The Canadian Horticulturist. 173 



two hundred to five hundred pounds nitrate of soda, or four hundred to eight 

 hundred pounds of cottonseed meal in place of the nitrate. I apply half broad- 

 cast before crop is planted, half the remainder in November, as top-dressing 

 over plants, and the rest in the same way the following March. 



I find the potash in the ka'nit and muriate of potash not only valuable, but 

 indispensable. It not only makes heavy crops of berries, but gives my plants — 

 of which I sell millions annually — a vigor and stockiness not to be had other- 

 wise. 



SMALL BERRY PLANTATIONS. 



N talking with many of the most extensive berry growers in the 

 world, they have almost without an exception told me that after 

 all had been summed up, there was not much clear profit left. 

 One man, who had grown hundreds of acres of strawberries, 

 acknowledged upon being closely questioned, that had he grown 

 ten acres, and been able to give them close personal attention 

 and high culture, he would have had less worry and responsibility and more 

 profit in the end. 



The big markets are where the gluts occur, and the consequent losses to 

 the growers and shippers. My experience has taught me that, as a rule, the 

 nearer home they are sold the better. Berries are very perishable ; hence the 

 need of haste in getting them to the consumer. The greater the distance 

 between the producer and consumer, the more expense and danger of loss. If 

 one is growing largely it becomes almost impossible to avoid shipping to the big 

 markets in order to get rid of the crop promptly. When the berries are put 

 upon the cars or boat they are beyond the owner's control ; he must take what 

 he can get for them, and this is often less than he could have gotten at home. 

 He is certian of one thing, that he will have the freight and commission to pay. 

 There are thousands of berry growers all over the country, and others who 

 might join their number, who can earn comfortable incomes by selling direct to 

 the consumers in the small towns. There are many who do this now, but the 

 business might be largely increased. Indeed, many of their country neighbors 

 are too short-sighted or negligent to grow their own home supply. There is not 

 one family in ten, even among those who live in the country, that is half supplied 

 with berries. Most of them are glad to buy at least a few, and they will often 

 come and get them, thus saving the cost of delivery. I have o'"ten started to 

 town with berries, but before I could get there, people along the road would 

 have bought the most of them. 



No doubt the world needs big fruit farms, but it is the small ones that pay 

 the best in money as well as satisfaction. It is not the amount of gross sales 

 that count at the end of the season, but the net proceeds. It is rarely possible 

 to give a very large planting the same degree of high culture that may be given 

 a small one. Therefore, let the large growers be less sanguine and the small 

 ones take courage. — H. E Van Deman in Smith's Fruit Farmer. 



