1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



55 



from the fifty-acre farm. I raise fancy berries 

 which are sold right at the door to peddlers who 

 supply the summer residents. As an example, last 

 summer ordinary berries sold at 25 cts. for two box- 

 es. Mine brought 20 cts. My first berries bring me 

 25 cts. at wholesale. I make ray own fertilizer, and 

 that is one secret. Another is, I set in August and 

 get berries next June which average 20 to the box; 

 but in your last issue I find the Florida growers 

 have me " beaten to a standstill;" that is, you set 

 plants in October and get berries in January. Why? 

 I now want to ask some questions. You claim that 

 you are comparatively free from catarrh, while my 

 life is made miserable by it. Some years agoa man 

 asked of the editor of the Rural New -Yoimr this 

 question, " Could a man farm it in the North, gath- 

 er the crops, and go to Florida and raise another? ' 

 I don't think the question was ever answered. Dis- 

 tance lends enchantment. I have had some litera- 

 ture sent me by the Seaboard Air Line, also by the 

 North Tampa Land Co. My people in Polk County 

 keep writing for me to go there. Now, this passage 

 keeps recurring to me: " Prove ail things; hold fast 

 to that which is good." 



I hate to be idle. I had not taken a vacation in 

 five years until I took a week off this fall; but I re- 

 mained away only three daj^s. Now, if I take up 

 this task of raising two crops a year the two most 

 prominent reasons will be, first, to get rid of my 

 catarrh; and, second, to keep busy. 



Now, for the questions: 



1. Is it necessary to have irrigation? If so, do you 

 have to go down 400 feet? and if so, what would be 

 the cost? 



2. Could a man dispose of. say, 20 crates per day 

 locally? 



3. Can I get the right kind of pickers? 



For over thirty years I have been in the berry 

 business. My berries are picked early in the morn- 

 ing by schoolchildren. The berries shine like dia- 

 monds. Other people pick their berries and keep 

 them till the next day, and then they look like an 

 old piece of liver. 



And now, Mr. Root, in all kinds of business it is 

 the small things that pay. In reading Gleanings 

 it is easy to see who are the successful ones. I hope 

 you will not think I am too presuming in writing 

 to you, but I felt impelled to. 



East Hingham, Mass. Geo. A. Douglas. 



My good friend, the readers of Gleanings 

 want that "secret" about fertiUzers. As 

 you will see by our strawberry-book, the 

 finest berries I ever grew were from plants 

 set as you mention, in August. My nearest 

 neighbor, Mr. Rood, sets his plants in Au- 

 gust and September, and gets berries from 

 the same before Christmas; but he grows 

 his own plants right near his fruiting- 

 ground. He gets his original stock, from 

 which to grow plants, from the North in 

 March and April, or earlier. 



For five winters I have had very little 

 trouble here from catarrh; but for the past 

 ten days I have had some of it. I think it 

 came from passing three nights in the poor- 

 ly ventilated Pullman sleepers. I noticed 

 the question you mention in the Eural, and 

 rather decided the trouble would be to find 

 a man (say like my neighbor Rood) who 

 could stand it to run " high-pressure garden- 

 ing " twelve months without any "rest u})," 

 instead of six months or less. I think you 

 can do it (at least after a little experience) 

 if you can keep up your enthusiasm both 

 winter and summer, without any rest. Now 

 for your questions: 



1. Mr. Rood did some of his best berry- 

 growing before he had an artesian well; but 

 he had water in a shallow ditch that could 

 be dipped up right through his long rows of 

 berries. Artesian water is found at from 3 

 to 500 feet, and the cost depends on the size 



of the well— say 75 cts. per foot for 3-inch, 

 and about $1.00 per foot for 4-inch. 



2. In a town of, say, 2000 or 3000 people, I 

 think you could market 20 crates a day at 

 20 to 40 cts. a box, depending on the season. 



3. I think there are plenty of colored wo- 

 men and children who will do good picking 

 if the boss is right on hand and holds them 

 down to it. 



THE SEAKS AUTOMOBILE — SEE p. 674, AUG. 

 15, 1910. 



My automobile was just two months on 

 the way, and it did not show up until the 

 shippers wired me that it was probably lost, 

 and wired to know if they should ship 

 another that showed up. An automobile ^ 

 a queer thing to "get lost," it is true; and 

 this long delay is, I am led to believe, very 

 unusual, for two of my Ohio neighbors have 

 just received, each of them, a carload of 

 household goods, and they were only from 

 ten days to two weeks on the way. Wesley 

 and I, with the help of Mr. Rood's team and 

 teamster, got it out of the car and hauled it 

 down to our auto-house in one forenoon, 

 and by next morning Wesley and I had it 

 ready to start the engine; but we could not 

 get it to "budge." It happened, luckily, 

 that neighbor Rood had just bought a new 

 Everet machine; and his chauffeur coming 

 along at just that time, we applied to him 

 for advice. He said: 



"Drop a little gasoline into the pet-cocks 

 of each of the cylinders." 



We did so, and, "presto!" Off the en- 

 gine went, a flying. I hereby give notice 

 to the makers to make haste and put this 

 simple thing in their instruction-book. 

 Several times since, we have been obliged 

 to resort to the same thing in first starting 

 up on a cold morning. 



Well, I have had the car now about ten 

 days, and it has proved indeed "a thing of 

 beauty," and promises to be "a joy for- 

 ever." I have got stalled once, it is true; 

 but it was on a dark rainy Sunday night, 

 the second night after 1 got the machine, 

 and I was going up a very sandy hill. The 

 storm-curtains were all on; and as I could 

 not see very well I got out of the track in 

 the wet sand. I backed down to the bottom 

 of the hill several times, but this only sank 

 the wheels in deeper every time, and I balk- 

 ed always at the same spot. I finally walk- 

 ed about a quarter of a mile and found it 

 was so rainy there was no Endeavor Socie- 

 ty before the sermon, and three of the boys 

 readily offered to help me out. 



A little help at the right spot sent us up 

 hill a flying; and before we reached the top 

 the three were all aboard and we were mak- 

 ing for the church. 



Now, it was no more than natural that 

 even Endeavor boys should (even on Sun- 

 day night) ask the question, " How fast will 

 she go?" By the way, I am something of 

 a boy myself, even if I am past 71; and it 

 was so dark and rainy the streets were all 

 clear of obstruction of any kind; and, tak- 



