FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 129 



as Michigan strawberries began to be better appreciated in the Chicago market, 

 both for city consumption ami for reshipment to many points tliroiighout the 

 northwest, the area phmted to strawberries in Berrien county was rapidly 

 extended, and, excepting an occasional glut in the middle of the season, the 

 demand kept pace witli the supply until the seasons of 1874-5, when, in con- 

 sequence of the "hard times," the laboring classes were unable to purchase so 

 necessary and so cheap a luxury as the strawberry. 



In consequence of the loss of peacli trees by the yellows, a very large acreage 

 has been planted in small fruits during the past few years; and as prices have 

 often proved unrenuinerative, many thousands of bushels have gone to waste. 

 Thorougli cultivators, however, who grow the best strawberries, and who send 

 no poor fruit to market, seldom fail to obtain paying prices, but fields which 

 have been cultivated one or two seasons, and then left to run wild whilst sev- 

 eral crops have been gathered from the matted ground, are being plowed under 

 and more thorough methods of cultivation are being adopted. 



The yield shows a wide range. Old fields on poor soil, with little or no cul- 

 tivation, seldom yield more than 20 to 30 busliels per acre, while good cultiva- 

 tion of young plants in matted rows, on the best soils, has given 300 busliels 

 to the acre of fine fruit. The number of acres is less than formerly, bat the 

 production of poor strawberries is in excess of the demands of the market. 

 Many localities in Michigan and in other States have been partially supplied 

 Avith strawberries from Berrien county; but as more of this fruit than is 

 required for home supply is being grown in the vicinity of large towns tlirough- 

 out the northwest, our market is being limited to Chicago. No locality which 

 matures the strawberry with us can ever compete with Berrien county in grow- 

 ing strawberries for the Chicago market. The adaptability of our soil, our 

 climatic advantages, and the cheap and speedy transportation facilities afforded 

 by competitive lines of steamers, and fruit train, by which we are able to 

 place our berries — sparkling with the evening dews of Michigan — on the 

 market, and upon the tables of consumers in Chicago in the early morning, 

 will always confer preeminence upon this locality for the growing of small 

 fruits for that market. 



Several towns in southern Illinois are extensively engaged in growing straw- 

 berries for northern markets. As these markets are of great extent, and as the 

 southern season is from two to three weeks earlier than ours, southern Illinois 

 has the advantage of us in being able to supply the first cravings for this deli- 

 cious fruit. We are reciprocating the favor, however, by shipping largely to 

 southern points. Large quantities of strawberries grown in Berrien county find 

 a market in St. Louis, and, during the last season, berries grown in Muskegon 

 were successfully shipped to New Orleans. 



Varieties. 



Practical fruit growers in Berrien county have not made costly experiments 

 with new varieties of small fruits. New varieties of strawberries have been dis- 

 cussed and tested by amateurs and others, and when any variety has proved 

 ■worthy of cultivation for market purposes it has been utilized. Wilson's 

 Albany occupies nine-tenths of the ground planted in strawberries in Berrien 

 county; and, until a berry is discovered wiiich shall embody tlie bearing and 

 carrying characteristics of the Wilson, and which shall be better in quality, the 

 Wilson will continue to be the market berry of the West. The Triomphe de 

 Gand is a large, firm, glossy berry, and is generally conceded to be the best 



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