, Water, Sparks, Cinders, Wind "No-Tar*' Roofint; has a surface as hard as flint — tt Is fllntl Can't catcli firo from iMiurks or cinders. It's as flexible as rubber— and abHo> liitely waterproof. It's toiiitht-r than leather. Costs less and lasts longer than shingle-, inm or steel. Won't run in the hot sun. The building that has a "No-Tar" Roof protection will last lon^'est. Accepted by all F!ro Insurance Companies, who charf^e 25 per cent less for insuring building's protected by "No-Tar" Hoofing than for buildings with Bnin„-le roofs. For Store Buildings and Factories i';,^°iI'fC^u°e durable a'nl sat isfactory for llat or etecp roofa than tin or gravel roofing. WiU not rot, rust or run. » For Barns and Outbuildings "^V^ri^^^'^^f^tZ^M eorts of buildings. Nothing better or cheaper for siding nouses, out- buiidia^s, etc. All joints water tlffht. "No-Tar" Roofing keeps stock anl poultry snup, safe and warm in coldest weather. Uuick and easy to lay. Exceedingly popular among farmers, stock raisers and poultrymen, T*r»»« TTrkiYCAC *'-^''**'rap" Koollng will add immensely to the appear- X or faOUSeS ance of your residem-t^. Use it oti your new house or covertheold. I aky shingle roof with "No-Tar" Roofing and avoid dis- aster from water or fire. "No-Tar" Roofing is a non-oomiuctor of heat or c^">I i Keeps your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Try it on your porch or kitchen. • F__ _ Crt— ,«l«rt 4.^ T*»ol- When we send you the Free Sample ree Oampl.es to lest of -No-Tar" Roofing we win tell you ten ways to test It and prove its superiority to any other roofing. r"-«.^ 13^-C 15-»— 1_ Thisbook tells "How to Do Your Own Roof- r ree I\OOI dock ing." T. Hs how to make Valleys. Gutters, Flashings, etc. How to Measure a Roof. Explains the whole roofing pro|iositi<->n. "We send the book FREE, postpaid, on request. Get "No- T»ir" Roofing from your local dealer. Special nails and cement FREE, The HeppesCo., 2932 Fillmore Street, Chicago Dealers, Attention -- ^Y^ito for FREE PLAN, by which you can quickly build Up a profital)lo Roofing Department. Throw Old-style Harrows on the Junk Pile! ^^^ Naylor 2-in-1 Harrow Does the Work Better in Half the Time ■^-^ What's the use of going over your fields twice when once over with my Combination Spring" and Spike Tooth Harrow will do the work and do it better? This 2-in-l Harrow makes a perfect seed-bed in half the time and with half the labor of man and team ^required with old- style harrows and drags. The 2-in-l turns up the earth and pulverizes it AT THE SAME OPERATION. The little picture at the bottom tells part of the story. My Catalogue tells more of it, and hundreds of farmers all over story. You ought to hear them praise it. pays for itself in 7 days* use. It's a light you ever saw. If you order one and it doesn't paid me. Special Confidential Price to Naylor's Flint-Coated Rubber Roofini $1.45 aad np per Square of 108 Sq.Feet. 3 different weights to seitit from. For nl I kinds of fiirm huildint;s. Steep or fltit roofs. Giiiirantce(i. N;iils and cement with everv mil. Samples free. J. R. Naylor, NAYLOR MFG. CO. 4 Hillgrove Ave. La Grange, telling the rest of the much time that it fine a seed-bed as refund every cent you ho writes. Catalog FREE. AC for this Big Handsome DJl||nC • iir inn-^et/ Yon know that there iniit^t he a big dltTerence between a strictly high- prade stove, made of the best materi- als by expert workmen. and a "cheair' stove made of scrap Iron by Inferior workmen. "Why nut pret the best you can find- especially when you can buy It at the actual factory price! That's exactly what we offer you : **J<. ^ifhJ^KWy^€K^: Oireet to >^u TPADE.-MAPK PEGISTEQEO A stove or Range of the highest quality at actual Factory Price on 360 Days Approval. You cannot secure anywhere a bet- ter stove or ranpre than the Kuhiuiazoo —no matter liow much extra yon pay. "W'e guarantt-e that, under a $20,i 00 hank bnnd and trive you 360 days in which t" prn\e It j.iiirt^elf. (Uir tlrst idea Is to make the best Btovesandrani.'estliatliumanskllland experience ami honest workmanship can produce from the best procurable materiala. 1 liat'3 why we use only the hiphest graile pip iron, and a better prade of steel than anv otlicr stove manufac- turer In the United States. That's « hy we employ the most Bkllled workmen In the business, and maintain fine of the best enulpped, most modern stove factories in the world. And that's why the Kalamazoo line has become so famous as fuel-savera, as good bakers and unlck heaters; and why they last so long and give such good satisfaction. At the same time our system of nian- ufacturlnpand selling direct is such that we save y on $n, eiu, PM and 1 n some casesasmnchas$4Uon e\ ery iiiirchase. You cannotgetabetterat any price. The Kalamazoo is as gof>d a stove or mnpeas man can make — and you save from 20 to iO'/o in bnylnp it. And don't forpet: you pet your money hark if it Is not in every way exactly as represented. We pay the freight and ship all Kalamazoos blacked, polished and ready f<)r Immediate ust. Any man can remove crating and set them up. Send Postal Today For Catalogue No, 348 Compare Kalaiim amazoo Prices \\H\ i,>iiallty and Kal- ■titers- and save your money. Our line isconiiiiete. em- bracing stoves antl ranges of all kinds for all domestic purposes— for the home, si-hool, church, halls, lotlge ruiuns, etc. Hotel ran^jes for restaur- ants, boarding houses. clubs and camps. (Jas stoves and ranges for cooking and heating— all sold at factory prices. KALAMAZOO STOVE COMPANY, Manufacturera, Karamazoo, Michigan. Original "Direct-to-user" Manufacturer. Beware of imitators. Kalamazoo Rnyal Steel Hantre. out- of many styles — exi'cptionally ec<)nomi- cul ol fuel. All our cook stoves and ranges are enulpped with patent oven thermometer, wJiich saves fuel and inakes baking' and roasting; easy. Kalamazoo Radiant Base- i Burner. Positively the best bargain evero'ffered In a heating stovo. Pa«e 182 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 weeds take possession of the land, the weaker feeding grain crops are compelled to compete with the stronger feeding weeds, and the result is survival of the stronger. Weeds thrive where wheat would fail, because of the difference in the power of assimilating food. Weeds may be said to possess strong digestive and assimilative powers, while wheat and flax possess weak digestive powers; hence weeds are capable of exhausting the fer- tility of the soil more rapidly than grains. .Fall Setting Once More THE number of inquiries that come to us concerning fall setting of straw- berry plants increases notwithstand- ing the explanations given in these pages as to the reasons why this method should not be followed. We are therefore glad that we can let another writer on horticul- ture answer these inquiries, and so quote from A. B. Sibert of Rochester, Ind., who, writing in the National Fruit Grower for August, says on that point: "In reply to several inquiries I will again say, set strawberries in March, April and May; never in the fall. Fall-set plants have no time to set new plants and are frequently so injured by hot, dry weather that they are unable to become well rooted. A plant set in the spring will produce from its runners ten, twenty or thirty new plants, each as good for fruiting as the parent plant, and you will have ten, twenty or thirty times as large a yield as if the same number of plants are set in the fall. In Florida, Louisiana and other por- tions of the South late fall setting is quite common, because labor is cheaper there and results are sometimes equally good, but our climatic conditions are not suited to such work and although I have ex- perienced and observed many failures from fall setting in our latitude I never exper- ienced or knew of a single success." On other points brought out by an in- quiring subscriber, Mr. Sibert has the fol- lowing to say: "I wonder why the gentleman cut the runners until July 15. Why not let the first runners set new plants until you have a good row and then cut the late runners.' If you cut the first runners and a drouth sets in during mid season you are almost certain to have poorly-set rows, and even if late rains do fill these rows many of the plants will not have time to develop fruit buds before freezing weather sets in, and you will wonder next year why so many plants have but one fruit stem, or no fruit stem at all. Late rains here last fall filled the rows of most varieties fairly well, but there was general complaint of barren plants this season. I suffered but little from this cause and I attribute it to the fact that 1 always instruct my help to carefully guard and guide the first runners. I am aware there is good authority for Seven Bushels of Wheat for 55 cents It lias bcfu iloiie ami can be dune a^ain. It was tl^ne with Potash aililed to the common iziT. Be sure tluit )• ' complete " ferlil- u luive 6 per eeiit. of rotash ill the fertilizer. To increase ilie Potash one pir cent, add two pounds of Muriate of I'l >tash to each loo pounds of fertilizer. Details of this experiment and our other valuable hooks are free. They are not mere aJvertisinK matter, but lincks written by practical experts, and contain eut,'Kestions that will be helpful to the man who is trying to get the beat oat of bid farm. GERMAWKALI WORKS 93 Nassau Street, New York Monadnock Building;, Chicago Candler Building, Atlanta, Qa. Address office nearest yon. \^m' ^»>f i.^ cutting the first runners, but the advocates of that method are growing fewer year by year and I would strongly advise the other plan. "Four inches of coarse straw is not too much for a winter mulch, but I would fear to put on four inches of fine broken straw, "half chaff". Such mulch is sure to pack and exclude the air, and injury to the plant ensues. I believe it was the open winter with packed mulch that caused the stem casing to decay. I would also suggest that as soon as the ground is frozen sufficiently to bear up a team and load, mulch should go on at once. On account of the difficulty in getting straw out of frozen stacks many growers are now spreading their mulch before the ground is frozen, but no covering should be placed immediately on the plants until plant growth has practically ceased." One Canadian Grower's Success By William J. Moffatt 1AM an enthusiastic reader of The Strawberry, having been a subscriber since a short time after it was first published. I have been growing straw- berries now for four years. Although I am a school teacher, I always find time on Saturdays and during holidays to carry on the strawberry business on a small scale. 1 am one of those who began at the beginning and all my knowledge has been gained by experience and by studying your excellent literature. 1 have tried the following varieties: Sample, Brandy wine, Haverland, Dornan, Pride of iMichigan, Enormous, Klondike, Wolvertoii, Climax, and others, and I find Phgt 183 in my experience that Sample is one of the most productive. Next come Dor- nan, Brandywine and Pride of Michigan. I use no commercial fertilizer, but give the land a good solid coat of stable ma- nure, and work it well into the soil the fall before planting. Then in the spring as soon as the soil is in fit condition I have it worked up and the plants set out. In planting we use the dibble and the spade. We have watered plants when set out but find from experience that they are better without it if the soil is cultiva- ted right after planting. iMy method of planting is this: Rows three and one-half feet apart, plants two feet apart in the row. When plants are formed on runners place two between each of the mother plants, making a con- tinuous row. Then lead the runners out on each side of the row about eight or ten inches and layer them in by placing a small lump or stone just behind the node. Allow these runners to lengthen so that you will have a row of young plants on each side of the center row. As soon as the row is full, pinch off the ends of the runners and all new runners as soon as they come out. When this is done your plants are between eight and twelve in- ches apart and have plenty of room in which to develop, ^'ou also have about a foot and a half of space to cultivate be- tween the rows, and this affords lots of room for pickers. I could say much more, but i must make it short and say a few things about the great success of this year's crop, con- sidering the unfavorable weather condi- tions, [here were 950 plants in the fruit- ing bed; 500 of these were bearing their second crop, and the rest were bearing their first. 1 hey had been well cultivated in the summer of 1906 and had been well THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 mulched with pea and wheat straw in the fall. Our winters are always fairly severe this far north in Canada, but in spite of frost, drought and all the rest of it I am convinced that there is less risk of losing an entire crop of strawberries than of any other crop that grows in this wide world. This spring was the most unfavorable one for plant growth that I have ever seen. Continual frost and cold weather when all the snow was gone, extending right up to the time when the plants should have been in full leaf, kept the plants back. But in spite of all this we never had a finer crop. Over 1,000 boxes were picked and sold besides what was eaten and used at home. I used a circular in advertising the ber- ries. People were running over each other to get my berries, which were far beyond all others in size and quality. There was such a demand that before half the crop was picked I had to stop taking orders. I am giving these particulars to encourage those who think they are not in a favor- able locality to market berries. Before I commenced growing berries one or two of my neighbors who grew a few in the ordinary way had great diffi- culty in selling them at all, even at five or six cents a box. This shows how easy it is to dispose of a first-class article. I live in a farming country fifteen miles from the nearest town. There are three small vil- lages not fa. away however, of from 100 to 300 inhabitants each, and in these and the surrounding country I am sure I could sell five or six hundred dollars' worth of berries. I have one merchant in each vil- lage handle my berries exclusively. This season I sold the berries at ten cents per box and $2.25 per crate of twenty-four boxes. The merchants retailed them at ten cents per box straight, making only fifteen cents per crate. But they consid- ered it a privilege to have the exclusive right of handling my berries. We picked the first berries June 28 and made our last picking July 20. A few days after the last picking we mowed oft the tops, let them lie for a day, and then raked oft leaves and mulch into piles. On the same day we cultivated between PRKSIDENT KOOSEVKLT and 50 other kinds of Strawberries. Blaek and Red RaspbeiTy plants, Catalpa, Poplar and .Japan Walnnt trei's. Send for catalogue. Alva C'atlioart. Itristtil. liuliaiia. Isle of wanted-ii^,z: in October and look over my proposition on the Isle of Pines. I have several tracts of land there that can be worked on shares. TX» The Island is a great place for K^in/^O Sirawberry growing, also all I lllt-O ^'"^^ ofVegetables, Melons, Cit- rus Fruits, etc., and a great place Wi for Poultry and Bee keeping. • 1* 1 want to get in touch with par- ties who could go with me in October to the Isle of Pines and investigate my offerand proposition. We can gel a special rate on Ward Line Steam- ers from New York to the Isle of Pines for $30 one way. For more particulars, address F. M. VanEtten, 238 Delaware Ave., BUFFALO, N. Y. PLANTS IN THE FIELD OF H. B. STEWARD, MYRTLE POINT, OREGON the rows and raked the loose earth thinly over the top of the row. Then we took chr.fT forks, carried the leaves and mulch back again and put it evenly in the de- pression between the rows. This helps to retain moisture and keep the earth loose. Although we have had only one small rain since then, the plants today are spring- ing up fine and green through the layer of earth. The Enormous is the most productive of berries we have tested. On one plant we counted 175 berries, including a few blossoms. Dozens of other plants had over 100 berries and blossoms, but on ac- count of the terrible drought not half of them matured. We always pick in the forenoon and have the berries on the market early in the afternoon. We never have berries for market lie on our hands over night in the boxes, but let the consumer have them the same day they are picked. Carefully