LIBRARY OF THf UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFST OF \ C/ass STRAW BERRY 1 • *ty STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. Published by GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. G- NOTICE. This book will be sent Free of Charge to any farmer who applies for it. Principles of Profitable Farming, Potash in Agriculture, Farmer's Guide, Cotton Culture, Tobacco Culture, Tropical Planting, Stassfurt Industry, Fertilizing Sugar Cane, Fertilizing Sugar Cane in the Hawaiian Islands Fertilizing Tobacco, Sugar Cane Culture, The Cow Pea, Plant Food, Truck Farming, Experiments with Fertilizers, are other publications valuable to farmers, copies of which will be sent free on application, by Addressing, GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau Street, New York City. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. THE growing of strawberries has become quite an important industry in almost every section of the United States. The reasons for this are plain. The strawberry is a plant that can be made to grow profitably on almost any soil; it is sure of a ready market, which, on account of a growing demand, continually enlarges so that there is no serious danger of overproduction, and it is a money crop coming very early in the season, when a little money "comes in handy" before money is received from the other crops. It is not difficult to grow strawberries, but it takes knowledge and experience to get a steady and fair profit. Every place has its peculiar local conditions of climate and weather. It is impossible to make rules to fit all these conditions, but a careful reading and consideration of the following pages may help the grower or farmer to adapt measures to his own conditions. One thing should always be kept in mind: Take pains. If you do that you will make a success of strawberry culture. Selecting the Soil. The strawberry plant can be grown on most soils. Perhaps the best land naturally is a dark sandy loam. Any soil which will produce a good corn crop will make good strawberry land. A rather light soil, loamy, is certainly preferable, but natural conditions may be greatly modified in the desired direction. An open, well drained soil, of even texture and kept free of weeds, is just the thing. To a very considerable extent, even heavy 4 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. clay soils may be brought into this condition by the use of lime and sub-soiling. The plant needs an ample supply of moisture, but cannot develop if its roots are in a cold, sodden soil. Avoid very low-lying plots, as there is in such conditions considerable danger from frost. A slope to the south will make the fruit earlier; a slope to the north or northeast will encourage late ripening. Preparation of the Soil. The soil should have been in some cultivated crop the year previous to a planting of strawberries, as this gives not only a soil in good tilth, but also guards against a too free growth of weeds and checks various insect attacks. Red clover sod or land that has laid fallow, is apt to be infected with white grub and other insect enemies. A clover sod may contain large stores of plant food in the form of organic matter, but it will decompose so slowly that the plants will be kept back until late in the season, when a too free growth is not de- sirable. If the clover sod or fallow land is plowed in the spring and planted to a cultivated crop, it will be in excel- lent condition for strawberry planting the following fall, winter, or spring. Plow thoroughly, even cross-plow if the soil is heavy. If cloddy, reduce to a fine condition by thorough harrowing. It will most always pay to subsoil, especially in sections given to droughts, as the capacity of the land to retain moisture is thereby increased. Clay lands should always be subsoiled. On hilly land, the beds may be ridged across the slope; if the soil is light, some such protection against washing is necessary. Terracing will pay where it is needed, especially STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 5 if pains are taken to maintain the terraces every time the land is broken. Selecting Varieties. It is not always safe to pick out a variety of strawberry from the accounts given in plant catalogues. A perfect all-around berry is about as hard to find as a perfect all-around milk cow. Usually it is best to take the advice of a neighbor who knows about the different varieties, or if you cannot get this, you can write and get the opinion of the editor of a farm journal. Varieties change much as fashions change. There is not much foundation for the claim that certain varieties are suitable for light soils, or heavy soils, etc. Large crops of fine berries are only grown on soils very rich naturally, or made so artificially. There are two distinct classes of strawberry plants, Blossom of a staminate, known as the perfect and or perfect, strawberry plant. imperfect varieties ; also known as staminate and pistillate. The per- fect or staminate plants are bi-sexual, which means that they produce fruit as a natural Blossom of a" Pistillate, or imperfect, straw- condition; the pistillate varieties are one- berry plant, sexed, and will not produce fruit unless planted in proximity to staminate varieties. The safest plan is to plant one row of staminate plants to every two rows of pistillate. 