182 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



is still further emphasized in the selection of late varieties, as Atlantic, 

 Parker Earle, and Gandy. The season open about June 20 and continues 

 for three weeks. 



Oswego lies at the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario. The climate 

 of the region is tempered by the lake, and the S(9il is well adapted to 

 many kinds of fruits. Next to strawberries, pears are the leading fruit 

 crop, and plums and other fruits are prominent. It is at Minetto, in this 

 region, that Schuyler Worden originated the Worden grape and the 

 Worden pear. From Oswego as a center, the fruit interests have spread 

 until most towns in the county (of Oswego) are now producing fruit to 

 an important extent. To the same geographical region belongs the town 

 of Sterling, comprising that part of Cayuga county lying on Lake Ontario. 

 Parker Earle, and Gandy. The season opens about June 20 and continues 

 geographical extent. 



SOME FIELD NOTES ON OSWEGO METHODS. 



In a region in which a special industry has developed, expert and 

 advanced commercial methods are necessarily to be found. A word may 

 be said in regard to two or three of the points in the Oswego practices. 



The question is often asked: What does it cost to grow an acre of 

 strawberries? In order to answer this question, a number of good growers 

 in the Oswego region were asked for figures of actual cost, and the replies 

 form the basis of the following table: 



Rent of land, two years $11 00 



Plowing- and fitting 6 00 



Plants 15 00 



Setting- plants 4 00 



Cultivation 16 00 



Straw for -winter and fruiting mulch 15 00 



Labor — Hoeing, pulling weeds, etc 10 00 



Total cost $77 00 



Many growers raise berries at a much less cost, and a few exceed this 

 sum, especially when located near a large town where rents are high; 

 but it would be safe for one about to engage in strawberry growing to 

 figure close to this total, aside from the cost of fertilizer. 



As to methods of planting, it may be said that the old method has been 

 discarded, — planting in rows three to three and one-half feet apart and 

 the plants from twelve to fifteen inches apart in rows, keeping off the 

 runners until late in July and then allowing the runners to grow and 

 root at will, making a matted row. In this old system many plants are 

 almost on top of others, the roots barely in the ground, and they suffer 

 in a season of drought. The rows are so wide that to pick fruit in the 

 center it is almost necessary to crush fruits on the outside of the row. 

 This system gives few large first-class fruits. The up-to-date grower 

 starts with the assumption that the largest and highest colored fruits are 

 found on plants along the outside of the rows, and therefore he plans to 

 have as many outside rows as possible. This he accomplished by having 

 his rows closer together and much narrower. The rows are made from 