arrange the berries stem down- ward in the top of the box. Have berries uniform in the crate; you will make no mistake by putting the big fellows in the bottom. One of my customers made the following remark: "Those berries I got from you were the finest I ever saw. Why, I am sure the berries in the bottom of my crate were larger than those on top." iMy home is about one hundred miles north of Toronto, and from the success I have I am sure that berries can be grown even farther north than this and a good crop be assured in spite of frost and all other unfavorable conditions. Narva, Ont. 1I>R1TISH hygienists are just now en- *-* gaged in a vociferous attempt to show that the beautiful and delicious strawberry is the source of many human ills and that disease and death lurk within to attack those who eat of it. Last season it was an alleged Buffalo physician who ran Pigt 184 amuck over the country decrying the strawberry. Now the fact is that people afflicted with certain diseases of the stom- ach or liver are affected by certain acids. Among the most injurious to some are the citrus fruits — lemons, oranges, grape fruit and limes. Some folk are immediately affected by eating tomatoes. So the straw- berry is not agreeable or healthful to some people; but we venture the assertion that no other fruit, unless it be the apple, is beneficial to so large a proportion of the human family as the strawberry; and this, no doubt, the British hygienists who have succeeded in creating a dog-day scare, will themselves admit. MAMA, I's got a stomach-ache," said Nellie, six years old. "That's because you've been without lunch. It's because your stomach is empty. You would feel better if you had something in it." ^ That afternoon the pastor called and in the course of conversation remarked that he had been suffering all day with the headache. "That's because it is empty, " said Nellie. You'd feel much better if you had some- thing in it." — Judge's Magazine of Fun. OUR thanks are due those members of The Strawberry family who have sent us marked copies of local newspapers con- taining flattering notices of their strawber- ries. Evidently "our folks" are the ones who know how. QUITE unusual is the otTering made by the Century Furnace Co. of Youngstown, Ohio, in this issue of The Strawberry. This company belie\ es in the people, and as proof of its faith is offering its furnaces on a part-pay plan that makes it a simple matter for people with limited means to secure a furnace and have it installed in their homes. Read their adver- tisement and write for further information. A Fool For Luck By Elizabeth Clarke Hardy YES, sir, it takes a fool for luck, an' that little fruit farm across the way goes to prove what 1 say. You can see for yourself that it is the purtiest and snuggest little place anywhere around, an' they do say that the feller that owns it is makin' money hand over fist, an' we never any of us thought he was so awful smart either. "You see it was this way, stranger. When old Sam Brayton, who kept a grocery store over at Misha Mokwa, died, he left two boys, an' Jim the oldest was smart as a whip. His father had sent him to business college, though I guess it was a pretty tight squeak to pay the bills, and then Jim had got a position as bookkeeper in a big store in the city. "But Ben was different; never seemed to have no ambition, nohow, an' just worked for old Judge Hill as a common farm hand till he had saved up money enough to take him through Agricultural College. Now I never could see what a man could learn about farmin' at any sort of school. If he knows how to plow an' seed an' harvest his crops that's all there is to it. But anyway, Ben went to school to learn to farm, an' about the time he came home his father died, an' after the debts was paid there was nothin' left for the boys an' their mother except the household stuff. "Jim told Ben that he could not take care of his mother, he said it was about all a feller could do to take care of him- self where it cost so much to live, an' Ben told him not to worry, fer he would look out for his mother. "So Jim went back to his work in the city, an' what did Ben do but come out here an' buy this poor, run-down ten acre farm of a man who said he couldn't make a livin' on such a measly place, an' he wanted to go to the city an' drive a de- livery wagon. "Ben got the place cheap, an' it seems that he borried the money of old Judge Hill. Anyone'd trust Ben Brayton for he didn't know enough to be dishonest, nohow. Well, sir, Ben an' his mother moved right into that old shack an' Ben worked around for farmers durin' corn- huskin' an' thrashin' and put in all his spare time fi.xin' up the place agin' winter an' by cold weather you'd never have known the place. My woman said Mis' Brayton had real nice housekeepin" things and they seemed to allers have plenty of everything, but how Ben was goin' to make a livin' off that place was more than we could guess. "That winter Ben cut cordwood an' earned enough to buy him a team, an' in the spring he covered every foot of that ten acres with manure six inches deep. He cleaned up his own place an' then bought all his neighbors didn't need, an' he plowed an' harrowed an' made that whole ten acres as fine an' level as a par- lor floor. An' then, to cap the climax, he bought strawberry plants enough to set out hve acres, an' took as much pains settin' them out as though he expected they would bring him in a livin'. " 'Thoroughbred plants' he called them, an' every minnit he wan't to work his nose v\as into some sort of a berry book, study- in' up fruit culture as he called it, an' in the fall it would have tickled you to death to see him cover up them plants with straw, same as if they were a lot of babies he was goin' to keep warm durni' winter. "There's no use in denyin' that the next spring that strawberry bed was a sight to behold. First it was white as snow with blossoms, an' then it was red with the biggest berries you ever see. I guess he done pretty well sellin' his crop, too, for he built that snug little barn in the fall, and fixed up the house an' out buildin's, paintin' 'em all himself, beside buyin' a cow an' some farmin' tools. "But most everyone was laughin' in their sleeves because Ben went an' bought more plants an' set out the hull blame ten acres, just leavin' a little plot for a garden. "Well sir, the next year Ben made a big payment on his place beside fixin' up what he calls a lawn around the house. I ain't denyin' but what it looks fine, an' since he built on them new porches an' laid new hardwood floors, the house is fine enough for anybody. He bought a fine new buggy too, an' he and his mother ust to drive around lookin' fine as silk. "The yearafter,that Ben finished payin' for his place' an' then he give us all the surprise of our lives. He up an' married old Judge Hall's daughter, an' I hear that the Judge was perfeckly willin' and it would a tickled you to death to see how proud she was of Ben an' his berry farm. "Of course, Ben built a packin' shed and had all kinds of berry tools. My youngsters ust to pick berries for him an' you'd a laughed to hear them tell how particular he was to have the berries graded up just right. He never let them put the small berries in the bottom of the box an' the large ones on top as most everybody does that sells berries. He told them that would be cheatin' an' wasn't good busi- ness anyhow, an' they got so honest work- in' for him that they would watch me in apple pickin" time an' see that I didn't put the small fruit in the bottom o' the barrel; an' they got so carried away with the way he kept things picked up around his place that they begun tidying up things around home, an' wouldn't give me any peace until I had fixed the front gate an' mended the steps of the back porch This spring they set out a big strawberry bed with plants that Ben Brayton give them, an' they are countin' big on what they are goin' to make off their berries. "Now when we raise anything to sell we just cart it down to Misha Mowka an' sell it for what we can get for it, but Ben shipped all his berries to the city market. Yes, sir, actually shipped them himself an' got the top price of the market. I guess he is makin' a good bit of money, for my nephew that is cashier of the bank told me that Ben Brayton was now one of the stockholders, an' I hear that he has just bought the old Judson farm that joins him on the north. Maybe his wife's money is goin' into that. I dunno, but if it does it will be hern, I can tell you, for Ben is a mighty independent feller. "An' Jim.' Well, Jim married too, an' lives in one of them city flats. I hear he is still workin' at bookkeepin". He's smart you know, an' kin do most anything. Last summer he an' his wife came out to SCENE IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF J. W. TAYLOR, EXETER, ONTARIO P>«e 185 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 STRAWBERRY GROWING ON THE ISLE OF PINES, WEST INDIES visit Ben's folks durin' berry time. They dressed fit to kill, an' put on a heap of style, though my wife's cousin that lives next to them in the city told us they had hard times to make both ends meet, an' never laid up a cent. But Ben — well, as I said, stranger, it takes a fool for luck; an' I don't .mean to insinuate that Ben is jest a fool either, but he is sure lucky at money-makill'. Red Cedar, Wis. How to Discover Sour Soil SIRAW BERRY growers, like every- body else, must meet soil-problems, and one of these is the problem of sour or acid soil — a condition that care- fully should be guarded against and which may be relieved by liming. F. E. Bone- sted describes in Cjarden Magazine the litmus paper test for acid in the soil as follows: An acid soil often refuses to grow a good crop, especially of hay, for instance, and the only recourse is 'o counteract this sourness. I'or all-around purposes a neu- tral soil is far the best. I'o determine whether \our soil is acid and needs to be rectified by an addition of lime, get some strips of blue litmus paper from the drug- gist; it costi but a few cents. Now take a fair sample of the soil and mix with sufficient water to make it the same con- sistency of thin mortar. Imbed a strip of the paper in this and allow it to remain for half an hour; then withdraw carefully and rinse it. If the paper has turned a decided pink, it is safe to assume that an application of liine will be beneficial. Several forms of lime are used to cor- rect soil acidity. Ground limestone is the slowest and mildest form; air-slaked lime comes next in respect to these points; stone lime (burned) and fresh slaked or hydrated are the quickest and strongest in action. I he common objections to lime do not hold on well-manured ground and you are safe in applying considerable quantities. One to two thousand pounds may be used per acre of fresh-slaked lime when broad- casted on plowed ground and well worked in with a disc harrow. This must be done at least two weeks before any other ma- nure or fertilizer is applied, or any seeds sown, as it prevents gerinination. Apply as early as possible in the spring. A common practice in Pennsylvania is to distribute stone lime in the fall in small piles, covering with soil and spreading in the spring when it has slaked. Do not plow lime under in a mass; always dis- tribute on the surface and harrow in. Page 186 There is little danger from excessive ap- plication where there is plenty of organic matter in the soil. FROM Danville, 111. comes the follow- ing dispatch: Alleged to have sold strawberry plants with the guarantee that they would grow on bushes, on the sides of barrels and in many other and peculiar places, H. S. Blake who was before Jus- tice Osborn Saturday appeared yesterday afternoon and was arraigned on the charge of working a confidence game. A con- tinuance was taken and the man's bond was placed at ,$500 which he could not give and he was taken to jail. Horticulture at the Jamestown Exposition SOMETHING of the growing im- portance of scientific horticulture is suggested by the number of associa- tions having each a different speci*ic ob- ject, yet all of them directly having to do with this great subject, which are to meet at the Jamestown Exposition during the latter part of the present month. For the THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 information which follows we are indebt- ed to Ciarden Magazine: The gathering which dominates in its importance is that of the Biennial Session of the American Pomological Society fixed for September 24, 25 and 26. This or- ganization embraces in its membership the leading fruit growers, orchardists and scientific horticulturists of the country. 1 he valuable service rendered to com- mercial horticulturists in its okl-fashioned aspects, that is, fruit production, has been untold. Of recent years the program of the various sessions has shown a very curious tendency to diiftaway from what might be generally regarded as the strict subject of the Society's interest and tends towards intricate problems of horticultural research. In other words, it has become more scientific. The Society of Horticultural Science announces its fifth annual meeting for the same days as those of the thirty-first bi- ennial meeting of the Pomological Society, and the membership of this society is formed exclusively of scientific investiga- tors and workers in horticulture, and is much more specialized than that of its older sister from which it is an ofT-shoot. At this year's session, the single topic of plant breeding will be discussed. The National Nut Growers' Associa- tion having its headquarters at Poulan, Ga., has also fallen into line and announces its session as continuous from the Pom- ological Society. It will meet on Sept- ember 26 to 28. This little society is really exercising a very marked influence in Southern states, and has been very ef- fective in the rapid development of the nut-growing industry, especially in pecan nut-growing regions. Nut trees should appeal very strongly to the f;irmer in al- most any part of the country. 1 he trees are multi-valuable; not only is their annual crop worth while, but the trees themselves have a timber value, and the hickory, walnut and chestnur, from this latter point alone, should be well worth planting by the farmer. The National Council of Horticulture, which was organized as an off-shoot of the Society of American Horists for the direct purpose of stimulating public in- terest in horticultural matters of any sort, will also meet during ihe horticultural convention week at Jamestown (Septem- 2!