6 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. There is some dispute as to the relative merits of the two classes, but it is generally admitted that the pistillate varieties are the hardier and most suitable as a market berry. When planting the two classes together, it must be remembered to have the two varieties ripen at the same time, and if possible, of the same general color and shape. Unless they blossom practically together, the influence of the staminate variety may be wholly lost. When to Plant. Plants may be set at any time in the year, except winter in the north, or when the weather is very hot, or the soil very dry. As hot and dry times are likely to occur in summer, it is best not to plant at that time unless potted plants are to be used, or the plants may be moved with a considerable ball of earth adhering to them, which is rarely practicable on a large scale. The safest time to set is when the sun is weak, for then the soil is apt to be moist and cool — say from September i5th to April i5th. Another rule is never to transplant after blooming has commenced ; and yet, very successful settings are made with blooming plants, the bloom being pinched off. In the far South, nearly all planting is done in September, October and November, and a full crop of berries harvested the following spring. In the north comparatively little planting is done in the fall, yet it may be safely done at any time up to freezing weather. Plants set in the north in the fall should always be mulched, as described later on. This is to prevent the "heaving" of the soil during hard freezes, and the conse- STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 7 quent ''lifting" of the plants. Early spring, as soon as the soil can be prepared, is the favorite time for planting in the north. This is also the best time for stiff soils, such soils being most given to heaving out in the middle states. South of the latitude of Washington, D. C, late fall and winter planting is the best on very stiff soils likely to be wet, on account of the danger of heaving out by freezes. If the soil is at all light, every good day in the late fall and winter can be used in preparing the land, and in planting. The strawberry plant is at that time very easily set without loss, and it is also out of the way of the spring work. How- ever, planting may be done at any time, and even a little after the plants begin to bloom, though the earlier it is done the surer the stand. How to Plant. Run off the rows three feet apart. If the area is limited, two and one-half feet will do if the plants are to be grown in hills or stands. If matted rows are to be grown, three to three and one-half feet will be required. After the fertilizer has been applied in the furrow, and mixed with the soil by running a cultivator or light plow through it, list on this with one light furrow from each side. Knock this list or light bed down with hoes or a light horse drag. On wet lands, especially in the far south, it is found necessary to have the beds much higher. Strawberries planted on low beds do much better where there is likely to be a drought, or even ordinarily dry weather, during the growing or ripening season. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. Plant set too high. After the lists or beds are knocked down, open broad deep holes for the plants. Trowels or dibbles, though good to open holes, are too tedious for a large planting. Poles or stakes with the large end trimmed wedge-shaped and shod with iron two or three inches wide, do as well as trowels and are much faster with less tedious work. Stakes without the iron will last well if the land is not too heavy. If the plant roots are very long, trim them back to about four inches; wet the roots well and drop at once, planting as fast as dropped. The plants should be set just deep enough to cover the roots and no deeper. The roots should be spread as near a fan shaped as pos- sible in the broad holes, and the earth pressed firmly about them. The distance apart in the row must be governed by whether the aim is to follow the stool or hill system, or the matted row. Plants to be grown in Correct setting-of plant both , , , , , , with regard to depth and StOOls Should be Set 15 inches apart, ^ L arrangement of roots. Plant set too deep. Plant carelessly set with roots bunched. