Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1913 — Page 3

SEX IN STRAWBERRIES VITAL FACTOR HOW TO RAISE BIG CROPS

,• A GREAT many persons who *gMRA are trying to grow strawJyiKjfe berries do not know that there is a question of sex •gpSHs&i in the plants. This is also * true of many nurserymen,

and scores of growers are disappointed every year because the plants they , buy do not bear fruit The male plant in strawberries is what is known as the staminate or bisexual, a perfect flowering plant. The female plant is known as the pistillate, and unless it is planted along with the bi-sexual, or male plant, so that they can be pollenized they will yield no fruit In the illustration it will be seen that in the center off the bi-sexual flowers the pistils are surrounded by anthers, or bulb like protrusions, which are filled with the flower-like substance called pollen, which is carried to other pistils all over the patch, and this fertilizes them and thus every blossom becomes a berry. The illustration shows that none of those anthers appear on the pistillate flowers. . We explain this matter fully so that every one may understand how necessary it is that one always should set bi-sexual plants, and that where the pistillate varieties also are chosen they Bhould be so arranged that, the pollen of the bi-sexuals will reach the bloom of the pistillate plants. In order that complete pollenation may be secured, we advise the setting of pistillate varieties between rows of bisexuals of the same season. Or, one may set the pistillate varieties between bi-sexuals of an earlier and a later seison. In arranging the plants, if you desire to do so, you may set one row of pistillates, or two rows, or as many as three rows of pistillates, between the two rows 'of bi-sexuals, as pollen wilt be easily carried over several rows of plants. As pistillate varieties frequently are the heaviest of ylelders. Let us consider at the outset the ihatter of soil, and let it be understood that strawberries will grow successfully under as great a variety of conditions as will potatoes or turnipß or cabbage, or any other of the commonest sorts of vegetables or grains. In a word, your soil is Just the kind of soil in which to grow strawberries whether it be sand, sandy loam, clay loam, clay, black prairie soil, or volcanic ash. The Soil a Feeding Trough. Indeed, the soil may be likened to a feeding trough. It doesn’t make any difference whether you feed the hogs from an oak trough or a pine trough—the result would be identical in either case. The soil is only a medium through which the plants receive their food. Therefore, the Important thing for the -grower to do is to see that his soil, whateves its nature, Is properly supplied with the elements necessary to the feeding and growth of the plants. Once we get this thought clearly in mind the whole matter of crop production Is simplified, and each grower may be confident that his soil will do Just as well as anybody else's soil if it be in the proper condition for the sustenance and development of plant life. Barnyard manure is one of the strawberry grower’s most valuable assets. Therefore, he should give great attention to conserving this fertility and seeing to it that it is properly applied to the soil. After the manure is spread comes the breaking up of the soil. }n doing fhls work be careful to see that every particle of hard soil is worked up and into as mellow a state as it is possible to get It The depth to which one should plow depends upon the nature and formation of the soil. Where the soil is deep one may go as deeply as eight Inches, but in shallower soils the depth should not exceed from four to six Inches. For our present purpose we shall consider the three soils most common the world over, namely, those In which clay predominates, those having a sandy nature, and the so-called black soil. In the mere matter of furnishing plant food to these soils the methods -we have referred to will do for all of them, but from the mechanical point of view the treatment will be quite different. How to Treas Sandy Bolls. ' In the case of soils where the sandy quality predominates the surface should be rolled and thoroughly oom-

1— A Single Stem of the “Kellogg Prize Variety/’ a Pedigreed Plant Which Has Produced at the Rate of, 12,000 Quarts Per Acre. 2 distillate, or Female Blossoms. 3 Bi-sexual, or Male Blossoms. 4 Patch of Pedigreed Plants Four Months From Bettlng. 5 Good Example of Row Planting. “Early, Osage” Grown in New York. 6 Indiana Woman Raises $l6O Worth of Strawberries From One-half Acre.