^ and 24). This body was organized for the purpose of stimulating horticultural interest through the public press and by means of other orgnnized agencies. It cannot be doubted but that its uork has been productive of real good during the couple of years it has been in operation. Beginning on September 30 and on the first two days of the following month, an international convention on the important subject of Plant Harditiess and Acclima- tization will be held in New York, under the auspices of the Horiicuitural Society of New York. This meetiig is (ilanned along lines similar to those of the very successful Second International Plant Breeding Conference in 1902, organized by the same society. It gave a great stimulus to serious study of plant breeding in this country, resulting ultimately in the formation of the American Breeders' As- sociation, which also includes the study of farm animals. Growing Importance of Concrete THIS may be called the age of con- crete, an age developed as a result of the ruthless slaughter of the for- ests and the consequent high prices of lumber, prices so high that the man of ordinary means finds it all but impossible to make for himself a home of the mate- rials that were comparatively inexpensive even a decade ago. But a worthy sub- stitute has been found that in some re- spects is superior to lumber — in lasting qualities, in protection from fire, in the fact that paint may almost be dispensed with, at least so far as the exterior of buildings is concerned. Common sand and gravel, mixed with a good quality of Portland cement and molded in an inex- pensive machine, make a material that outwears graniie, as has been proved by the wonderful concrete roads built in the days of Rome's glory, which still stand as the best type of highway construction the world ever has known. That our Strawberry readers will be interested to have some definite informa- tion on this subject we are sure, and as we have just received from the Colorado Ag'irultural College some important sug- gestions along this line, we pass them along just as they come to us: Cement. — Use nothing but the best ce- ment that can be obtained. It should be in a fine, powdery condition and contain no lumps. Cement should be stored in a ilry place, as dampness is an element of great danger. Sand. — The sand used should be clean, sharp, and not too fine. It should be free from loam or clay, as these will tend to destroy the adhesive quality and to retard the setting of the cement. Clay mixed with the sand may be removed by washing. By sharp sand we mean that the edges of the grains must be sharp and not round or worn off, as will often be the case with sand found in the bed of a stream. Coarse sand is better than fine sand. Fine sand, even if clean, makes a poorer mortar or concrete and requires more cement to thor- oughly coat the grains. A large propor- tion of the grains should measure from one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. Some fine sand is nec- essary to help fill the spaces between the larger grains, thus saving cement. Water. — The water used should be clean and free from acids or alkalis. For making the best concrete, add just enough water so that when all the concrete is in the form and is well tamped, moisture will show on the surface. The tamping is a very important operation and the quality of the work is dependent upon how well this is done. Unless this is thoroughly accom- plished the concrete is likely to be honey- combed and imperfect, especially near the forms. Proportions. — F"or ordinary farm con- struction, as the making of floors, walls, walks, gutters, etc., the following propor- tion is to be recommended: 1 part cement, 2' 2 parts clean loose sand, and 5 parts of loose gravel or broken stone. For floors this should be tamped in to a depth of from 5 to 8 inches. This should be fin- ished with a surface coat 1 to IK inches in thickness, composed of 1 part cement and 1 '-■ to 2 parts of clean, coarse sand, mixed. Nearly all constructions which come in contact with water should be covered with a mortar at least as rich as the proportion last named, hor engine foundation, 1 part cement, 2 parts sand and 4 parts broken stone is best. In estimating the amount of material necessary for a certain construction, do not make the mistake of thinking that a mixture of 1 barrel of cement, 2 '^ barrels STEEL ROOFING $1.50 most economical and durable ■ roofing knonvn. Easv to put on, r'^niiirt-s no tools hut a hatcliet or a hnmmer. Willi or.l.uurv iiirn mill outlast any olhcT kind Thou^-iuids of satisi.d customcra evirvmhiTe have proven its virtues. Suitohle lor loveriii; auy Imildlna. AlPO lust for rVinni! aid Sidin;.-^ Flre-proot and LIghtnIn f -proof. Clj arc r and more Ia9tin«tlian«luufles. Will lu.t taint luiiiwat.r. Mu],.-s vour luii (liiii: cooler insumuur and "ariii'-r in winter. Absolutely perli-it. Bri.. percent of the amount of your order in cash: balance to he paid after mate r:al reaches yiuir station. It not found as represented, we will cheerfully refund your ilei>osit. Ask for Catalog Mo.C.G, I'-V.) . Lowest i.rieeson Koofint,'. Kave '1 rnrt:hs. Wire. Pipe. Fenciiiy. I'lnmbinL'. Do.u-s. ll.>usi-lio;d Cioods and everythint; n led on the I-iinii or In Ihe U..nie. WE BUY OUR CaCDS AT SHERIFFS' AND RECEIVERS' SALES I CHICAGO HOUSE WRECKING COMPANY, Thirty-Firth ard Iron Sts.. CHICAGO. Page 187 THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 of loose sand and five barrels of gravel or broken stone will make 8':= barrels of concrete. The sand will fill the voids between the gravel or broken stone and the cement fills the voids between the grains of sand. The total amount of con- crete will be but slightly more than the amount of gravel or broken stone used. To make one cubic yard of concrete of the following proportions — 1 part cement, 2'^ parts sand and 5 parts gravel — re- quires about 1 '+ barrels of cement (5 sacks), 3 '+ barrels of sand, and 6 '2 barrels of gravel. Mixing. — Be very careful in measuring the proportions. Mix the concrete as near the place it is to be used as possible. Use as soon as mixed. Do not mix too much at once. Measure the sand first, and spread it in an even layer in a mixing box, place the cement on top and turn it with a shovel at least three times. Then add the bro- ken stone or gravel which has previously Q)wmBmBmm^m^Bm<^. ri no be iiave it for ble opin= *♦ ion, tbat whoever coul? mahe two ears of corn or two blaDcs of cirass to grow upon a spot of cirounO wbere onlv one cirew before, woulO £ie= serve better of manhinO anO Oo more essential service to bis countrv tban tbe wbole race of politicians put to= cietber. : : : Dean Swift. mG^mmGmmGwm&B'Bm been wet, and turn the whole at least three times. Begin to add the water on the second turning, not too much at once. A sprinkling pot is better than a hose for adding the water, as it does not wash away the cement. Concrete work should be avoided in freezing weather, as frost damages it. Where it is absolutely necessary to do work at this time, a small amount of salt added to the water will prevent freezing; this does not damage the concrete where used in small quantities. An objection is sometimes raised that concrete floors and walls are too smooth and become slippery when wet. This fault is largely due to the fact that the finishing surface was completed with a steel smoothing trowel instead of a wood trowel, or smoothing board, which would PICKING STRAWBERRIES IN A FIELD NEAR PROCTOR, WASH. have left the surface rough. This fault is also overcome in a great measure by dividing the wearing surface into small squares about four inches on each side, by means of triangular grooves three- eighths of an inch in depth. This not only makes a neat appearance, but fur- nishes a good foot hold for stock. Management of the Propagating Bed By M. N. Edgerton Grant's Pass, Oregon, Aug. 1, 1907 Won't you please get M. N. Edgerton of Petoslcey, Mich, to give us a few pointers on how he conducts his propagatihg bed? Tell him to get down to the vitals like he did in his article in the July Strawberry. L. Hunt Hughes. IN essentials, our method of growing plants for propagating purposes, does not differ from that of growing plants for the fruiting bed. That is to say, the ground should be as well supplied with plant food and as well prepared for the reception of the plants in the one case as in the other. Equal care should be exer- cised in keeping the surface of the ground stirred and weeds out. We prefer a virgin soil where available, and one containing a fair percentage of sand. Such soils do not pack with rains and is easily shaken from the roots of the plants at digging time. We use the very best plants we have for this purpose, and set them in rows four feet apart and about two feet in the row. It is best to go the same way in the row when cultivating, as the runners will then spread more evenly. When possible, we layer the runners, i. e., push the nodes into the soil or otherwise secure them so they will root quickly. This may be done by throwing a little soil on the run- Send at once for this book describing the new OhBmpion Potato Digger. It tells how to get Iwlce as much money out of your potato crop as j'ou got lat*t year. Tells also how to save time and lalxtr. Expense IS trifling and will more than pay you baclc the first season. Thousands in use and making r,ig money for their owners. Write us at once for complete catalog of jiotato machinery. We make nothing but machinery Tor assisting the potato grower to get the biggest yield and better prices for his product. Write for this l,n,,k today. Champion Potato Machinery Co., Dept 151,HamQioDd, lod. ner near the node. As the plants begin to fill in the rows, the cultivator should be gradually narrowed. The nodes drop- ping into the depressions left by the culti- vator teeth (we use a 12-tooth for this purpose) quickly take root if there is a fair percentage of moisture present in the soil. It is best to remove all runners that spring from a runner (laterals) as such runners always produce weak and inferior plants. Further than this, we would not use these plants further out on the runner than the third. If the runner is clipped off here, or better still at the second plant, the energy thus saved goes toward mak- ing the first plants large and strong. From these plants will arise other runners strong and full of vitality, from which will spring other plants as good as the first or nearly so. There should be timely applications of Bordeaux, poisoned if there is any trouble from insect pests. The Bordeaux is to prevent rust from developing on the leaves. Where one is thorough in treating the plants in the propagating bed, it usually will not be found necessary to do much of this work in the fruiting bed. How- ever, I would make an occasional appli- cation here anyhow, just for principle's sake. If during the last growing month of the season all runners putting out from the plants are removed, those already set will be all the stronger for it. If allowed to set they should be rejected when dig- ging. In our own operations we reject all plants not meeting our rather exacting ideals. We throw away many plants that the average grower would use. Our method of culture calls for culti- vation both ways of the field during the fore part of the season and quick filling up of the rows, hence it is especially de- sirable that the plants be as uniform as possible when set. At the approach of freezing weather it is very essential that a light covering be applied to protect the plants. In summing up the matter of essentials we would say: a rich soil well supplied with humus; frequent cultivation; care in seeing that the plants root at once; pro- tection from insects and fungous diseases, and protection from winter's frosts and sunshine. No fruit is allowed to set in our propagating bed. Peioskey, Mich. Pa pei- doxen, $15 per fifty. $25 per hundred. Yiel^is sixteen thousand eisrlit hundred qts. per acre. R^^adv for delivery frnm Ant;. 1st to Nov. 1st, 1907, and sprinir of li>OH. Other choice varieties for sale! viz: Corsioan, Sr'nator Dunlap. Climax. Pineappli', Orem andGandy, foi-ty cents ($0.40) per dnz. , one dollar and seventy-five cents ($1.7."i) pir fifty. three dollars ($:-! ) per hnnilred.liy fi-fiL'lit , expre.ss or mail. The ■ "F''!!!!;!!! ' ' lifhiL' a pis- tillate. Oorsit-iin, St-natnr Himhip nr t.'Iiniiix fin- excellent mate.s for it. t )no row uf the vaiieties named, then four rows of ' 'Fendall' ' , and s<» on. will yive an ideal strawbeny patch. Send at once for descriptive catalogue! CHARLES E, FENDALL, Towson, Md. which will be known as the 'millionaire strawberry'. Mr. O'Mara says the new strawberry will be almost as large as a Burbank potato. He visited the farm in New Jersey where the new fruit is grow- ing, and found that nearly two carloads will be ready for market next season." UNDER the new laws of the state of Missouri it has been found necessary to reorganize the Missouri State Horti- cultural Society, says secretary Tippin in a circular. As the semi-annual appro- priations by the state could not be legally made under the constitution, the State Board of Horticulture was created by an act of the legislature 1907. The mem- bers of the board are appointed by the governor instead of being elected as by the old society. The new board is: C. H. Dutcher, Warrensburg, president; N. F. Murray, Oregon, 1st vice-president; J. H. Christian, Neosho, 2nd vice-presi- dent; T. H. Todd, New Franklin, treas- urer; W. P. Stark, Louisiana, R. M. Hitt, Koshkanog. C. H. Dutcher was re- elected president of the old society at the last annual meeting and was elected presi- PICKING STRAWBERRIES IN THE FIELD OF J. PHEND, NAPPANEE, IND. dent of the new board. Geo. T. Tippin was elected secretary at the last annual meeting and was also elected secretary of the new board. SUBSCRIBER No. 1 to The Straw- berry, the very first person to send in a dollar to this magazine, was Miss S. M. Pollard of Woodside, Minn. We are there- fore particularly interested and pleased to publish the following from the Erskine (Minn.) Echo, and are sure that every reader will take pleasure in knowing of the success of this member of the Straw- berry family: 'Ye editor and family en- joyed last Sunday at the beautiful farm residence of S. M. Pollard in the town of Woodside and were royally entertained. We were asked out to see her strawberry patch and beheld one of ihe prettiest sights it has been our pleasure to gaze upon for a long time. The patch, as she calls it, consists of about one-third of an acre of ground well filled with rows of fine grow- ing strawberry plants, and not a weed to be seen. The plants were heavily laden with delicious fruit, one of which we measured and to our amazement found it to be six and three-quarters inches in cir- cumference and of the most pleasant flav- or. From this patch of less than half an acre. Miss Pollard estimates a yield of about 2.500 quarts of as fine berries as were e\er seen, for which she has a ready local market." UNIQUE and valuable is the new department recently created by White's Class Adver- tising Co. in its commodious new quarters at 118 West Jaclcson boulevard, Chicago. It is a permaneiit exhibit of the products of the adver- tisers who place their advertising" through this popular company, and it is attracting wide at- tention, while it gives to every investigator a chance to see for himself the merits of the goods advertised. It is also a show place for hundreds of publications. Thus the advertiser, the adver- tisinn medium and the general public are brought toge her on the ground of common interest, and all served by this public-spirited enterprise. Page 190 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL -a.OF STRAWBERRY CUUURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION SOME'l'IMES our friends write us about the possibilities of certain kinds of soils and send along a sample. In this connection let us say that even an analysis can reveal onl\- the chemical properties of the soil, and will not indicate what the soil will do in actual experience. Some soils may contain large quantities of plant food, but mechanical and other conditions of the soil may make this food unavailable. Other elements may have to be introduced, or the mechan- ical condition changed before the soil will produce crops. Again, a particular soil might produce crops of one kind fairly well, but do poorly with others. Indeed, there are so many conditions affecting soils that it is only those who know little about them that would attempt with any degree of accuracy to tell what a farm would do, judged by a sample of that soil. Let us repeat here what we have often said before, that any soil that will produce a good crop of corn or potatoes will pro- duce a good crop of strawberries under the same conditions that the corn or pota- toes were grown. Last month the compositor set up "pounds" where he should have used the word "ounces", and we hasten to correct the error. Answering W. A. J., Brad- ford, Vt., on page 77, we gave the formula for preparing Paris green as ten ounces of Paris green put over two pounds of lump lime, over this pouring two gallons of hot water; and when the lime is thoroughly slaked add enough water to make forty gallons of spraying material. Please re- member that the amount of Paris green is ten ounces instead of ten pounds. ■^ ^ W. C. S , Bowling Green, Mo. A small black bug worked on the bloi>m of my strawberries. A small black spot would appear on the pistils of the flower. Can you tell me the name of the bug and what I can do to prevent it the coming spring? 