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. and if the soil is not rich even 18 inches apart; if matted rows are to be grown, the plants should be two feet apart in the row. Stool Plants and Matted Rows. Stool plants is the usual name for planting in hills. By this method the soil may be worked both ways with horse hoes, and thus save greatly in the amount of labor by hand. About 12,750 plants are re- quired per acre, and all the run- ners are clipped as fast as they appear. After the first bearing year some run- ners are allowed to set plants, for transplanting or fruiting the fol- Strawberries planted by the hill, or stool, system. lowing year. The object is to save hand labor, and to maintain a clean cultivation. Matted rows refers to setting the plants in wide rows, and permitting runners to set between the plants in the 10 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. row, and also to spread out between the rows. For matted rows only about 7,500 plants are required per acre. Matted rows cannot be cultivated with horse hoes as completely as can the hill set plants, but a much larger number of plants may be massed on an acre. If the soil is very fertile, or kept in such con- dition that large quantities of fertilizer may be used, matted rows will pro- duce more berries than the stool system; but, it must be remembered that 100 plants require just twice the water and food neces- sary for a good development of 50 plants. By Strawberries planted by the matted row system. the matted TOW system the plants sometimes increase so rapidly that the entire space is taken by the plants, and frequently they are kept cut back to occupy half the space. The wisdom of the wide rows depends* on the strength of your soil, and your liberality in feeding it. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. it Stool plants stand drouth better and bear more market- able berries to the acre than matted rows, because a more thorough tillage is possible. The stool system requires about 60 per cent more plants to the acre than the matted row system. In matted rows the young plants are apt to set too thickly, and weeds grow up among the plants causing much tedious hand work. Stool plants can be easily kept clean with horse cultivators, helped out with hoes. The stool system cannot be followed to advantage un- less the runners are cut as fast as they grow. Use knives and cut close to the plant. If allowed to grow and remain long on the parent plant, the runners weaken it greatly and the best results will not be possible. Otherwise, it is safer to plant for and follow the matted row system; in which case the runners are allowed to grow and take root, though not allowed to set too thickly. If the rows become too thickly set they should be thinned out in the fall to five or six inches apart, a task hardly practicable on a large scale. Proper Cultivation. Frequent cultivation is best and cheapest in the end. After every packing rain, the soil must be stirred to a depth of from one to two inches — (very shallow near the plants.) This will not only keep back the weeds but also prevents the loss of water from surface evaporation. It will not do to wait for a rain if a drouth threatens. The plants should be cultivated every week, otherwise the moisture supply will be lacking. 12 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. Plow the middles to within six inches of the plants with a light small toothed cultivator, and stir around the plants with hand hoes. This method of cultivation must be kept up as late in the fall as the weeds and grass continue to come. Whether the matted row or the stool system is followed, clean culture is indispensable to success. It is not only a matter of destroying weeds, but also of keeping up the proper supply of moisture. MANURING. Correct fertilizing is far more important than the selec- tion of the soil, for almost any soil will make fine berries if properly manured. No soil can make them for any length of time without judicious and liberal manuring. Some of the reasons why it pays to fertilize strawberries are: (i) it vastly increases the yield, (2) gives larger berries, (3) a better color and flavor, and (4) firmer fruit. The last named quality — firmness — enables berries to be shipped long distances to a market and arrive fresh. Several of the best known varieties were at first con- sidered almost worthless, owing to a lack of firmness to carry them to the market, and freshness to sell them after they got there. The remedy for all this has been found in the liberal use of the mineral fertilizers. A strawberry crop on one acre needs for its development during three years on an average, 223 pounds of nitrogen, 375 pounds of potash, and 83 pounds of phosphoric acid. If liberal STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. ' 13 crops are expected, the soil must supply the proper amounts of plant food. The objection to farmyard manure is that it contains too much nitrogen as compared with the potash and phosphoric acid. A strawberry fertilizer should contain the three princi- pal plant food ingredients in about the following propor- tions: Ammonia, 3 per cent. Potash, ------ 9 per cent. Phosphoric Acid, - - - 7 per cent. That is, every 100 pounds of fertilizer should contain 3 pounds