pacted so that the plants may rest in a firm and close fitting garment of earth. While It is true that the roots of plants must have air, it also is true that they must not be given too much air, and unless the loose, coarse sand or Bandy loam is compacted either by rolling or floating, the roots will he pver supplied with air. However, rolling never is done if the soil is at all wet. To do so means the caking of the surface, which is one of the things always to be avoided. Just the reverse treatment is true of clay soil so far as compacting goes, for it is the nature of clay to compact itself, and instead, therefore, of rolling the soil, we need to pulverize it thoroughly before the plants are set and stir it frequently while plants are growing in order that the process of decay of the vegetable matter in the soil may be normally maintained. Therefore, cultivation should be deeper in clay than in sandy soils. As a rule, cultivation should be at least four inches deep. Having your soil in perfect condition, the next essential for big red berries is perfectly developed plants. If you have purchased plants of a high quality from a reputable source, you may with confidence go forward with your work, and it is Important that you make all the conditions comfortable for the plants and as encouraging to productiveness as it is possible to do. One of the Important things to this end is the removal of all buds and blossoms from each plant during the first season of it« growth. When this is done all of the strength of the growing plant goes into the development of massive roots and crown systems, and upon these depend the quality and character of the fruit yield. Therefore, be sure to check theN plant’s tendency to fruit while it is yet young by pinching off fruiting stalk. One man will easily do this work on one acre in half a day. Then there is the necessity of removing surplus runners. By surplus runners we mean those young plants that develop after you have formed your system. If your system is the single hedge row, then you will permit two runner plants to grow and will layer them directly in line with the mother plant. If you have adopted the double-hedge-row system, you will allow each mother plant to mature four rqnner plants, and these runner plants will be layered X fashion, the mother plant forming the center of the X. Or if you desire to grow your plants by the hill system, then you win allow no runner plants whatever to form, but the mother plant itself will be encouraged to develop a great fruiting system. The fewer runner plants the more vigorous the mother plant will of course, as the production of the runner plants draws heavily upon the physical resources of the mother plant. Now you have the ground thorough-

ly prepared and your plants in hand, and we have reached the important operation of setting out the plants. Use the dibble to make the opening in the soil and to close over the roots of the plants, just as you would do if you were setting a tomato or a cabbage plant, and the work will be done neatly and with dispatch. “ Cultivation should begin as soon as possible after the plants are set in the ground, and thlß should be repeated every eight or ten days thereafter if the weather remains clear. Whenever it rains, however, you should be in your strawberry field as soon as soil conditions render it possible to do so. But never cultivate tjie soil before it will crumble when disturbed. Soil conditions always should determine the time of cultivation. One thing that never should be neglected is the tendency of the soil to form a crust. Here are some of the desirable results of cultivation: Cultivation prevents the crust from forming on the soil’s surface and destroys all weed seed while they are in the germinating stage. Continuous, vigorous growth is obtained only when the digestive organs of the plant are in a healthy condition. To keep the digestive organs in a healthy condition we must keep baoteria active. To keep bacteria active we must supply them with an abundance of air; and to supply air we must cultivate. Cultivation forms a dust mulch, a dust mulch retains moisture, moisture dissolves plant food, plant food makes active roots, active roots build up a big foliage, a big foliage makes perfect digestion, and perfect digestion develops a heavy fruit bud system and keeps up a continuous, vigorous growth. When the Beason Is Over. Let us add that the grower should never fail, at .the last cultivation in the fall, to run a narrow furrow down the center of the spaces between the rows, so that all surplus water from heavy rains or melting snows may quickly drain away. Make this furrow from four to five Inches deep. Some growers prefer to cultivate their plants by the hill system. Others like the single-hedge row, and still others, the double-hedge row. There are some growers who still continue to grow plants by the narrow-matted row, but this is something I never advise. The grower should consider his market when setting out his plants. If he Is near a large city and has a trade that is willing to pay fancy prices for ' fancy fruit, there is no doubt but the largest results will be secured from the hill system. If one’s plot is limited as to size and pH the work is to be done with a hoe. we advise setting plants 15 by 16 Inches apart. This calls for 27,760 plants to the acre. ■Where the fields are extensive and the grower is to cultivate with the home, rows for the kill system should