2. How can I plant strawberry seed to get them to germinate? Have planted them sev- eral times but they won't grow. When is the best time to plaiit them? The insect you describe is the black- snouted beetle. This insect deposits its eggs in the buds of the strawbern,' and then gnaws through the stems a short dis- tance below the buds causing the stems to wilt and droop. The egg hatches into a little grub, which develops in the bud, becoming full grown in a few weeks, emerging into a full-grown beetle about five weeks after the egg is laid. The best preventive is clean cultural methods, burn-I ing over afte^ fruit is picked, and rotation! of crops. ES 2. In preparing strawberry seed for planting, they should be mixed with fine dust and covered very shallow with moist soil; plant in the springtime as any other crop. H. S. B., Berzelia, Ga. When you say that runners should be layered in such a way that the runner plants will be within about six inches of the mother plant, do you mean that the crown of the runner plant should be six inches from the mother plant, or that the leaves of the runner plant should be six inches from the leaves or the mother plant? If the former would the plants not be too close to- gether to work with a hoe in between them? 2. After the runner plants have taken root, should the runner attaching them to the mother plant be broken or cut away, and, at the time of layering, should the end of the runner cord back of the node be pinched off? 3. Referring to the June issue of The Straw- berry, page 141, you say, "Don't lose any time in layering runners after the node begins to swell." Please explain just what is meant by this. I am not able to determine just the appearance of the node. I layered some run- ners the other day back of what I took to be node, but what proved to be w here the lateral runners started from the original one. The crown of the young runner plant may be so placed that it will be but six or eight inches from the mother plant. When ser in this manner, the foliage of the plants will come together, but that will be all the better, as then there will be more pro- tection for the berries at fruiting time. If the crowns of the plants can be eight in- ches apart, it will be all the better, but it is almost impossible to have them so far apart because the runners of some plants are not as long as others. When the plants are set close together in this way, it will in no way interfere with the hoe- ing until the plants become quite large, at which time it will not be necessary to hoe in between the plants, the leaves will shade the ground and prevent it from crusting and getting hard. 2. It is never necessary to sever the young plant from the mother plant after it takes root. Nature provides for this by drying up the runner cord which leads from the mother plant to the young plant. Neither is it necessary to pinch ofF the runner cord back of the node, as you mention. 3. You can easily tell where the node is located, as at that point there is an en- Page 191 largement, and in a few days small leaves will start developing at the node. If you do not get the runners layered until the node bursts into leaves, results will be just about the same, but it is always best to layer them as soon as they begin to develop. Miss L. E. W., Piovidence, R. I. Not count- ing the extra cost of plants, nor the extra work for setting out, picking blossoms and cutting runners, up in Maine where my farm is located and where the seasons are short, do you think more berries could be grown, on say Dornan, Parker Earle, or Oregon Iron Clad, if the plants were grown in hill culture twelve inches apart instead of single-hedge row? 2. Why is sandy land best for a propagating bed? 3. In the single-hedge row are just two run- ners allowed between the moiher plants when they are two feet apart? 4. How many runners will Parker Earle, Dornan and Oregon Iron Clad grow in the propagating bed? 5. Your catalogue says Parker Earle will go ahead of all others on rich low land. What do you consider rich low land? 6. How much manure is not too much on good potato land, a clay loam or flat land between a river and a steep side hill? 7. Does the land need to be richer for Parker Earle than for Dornan? H. If you could have all the hen manure you w ished how much would you use with stable manure for Parker Earle, Dornan and Oregon Iron Clad? 9. What do you think of muck for a ferti- lizer or for humus provided it has been spread on the ground for a year and then worked over by hogs? How much of it would you use? 10. In your January Strawberry in your ar- ticle on soil preparation you speak of sowing 500 pounds of commercial fertilizer broadcast and planting potatoes. Why do you not use more fertilizer for the potatoes? 11. How deep and how far apart do you plant the seed pieces? Do you use large or small potatoes for seed? How many eyes do you leave on each seed piece? How many bushels of seed per acre do you use? 12. How large a crop do you expect and how long for them to mature? 13. Do you hill the potatoes? If so how many times, how deep, and how large are the tops when you do so? 14. Would the nitrogen in the fertilizer be lost if the potatoes were not planted for three weeks after the fertilizer was broadcasted? No; and the double-hedge row will prove the best of them all, as the berries THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 grow as large under this system as under the single-hedge row, and a larger num- ber are produced. 2. It grows a heavier root system and is more easily handled under varying weather conditions. 3. Yes. 4. From twenty-five up, depending on soil and weather conditions. 5. Black, moist land, full of humus and capable of large crop production. 6. Ten tons. 7. Yes. 8. None; the stable manure will re- quire no addition in the way of chicken droppings. 9. Muck will be all right treated as you describe. Put on sufficient to cover one inch deep. 10. If your soil is poor 1,000 pounds may be applied. 11. Fifteen to eighteen inches apart. Use medium-size potatoes; two bushels to the acre, cut into pieces about the size of a hulled walnut. 12. Not less than 400 bushels to the acre. Leave in ground until ready for market. 13. We do not hill, but grow by the level method, which is altogether the bet- ter way. 14. No. J. M., Gallon, Ohio. I have some fine plants set in August, 1905 of the Miller, Dunlap and Sample. They bore a few berries last spring. Would you advise setting plants from them? 2. My berries this year towards the last were a little soft. I lay it to top-dressing in August; then I cultivated and mulched with straw. Do you think it was on account of too much manure? 3. Has nitrate of soda a tendency to harden the berry when used in spring? 4. Would it be advisable to give cultivation in spring and then spread the mulch? 5. Would fertilizer be any good plowed in between rows in the spring? 6. Would nitrate of soda, wood ashes and bone meal make a good fertilizer for my bed? 7. How about using the liquid manure from the barnyard? It would hardly be advisable for you to take plants from your Miller, Dunlap and Sample, that bore a light crop of fruit, as there would be some danger of the run- ner plants being weakened. 2. Too much nitrogenous manure will cause strawberries to be soft, and salvy. Sometimes weather conditions will have an influence upon the texture of the ber- ries, as large quantities of rain often will make the berries soft. 3. Nitrate of soda will produce a large vegetative growth, and will make berries develop to larger size, but it will not make them firmer. Potash aids wonderfully in giving the berries a firm texture, as well as color. If your soil is sandy loam, fifty -y^ LEARN BOOKKEEPING frpiTir WE TEACH YOU 1 I\l-'l-# We Secure a Position for You. Would you like to succeed in business, to obtain a good paying position; to secure an increase in salary ? Would you possess the capacity that directs and controls large business enterprises? If so, you should f. How the example of Mr. Ed". Chapman, of No. 606 So. 5th St., Goshen, Ind., who largely in- creased his salary alter taking our course. A knowledge of accounts increases your opportunities a hundred fold. Our method excels all others. You can learn quickly at home, without loss of time or money. We guarantee it, A CREAT BOOK FREE "How to Become an Expert Bookkeeper" is the title of an extensive treatise on Bxjklceepiny and Business. It tc;ll5 ofthe best system of accounts ever devised, and explains how you can make mr re money and better yourpositionin life. It is just the boolc for beginners and experts alike. To advertise our system ve willg^ive away 5,000 copies absolutely free, without any condition whatever. Simply send your name and address and receive the book without cost. Address Commercial Correspondence Schools, S~>Y> Coniiiiercial Bid?., nochestPr. AT. IT. bushels of wood ashes scattered over the ground and thoroughly worked into the ground before plants are set, will assist in getting firmer berries and of better color. 4. The principal objection to applying mulching in the spring is the fact that it is almost impossible to get the mulching under the foliage so that the berries will ripen upon it. When the mulching is applied in the early winter, it settles down all around the foliage and when the mulch is opened up for the plants to come through, they will spread over this mulching, mak- ing it possible for the berries to ripen on a clean carpet of mulching. If you wish to cultivate the fruit, after parting the mulching from over the rows, also rake the mulch between the rows up close to the plants and cultivate the bare space. After several cultivations the mulching can be drawn back to its proper place. You can continue cultivation through the entire fruiting season if you wish. 5. If you can get a fertilizer that will become available quickly, it will be all right to cultivate it in between the rows before the buds open. Nitrate of soda would be about the best fertilizer you could use on the fruiting bed in the spring before plants fruit. 6. It would depend somewhat upon the condition of your soil to determine whether or not nitrate of soda, wood ashes and bone meal would be the most profit- able for you to use. If your soil has in it a liberal amount of vegetable matter, such as cow peas or coarse stable manure would produce, then the wood ashes could be applied on top of the plowed surface at the rate of fifty bushels to the acre, and bone meal at the rate of 300 pounds to the acre. Both of these ingredients should be thoroughly worked into the soil before plants are set. After plants start growing you may sprinkle a very small amount of nitrate of soda in all the rows. The fol- lowing spring before fruiting season 100 pounds more of nitrate of soda could be used to the acre, 7. Liquid manure can be profitably used if your soil is deficient in nitrogen, but we wish to caution you against pour- ing it around the plants when the ground is dry. Liquid manure should always be applied around plants after a rain, when P&ge 192 NOW. to insure a I LOW price Then send $10 more when ready (or it. Balance AFTER approval. That's how we now sell America's Highest Grade Mail Order Heater, the ed 19th Century Furnace which 13 still made of old fashioned ni^t' proof wrought IRON, (not modefti short lived steel) (or which Voungstown is lamous Former $130 Complete Outfiis. now $79. Tools 45c Save $50. Sei up your own job. No sane man can get stuck Thous ands doing it, thus saving enormous profits Our niusirated Book, showing how mar- velously easy it is. sent free Address - Century Furnace Co Box c Youngstown. Ohio FOR SALE 120 ai-rr-s First-fhiss Fruit Land, all under culti- \!ttion; ill the famous inut belt of the Willamette Valky. Surronndrd by fruit farms of all desfrip- tiniis! Sph-udid n 1 11 rk'ets— macadamized roads to Sali-iii, the i-apitol of thestate. Free niral delivery — te-lephon-- — two churehes and school near by — houK'-. biirn. fenoes, good well, splendid soil, eli- iiiatf deliirhtful. good neighborhood. A liar^ain if taken soon. For terms and priees address H. H. SMITH, 468 E. Washington St., PORTLAND, ORE. SPEAKING OF SPRAYING Don't forget that the Wallace Power Sprayers Are made in alt styles tvitk a Special Pattern for Berries and Vegetables Full Iiifoniiation Friniislu'd (in Appliciitir.n WALLACE MACHINERY CO., Chatnpaign, III. the soil is thoroughly moist. You are correct in preparing your soil a year in advance of setting it to strawberries. A. L. W. , Dufur, Ore. Will you kindly pub- lish what would be a good variety to mate with Clark's Seedling? It is the leading berry here. We would have something fine and dark colored. Clark's Seedling is a strong bisexual, and requires no mate; yet we know the ex- change of pollen between bisexuals when set near each other encourages the develop- ment of more and better fruit, we would suggest that such a strong pollenizer of the same season as Hummer or Senator Dunlap or Parsons' Beauty, set with THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 Clark's Seedling might result in better results all-round. F. L. E., Keene, N. H. Please inform me about the propagating bed — do you allpw the plants to bear after you have talcen runners from them, or how do you know which are the best plants? The propagating bed should be used for no other purpose except to grow plants, and when taking up the plants the entire row should be taken up. If you take up the tip plants, and allow the rest to pro- duce fruit, the bed would be a failure in both ways, as the plants you would get for resetting would be the very weakest and those that were left to fruit would be injured by removing the tip plants. E. W., Scotch Ridge, Ohio. What is the chemical composition of hen manure and the percentage of each element? 2. How much by weight of dry hen manure, ground to powder, will it be safe to apply to an acre of rather poor land in preparing it for strawberries? Also how much when scattered between the rows? 3. When other manure can not be had, can hen manure, with cow peas for humus, be made to take its place? If so how many tons of hen manure would be equivalent to fifteen tons of stable manure? 4. Could any compound of hen manure and commercial fertilizers, applied separately of course, be made to take the place of barnyard manure? Your several questions may be an- swered as follows: The chemical com- position of one ton of poultry droppings, is Water 340 pounds Organic matter 1020 pounds Ashes 740 pounds And when this fertilizer is properly cared for, it will analyze Nitrogen 3X per cent. Potash 1|4 per cent. Lime 454' per cent. Phosphoric Acid . . . . 3 per cent. 2. One ton of pure, dry and finely ground poultry droppings, will be suffic- ient to fiertilize one acre. This should be scattered on top of the ground, after it has been broken up and thoroughly worked into the soil before the plants are set, and it should be distributed through some kind of a fertilizer drill, so that an even distribution could be made. The same amount could be used between the rows of strawberry plants. 3. In looking over the analysis of poultry droppings, you will note they are quite rich in nitrogen, and deficient in potash and phosphoric acid, and as cow peas draw considerable nitrogen from the air, the peas in connection with chicken droppings would make your ground too rich in nitrogen and not rich enough in potash and phosphoric acid. But the poultry droppings and cow peas would put your soil in ideal mechanical con- dition for plants by the addition of 400 pounds of bone meal and 200 pounds of nitrate of potash, evenly distributed to each acre and thoroughly worked into the soil before plants are set, the soil will then contain a well balanced plant food. 4. Number three also answers fourth question. We might also give you the the chemical composition of one ton of cattle manure, which is as follows; Water 1550 pounds Organic matter 406 pounds Ashes 44 pounds And when properly handled it will analyze, Nitrogen 3= per cent. Potash 4 per cent. Lime 3 per cent. Phosphoric Acid . . . . IJ per cent. Thus it will be seen that the cattle drop- pings comes more nearly making a com- plete fertilizer for strawberries, when used alone, than the chicken droppings. A fer- tilizer to give best results in strawberry growing should analyze as follows: Nitrogen 3 per cent. Potash 9 per cent. Phosphoric Acid 7 per cent. A. H. F. , Oregon City, Ore. Is the crown borer the same as the white grub? Is the borer hatched from a moth or does it stay in the ground? 2. Is it true that some varieties are more liable to its attacks than others, as my Brandy- wines and Texas suffered most, while Dornan, Climax and Sample were untouched? The crown borer which is working up- on your strawberry plants is the larva from the beetle family and is in no way related to the white grub. The larva is a whitish, footless, yellow-headed grub about one-fourth of an inch long, that lives in the crown of strawberry plants, hollowing them out so much that the plants are weakened and destroyed. The adult insect is a small dark colored snouted beetle, about one-fifth inch long. On ac- count of the peculiar condition of its membranous wings, it is unable to fly; thus you will see that the only way the crown borer can be carried is in the plants. We wish to add a word in re- gard to the crown borer by way of cau- tion: Never take plants from an infested bed. Always burn your patch over after the fruit is picked. The crown borer is an insect that has never been seen on The Strawberry farms. 