of ammonia, 9 pounds of potash, and 7 pounds of available phosphoric acid. The phosphoric acid is placed far above the actual needs of the plant as shown by the analysis, because this fertilizer is likely to take insoluble forms in the soil; the ammonia is placed low as top dress- ings are made in the spring. Often, and especially on sandy soils, it pays to use pot- ash in larger proportions than the above formula calls for. A fertilizer containing 3, 9 and 7 per cent respectively of ammonia, potash and phosphoric acid will be a good strawberry manure. You can make this mixture yourself, or have the dealer make it for you. It should be applied at the rate of 500 pounds per acre drilled in before plant- ing, and thoroughly mixed with the soil by running a cultivator or light plow along the furrow before the land is listed, or bedded. In the spring, an application of 150 pounds of nitrate of soda should be broadcasted per acre, Without Fertilizer. With Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen. With Potash, Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen. Illustrations showing: effect of fertilizers on strawberry plants. Experiment by Prof. E. Lierke, Germany. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 15 as soon as the first signs of growth appear. For fruiting beds, the full application of 500 pounds per acre is made broadcast in the summer or fall, and worked in with a cultivator if the ground is not frozen. A great deal of such fertilizer can be profitably used on the strawberry if applied at proper intervals, as follows: In the spring before planting, again late in the summer or early fall around the plants, and again in the winter or very early spring directly over them — in all from 900 to 1500 pounds may be used with profit. This mode of fertilizing will nearly always be found more profitable than applying all the fertilizer in one annual application. One point must always be remembered, and that is, never sow fertilizers directly on the plants in warm weather while they are in the green growing state, and never sow it on them even in winter unless the leaves are dry. In the far south where the plants keep green all winter, the fertilizer must be distributed around the plants, preferably just before rain. If a suitable commercial fertilizer is not obtainable, the mixture may be made on the farm from fertilizer chemicals. The following materials are most suitable: For Ammonia: Nitrate of Soda, containing 18 Ibs. of Ammonia per 100 (i8#). or Sulphate of Ammonia, " 23 " " " " 100(23$). For Potash: Sulphate of Potash, containing 51 Ibs. of Potash per 100 (51$). or Muriate of Potash, " 50 " " " " 100(50$). or Kainit, " 12 " " " " 100(12$). l6 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. Phosphoric Acid: Acid-Phosphate, containing 14 Ibs. of Phosphoric Acid per 100 (14%) Dissolved Bone, " 16 " " " " " " (16$) Cotton-seed meal may%also be used; it contains 8 pounds Of ammonia and about 2 pounds of available phosphoric acid per 100 pounds. For an application which will be the same as 500 pounds of the formula given as best suited for the strawberry, make the following mixture : For Ammonia: 100 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, or 75 Ibs. Sulphate of Ammonia, or 200 Ibs. Cotton-Seed Meal. For the Potash: 90 Ibs Sulphate of Potash, or 95 Ibs. Muriate of Potash, or 400 Ibs. Kainit. Phosphoric Acid: 250 Ibs. Acid Phosphate, or 225 Ibs. Dissolved Bone. Liming the soil at the rate of 40 bushels of agricultural lime per acre, just before planting, will generally be an advantage, especially if the soil is inclined to be clayey, but if sulphate of ammonia is used liming is a necessity. For the spring top-dressing, nitrate of soda is used only, and this application is to be in addition to the 500 pounds per acre. In preparing all fertilizers, a thorough mixture is very necessary for good results. None of the above ingredients are injured by exposure to the sun; they can be sown over or around the plants and left for the rain to wash in, with- out loss of strength. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. IJ The Crop-Making Power of Fertilizers. It has been found that the crop-making power of a manure or fertilizer is no greater than its weakest ingredient. This means that if a manure or fertilizer contains only a small amount of one of the three fertilizing ingredients, it will not produce good results or yields. As has been stated, one acre in strawberries during a three years' growth, uses up 223 pounds of nitrogen, 83 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 375 pounds of potash. Therefore, plants to do well must have these quantities. To take these different elements from the soil without putting them back sooner or later exhausts the soil. Again, farmyard manure made chiefly from grain and hay is not well balanced in fertilizing ingredients for fruit. For example, seven tons of farmyard manure of good quality will give the following amounts of fertilizer: