HOW TO GROW AND MARKET FRUIT 



pollinated by another staminate kind. Reliable growers usually 

 give the sex of varieties in their catalogs. One row of staminate 

 blossoms will fertilize two rows of pistillate kinds. It is well to 

 alternate varieties to some extent, no matter what kinds are 

 planted, because plenty of pollination always results in the 

 finest fruit. The sex of a blossom can be told from its appear- 

 ance. The pistillate kinds will have at the bottom of the flower 

 only a cone-shaped mass or body (the undeveloped fruit.) 

 The staminate kinds have this and also many upright "stamens" 

 on the ends of which the pollen is borne. 



We will recommend just five kinds for the commercial 

 grower Millionaire, Klondyke, Gandy, Haverland and Parsons. 

 For home gardens the list can be extended to a dozen or more, 

 and they should be selected with consideration for color, quality 

 of flesh and season of ripening wanted. Get those kinds that 

 bear firm berries or soft ones, that are deep or pale red, and 

 that ripen all the way from earliest to latest. There is much 

 talk now of an everbearing Strawberry. Doubtless before long 

 this will be developed to a satisfactory state, and, when it is, 

 we can have Strawberries from May until October. 



Berries should be picked with the stems on, as they keep 

 better this way. Of course no one would think of trying to ship 

 berries without stems. Picking should be done while the berries 

 are cool. The best time is early in the morning, before the sun 

 has warmed them up. Do not let them remain in the field, nor 

 let the sun shine on them. If you do not take them to the rail- 

 road station and the refrigerator car immediately, get them 

 into some kind of cool or cold storage without delay. The 

 market package is standard all over the country the quart 

 boxes carried in a crate. Put the berries into these boxes as 

 you pick. A basket carrier is needed for fast work. 



The berries should not be picked while there is any green 

 about them. It does not pay. Grading should be done carefully. 

 Pickers will have to do this, and they must be taught its im- 

 portance. Good prices depend on uniform, proper grading and 

 packing just as much with Strawberries as with apples. In 

 seasons of low prices, and to take care of the culls, in any season, 

 large amounts of berries may be processed made into the 

 fruit syrups used in confectionery and in flavors. At least 

 five cents a quart can be realized in this way. The equipment 

 is not difficult to install or handle, and any Strawberry neigh- 

 borhood can afford one. Write us and we shall be glad to give 

 you the details. 



Enemies of small fruits fall into the same classes as those 

 of tree fruits, and must be combated with equal care. Among 

 those of Strawberry plants, Leaf Blight needs no description. 

 It is a fungus. Root Aphis are the little blue insects that live 

 on the roots and suck out the sap. Leaf Roller is a small brown 

 caterpillar. Slug is the same as on cherry or peach. Strawberry- 

 crown Borers are the young of a drab beetle about half an inch 

 long, and Strawberry Weevils are little black beetles that lay 

 their eggs in the fruit buds of the berries, then go below on the 

 stem and cut it, causing it to wilt and drop over. 



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