2. One variety is no more apt to be attacked by the crown borer than another, that is the crown borer has no preference to any particular variety. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COLUMN CATTLE 1>URE-BRED HOLSTEIN BULL CALF for siilf. Uoni March 27th, 1907. Except ioimlly irood i)edicree. Price reasonable. Send for detailed peditrree und photo- graph. Madison Cooper, 100 <' moms and 4 rooms. One-half acre of land, trees and shrubs, valuable asparagus bed, good market. Less than a mile from post office, not far from steam and electric cars. George H. Porter, Stoughton, Mass. Ij^OR SALE— 40-acre frait, vegetable and poultn,' farm, favorably located on a mountain stream of piire soft water; live miles from county seat: three other small towns and several mining camps \vithin eight miles. Soil very fertile and new products of excellent quality and command goiui prices. Local market never has been fully supplied with home-grown fruit. Good business opportunity for an energetic man that has some help «nd of limited capital. Terms easy. For further infornuition address T. P. Cox, Virginia City, Montana. 11 IF YOU WANT TO SELL, trade or buy a farm, send full description of what you have or want, with 2.^1 cents, to the Farmers' Want Journal, Dent. SS, Kansas ('ity. Mo., and we will advertise it before 30.000 buyers and sellers and send you a copy of the paper. 10 ''PHE finest small fruit farm for sale in Mahoning county. -1 Manasses Flohr. New Springfield. Ohio. 9 POULTRY "ll^HITE WY.4ND0TTE stock for sali^Diiston strain. '» Cockerels for $2.00 up. H. P. Hallett, Astfleld, Mass. 10 LUMBER BARGAIN A wonderful opiiortunity is oifered you to buy lumlier and l>uildiiit: Hu|.plii-s of every kind at Prices that \^lll save you big money. Such a chance HeJtloni occurs. Luml'er foryouihouj'e. church, tmrn. incet- inii house, crib, store, factory, and in fact, biiiUiingg of every kind. We can furninh ali^jolutely everything needed in construc- tion material. Have your carpenter or 1-uilder make a complete list of evervthinjj vou requirp. including Lumber. Sash DoorH, Ndilfl, Rootinu, Sidinc. Ceiling, in fHbody isn't going to show the plain common sense exhibited by this novice, who went about hi^ uork with a gested in a letter from G. M. Hawley of La Mesa, California, copy of The Strawberry in his hand, studying the rea-on "why" who writes us under date of September 10 as follows: "In 1905 and learning the "how" of it by actual experience in his straw- I planted 8,000 Brandywine plants in El Cajon valley. From berry field. Just as manual training educates the eye, the hand this bed in 1906 I planted enough to make 60,000 plants, or and the mind all at the same time, so does intelligent reading, about t« o acres when pl.mted 10 x 20 inches. From these 1 sold that year $600 worth of berries. From this same bed 1 began picking commercially March 20, 1907, and continued until June 1, at which time I sold my home place, including these two acres of plant*. At that date I had taken in from the patch accompanied by actual practice in the field, develop what we may call scientific horticulture. All work and no study keeps Jack a dull good-for-nothing, if we may parapiirase an old maxim. ."Xll study and no work produces an impractical mind and an unpracticed hand. Books and brawn, brain and muscle, $1,044. The plants have continued to bear and are still produc- make a combination that win everywhere all the time. So, ing $60 per week, and look as though they might continue for while everybody is not likely to duplicate Mr. Clute's experi- several weeks. Up to September 1 the new owners — Eychaner ence, it isn't because everybody couldn't do it; for if everybody & Moyer — have marketed $1,552, making for the bed to that followed Mr. Clute's way, and selected good soil, set out good date $2,596." plants and practiced good cultural methods he would do just One incident of his experience in 1906 is related by Mr. what out friend has done when it came to fruiting time! Hawley. Referring to one of his fields upon which the foliage And another sort of report that pleases us comes in a letter THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 just as we are writing this. It comes from Harry Lavender of Monroe, Mich., and he says: "I have already had an offer of 15 cents a quart for my acre of next season's crop of strawberries, but I have refused it." Mr. Lavender is another novice who is making a big success with strawberries. He will set out 6,000 more plants next spring, and says; "Next spring one acre, and in the following years two acres to the season is my motto. Surely, such experiences as these must encourage our friends, and those of little faith need again to be told that "by faith may the mountains be removed" — even those dark and sombre mountains of doubt, that rise sky high in the mind and shut out all the brightness and beauty sur- rounding. Cheer up! The strawberry grower has troubles of his own, perhaps, but he has the best business and the most certain of any man who tills the soil, and the soil tillers are in very truth the salt of the earth! '^ '^ REPORTS from Oregon indicate that the fruit crop in that state is bringing in much more money to those engaged in the industry this season than it yielded last year. In 1906 Oregon fruits were valued at $2,875,160. Just what the in- crease will be it is not yet possible to de- termine, but the total will be above .$3,000,000. Apples, the chief item in the list of fruits, will bring an average of 50 cents a box higher this year than last. This increase applies to all products of the orchard. Bartlett pears netted the grower $2.25 a box as compared with $1.25 last fall. Fall Treatment of Strawberry Beds By E. L. Keasey In Orange Judd Farmer UNDER this topic we must take for granted that the plants are already raised and that the methods em- ployed from now on are for winter pro- tection, rather than cultural. Middle and northern latitudes require treatment for strawberries differing from that of the south. The rigors of winter and the heaving frosts of fall and spring force the grower of these plants to seek out a pro- tection. Culture in the latitudes mentioned us- ually ends the first weeks in August, at which time the strawberry beds are seeded. This system, it seems to me, is the most sensible, as it is by far the cheapest, and its results are almost always pleasing. At the last cultivation oats or barley are sown broadcast over the patch and thor- oughly worked into the soil with a fine- toothed cultivator. Either of these grains should be sown about the same as for regular field culture, using about two bush- els per acre. Those using the barley claim for it a heavier growth, which in itself is illiams '^^a'p"^ DON'T go on year after year using common soap for shaving, not only taking big risks, but robbing yourself of the comfort and ease and pleasure that would be yours if you used Williams' Shaving Soap. Made just for shaving by those who have learned by 6o years' experience just how to make shaving soap right. "The only kind that won't smart or dry on the face." Send 2c. stamp for a TRIAL CAKE of \Villi:im«' Shavins Soap, or 4c. for a Williams' Shaving Stick, trial size, enouali for 50 shaves. Address THE J. B. WILLI.-\MS COMPANY Department A, GLASTOSBUUY, CONN. illiams "^^ an important feature, as the aim of this seeding system is to form a mulch for winter protection of the plants. I, how- ever, use oats, not that they are better, but that I can get them cheaper and easier. The object in using these two grains is that they are killed by hard frosts; thus they do not continue through the winter, or in any way interfere with the picking of the crop the following season, as would rye or wheat. If barley is used one should be sure to use spring barley. This cover, or mulch crop, under fair conditions, will attain a growth of from eight to twelve inches before freezing weather comes. When killed, the plants settle down close to the strawberry plants, thus furnishing an excellent protection and leaving no weed seed with which to harass the grower the following season. Coarse stable manure is very often rec- ommended as a mulch for strawberries, but one who is posted is almost sure to brand the author of said recommendation as being more of a writer than a prac- titioner. Manure is a prolific breeder of weeds, and the careful grower of straw- berries soon learns the penalty that awaits him who uses stable manure as a mulch for berries. There is a better way of mulching strawberries than either of the above, if one can secure the material, and that is with straw. But in the Michigan fruit belt straw is more expensive than is hay, thus this system becomes at once pro- hibitive. Mulching with either straw or manure should not be attempted until after freezing weather sets in, when, in the case of straw, it can be applied to a depth of about four inches over the entire patch. With the manure it must be more sparingly used. The straw mulch is to be recommended where the material is obtainable, as it has Page 198 a value beyond the mere protection it gives during the winter. When spring comes the straw can be left on the vines until quite late, thus retarding the blos- soming period, which in turn heads off late spring frosts, also making the crop several days later than would be the case without the mulch. Straw has another advantage in that when it is raked off the rows in spring and left between them it conserves moisture, also prevents the dashing of sand upon the berries during heavy rains; but, strange to say, with all that is said and written about the fall mulch for strawberries, not one grower in a hundred e\er resorts to this splendid system. MR. KEASEY intimates that any grow- er who is posted would never use stable manure for mulching on account of its containing much weed seed. This, of course, would be true where precautionary measures were neglected, but when prop- erly used the grower never will be troubled with weeds when stable manure is used, any more than he would with straw or any other mulching. When mulching the plants with stable manure the coarse, strawy material should be placed directly over the rows, and the finer parts of the manure should be placed in the spaces between the rows. And it should remain so until growth starts in the spring, at which time the coarse material should be parted so that the plants can come up through it, and the coarsest of the material that lays between the rows should be raked up along each side of the row. Placed in this way the mulch will be heavy enough along the rows to prevent any weeds from coming through it. Then, when all dan- ger of frost is past, the cultivator should be run through the bare space left between the rows. This will mix the finer manure THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 A TWENTY-ACRE FIELD OF THOROUGHBREDS A MONG the most successful growers of late strawberries is the firiti of Daniel Nienjeier & Son at Ontonagon, Mich., whose field of twenty acres is the wonder and_admiration of the Lake Superior country. So proud are the people of Ontonagon of this "institution" that they send out beautiful post-card views of it, and from one of these sent us by Mr. Niemeier the above half-tone illustration is made. in with the soil and will create a dust mulch that will hold about 50 per cent more moisture than any other kind of mulch that could be used. C This cultivation also will aerate the soil, aiding it to hold an even temperature, so that the bacterial germs will work more actively than they would if the soil was not cultivated at all. No matter what kind of mulch is used, there is bound to be some weeds develop as a result. But when stable manure is used in the way we describe here there will be none except a feu- that might come up directly in the row of the plants, and these are easily gotten rid of by pulling them up after a rain. Stable manure has been used for mulching on the farm of The Strawberry for many years and always has proved en- tirely satisfactory. It is true that wheat straw has its preference over anything else, but this material cannot always be secured. As to sowing oats and barley between the rows of strawberry plants to act as a mulch, we would say that much depends upon the season if this method would prove successful. The seed should be sown the latter part of July or first of August, at which time we do not know whether the fall is to be wet or dry. If dry weather prevails, this material will make such a small growth that it will not serve its purpose as mulching; besides it will rob the plants of the moisture they need to develop their fruit-bud system. If the season should be wet after the seed is sown, it will play an important part, as it would take up the surplus moisture which, of course, aids the plants in build- ing up a heavy fruit-bud system, rather than to extend its energies to the over-pro- duction of useless foliage and runners. iMr. Keasey's article is good common- sense, and we have read it with pleasure. What we have said is not by way of crit- icism, but only to comment upon and suggest concerning certain points. THK peach crop for 1907 was short, but toward the close of the season dealers found more fruit offered than they had anticipated. Arkansas had a big crop, Missouri a fair crop, but Michigan failed almost entirely. The Georgia crop was reported destroyed, but on the first of August the railroads found themselves unable to take care of the offerings. The Connecticut and Delaware crops were only about 25 per cent of the average. It is said it will be years before Michigan will recover her old position in the peach- production column, owing to the disas- trous effects of the frosts of last autuinn and winter. When Strawberry Growing is a Joy By Professor George S. Innis In Farm, Slock and Home A YEAR ago 1 determined to raise some strawberries, to do the work carefully and to report results for the possible benefit it might be to others. First I selected a spot in the garden about 35 by 60 feet and cleared it of raspberry sprouts, plum trees and whatever would in any way shade the ground. Then I dug up the rows with a grub hoe, throw- ing the ground a little toward the center and raking it off so as to leave the rows about an inch above the path between. The first row I planted to Brandywines because they are strong, vigorous growers, the best able to fill that difficult place. Then I planted in order Dunlap, Sample, Splendid and VVarfield, and after them one-half rows each of Bederwood and Wolverton, Haverland and Oregon, Tenn- essee and Klondike, Dornan and Mid- night, Texas and Parson's Beauty, Pride of Michigan and Glen Mary, and a full row of August Luther. The soil is a sandy loam, well enriched. During the summer and early fall I was careful to set new plants so as to make a row a little over a foot wide and the plants six or eight inches from each other. I covered in November with straw about an inch thick and left it till late in the spring. Some plants may be smothered, but I am more concerned about their being frozen out. I notice that when I put iaspl>erry bushes down over the strawberry plants, covered with straw and dirt both, the plants come out in good shape while others beside them are killed. So put the mulch- ing on loosely, fairly thick and let it stay till you open the doors and windows of your house to welcome the balmy days of spring. With the highly bred, twenty-year ped- igree plants now advertised raising straw- berries is an exhilaration, ^'ou set out your plants, hasten in to get a rocking chair, and sit and sing and watch them grow. First the runners peeping forth, then the new plants, the blossoms, the FRANCIS B. HARRINGTON OF WORCESTER, MASS., GROWS FINE STRAWBERRIES Fm 199 THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 STRAWBERRIES DO WELL IN KANSAS --FI ELD OF L. L. ALLIS AT MANHATTAN jjret'n berries, the ripe fruit and ihe garden of Eden restored! The only difficulty is one needs the family wash tub to hold them when they once get to ripening. It was really a delightful sight to see ihe berr e'! form, the path between each two rows being litcrahy hned with them. 