30 State Horticitlfiiral Society. 



hoeing, and then go over with the weecler. Go the first time the way they 

 are plowed, then across. I find I seldom lose a plant when they are set 

 with a spade. Plow and hoe each week, or after each rain, when the 

 ground is dry enough to work until the last of September. I put on a 

 heavy mulch when the ground is forzen hard enough to hold a team 

 and wagon. I find good clean straw, no wheat or cheat left in it, the 

 best mulch that can be put on. If there is cheat or wheat in it you must 

 haul it out in loads and fork it over to get it thoroughly clean. If you 

 do not you will be sorry you are in the strawberry business. 



In gathering and marketing strawberries : First have good clean 

 crates and boxes. Get women first, girls next and boys last to do the 

 picking. Send them to the field with a superintendent. They are as- 

 signed rows and instructed to grad? the berries in two grades and to 

 pick by the stem with about a half inch of the stem on the berry. Do not 

 pick until thoroughly ripe. Do not put anything in the box but good, 

 sound, ripe berries of even grade. Fill boxes full and round up some ; 

 laying the berries on their sides at the top of the box ; turning the stems 

 downward as much as possible. As soon as the dew is oft I commence 

 picking, and when six or twelve boxes are picked they are taken to the 

 shed or barn and placed in crates by someone who knows how to grade 

 them. One picker comes up with two grades — they are put in two dif- 

 ferent crates and marked "i" and "2," and the No. "2" goes for the 

 second grade. I am to-day, June ist, getting $2.00 for No. i and $1.50 

 for No. 2 ; so I think it pays to grade them. They run about 1-3 No. 

 2 now, and we have had no rain for about four weeks or they would not 

 run so many to No. 2. I do not allow throwing of berries, or loud talk- 

 ing in the field. When a picker does not pick according to orders I 

 give him a second chance and then if he does not improve he is dis- 

 charged and never taken back. That makes the others more carefuL 

 I use tickets for keeping tally — i, 10 and 25. When they have picked a 

 crate they get a 25 ticket. I find this the most convenient way of keeping 

 tally. It don't matter who comes with the berries, that party gets the 

 tickets, and the one who has the tickets when pay-day comes gets the 

 money. I pay on ^Mondays, finding that they will come on Sunday by 

 doing so. (I have to pick on Sundays to supply my customers and 

 keep the berries from getting too ripe. I find the best market on Mon- 

 day morning. I sell to grocers mostly, some commission men, but never 

 send out on commission. I go by the saying "A bird in the hand is worth 

 two in the bush.") 



I find that cherries and strawberries go fine together. I put a heavy 

 mulch on berries and keep them back, and I find by doing so I have them 

 come in about the same time cherries do, and bring better prices. 



