HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 379 



ruined the business. I have seen this class of goods a drug in 

 the market at from two to three cents per quart, but good berries 

 sold quick at from eight to ten cents per quart. Prime fruit in 

 full measure, well and carefully handled, kept perfectly clean, 

 in new boxes and crates and marketed promptly pays a fair 

 profit. There is not too much good fruit grown of any kind; 

 there is not enough of such to supply the constant demand. 



To succeed in horticulture as in anything else we must be on 

 time, use judgment, industry and economy. It is not so hard a 

 matter to raise fruit or vegetables as to prepare it for the mar- 

 ket. We must bear in mind the fact that our goods must be ex- 

 posed for sale in competition with those of other producers, and 

 that clean, bright fruit or vegetables will in every case attract 

 the eye of the buyer before that of your less careful neighbor. 

 There is no part of fruit raising pays so well for the labor ex- 

 X)ended as that of putting it in shape for market. Don't be 

 afraid of spending money for neat packages as it adds more to 

 the fruit than it costs. Early planting cannot be too rigidly ad- 

 hered to by reason of the frequency of droughts later in the 

 spring, just at the critical time when the newly set plant has 

 yet but a feeble hold in the soil. We have more than twenty 

 varieties under cultivation at present for home use and market. 

 I would select six varieties and raise them alone. Not because 

 they are just what we want, but because they are good and I 

 will hold onto them until something better is found. I would 

 select Countess, Crescent, Windsor Chief, May King, Jessie and 

 Bubach. These are all soft berries but answer very well for the 

 home market. 



When I started to write this essay I had but the one object in 

 view, namely to show the profits to be derived from the business. 

 The pleasures of horticulture I will leave with someone older 

 than myself to write about. 



I would not wish to discourage anyone from engaging in this 

 interesting occupation, but I ask the question how many of us 

 are making the growing of strawberries a success? What is 

 meant by success is that the acre of strawberries has paid for 

 planting, cultivating, picking, marketing and interest on the 

 money invested, with a fair per cent left for net profit. As to 

 profits of the business we have the advantage over many other 

 sections of the country, by having two large cities only a few 

 miles distant, furnishing a home market for almost all our pro- 

 ducts, delivering with our own teams and selling either directly 