'I'hey ripened 1 ue ihis yea^', the August Luther, Texas, Bederuood and Dunlap June 29; three days later the "sample, Splendid, Warfield, VVolverton, Haverland and Ten- nessee, and the Brandy wine. Parson's Beauty, Glen Mary, Pride of Michigan, Dornan, Oregon and Klondike three days later, the Midnight coming last of all. They ceased bearing in about the same order, ex ept that the Brandywine is a greit beiry to hnkl on, furnishing several highly appreciated meals after the oihers were mo-iily gone. Ot all the var.eties planted I should place first the Sample, giving it clear lead. It is a pistillate, vigorous, not very sour, producing a large number of very fine berries. It one wants a little more char- acter to his strawberries he can put in a few Brandywines or Splendids with the Samples, put on plenty of cream and sugar and not envy Queen Elizabeth with all her inonopiilies. As next in value I would name the Splendid, Brandywiiie, Haver- land, Dunlap, Tennessee, Waifield. The last, like the Bederwood, is an abundant bearer, but not usually of large size. For a small patch O' berries with few var'e ies 1 would suggest planting a ri)W each of Brandywines, Samples and Si/lendid, and then another row uf Samples and one of Duiilaps. I'o these might be added a row each of Haverlaiivl and Tennessee, and as many of otiier varieties as one wants to trv. The Klondike appears to be the best of the new varieties. There are four essentials lo: .i icaily fine crop of sirawberries: yood soil, well lilled; good plants of sianlard varieties, plenty of water and unres.ricied sunshine. O le must even lay an embargo on the good hmise-wife standing in the back yard and having one of ih.ise deligluf.il morn- ing chats wi;h her neighbor belore the breakfast dishes are washed, if it will cast a shadow on the strav\ berry p itch. 1 could reach about two-thirds ol my patch with the garden hose and in the evening after picking I would give them a good water- ing. While the part not reached produced some good berries, the nearer ends of the rows were dazzling with the large, red berries peeping out from tie green leaves. As the water bill for the month was only 20 cents more than the minimum charge the expense was but trifling. 1 have never taken so much pains with a strawberry patch, and never had such a crop of ber- ries, gallons and gallons of the very fiiits", c.illinu; in several neighbors and bidding them pick lo their heart's content. 1 wish othei'^ would give their experience, for We are un ler obiigatmns to every man wi b a garden in the Northwest to compel him to provide for his family an abundance of this delicious and healthy fruit. Hamline University, Minn. ONE of the rare books dealing with plant life, and which appeals with especi.il force to the student of horticul- ture in us higher and variable forms is "Plait Breeding", the work of the dis- tinguished Dutch scientist whose fame is world-wide, Huiro DeVries, professor of botativ in the University of Amsterdam. The bo ik is more directly concerned with the evperimen s of Dr. Hj.ilmar Nilsson, the Iambus Swedish scientist occupviiig the [Hist ni director of the Swedi-h Agri- cultural Experiment Station at SvaU)f, and of our own popular searcher of the nivs- teries and possibilities of the plair v\'orld, Lirlier Burbink. I he book is :r.m the press of the Open Court Publishing Co., C'licago, and like everything else emanat- ing from that source, is a c imbination of literary and scientific worth with excellent Pas: A soil which by long cultivation has lost one-half of its organic matter shows a loss of ten to twenty-tive per cent of its water- holding power." Professor Whiicombe of the Oregon experiment station, in speaking of the semi-arid region in eastern Oregon, says: 'While from eight to twelve inches of precipitation may be sufficient to produce a good crop of wheat now, later, when the organic matter becomes reduced, ^ Page 202 great deal more moisture will be required, as the soil will be less capable of retaining moisture.' There is one other factor in the conser- vation of moisture, and that is weeds, con- cludes Professor Mosier. Remember, when you see a weed growing on your farm, that every pound of dry matter in that weed probably has required from 400 to 750 pounds of water to produce it. It will not take a very large weed to remove a tenth of a ton of water. ^ -^ CALIFORNIA'S new orange crop is promising. One expert reports in the California Fruit Grower as follows: "The outlook for the new crop is fine, on the whole, but the orchards are spotted, some of the groves having very light crops on them. Taken as a whole, however, there is more fruit than last year, and with nor- mal sizes we will ship from southern Cal- ifornia about the same number of cars as last year. Of course, last year the fruit was abnormally large, thus gi\ing a great increase in the number of cars for what looked to be a small crop early in the season. Of course, if the oranges grow THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 PICKERS AT WORK IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD OF J. H. WELLS, LAKE VILLAGE, IND. large, as they did last year, there will be big shipments. But the fruit now looks as though it would be of fine size, and if it should mature normally the iriarkets will be fine. All over the country there seems to be a universal desire on the part of the growers to get the groves into the highest state of cultivation. Never before have I seen the orange groves so well cared for. Clean culture is found every- where, and this means better fruit as well as more of it." Strawberry Success on Reclaimed Swamp Land By Frank E. Beatty THE scene at the top of this page is a photo-reproduction of the berry pickers at work in the strawberry field which forms a part of the fruit farm of J. H. Wells at Lake Village, Ind., and the large cover-page picture of this issue shows his pickers at lunch time. It was my pleasure to visit this fine fruit farm in mid-September, and though it was too late to get any strawberries, I was just in time to get some of the finest and sweetest watermelons I ever ate. This farm is located about fifty miles south of Chicago in what were once known as the Kankakee swamps, but which, by a complete drainage system, have become of incalculable agricultural value and the center of very large horti- cultural, general farmin-g and live-stock industries. In connection with his berry growing Mr. Wells also conducts an ex- tensive truck farm. The day I was there he, with a large force of men, was engaged in gathering cucumbers for a local pickle factory. About eighty bushels of cucum- bers per day were then being gathered on his place and made into pickles. The field of water melons on this farm was indeed a great sight. The melons ranged from thirty to sixty pounds in weight and laid so close together that one actually could go over the entire field walking on melons every step of the way. Mr. Wells' strawberries have become famous, and he finds ready sale for his entire output at ,$2 net for sixteen-quart crates These are all sold in small towns lying within near-by distances from the farm. So successful has he been in the raising of strawberries that he intends to set a much larger acreage in the spring of 1908. We found Mr. Wells a genial and courteous gentleman. Every visitor to his farm goes away with the idea that he is not only a most successful farmer and fruitman, but an enterprising citizen as well. He believes in feeding his visitors well on the products of his fields, and this generous ireatment is of itself an adver- tisement of the highest value. The water melon he cut for me was big enough, [ thought, for a dozen, but there was little of it left when I quit. 1 was greatly impressed with the sec- tion and its possibilities in a horticultural way; and it certainly is a fine example of reclaimed land and suggestive of what may be accomplished by proper drainage. One Beginner's First Crop By Henry Clute THINKING that my first venture in strawbeiry raising might interest some of the readers of The Straw- berry, I am sending you herewith a record of my first crop. I am led to do this be- cause I know how helpful and interesting to me have been articles of this nature from other growers. I find a number of things in every issue of the magazine that are of greater value to me than the entire year's subscription. When I first thought of trying the strawberry business, I was Page 203 wishing that there was just such a publi- cation, and when a friend told me of The Strawberry 1 was not long in finding out for myself just what a fine periodical it is, and it has proved a great help to me and a ready source of information for almost anything I want to know about strawberry production. I think the Correspondence School a grand thing for all stra\\'berry folks. If I am a little in doubt about any point, all I have to do usually, is to refer to some back number of The Strawberry, for I keep them all, and am very choice of them, too. Well, to tell my story: In the spring of 1906 I made up my mind to set an acre to strawberry plants and give them a trial, and so fitted up the land and set it out to Brandywine and Sample, and al- though I had rather bad luck to start with, I think that on the whole it has proved' quite a satisfactory venture, as you will see by the following statement of what I raised and marketed from the acre this year: Dale No. Quans Price Amt. Julv ?• . 56 . . 14 cents . . . . .$ 7.84 July 5 . 258 . . 12, 13, 14 cents . 34.89 Julv 6 . 242 . . 14 cents . . . 33.88 Julv 8 . 756 . . 11, 15 cents . 85.53 Julv 9 . 1009 . . 8, 12, 14 cents . 82.56 Julv 10 . 772 . .9, 11 cents . . . 77.80 Julv 11 Julv 12 . 224 . . 929 . . 9, 10 cents . . . 20.52 . 9. 10, 11 cents . 95.52 Julv l.'^ . N90 . . 10, 11 cents . . 93.28 Julv 15 - 844 . . 10, 11 cents . 91.53 Julv 16 . 799 11, 12 cents . 87.20 lulv 17 82 . 10, 12 cents 8.94 July IK . 517 , U, 12 cents . . 60.84 July ly . 542 . . U, 12 cents .57.49 Julv 22 . 304 . . 11, 12 cents . . .34.34 Julv 2,1 . 177 . 8.401 . 10, n cents 16.01 $888.17 This statement includes only what was grown and sold. What was eaten and given away, and that was no small quan- tity, for everybody that came to the yard was welcome to all they wanted to eat THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 The Famous PACE FENCE The Pioneer Woven Wiro Fence is the best fence in the world for any purpose. Twenty-five years of ex perience, science and skill in every rod of a Page. Twice as strong, dur- able and economical as any other fence. Requires but few posts. It means money to you to learn about a Page Fence. Folder and Catalog free Write a postal for thenj now PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO Box 1015. Adrian, Mich. V and the pickers had all they wanted to eat while picking and with their dinner. Then there were two families to use all they wanted and we were both great strawberry eaters. About every day from the first day we could get enough for a short-cake until the diy 1 mowed over the vines, we must have a short-cake and strawberries for sauce; so you see that was something of an item. But taking it altogether J am quite well satisfied with my first crop — so well that I have another acre set out this spring which are looking fine, I think; and people going along the road stop to admire them and tell me how fine they think they are looking, and that naturally makes me feel quite proud of them. We had no rain here from about the 8th of July until about the 1st of Septem- ber, but thorough cultivation kept the plants growing right along, and I don't think there is a weed in the piece large enough to be seen two rods away. But I guess I have given you enough of my experience for this time. Perhaps, if you think it worth while and that it will be of any interest to you or any of the readers of The Strawberry, I will tell you some other time of my way or raising and mar- keting them and how 1 get on with acre No. 2. Hum, N. Y. VV/li think it hardly necessary to say "^ that all our readers will be glad to he:ir further from the man who received .$888.17 in cash for his first acre of straw- berries, with perhaps $50 more worth of them consumed on the place. We are very sure, indeed, that every reader of 1 he Strawberry will be interested not only to know how it was done, but will be in- spired by the record here given to go for- ward with more confidence than ever be- fore in his work. 1 he figures show that he received 10 '2 cents plus for his berries. Let what Mr. Clute says about the effect of thorough cultivation during a drought sink deeply into your consciousness. That is exactly what we mean when we say that in large part we may make our own conditions. When nature is shy with her favors and holds back the gentle rains of heaven, we can take the cultivator and the hoe and stir the surf.ice of the soil, pre- serving a continuous dust mulch and thus so conserve the moisture in the soil that the plants shall suffer not at all from the influence of the prevailing drought. By the way, The Strawberry had a visit the other day from John Rucker of Bos- ton, N. Y., a member of The Strawberry family who has contributed in the past some of the finest photographs of his fields for the benefit of fellow-members. Mr. Rucker sold more than 9,000 quarts of strawberries from a single acre this season, and had he received as high a figure for his product as did Mr. Clute, would have netted ,$950 from his acre. However, he sold through commission houses and his net income from that particular acre was about $800. He is confident that next year he will do still better. One California reader reports more than $1,U00 an acre up to September 1, with picking still continuing, and an Oregon reader writes that he took more than $1,500 from a single acre of August Luthers. In the case of both the Oregon and California growers, the season ex- tended through many weeks of time. But the $l,000-an-acre man is at hand even in the land where the strawberry may be gathered for a few weeks only in midsum- mer. Let every one of us work for the realization of this ideal. COLORADO pear growers received as high as $1,300 a car for their fruit this season. They naturally view the poor- crop situation with a degree of equanimity not possible in the case of Eastern pear growers. SPEAKING OF SPRAYING Don't forget that the Wallace Power Sprayers Are made in all styles with a Special Pattern for Berries and Vegetables Frill Inforinatinii Fiinjish<-d nn Application WALLACE MACHINERY CO., Champaign, III. THiS COMPANY does a general real estate and loan business. A specialty of looking up eood farming lands and locating eastern people oii them; let us hear from you — we can serve you. EUREKA LAND CO. 411 Buchanan Bids:.. Portland, Oregon r 15,000,000 Strawberry Plants For Fall Setting VV^E say fall planting is best and we can show you why if you drop us a card for our large fall price list. We sold over 1,500,000 plants last fall and have many calls now for prices for fall setting. Send today for our list. Seventy-five varieties. Cabbage plants, and Fertilizers for the fruit grower. ^% \= J. A. BAUER Box No. 1. JUDSONIA, ARK. J SM»1uUlpiy This in Your Head Wouldn't you liketo be able to figure this aod hundreds of other similar problems inyourhe.id? Wouhln'tyou liketo he able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide any problem almost instantly wiihout writing any partial product — to be able to simply write the answer? Our Free Book, "Rapid Calculation" thoroughly explains a method which will make you a mastcrof figures. It describes a S)siein by which you cm figure instantly the most intricate Sums In your head; handle groups of figures and fractions as easily as single whole figures; in fact, cut the work of fitrutintj in twi». A better positioa nnd a 1nri?e salary have come to hundreds who haveread tliisboik. Ifyuuwam to better yuur position, to increase your salarj', to make yourself worth mure to yourself and your employer, to hold the whip-hand in finanriil transactions, to make your work e.isy and interesting instead of tiresome, yi u should write for this book at once. It will cost you nothing but the trouble of ask* ing- f r it. A postal will bring it to your very door. It may tost you a good position era valuable promotion to neglect this opportunity. Write fur it today before you forget it. Address COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS, 't^Z^rT^T'- FRUIT TRACTS FOR HOMES CLOSE TO THRIVING CITY Make Money with Ease and Comfort in Suhurhs of delightful Lewiston— Clarkston Idaho Washington Mild Winters. Long Stimmers. Clear mnuntain water pipkd under prkss- MountainSnnshine. Low