660 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



back at you in that way, without giving you a counterfeit dollar bill 

 or a plugged quarter, which you would not accept. 



The best location for a small grower is near some good sized town, 

 for he must have some retail trade. A large town is better than a 

 large city, unless there is a public market where a man can exhibit 

 his own goods. A number of small growers can combine, if the can 

 learn to trust one another and sell their produce at one place. A 

 small grower selling at retail is often at a disadvantage for a year 

 or two, until he makes a reputation and gives up a first class line of 

 goods. I know some strawberry growers at Hilton, N. J., who have 

 gained such a reputation for fine fruit that their berries sell at IS 

 and 20 cents a quart at wholesale. They seldom ever sell a quart 

 at retail. This is unusual, but it shows the possibility of a good 

 name. The local market is often neglected, people will not see what 

 is close to them, being so eager to look beyond the end of their nose 

 that they don't realize what a beautiful nose they have. I know a 

 man in a country district of New York who makes a good living sup- 

 plying farmers and people in little country towns with vegetables 

 and fruit. These people learned that he was sure to have what they 

 wanted and so they have quit planting gardens to a great extent. He 

 sold them plants and then when the plants failed to grow he sold 

 them the fruit and vegetables which ought to ha.ve been produced. I 

 have been surprised to see what can be sold in my own country neigh 

 borhood by merely putting up a sign in front of the farm. We use a 

 blackboard and chalk up the names of what we have to sell. Some 

 people lack faith both in the local market and in themselves and 

 they make no effort to develop either, when in reality the local mar- 

 ket is the best there is. 



There are two plans for the small grower. One is to attempt to 

 grow a variety, a little of everything, so as to run a wagon and sup- 

 ply all vegetables. The other is to have a good general garden, 

 which gives a fair surplus above the family needs, and put most of 

 his work on two or three specialties. We tried the first for a while, 

 but dropped it, as we never had enough of anything to make a really 

 first class showing. We finally decided to put most of our work 

 on strawberries and transplanted onions, with a surplus of every- 

 thing in the general garden. This pays us better, though circum- 

 stances must decide what the average grower will do. I find that 

 by having good supplies of strawberries of high quality we get a 

 reputation and the strawberries will sell our other goods. Get a 

 reputation for producing one thing well and people will remember 

 you and call for your goods. We sow Prizetaker onions in the hot 

 bed early, transplant the seedlings to rich soil and get enormous 

 onions. People come for miles around to buy these big onions and it 

 is an easy matter w T hen they come to get the order for their winter 

 supply of potatoes, apples, squash or turnips. Another thing that 

 the small grower must look out for is to suit his crops to the soil. 

 We grow the Marshall strawberry, as w r e think, nearly to perfection. 

 Most people have discarded the Marshall, because it is a shy bearer, 

 but on our heavy soil and hills it gives good satisfaction, yet you can 

 see that I cannot safely recommend Marshall for general cultivation. 

 Something of the same thing is true of other fruits. If we are going 

 to have the best we must find out which varieties will do best on our 

 soil and also which plan of culture will give best results. It is not 



