^63 



Are the important requisites, while if for shipping, firmness 

 and ability to stand up must be given due consideration. 



For myself, I have sifted them down to Brandywine 

 and Glen Mary for market, and Marshall for home use, and 

 «very summer when the white tips on the Glen Mary come 

 to table, I declare I will never plant it again. These vari- 

 •eties with the constant trial of new ones give me plenty of 

 Tange. 



I have little faith in pedigree plants. I think that the 

 selection of strong mature individuals will accomplish all 

 that the pedigree will. 



The strawberry needs thorough but shallow cultivation. 

 It is a gross feeder and wants plenty of food. I have used 

 •chicken manure with splendid results. In most seasons wa- 

 ter is one of the cheapest and most valuable stimulants we 

 <3an give the strawberry, and will pay the largest dividends 

 on the expenditure in increased size and yield. I know of 

 no crop that pays better for irrigation than the strawberry. 



Some winter protection is needed, and I use straw horse 

 manure when I can get it, and then finish with oat straw. 

 -Care must be taken not to mulch too heavy. I like to select 

 & day after the ground is well frozen, when there is a little 

 rain or snow falling, to put it on, and then it will stay put. 

 Owing to our elevation, our season is later than your season, 

 and nearly two weeks later than the New Haven berry dis- 

 tricts, so I cannot, of course, compete with them in early 

 l)erries. I therefore leave the mulch on just as late as I dare 

 and select late varieties. Care must be taken not to leave 

 it on too long or the plants will be smothered. As a result of 

 our methods and conditions we escape all danger of late 

 frosts, and our first pickings go to market the last of June 

 and continue to about July 20. Our first berries come into 

 competition with the tail-enders of the berry districts, while 

 our tail-enders have no competition. With these conditions 

 it doesn't pay to be the early bird. 



The methods of marketing depend on the local condi- 

 tion, and on attention to this point depends most of the profit. 



I sort all berries at the table except the last few pick- 

 ings, which go as they run. I would have the pickers sort, 

 "but I cannot get pickers that I can trust with our reputa- 

 tibn. If the berries have been properly picked they can be 

 sorted at the table without injury and at very little expense, 

 and if they have not Ibeen well piclied they should be sorted 