by W.H. BURKE

be made 30 inches apart and the plants set 16 inches apart in the rows. When these distances are observed it requires 14,000 plants for one acre. The strawberry has few enemies in the way of insect pests or fungous diseases. But this fact should never lead the grower to be unmindful of his duty to be at all times prepared to meet any troubles that may come to him from these sources. / - ; Plants Must Be Mulched. Mulching strawberry plants is a prime essential to the grower’s success, and for several important reasons. One Of these, the clean fruit which good mulching insures. Nothing is mote distasteful or more unsightly than sandy, gritty strawberries, and the man who puts that sort of fruit on the market will have only himself to blame if he finds he is losing his trade. Clean fruit, well ripened and carefully packed in boxes, is Just as appetizing as it looks, and the average man would rather pay 26 cents for a quart of such fruit than to pay ten cents for the inferior stuff so frequently found upon the markets. Fruit Bhould be so clean as it lies on the straw that no cleaning process should ever be required. As to materials, any kind of straw will produce the desired results, but my first choice is wheat straw; the second choice is oat straw. However, shredded corn stalks, sorghum pomace, coarse grass, marsh hay, or any other material possessing the qualities found in these will serve the purpose. Atlantic coast people use sea weed with success. In the south, where freezing and thawing never occur, the needles of the pine are very generally employed as mulch. In northern latitudes m/ike the mulch from two to four inches deep between the rows, and anywhere from one-half-inch to an inch over the plants themselves. In the spring simply part the mulch from over the plants, adding it to the mulching already between the rows. Mulch after the first good freeze in the fall, and part the mulching from over the plants as soon as spring weather comes on.

Preparation for the second crop should receive attention directly after the first crop has been entirely harvested. The first thing to do is to mow off the plants close to the crown. This may be done with a mowing machine or a scythe. “ When the field has-been entirely cleared of the refuse matter, whether it be burned over or raked off, take a breaking plow and throw a furrow from each side of the row into the center, leaving the plants about six Inches wide in the rows. Then go along the rows with a hoe and thin out the plants until the hills are from 16 to 20 Inches apart, being careful to remove the weakest appearing plants. A five-tooth cultivator should be used to level back to place the ridges which the plow has made between the rows. Be careful to see that the soil is drawn all around the roots of the plants which are allowed to remain, and be sure to cover the crowns lightly with soil, doing the latter work with a hoe or garden rake. This will aid the plants to form a new and vigorous root system, which will develop just above the old roots and below the crown. Cultivation and hoeing should proceed exactly as in the case of the new-set bed. Permit these plants to make runners until all the vacant spaces in the rows are filled. For the second crop I advise either the hill system or the doublehedge row for all varieties. Sometimes plants in the spring Indicate a lack of vitality. Whereever this oocurs I advise the use of nitrate of soda for<the purpose of stimulating the plants to secure better results. If in the autumn your plants indicate lessened vitality, give them a good dressing of well-rotted stable manure just before the mulching is applied. The third way of stimulating the plants is, in the early spring, to draw the mulching away from the oenter of the rows and cultivate. This work should be done after all danger from frost is past, but this cultivation never should be done while plants are blooming, unless the soil is sufficiently moist to prevent dust from flying. I repeat that the looking after the plants in this way gives a double assurance of success in the growing of strawberries. (Copyright, MU, by C. M. Shulls.)

CAP and BELLS

IN EMBARRASSING POSITION Barney Oldfield Receives Startling Reply to Query as to His Standing in Auto Race. Herbert Corey, New York correspondent of the Cincinnati Times-Star, has run across a new story about Bill Pickens, the renowned automobile and airship “impresario,” and Barney Oldfield, automobile racer. Bill is an Alabama product and has often “breezed” into Birmingham, each time with a brand new scheme. Barney is also well known here for his performances on a local track in past years. This is the story: “Here’s another yarn of Barney Oldfield, right from Gasoline lane: “ 'Oldfield was driving in the Grand Prix last sujnmer,’ says Burton Brown, ‘under the management of BUI Pickens. A lot of things happened and he began to lose alps. Each time he passed the grand stand Pickens would run out and hold up a board on which was chalked Barney’s position. By and by Barney got so far behind that Pickens lost heart. He let Barney whiz by several times without informing him of his place. Then Barney got anxious. He leaned out from the driver’s seat as he roared by: “ ‘ "Hey, B-i-U!” he shouted. “Whar at’s my po-sit-ion?" “ ‘The next time around Pickens was ready for him, his hands cupped to his mouth, ■ “ * “Most embarrassing, Barney,” he bellowed.’ " —Cincinnati Times-Star.

A Good Sign.

“How’s your wife this morning?” asked the solicitous neighbor. “I think she's a little better.” replied the worried husband. > “Do the doctors think now that she will recover?" “They haven’t given me much hope." “Is her fever down?" "Not at all.” ' "And yet you think she’s improving?” "Yes. Last night before I retired she called to find out if I was sure I had checked the furnace and locked the back door.”

SO EASY.