In an Acre Strawberries. In 7 Tons Manure. Nitrogen, - - 223 Ibs. 77 Ibs. Phosphoric Acid, 83 Ibs. 57 Ibs. Potash, - - - 375 Ibs. 74 Ibs. Thus, fully thirty-five tons of farmyard manure would be needed to furnish the required amount of potash for an acre of strawberries, and even then if the season is favor- able the excess of nitrogen produces rank growth of foliage at the expense of the fruit. As we have pointed out, by the matted row system only about two-thirds as many plants are set per acre as by the hill or stool system, but the runners are allowed to grow so l8 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. that the actual number of plants fruiting is greater. While less fertilizer may be applied to the matted row system the first year, the difference must be fully made up the follow- ing year. A strawberry bed soon runs out, in fact it is often claimed that one good fruiting year is all that may be profitably worked. If the plants are properly fertilized the beds should last three years, but they must be manured each year, and quite as much attention paid to tillage as during the first year of growth. To have fine, large berries and plenty of them, large healthy plants are necessary and these are obtained only by thorough fertilization and care- ful tillage and runner pruning. Use of Mulch. The object of mulching is to keep the fruit clean, and the soil cool and moist. It aids liberal potash manuring in securing that clean, clear color and gloss, which attract customers in the markets. Gritty berries dull in appearance and otherwise undesirable bring the poorest prices. Any material which lies close and is heavy enough to stay on the plants will answer the purpose of mulching. Pine needles are widely used in the south ; wheat and oats straw, or salt-marsh hay are also excellent, but should be weighted with a little earth. Care must be taken not to use old hay full of weed seeds. The mulch should be scattered evenly very close around the plants, and over the whole width of the rows if practicable. It should be applied very early, but not before the plants begin to grow unless it is desired to STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 19 retard fruiting a few days. Care must be taken not to let the mulch lie so thick at any point as to smother the plants. Shake the material loose and scatter it just thick enough to hide the ground. The mulch should be removed from over the plants if they do not come through readily. When a mulch is applied after the growth has well started, it is best to apply it closely around and between the plants by hand. Winter Production. Winter protection is necessary where the temperature falls to zero, and is needed even in warmer latitudes, especially in stiff soils. This protection is precisely the same as the mulch, except that it is more thickly applied. The mulch should be at least two inches thick, while three will be better in very cold sections, or where there is much thawing and severe freezing in the late winter. In the spring, the rows must be opened to permit the plants to get through easily. Both for mulch- ing and for winter protection, the work must be done thoroughly. Immediately after fruiting, remove the mulch and com- mence the regular cultivation of the plants. While a mulch will conserve moisture in the early days of the summer, later on the sun will destroy its usefulnes, and tillage must be used. Winter protection should not be supplied before the ground begins to freeze hard. Picking and Shipping. Women and girls make the best berry pickers. Let each picker have a series or number of rows for the whole season. Then the pickers 20 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. will come to take an interest in the rows assigned to them and will be apt to show care and thoroughness. The grower should provide each picker with a light picking tray in which the quart baskets can be placed as fast as filled. It is well to have a covering for the tray to keep off the sun and rain. If there is no house near the field, a rough shed should be erected to shade the berries when they are picked. A good method of keeping count of the picking is to issue to the pickers basket checks. Let each picker have so many checks, and then give up a check for every basket of fruit brought to the store shed, where the account can be checked by the field boss. The price which the grower gets, depends in a large measure on the berries being picked at just the right stage of ripeness, and in their being carefully handled and packed. Berries should be picked by the stem, which should be pinched off about one inch long. The berries should never be taken in the hand. Grade the fruit honestly all through, but dress off the baskets neatly, slightly heaped in the middle of the basket, turning the reddest side of the berry up. Always pack the berries as ripe as you find they will carry to market well. Refrigerator cars make it possible to pick berries much riper than some years back when only ordinary cars were used. Use only new fresh crates and baskets, which can be bought cheap in large quantities. Consult your commission merchant as to the size of the crates to be used ; different markets require different sized crates. