224 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



thorw them away, but never ship them. I have had a little experience in 

 this line, and know whereof I speak. Have nice, clean packages of the 

 most popular market styles in readiness at the beginning of harvest; neg- 

 lect of this precaution often causes great loss. 



Have good pickers engaged, and see that their work is properly per- 

 formed. 



If you are so situated that you can do it, and like to do it, you can retail 

 your own berries, but I prefer to make arrangements with merchants and 

 hotel and restaurant keepers, and sell by the case or package, and believe 

 I obtain as much with far less trouble by so doing . 



If harvesting is delayed at any time by rains or otherwise, so that you 

 have more than your regular customers will take, ship the surplus to a 

 commission house, and get what you can. While there are honorable 

 commission men in our big cities, the experience of most country shippers 

 is not favorable, and each year we are learning how to get along without 

 their services. 



By keeping the mulching on part of your strawberry bed you will have 

 a longer time to harvest, and get more for your crop, as late Minnesota 

 berries have no competition from the south, and generally bring a good 

 price. 



The same general principles apply to the marketing of vegetables as to 

 fruit. He who has them of good size and quality, and put up in an at- 

 tractive shape, generally obtains the highest price. A little style, or 

 some mark on packages or bunches will often attract a customer, and be 

 the means of making a sale. 



A young lady dressed and shipped some fowls to a Chicago firm, receiv- 

 ing eight cents per pound for them. The next lot shipped she dressed in 

 fancy style. Bits of blue ribbon were tied on the legs and wings and neck; 

 each bird was wrapped in clean paper, and the boxes lined with the same. 

 This lot netted her thirteen cents per pound, with a request for more of 

 the same style. From this we can learn an important lesson. Our most 

 successful horticulturists are those who by experience have learned to 

 pander to the popular taste. 



HORTICULTURAL, APPLIANCES. 



The most important appliance is a mind and brain filled with enthu- 

 siasm for the work. A person who considers the work of the horticul- 

 turist as small business should not choose it as an avocation. 



Good fertilizers containing an abundance of potash for berries, and an 

 abundance of well-rotted stable manure for vegetables, are required on 

 most soils. 



The best plants and seeds obtainable, cost and quality considered, 

 should be selected. Hotbeds are a necessity to the market gardener, and 

 I consider them so to the farmer who delights to have early vegetables for 

 home use. 



Good tools are required to prepare the soil for the reception of seeds and 

 plants, and cultivate them while growing. 



A plow that will scour in all soils; a harrow with fine teeth, to thor- 

 oughly pulverize the soil, is required, also a cultivator that is readily 

 adjusted to rows of different widths, with small steel shovels that will not 

 work the land into ridges; a good seed sower, with best quality spades, 

 shovels and hoes, constitute about all the tools needed. 



