32() Sfafc HorticiiIfiiraJ Society. 



plications of straw, the only available material for the purpose which 

 we have in any quantit}'. A very Ihin covering on the ground arovuicl 

 and through the plants is all that will be beneficial, and this is needed 

 simply to keep fruit clean. 



So much for the raising. Now, the handling will be a compara- 

 tively simple matter. Much thought should be given to the rules gov- 

 erning the picking and other work. Clearl}^ define the duties of the 

 record keepers, field bosses and pickers. Give a premium for satis- 

 factory season work. This will do wonders to hold i)ickcrs in line 

 when most needed. The addition of the premium to make the amount 

 per box which you intend to pay. Pay pickers only at the end of the 

 season. I never did, and have no intention of ever using tickets with 

 which to pay pickers. The record system is far better. 



Provide a cheap but commodious shed (that can be moved with- 

 out injur}^ wdien needed in another place) for every ten or fifteen 

 acres. 



The best record keepers will be found to be those persons who 

 are the greatest success in the school room. Give each one the direc- 

 tion of the work in the shed. A field or row boss should not be given 

 over fifty pickers and should be instructed to work in close harmony 

 with the record keeper in seeing that every picker does his work 

 properly. It is possible for the extensive planter to pick, pack and 

 place in cars for shipment i,ooo, 2,000, or even many more crates per 

 day of strawberries that have been more carefully handled than the 

 average grower handles the product of his one, two or five-acre patch. 



It is a business, however, and one to succeed in it must begin 

 in a small w^ay. The idea that strawberries cannot be grown on a 

 large scale is an unbusinesslike and foolish one. Fifty acres can be 

 grown and cultivated and the product marketed at a much less ex- 

 pense per acre than the patch of two acres. The proper system will 

 do it. 



No one without a strong love for the w^ork should attempt ex- 

 tensive production, however, as he will surely fail in many of the 

 almost numberless little details which all come in for a share of atten- 

 tion. 



The following were appointed delegates to various State Horti- 

 cultural meetings: 



Arkansas — G. A. Atwood. 

 Iowa— W. H. Maxwell. 

 Illinois— M. Butterfield. 

 Kansas — W. G. Gano. 

 Nebraska — L. A. Goodman. 