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 21 Always pick the berries as cool as possible, and it is an advantage to have them picked dry. Do not wait, however, for the sun to dry off the dew if the weather promises to be at all warm, for the sun in drying off the dew will heat the berries. When refrigerator cars are used, heat is not to be feared, for the fruit gets chilled in a few minutes after being placed in the cars. Garden Culture. As space in the garden is usually limited and cultivation is usually done with a hand hoe or hand cultivator, strawberry plants may be safely set much closer than in field culture. A good plan is to have the rows one foot apart, and to set the plants one foot apart in the row. Between every three rows of plants have an alley or walkway two feet wide, which gives access to the bed for cultivating and picking the fruit. If the soil is not very rich it will be better to set the plants 15, or in extreme cases 18, inches apart. The same fertilizers recommended for field culture may be used, but the quantity may be greatly increased as it is practicable to mix the ingredients quite thoroughly with the soil. Five hundred plants occupying a bed 20x40 feet if set 12 inches each way, will if well manured and kept free of weeds, fairly supply a medium sized family. By setting early, medium and late varieties, the season can be prolonged for about six weeks. A bed to do well must have thorough shallow culture, and have all the runners clipped off as soon as they appear. 22 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. No particular variety can be recommended which will be the best under all conditions ; improvements are being made all the time. It will be best to get the advice of some reliable nurseryman as to the kind to plant for any given locality. DISEASES OF THE STRAWBERRY. All of the ills of the strawberry may be directly traced to neglect in one form or another. The most common evil is due simply to starvation. The strawberry plant produces an enormous quantity of fruit on a very small framework, and starvation is very quickly followed by plain signs of impaired vigor or vitality. So general is incomplete fertilizing, that it is common talk that strawberry beds are only profitable the first year. The following comprise the most injurious diseases: Leaf Blight. This is recognized by the withering of the leaves, usually accompanied by the formation on the leaves of spots, brownish at first but soon becoming dry and whitish with a circle of red, and finally the entire leaf assumes a red-spotted or red discolored appearance. The injury is caused in summer after the fruit is off, by preventing leaf development and thus lessening the power of the plant to make a proper growth of fruit crowns for the next year. It generally affects plants which have made a heavy growth of foliage from a too free supply of available STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 23 nitrogen and a lack of potash and phosphoric acid, especially if the new growth is suddenly deprived of free sunshine by a too heavy application of mulch. It seems sometimes due to a weakened vitality by deficient fertili- zation, but infested plants may communicate the disease to perfectly normal plants. Infested beds may be moved in the fall and the leaves burned where they lie. Repeat in June, or as soon as the fruit is off, raking up the mulch to aid in the fire. Frequent and thorough spraying with Bordeaux mixture is said to be beneficial. Spray every two weeks beginning just after fruiting, and continue until fall. For the garden, the affected leaves may be raked out by hand, and burned. Clean cultivation, and the destruction of old beds are material aids. Dieback, or White Bud. The first indication is the appearance in the center of the crown of young leaves of slightly reddish-yellow, or purplish tinge, and an unnatural crinkling of the leaf. The disease soon takes possession of the whole plant, and all its leaves are greatly shrunken. The name "white bud" is sometimes given, from the bleached-out color of the youngest central leaves of the crown. The remedy is simple : Feed the plants. Kainit seems to be about the most effective single application, and the quickest in its results, but do not apply directly on the plants. The instructions under manuring apply in this case. Probably the best remedy is an application of com- 24 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. plete fertilizer, as described earlier in this book. The whole secret is to furnish the plant something to eat as soon as possible. White Grub. This grub, for whose existence the June bug is responsible, feeds on the roots of strawberry plants and generally begins its attacks in June or July. The leaves of