Altiti'de — uhe to every tract by $2,000,000 irri. Head of rivor navigation in Columbia- gation works, one of finest in world. Snake vallny; 25,000 square niiks of No blizzards; no severe storms; no mala^ rich tribvitary territory. For over a ria; no asthma; no consumption. Finest generation its fancy fruits have been educationalfacilities. All of our claims bringing highest prices and paying guaranteed. Investigate this long- $200 to $1000 net per acre. Pure established fruit colony before buying. Just VTlte for Pamphlet No. itO or send Ific for panoramic photogravure, 8x36 In. postpaid In tube. _ Development League, Lewiston, Idiiho, or Clarkston, Wash. Page 204 OUR CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. ,^.0F STRAWBERRY CULTURE WHERE THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL AND THE INSTRUCTOR IN CULTURAL METHODS MEET PRACTICAL LESSONS TAUGHT PERTAINING TO THE SCIENCE OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WITH the return of cooler u eath- er, we note a decided increase of interest on ihe part of the members of this siIk);>1 m the work of strawberry culture, and we are sure all the members will enjoy the qms- tions which appear in this i^siie. If some of our older members discover in this ls^ue qi.ie>iions and answers which in one form or anoiher have appeared in pievious issues, it will not be surpri>ing, and we may repeat what we have said, at least once before, that some of our reasons for repeatinjj matter which ma\ have appeared in previous issues, is that ii is new matter to many of our new members, while thou- sands of our old members reaJ these in- structions in the light of recent experiences with ereaier understanding. As a maiter of fact, it is the repetition of lessons — "line upon line" — that fix the facts firmly ill the mind of the learner, tintil they be- come a part of his mental equipment for the particular work in which he is engaged. Then, again, the people are being edu- cated up to the point where they are de- manding higher results from the straw- berry held. It is within the memory of our younger generation of strawberry grow- ers, that a man who netted ,$100.00 an acre from his strawberry field, considered hirnself a successful grower. I'oday the man who take<- anything less ihaii ,$500.00 from an acre is diss.itished with results; the man wiio rtceives from $750. UU to $1,000.00 from an acre is no longer a curiosity, and the man who under some conditions receives as high as $1,200.00 to $1,500.00 from an acre, now writes his name upon the records of strawberiy production. The other day we received a letter from a man who raised more than $900.00 worth of strawberries from the hrst acre he ever grew, and he said that it was all due to instructions he received through The Strawberry. "Whenever 1 was in doubt," he wriies, "1 simply turned to my back numbers of The Strawberry and found there just the inforinaiion 1 needed to meet the particular emergency." That statement is not only very gratifying to u.s, but it suggests how great are the possi- bilities in this direction, where the in- structions given in this iniblication are faithfully followed out. Now that the time is come when we may sit down and study these instructions, we hope that every member of the school will read over again and again the facts and learn to distinguish the fine poin s which underlie the general statements which are made; learn to fit these in- structions into the particular conditions of clim:ne, soil, etc, which are his. Lei us ill this way prepare for the greatest crop of strav\berries possible to be grown in the season of 1908. E. S v., Foxboro, Ont. In tliis sertion ue always li;ne relied ti)ion maisli liay for winter mulc'lunu for our berry beds, but oh ing to the scarcity of good bay and the extremely dry season this can now be procured only at a premium; so I thought I'd ask you concern- ing other methods of mulching. These meth- ods 1 have heard of but never tried. First, late sowing of oats on the patch and letting it grow up and be cut down by the frost, thus covering the vines. Second, the use of pine and cedar boughs. 2. Also, I'd like to ask you concerning the putting of elm ashes on a berry patch; should it be done before the planting or after.' The principal objection to sowing oats between the rows of strawberry plants is that they draw so heavily upon the mois- ture in the soil. In a wet fall this would be a great advantage, as it would take up the surplus moisture, leaving just sufficient to develop a good fruit-bud system in the plant, while in a dry fall the oats would rob the plants of the moisture they should ha\e for developing the fruit-bud system. in order to grow a crop of oats th.it would be of an>' benefit at all, the seeding should be done the latter part of Jtily or first of .■\ugust. If we knew at that time what kind of fall we were to have we should know what to do, but that is impossible, and the risk taken is too great. Without the oats we may better control the supply of water in the soil. If dry, cominue cul- tivation to hold the moisture already in the soil. If we ha\e frequent rains, defer cultivation, which will allow much of the moisture to evaporate, cultivating only frequently enough to keep down the weeds. Successful horticulture depends largely on knowing how to create your own conditions, as far as may be done, and this is what The Strawberry aims to teach. We may also say that the oats decompose to such an extent during the winter as to afford little protection to the plants. Of course, if the fall were favor- able and the oats ripened before frost af- fected them, then they would be the same as threshed oat straw. Pine and cedar boughs would serve the purpose of pre- venting the sun from striking the ground in bright wi-iter days, which would cause rapid thawing. In this respect the\' would be as good as anything you might secure; P>«e 205 but they would not afford a proper carpet for the berries to ripen upon. We really believe the maish hay would be the cheap- est even though you have to pay a high premium to get it. 3. Elm ashes are not so valuable as the ashes of hickory, oak or maple. You could safely use as much as sevent\-fi\e bushels to the acre of them, and they should be applied and thoroughly worked into the soil before the plants are set. ?fe -^ C. E. T. , Digby, N. S. I want to set some more strawberry plants next spring. How shall I prepare the ground — spread the ma- nure this fall and plow it in or spread it this fall and plow it in in the spring.' 2. I want the late varieties. 1 have some Pride of Michigan. Would the Dornan be all right set with them.' If not, tell me which kind will be the best.' 3. I want to save some plants from the run- ners. When they take root do you cut the runner from the mother plant.' 4. I see in The Strawberry that you say to mow off the vines and burn them. Do you burn over the crown or between the rows.' After many years' experience in prepar- ing the soil for strawberries we have de- cided that the best way is to break it up in the fall, sow rye at the rate of five pecks to the acre; then in the winter, u hen there is lime to spare, haul out manure and spread it evenly over the ground. This will in no way interfere with the growing of the rye, as it is so hardy that it will work its way up through the m;inure. The rye as a fertilizer is of itself of little \alue; but as a conserver of the plant food in the soil it plays a very important part. The freezing and thawing which alternate during the winter tends to cause the dis- solution of the plant food and the rains tend to leach the most vakiable elements from the manure, and just at the time this is going on is the very time when the roots of the rye are feeding the most heavily. Consequently, the escaping plant food is absorbeu and held by the roots of the rye, and when plowed under is in readiness for the plants. Rye also is valuable as a winter covering, preventing the soil from puddling and becoming hard and lifeless. 2. Your idea in setting late varieties is a good one for your locality, as this will enable jou to put very late berries upon the market, and get top prices. Dornan and Pride of Michigan go very well to- gether and both are very valuable varieties. We also would suggest Gandy, Sample and Mark Hanna. Stevens' Late Cham- THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 Genuine Made - to - Order Ship my Paint in extra size GalloQcans — giiariiiitet'll to contain I'lill measure. These can.s are datt-d tlie day the i»aint is made — (/'>»»• jrnarantee tliat the Paint is abso- lutely/re.s/i wlien yon get It. Out of any six-gallon order or over you may use twoRallons on j'our liuikiln(_'S. If it is satitsfactorv, usie the halance. If it i.-iii't satlsfaetory. return the halanee. I"ll re- fund all the money paid— iiay transportatrou both way.-j— and the test eliant cost vu a cent. ^ ^%, fllaklui; Paint fresh to order on a biV' scale for ■^the individual user enables me tooliera hfdfr PAINT paint— at a IvKvr price— than any Mail-tinler House iir paint couip»'ny in tlie I'nited Stales. Hunt think of biiyiiiy: Paint anywliere until you t'el my proposition. 1 can save you some money on a paint that"? bound to please you— because if u f*t>n't please you. you can senil it back after you uave used t«n full ^'allons. Wont you write today for mvBip Paint Book and other printed matter.' It"^is sent FHKK- ttitrether with sample c<)|ors to choose from. Just send me a postal with your name and ad- dress—and do it *(cii('— while it's on your mind. Om L, CHASE, The Paintman, Depi. u. Me as- FREIGHT PREPAID Two Full Gallons To Try ST. LOUIS, MO. pion and Cardinal are two splendid late varieties, but as they are new and untried would suggest that you try them in a small way first. 3. It is not necessary to cut the run- ner cord after the young plant takes root, as this young plant becomes self-support- ing and draws no nourishment from the mother plant. 4. In burning over the bed of straw- berry plants let the fire go over the entire ground. Before doing this the mulching should be loosened up so that the mulch- ing will burn rapidly. J. T. G., Southboro, Mass. I prepared my small strawberry bed, after fruiting, for next year's crop according to the method given in your catalogue and The Strawberry. I lost nearly all the plants and I enclose two of the crowns. Did I cut them off too low down? The crowns of the strawberry plants indicate only too clearly the reason for your failure. In cutting off your plants we note that you have cut through the crowns, severing the vital parts of the plants, which resulted in killing them. In cutting otf plants of an old fruiting bed the machine used for the purpose may cut close to the ground, but never should go beneath the surface. F. B., Litchfield, 111. .'\re old rotted logs and leaves and fine loose soil, such as is found in heavy timbered land, as valuable as barnyard manure for strawberries and all other veget- ables? I have to haul manure two and one- half miles from town, but there is heavy tim- ber only a quarter of a mile from my straw- berry and truck patches. Tlie loose, black soil and rotted logs and leaves from the woodlands would tend greatly to improve the mechanical condi- tion of your soil, making it lighter and more readily susceptible to aeration, but the quant ty of plant food in the vegetable mat- ter you thus describe is relatively small as compared with barnyard fertilizer, there- fore the chemical results on the soil would not be nearly so marked where these mate- rials from the woods were used as where barnyard fertilizer was employed. How- ever, humified organic matter C(intains quite a supply of the element nitrogen, and will aid in increasing the content of that important element in your soil; but we should advise you to use a generous quan- tity' of barnyary manure, even though you do employ a large amount of this decay- ing vegetable matter. T. H. M., Thornton, R. I. Would you sug- gest the best way to set the following varieties: Climax, Warfield, Beidler, Thompson's No. 2, Glen Mary, Wm. Belt, Senator Dun- lap, Brandywine and Pride of Michigan? 2. I have two pieces of ground in preparation for next spring's planting, about an acre in all. One piece, about three-fourths acre, is flat and one-fourth acre slopes to the north in two different fields. Of Beidler and Thomp- son's No. 2 I am going to try only a couple of hundred plants, and about 100 Pride of Michigan, just to try tl em out. I want to grow for market and if I can get good-sized berries I will get good prices; but small ber- ries will be a drug, so I would like to set in either the single or double hedge row to get best results. 3. I enclose leaves of the Senator Dunlap variety. They seem to be dying for want of moisture, but I have cultivated every week during a long drought of eighty days accord- ing to your directions, and some of them are looking fine and are making plenty of good runners, but the ones that are affected are plants that started off all right and attained a good growth, but the runners on the infected ones did not grow, so I pulled them up also. 4. Will you tell me how to tell a plant in- fected with mildew? With blight and fungi? 5. Which of the varieties of cowpeas do you advise for green manuring and will I broad- cast or drill in? 6. Is sulphuriate of potassium liver of sul- phur, and how much of it shall I put to the gallon of water? 7. How much blue vitriol and lime will it take to a gallon of water? 8. About six weeks after I set out plants I worked in some ground bone but never ap- plied any potash. Could I put potash on now, and do I need to put any nitrateof soda with it? 9. Would you recommend "Swift's Straw- berry Special" or would it be better for me to buy my nitrate, bone and potash and mix them myself; arid who would you advise me to buy them from? We should set the several varieties named in the following order: Climax, Page 206 'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 200 Eggs a Year per Hen HOW TO GET THEM rPHE sixth edition of tlie booli, "200 Eggs a Year -L per Hen," is now ready. Revised, enlarged, and inpart rewritten, 90 pages. Contains among other things the method of feeding by which Jlr. S. fi. Foi, of Wolfboro, N. H,, won the prize of $100 in gold of- fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition powder for the best egg record during the winter months. Simple as a, b, c— and yetwe gnaranteeit to start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay more eggs than any other method under the sun. Tht book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used by Mr, Fos, which brought him in one winter day Ofc eggs from 72 hens; and for flvedaysinsnccesslon from the same flock 64 eggs a day, Mr, F. P. Chamberlain ofWolflroro, N.H., says: "By followingthe methods outlined in your book I obtained 1,496 eggs from 91 R, I, Reds in the month of January, 1902," From 14 pullets picked at random out o'f a farmer's flock the author got 2,999 eggs in one year— an average of over 214 eggs apiece. It haa been my ambition in ivnting "200 Eggs a Year per Hen' ' to make it the standard book on egg production and profits in poultry. Tells all there is to tnow, and tells it in a plain com- mon-sense way. Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Poultry Advocate, both for 75 cents, or given as a premium for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each Our p;iper is linndsoraely illnstrati^d, 44 to HO pages, 60 cents pe. vrar. ;^ months' trial. 10 cuts. {Sam- ple free. C.iTALOGUE of poultry books free. AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 85 Hogan Block, Syracuse, N. Y. Warfield, Senator Dunlap, Beidler, Thompson's No. 2, Glen Mary, Wm. Belt, Brandywine, Pride of Michigan. If you are setting a large acreage you may set three rows of each kind in the order named. The point we wish to impress is that not more than three rows of pistillates should ever be set solidly together, but should have a bisexual every three rows. 2. You are correct; it does not pay anybody to grow inferior strawberries, and if well-developed plants are uniformly used and they are given intelligent care, with a favorable season the berries always will be fancy. 3. The leaves you send us appear to be healthy with the exception of a very few rust spots. The fact that you have carried your plants through an eighty-day- drought is proof that you have followed thorough cultural methods. We are pleased to know that the advice of The Strawberry has led you triumphantly through such a siege. Regarding the few THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 plants that started to grow vigorously, but had a setback, we think the experience is due entirely to some underground insect. 