"Yes, Willie, when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock it was dreadfully cold and they suffered terribly." “Why didn’t they go to Florida for the winter?"

Poor Old New York.

The man from the west was visiting the nation’s biggest town. “It is true," he said to the native, “that your taxes are high, but only see what a magnificent return you get for them! Your street service, your water supply, your fire department, your police protection.’’ “Our police protection t* an extra cost," replied the New Yorker gloomily.

Pleasanter for Both.

“So your wife intends to vote?” “No,” replied the argumentative man. “I don’t think she’ll find it necessary. If we disagree about politics as we do about other things, we can consider ourselves' paired in the voting and not bother about going to the poUs." i

Camera Ananias Wanted.

She (looking at the photo proofs)— Do you mean to tell me that 1 have soch an ugly nose as that? Photographer—My apparatus cannot lie, madam. She—Then, for goodness' sake, go and get one that can.

Seeming.

* “Bliggins seems tremendously busy sometimes." “Yes," replied the cynical person. “He’s one of these people who can avoid a great deal of actual work by seeming busy.*

WOMAN COULD NOT SEE JOKE

Bookkeeper Pleads for Cut In Salary to Get His Name Off Firm’s Stationery. "I’ve got a good joke on old Spotcash,” announced Mr. Adder, chief bookkeeper for the firm, aa he tuckedl his napkin under his chin. "What is It?" asked his wife, preparing to pour the tea. “Why, you know be always puts my name on the letter heads as ‘business manager.’ Now I’m not really the business manager, and never have been, and I’ dead tired of seeing my name there. I’ve asked him again and again to leave it off, but be won’t. This morning I said to him: v " ‘Mr. Spotcash, I’D stand a cut in salary if you’ll drop my name from your office stationery.’ " ‘How much of a cut?’ he says. “11l leave that to you.’ “He thought a minute, and then hs says: " Well, your salary hereafter win be just S2O a month less than we have paid you heretofore.’ “‘That’s all right,’ I says. So my name’s to be dropped from the firm’s letter heads and bills after this." “But where’s the Joke on Mr. Spotcash?” inquired Mrs. Adder, in hopeless bewilderment. “Don’t you see? He thinks my name on the office stationery is worth $240 a year, and I know it isn’t worth a canceled postage stamp. He’s really beat-. Ing himself out of $240.” But Mrs. Adder, with that Incapacity which so many women bhve for comprehending the fine points of business* couldn’t see it

STUNG.

He —Where are yon going, my pretty maid? She—l am going to police headquarters to report you aa a masher.

Couldn’t Pill the Order.

Telephone conversation sent In hr a correspondent: “Hello! Is this Mrs. Murphyr “Yea Is this Mike?" “No; I'm a friend of Mike's." “Tell me th’ worst at wance!" “Poor Mike’s been kilt!” “How was he kilt?” “In an accident" “Send home th’ remains." “There ain’t no remains. The' sectdent were a lion escaped fr'm the soo!”

What Was His Hurry?

“I try to think,” said Benham, "that woman is the equal of man and as well qualified to take part in political life; but it sort of Jars that belief to get the reply I did this morning from my wife when I’-rtSoarked. on reading the returns, thgt Bingham ran ahead of his ticket, and she innocently Inquired: 'What was his hur--ry?'"—Judge. /

What He Writes.

"I thought you said be is an author?” “I never said anything of the sort 1 " "You certainly did. You told s» that he is writing for a living." “So he is, but that doesn’t makehim an author." “For goodness sake, then, what ha the man writing V "Life insurance."

Furnish a Photograph.

"This reporter wants my photos graph." “Well?" "Of what Interest to the public f# my Impending divorce?" “Do not overlook the power of the press, my dear. When I was divorced 1 the last time the papers published my photograph, and it got me a new husband almost immediately."

Consulting a Lawyer.

“Well, did you consult Lawyer Wombat on that point?" ‘Tea.” "And was his opinion the same md mine?" “His opinion was the fame; hut hisl fee was 925 more.”

Nature’s Rival.

She—Did you hear the thunders storm last night? — — Ho—No. there was a suffragette meeting in the next house to mine.—, Penny Illustrated Paper.

Some Sense.

“The English have no sense of he-. mor." “Oh, I don’t know. I notice the London papers copy a good many of our American jokes."

Real Explanation.

“Queen Elisabeth did not Intern that Mary Queen of Scots should bo beheaded." “No. she always said the affair wau entirely axe-ldentaL"