STRAWBERRIES. 189 



Before proceeding to tell "how to do it," let us quote a 

 few well-authenticated data of profits, carefully collected 

 from the fortunate, or more properly speaking, enterpris- 

 ing recipients, for the special purpose of proving the com- 

 mercial standing of the strawberry in Florida. 



One lady reports from one eighth of an acre pine land, 

 set out and tended by herself, fertilized with a compost of 

 cow manure, ashes, and forest leaves, scattered broadcast, 

 the plants not mulched or their roots disturbed during the 

 blooming season, a yield of four hundred quarts, which 

 were sold on the spot at prices varying from seventy-five 

 to fifteen cents a quart, making a return at the rate of six 

 hundred and forty dollars an acre. 



Another cultivator, from the same space, on pine land, 

 no fertilizer, picked three hundred and twenty quarts, and 

 sold them at home for twenty cents a quart. 



A shipment of one thousand and fifty quarts of straw- 

 berries from Jacksonville to New York, in a refrigerator 

 car, gave a return of two thousand six hundred and thirty 

 dollars, being sold at two dollars and a half a quart. The 

 expense of picking and shipping was two hundred and 

 eighty-three dollars, leaving a clear profit of two thousand 

 three hundred and forty-six dollars. 



From Gadsden and Clay counties comes the report of 

 from six to eight thousand quarts raised on one acre ; not 

 once or twice, but many times ; and others can do as well. 



We have now given enough examples to establish our 

 claim that the strawberry is destined to become one of 

 Florida's most valuable crops, particularly in the more 

 central countries, from Sumter northward. 



We would not, however, have our readers infer that the 

 above figures or their close approximate are invariable ; it 

 is, however, safe to count on a profit, year in and year out, 

 of from at least two hundred to three hundred dollars per 

 acre. This is a very low estimate. 



