No. 4.] STKAWBEKUY CULTURE. 415 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



BY PROF. F. A. WAUCiH, HEAD OF THE DIVISION OF HORTICULTURE, 

 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Henry Ward Beechcr is generally credited with the saying that 

 doubtless God might have made a better fruit than the strawberry, 

 but doubtless God never did. This curious remark would never have 

 kept in circulation so long had it not met with popular approval. In 

 reality this seems to express the settled judgment of a large section 

 of the American people. The strawberry is indeed one of our most 

 popular fruits. It is abundantly used by every one, from the honest 

 laborer to the malefactor of great wealth. 



Probably statistics would show that the consumption of straw- 

 berries per capita is larger in Massachusetts than in any other State 

 in the Union. This State has an unusually large population of well- 

 paid laborers, artisans, clerks and other good, homely, honest people, 

 generally comprised under the term "the great middle class." These 

 are precisely the people who are the best customers for all classes of 

 fruits. They constitute the great strawberry market. 



With such a market at our very doors, it is strange that strawberry 

 growing has not developed into a larger industry in Massachusetts. 

 As a matter of fact, many carloads of berries are shipped here every 

 year. These shipments are not confined to the early spring months, 

 before the local crop is ready, but they continue throughout the sea- 

 son, when Massachusetts berries are being harvested. All through 

 our own berry season car-lot shipments are coming forward from the 

 Hudson River section and from Oswego, N. Y. This indicates clearly 

 that our own growers have not yet occupied the home market. 



The reason for this is not altogether clear. If there were a large 

 margin of profit in the growing of strawberries doubtless it would not 

 take long to develop sufficiently extensive plantations within the 

 State to supply the home demand. It is certainly true that a good 

 many growers have not found the strawberry business profitable. 

 Nevertheless, on the face of the returns, it would seem that farmers, 

 fruit growers and market gardeners favorably located with respect to 

 soil and shipping facilities would find a paying opportunity in the 

 growing of strawberries. 



There is another side of the question also to be considered, namely, 