the plants suddenly wilt, and a slight pull brings up the whole plant with but a fringe of its root system attached. The grub is a white or yellowish white worm, from one to one and one-half inches long, with a large chestnut brown head. The eggs are deposited in untilled ground, especially in pasture fields or hay fields which have been carried over two or more years. The authorities claim that a top- dressing of kainit is beneficial, applied just before a rain. Fall plowing is effective. Do not use sod lands for straw- berries until at least two years cultivation occur before fruiting, even planting near a hay field is dangerous. Kerosene emulsion diluted ten times and poured on the surface of the ground around the infested plants will prove beneficial in garden culture. Clean culture is a preven- tive. Cut Worm. This is a brownish green-spotted worm, about one inch long. It works chiefly in the early spring by neatly clipping off the roots of tender plants just at the surface of the soil, or slightly below it. It is too well known to farmers generally to require further description here. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 25 As with the "white grub," clean cultivation and the same preventive conditions apply to the cut worm. It is never bad in thoroughly tilled soil, unless near a pasture or hay field. Scatter over the land a week before the plants are set, cabbage leaves or small bundles of green grass which have been steeped in a solution of Paris green. Make the distribution in the early evening. Do not follow a clover sod with strawberries, and you will have no trouble with the cut worm. Strawberry Weevil. This is a minute beetle ; the egg is deposited in the bloom just before it opens, and the stem is partially severed so that it may droop and stop growth in order to furnish food and protection in the young weevil. It may readily be recognized by the drooping immature buds. The attack is made as soon as the bud approaches maturity. The food is largely the pollen, consequently imperfect (pistillate) plants are not injured. Clean and thorough culture is both remedy and preventive. The destruction of old beds, and all infested beds is necessary. Practice a rotation. In the garden, the plants may be protected by a covering during the blossoming period, of light muslin, or even old newspapers. Strawberry Thrip. The injury is done to the blos- soms, which wilt and die very quickly after the attack. In action this pest is so similar to the weevil that it is some- times claimed that the two are identical. The thrip is very 26 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. small, about one-twenty-fifth of an inch long, and of a yellow color. They eat of the stigmas, and the injury seems to consist largely in preventing the fertilization of the blossom. Thorough spraying with a strong decoction of tobacco seems to be the only remedy, (one pound of tobacco stems boiled 30 minutes in two gallons of water). The thrip readily moves from one plant to another, so that the whole field must be sprayed, and the dose repeated every three or four days. Leaf Roller. This is a small greenish caterpillar which operates at the blooming period, by rolling the leaf so that its usefulness to the plant economy is destroyed. It is very easily recognized, and in garden culture the rolled leaves may be picked off by hand and burned. Use a Paris green spray early in the season, but do not continue it long enough to endanger the contamination of ripe fruit. Mow the infested beds, and burn the leaves as described for "leaf blight." Crown Miner. This is a small white or pinkish grub, about one-fifth of an inch long. It injures plants by boring into the crowns of young plants. It is common in old straw- berry beds. Practice rotation, as insecticides are ineffectual. Care in selecting plants is a precautionary measure, while the best preventive is thorough and frequent tillage. The removal of the mulch as soon as fruiting is over is a preventive measure for many of the evils incident to straw- berry culture. STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. VI g "o be TjH 0) 0) o 1O i oi t—t 0 K *3 . c/) (A r tt. O 05 z •o tf] 0 o .2 1 553 a < ^ ^ CO C7 ir^ d TH\ O OJ bO o u o o o 8 OCJ (M 0 oS a, a> O oj CU ttf OH Ti South Carolina Acid Florida Acid Phospl: Tennessee Acid Pho: Bone Black, dissolve Bone Meal Bone, dissolved Peruvian Guano . . . STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 29 PH'O Q, iO CO Q3. C-? O5> T^ L'* CO C^) T-H ooocooooo & C!»r-tTHt-O5iOC!»TH"N rfl ' " l/l X ^\ O o o o -I-J -4-> 4-» •-H T-H 0 in ^ •f | It £ !£ ^§^^s rD g-ij rl^ rO ^ ^3 T^ G ,Zj oooti ^3,c!~^ 5 PM z C Id 0 JO CD CO OO CD c ££ ^^ 0 O 0 0 O H •*-> 1 - •< > C ° 1— 1 ^^ ^> ^ OO <^ t^ O LO OS CO | ll 0 0 T-i 0 T-H 0 ? pj i o 0) bfl o 0 00 CO 1C CO O 1C OO -^ «O 1O O O O TH O ? g 01 r LU O O p 35 £ s 8 X * £ 2 t/3 tfl O ^ 01 1) v > UNi\ • < ] kr J THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. OCT 21 1936 LD 21-100m-8,'34 YB 46510 .