328 ANNUAL REPORT 



To market well, fruit should not be picked when wet with rain, 

 a little rain will not hurt in picking. Put the small and knotty 

 berries in one box and the perfect ones in another. Ask 15cts per 

 quart for the first class and a shilling for the second class, 

 but take lesn if you are obliged to. Always have clean, sweet, dry 

 boxes. If possible pick when the fruit is cool, and if it is hot, let 

 the berries stand in the shade and wind to cool before crating. 

 Market as soon as picked. It is best to have your market looked 

 up beforehand. Your neighbors haven't raised any. Invite 

 them over and serve them a nice dish smothered with cream, 

 and then sell them a crate at a shilling. If you are far from town 

 you can afford to take 8 or 10 cents rather than go to town with 

 them. Never pick a pail full and take to town where they arrive 

 all shaken down and crushed and uninviting; and then only get 

 enough for them to pay for your time in picking them. It is un- 

 satisfactory to you and to the purchaser also. 



What I have said about strawberries will apply equally to rasp- 

 berries and blackberries — especially the home market feature of it. 

 In support of my pDsition I will state that my family of seven last 

 summer used seventy-five quarts of strawberries, one hundred 

 quarts of raspberries, and one hundred and twenty-five quarts of 

 blackberries. As our fruit averaged us 15 cents in the market it 

 would amount to $45.00. But this amouut was more than saved in 

 meat bills, to say nothing about doctors' bills. You need never let 

 any of these choice fruits go to a poor market, for you can always 

 put them up in glass jars for future use, for the mere cost of the 

 jars. Don't spoil them by the old process of cooking them or add- 

 ing sugar which discolors the fruit and makes them strong and be- 

 sides is expensive. Simply fill the jars with fruit and place in a 

 boiler with cold water. Bring it to boiling, and as the fruit settles 

 down, use one jar to fill the rest until they are solid. Don't add 

 any water. Seal while hot. As they cool tighten the cover before 

 setting down cellar. When you serve them add water and sugar to 

 suit the taste. Currants and gooseberries are good only when pre- 

 served in this way. 



Horticultural Appliances: I have said so much about mar- 

 keting that I shall cut this short. Having shown that the best ap- 

 pliance for marketing fruit is your own table, I will pass that point 

 with but one suggestion. Make an estimate early in the season of 

 how many boxes you will need. If you have a good crop get them 

 now and make them up so as to have them ready. After a great 

 deal of experimenting I have gone back two years and am fully 

 convinced that the best implement for killing weeds is the plow, 

 and no one needs to rack his brains to find a better one. I would 

 rather hire the extra help and plow the ground than have it culti- 

 vated for nothing. A common eight or ten inch one horse plow is 

 all you want. It turns the weeds all under and leaves the ground 

 loose on the top, so they will not start so soon and thereby saves 

 frequent cultivation, which disturbs the roots and retards growth. 

 Where the ground is mellow, you can with a large horse use a 

 twelve inch plow. 