'I'he fact that it attacks only nn occasional plant indicates that there is no cause for alarm because of its presence. 4. Mildew, blight and rust are all fungous troubles. Mildew is detected by the curling up of the leaf. Blight gives a reddish tinge to the leaves, and rust starts with small red spots which enlarge until the entire leaf is covered. Eventually the rust eats through the tissues of the leaf. Spraying should be begun at the first sight of any of these troubles. There is no cure for them, but their spread may be prevented in this way. l^se Bordeaux mixture for everything except mildew; for this use liver of sulphur. 5. Most any of the cow peas are good to improve the mechanical condition of the soil. For your latitude we think the Clay and \Vonderful would give entire satisfaction. ^Ve advise Northern-grown seed, as the department of agriculture finds Southern seeds possessed of little germinating power. 6. Sulfate of potassium and liver of sulphur are the same. In spraying with liver of sulphur we use three pounds to fifty gallons of water. If you require but one gallon of spraying material use one ounce of the liver of sulphur. 7. In making one gallon of Bordeaux mixture use one tenth of a pound of vitriol and one-tenth pound of lime. 8. You should have applied the potash with the ground bone. However, if you will scatter unleached wood ashes between the rows at the rate of fifty bushels to the acre, and work it into the soil this fall, we think it will furnish potash enough to give desired results. Nitrate of soda may be used next spring at the rate of eighty to one hundred pounds to the acre. 9. We have great confidence in Swift's specially prepared fertilizers, and in pre- paring them we know they use the highest grade of goods. ^ '^ M., Shenandoah, Pa. In what proportion should poultry droppings (with the nitrogen preserved by being mixed with land plaster) be used with some other fertilizer to secure a large yield of berries — what fertilizer goes best with them — what time of the year should the mixture be applied to the soil and in what manner? Would this mixture be a good gen- eral manure for the average berry before special deficiencies of the soil became known — in a first crop, for instance, on a new place? If not, what would be? If you will take a ton of your chicken droppings and land plaster and add to this about six hundred pounds of ground phos- phate rock, mixing these thoroughly, and scatter over one acre of ground in the spring, then scatter evenly fifty bushels of wood ashes, or use the proper proportion of kainit, instead of wood ashes, you will have a well-balanced fertilizer for straw- berries and for general purposes as well. If kainit is used it may be mixed in with the phosphate rock and droppings and the whole sown together. Write the German Kali Works, '■)?< Nassau street. New York, for their free book on kainit. It will give you much valuable information. G. F. M. , Charleston, Wash. Do you con- sider it good practice to place fresh cow ma- nure, free from litter or chaff, between the rows of strawberry plants? This to be worked in. 2. What remedy would you ad\ ise for the "spit bug"? 3. Does the "spit bug" work any injury to the plants? 4. Do you advise cultivation with the hoe during the fruiting period? If so, what do you do with the mulch between the rows? 5. I expect to use summer fern or "fern brakes" as they are called by some for a mulch this winter. Would it be better to cut them to about one and one-half inches? They grow from two feet to eight feet long in this part of the country. 6. When would you permit runners to start on plants set this spring? Where ground is not in good condition, it is an excellent plan to scatter fresh cat- tle manure thinly between the rows and work it into the soil with cultivators. 2. So far as we have ever learned the spittle insects do but very little injury to plant life. They feed on a variety of things, but are rarely found on cultivated crops. 1 his also answers vour question No. .^. 4. It is not advisable to hoe a fruiting bed. If any cultivation is done in the fruiting bed it should be done in the space between the rows. This does not interfere with the mulch that lies close to the plants which protects the berries from becoming dirty. 5. We do not think it is necessary for you to cut the ferns at all. We have never used them for mulching, but should think that only the shortest and most bushy should be used. Wheat straw makes the best mulching you can get, but any mulching is better than nothing. 6. Runners should be allowed to start as soon as the mother plant has gotten well under way and has made good veg- etative growth. W. R. R., Minneapolis, Minn. I have a piece of ground which I intended to prepare this summer for 1908 planting, but the manure was full of grubs, so I left the ground alone. Would it have been all right to have plowed and sown the rye anyway? 2. If I wait until winter when ground is frozen and then apply the manure, do you think the grubs will live and trouble the plants when I plow next spring? 3. In the propagating bed, about what num- ber of runner plants will one mother plant send out? Lven though you did not cover the ground with manure this winter it would be a good plan to break the ground up and sow the rye. By plowing the ground Send For Our Stove Book WHY NOT GET THE BEST and SAVE FROM $5 to $40 ? You know iliat there imist be a lilp dlH'ereuct.- heiween the .uctory prk-e and the dealer's prJce on a good stove or raii^re. Why not pave that (lHfprpncr> and keep that extra profit In \ .n^r |>i.ii t-i? You know that there iinist I.e a hip dlrt'erence betweea a birlctly hlfh- prade stove, made of the best materi- als by expert workmen, aud a "cheap" Btove Diade of scrap Iron by Inferior workmen. 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ING, »e win tell juu lESi WaVS TO TtST IT ftnd PROVE He auperiority to an; other rcNifJng. DEALERS— Write fopour Rooflne-^UBineBB Promotioi. Plan. Addrcefl THE HEPPES CO.. S9iU Fillmore St., Chlcaffo season when properly treated than soil which has laid unbroken and packed hard all winter. While the rye will not add any value to the soil in the way of plant food, it will prevent a lot of plant food from being wasted. 2. As your manure contains so many white grubs, it will be best not to apply it until cold winter weather comes on. If this manure lie.s in a heap in the barnyard and you have poultr\' or hogs, you could do nothing better than to turn them into the yard and spread the manure in the yard so that these animals could free the manure of the grubs. Then scattering the manure over the prospective straw- berry field while the ground is frozen would prevent the remaining grubs from burrowing into the soil, leaving them on top to be frozen or devoured by birds. If you will follow these suggestions you may feel perfectly safe about setting your strawberry plants in the spring in soil con- taining this manure. 3. The number of runner plants made by one mother plant depends entirely up- on the condition of the soil, the variety and the season. In rich loamy soil, with plenty of moisture, the more prolific va- rieties would make from forty to fifty good plants, while those less prolific would range from twelve to twenty-five or even thirty. D. J. . Youngstown, Ohio. How near, without harm, can wood ashes, nitrate of soda, bone meal, bone dust, etc., to growing plants be placed.' 2. Ought the plants attached to mother plant by runner be detached? If so, where? 3. If you can use hose, how often ought plants to be watered? Wood ashes may be put directly under the foliage of plants without any injury. Bone meal, nitrate of soda or any other chemical fertilizer should not be put closer than from six to eight inches to the plant. The object is to let the soil take up the leachings, and by the time this process takes place the roots of the plants will be ready to absorb it. 2. It is not necessary to sever the young runner plants from the mother 25 ^'"' ^'''^ large ^^.^B handsome steel range without hiffh closet or reservoir. Witlt higlt warming closet ami reservuir, just as shown in cut, S 17.36. Reservoir is porcelain Jilted. Heavy cast tup with 6 full size cooking holes. Large sijuare oven, regular )i-l6 size. Body is niajeofctjld rolled steel, top and all castings lot tiestpig iron Grate; we use improved duplex grate, burns wood or coal. Nickel t'and on frt.nt of ma'n top; brackets and tea shelves on closet; band and ornament on reser- voir, oven door, etc. Highly polished, making it ao ornamentio any home OUR TERMS: OR for this ■^^ Oak Heater just as illustrated. Bumshard i>r soft coal or wood. Has drawn center grate .corrugated' lire pot, cold rolled sheetsteel body, heavy cast base, large cast ieed door, ash pit door and ash pan.swinetop. screw draftrei^ulator. Polished urn, nickel top ring, name plate foot rails, etc. Wehaveheatingstoves every kind. Hot hlast, air tiijhts. the kind that retails' for »:(.0(l, for 87c. Base burn- ers at % the regular price. ir« the most llb«ral ever made. We will ship you any rantie or stove, guarantee it to be perfe'-tinconstrtictiooand ma- terial; we gurirantee it to re.iLh you in jterfect condition You can pay for it after you receive it. You can lake il Into your own home and use II 30 lull daya. _ If you do not find it exactly as represented and perfectly satisfactiry In every way, the biggest bargain in a stove you ever saw or heart I of, equal to stoves that retail for double our price, you can rettirn it to us and we will pay freight bottv ways, ItfDITC TA flA V f'T our tree Stove Catalogue No. S22 2 l.'O styles to select from, explains our terms fiilh; tells you ff ni 1 C I II^UM I how to order Tun't liuv a sl^ve uf any kiml until you receive oui illustrated catalo),'iic .ind rei.l -iir liberal termsan.Ib.vestpnceseverniade. MADVIM C^IMITUtf^A f^UI^AAA II I ApostalcacdwiUbriotfittoyou, IIIAnVlll Olfil I 11 vUa VnlOAUUa ILIbS Page 208 plant. After the young plant becomes rooied it draws very little, if any, nourish- ment from the mother plant. 3. If irrigating is done at all, it should be done before the ground gets very dry. Apply water every two or three weeks, and at each irrigation see that the soil is soaked clear down to sub-soil. C. B. W. , Denver, Colo. I never have seen anything in The Strawberry about irrigating plants with water pumped from a well, and as this means of getting water here in Colorado is coming into use, it might be of interest to some here, myself especially, to have the opinions of some of the readers on this matter. I have a piece of ground that I can irrigate by pumping the water from a well only about twelve feet deep. Now I am somewhat afraid the water might be too cold, as it is about 48 degrees F. as it leaves the pump, but on other things in the garden, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and melons, if the water is put on before noon so the soil will get warm again before night, these and other truck do not seem to mind the cold water. Now I should like to know if the cold water will check the berries so they would not produce a good crop.' I have a gasoline engine and pump that will throw about 120 gallons per minute, so it would not take long to go over a large piece of ground. If any of the readers have any information on this subject would they kindly let others know their experience? If water at 48 degrees F. were pumped directly upon the plants, it would not be a good thing for them, but as irrigation of the strawberry is done by running water through a furrow made in the center of the space between the rows, the tempera- ture of the water will have become nor- mal before the water reaches the roots of the plants, and tiiere is no reason for thinking that the plants would suffer in the least or the maturing of the fruit be checked by this proceeding. We shall be glad to have our readers in the irrigat- ing districts discuss the question raised by our Denver correspondent. B. T. W., Vernon, B. C. Does nitrate of soda applied alone exhaust the soil.' If so, why.' 2. If not, how has the supposition that it does got about? Experiments we have made with nitrate of soda go to show that it does not stim- ulate the soil, but does stimulate the veg- etative part of the (ilants. Immediately after moisuire has dissolved the nitrates it becomes available and the plants at once take it up, and when entirely exhausted the plants cease growing so vigorously as when feeding upon it. The soil is then left in the same condition as it was before applying the nitrate of soda. The prin- cipal ohject in using nitrate of soda is to force the vegetative parts to rapid and strong growth; also to hasten the maturing THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1907 SALESMEN WANTED $100 00 PER MONTH AND EXPENSES PAID We want wide-awake^ influential people in every community ^_ TO SELL OUR A C*m l/\ DISHWASHERS J*^. NEW, WONDERFUL, AND FAST-SELLING DISH WASHERS AND CLOTHES WASHERS The Santo Dishwasher Washes, rinses anfl driea your dishes perfeody in 5 to lO minuies with- out sotiiug: either your hands or j our floors. You simply i)Ut in ynur dishes, turn the crank a few times, then take your dishes out and nut them away. fJr.-at, isn't It? Y<'U (.'uuldn'! break (yr otherwise diinKi^t' yur dislics in the Santo if you trJLMl; tl>e tlislies sit still— nothiof^r touches them but the hoilinshot water. The Santo is the only Dishwasher in the world for family use. It actu- ally saves the housewite over 4 ourself in your own home. FREE TRIAL Every responsible person is invited to z/ree trial of the new? style improved 1907 model genuine Edison phonograph. Free trial means free trial. You pay us nothing — not one cent — no C. O. D. either. You take the instrument to your home and play all the beautiful Edison records — stirring band and orchestra records, the most laughable comic recitations, the latest songs, and up-to-the-minute hits. Let your family and friends hear the machine laugh, sing, talk, play — then decide. I/yon wish, return outfit ai our expense. If you are mor<> than ploasprl. if you decide to koi-p this kiTi^ of entertainers— and we know yoii will— you liave thi' clioice of si-niiiug casli in full for tlie out lit or jiayingr on the easiest possible payments — aitdtlieoutfitbutttihtou lime costs j/ou a«i(V//r asif you paid cash in full. ^m^ ^M^ nt% «a HJt^%mu4h """^ '^^^''^ ^ genuine 1907 model ■j^ ^^mmW «■ MwmVttmMM Edison outfit including one dozen B^^P^^^^ highly finished genuine Edison records. The finest improved 1907 ^P^ ^^^^ model Edison outfit only $3.50 a month. KnA ^K. rock-bottom price, no matter zuhcther you send the cash in full or pay on our easiest terms. Sur- prising rock-bottom f rices on the fiticst improved Edison outfits — one-lliird and one-fourth the price of inferior imitations. Sign the coupon and get the catalogs. Edison Catalogs FREE Sign this coupon and get the great Edison catalogs, the catalog of phonographs showing every style of Edison ma- BABSOK ^k ,X^ chines and Ihe catalog of 1500 Edison records; also the magni-l nosroph iiiit.^r<-JV Cent circulat of our new 1907 model Edison outfit No. 5. You Soii"u45fhi'^^W'^!^ will be surprised Sit the rock-bottom prices on the finest without any nbit^^-f^^ kind of talking machines. Get all these catalogs free gallon ou nio pleaee^t/J^ _ -j j i ^ .u t_ ■ .... send at once t" mo^^<^ prepaid and select the machine you want to try on free, prepaid. Edlson^^.^V r . ■ i n- ».. -li j c .i_ • caiaiM^.. B|,Ptiai circuior^^eV tree trial offer. Every responsible reader of this record cataiot- ami f.iii eic.^k7.-X paper should Sign this coupon. You need not planat!i>n of the tree trlal^^'^V u^*u^^ - Sd-u. - ■.««.* t .. ■. _- easy paymuat offer. ^JVV "Otlier witll a letter. Just write your name Name I DoD't bother with a letter; coapoo w1 and address plainly on the coupon and m.iil in an envelope. Sign this coupon now. Edison Phonograph DIst., F. K. BABSON Edison BIda.. Suite 3045 ^ CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (^^^^^r^ a td,^. For Cash in Full So nianv cai^h buyers are aeinilng for a fiee trial oC (iiir new I'.'u? model Eclienn Miatwe an.' ask- ed fonllim.usly "hat discount v.-e ciin al- low for cnsh. Biita8 the prices at which we Bell on time are a'n':idy the rock- bottonn prices. 6e- h