136 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1907 



"In consequence of finding this out 

 from the very considerable amount of 

 experimenting that has been done dur- 

 ing the past few years in this Hne, many 

 growers are now contemplating plant- 

 ing these hardy, regular bearing sorts, 

 which produce fruit of choice quality. 

 Thinning is an inexpensive matter. I 

 kept an accurate account of the cost on 



many occasions, and it only amounts to 

 about one cent a basket on the fruit on 

 moderate-sized trees. On large trees a 

 step-ladder had to be used and it would 

 cost more, probably two cents a basket. 

 "Just about as many baskets can be 

 got from a tree, however, by thinning 

 to five or six inches apart, as if left un- 

 thinned, and the peaches are worth two 



or three times as much money per 

 basket. The maturing of the seed of the 

 peach seems to be the heaviest drain 

 upon the tree; consequently, when from 

 one-half to three-quarters of the peaches 

 are pulled off, the drain upon the tree is 

 immensely reduced and this unused 

 strength goes to develop the size of the 

 peaches remaining." 



Ripe Stra'wberries and Ho^w to Handle TKem 



BEFORE picking time, the straw- 

 berry patch should be mulched 

 between the rows with straw or 

 cut grass. This may have been done 

 earlier in the spring by the use of ma- 



The Right and Wrong Way to Pick Strawberries 



The strawberry in the left hand shows how it should 

 be picked, with just enough stalk to catch hold of. The 

 berry in the right hand is wrongly and carelessly picked 



terial that was employed as protection 

 for the winter. Unprotected patches 

 and those on which the covering was 

 light, or from which the material was 

 removed in the spring, should be mulched 

 a few days previous to the time for har- 

 vesting. The main purpose of this 

 mulching is to prevent the berries being 

 sanded by rain and wind near picking 

 time. It will make the work of picking 

 easier and it will help to conserve soil 

 moisture and thereby increase the size 

 of the fruit. 



Every fruit farmer who grows straw- 

 berries for market should erect a shed 

 to be used to shade the fresh fruit from 

 the sun, and to be used in packing crates 

 and preparing for market. The shed 

 can be built in the field or made portable. 



There are two distinct classes of straw- 

 berry growers, the few who cater to a 

 fancy trade and the great majority who 

 aim to sell in the general market. The 

 former cannot succeed unless he has 

 private customers or has the intelligent 

 cooperation of his commission merchant. 

 These growers are particular in their 

 methods of picking and marketing, more 

 so than are those who sell to the general 



buyer. For the best market, choice 

 fruit should be picked by pinching off 

 the stem, touching the berry as little as 

 possible. vSee the illustration. For the 

 general market, the fruit may be picked 

 by running the fingers beneath the fruit 

 and hull and removing without any of 

 the stem adhering. In either case, the 

 picker should not take direct hold of 

 the fruit. 



Fresh picked berries should not be 

 left in the sun. Each box should be 

 placed 'neath the shady side of the 

 foliage, and when four or five are picked, 

 the number depending upon the size of 

 the carrier used, they should be re- 

 moved at once to the shed. For rapid 

 work, small boys or girls should be em- 

 ployed to carry the picked fruit from 

 the picker to the shed and to supply the 

 former with fresh boxes. 



Boys and girls are not satisfactory as 

 pickers, but when labor is scarce they 

 must be employed. Women make the 

 best pickers because they have better 

 judgment in sorting and caring for the 



fruit, are much less inchned to idleness 

 and play and know better the value of 

 their wages. In a field of considerable 

 size, a superintendent constantly on the 

 ground is essential. He must keep a 

 close watch on the work of the pickers, 

 see that the berries are picked clean and 

 at the proper stage of ripeness, that none 

 are destroyed by lounging or tramping 

 upon, that assorting is properly done 

 and the boxes or baskets well filled, and 

 that the boxes are properly crated for 

 the delivery wagon. 



The boxes should be as clean and 

 bright as they can be secured. Nothing 

 will detract more from the price of a 

 quart of strawberries than a soiled box. 

 The crates also should be clean and well 

 built and should bear the grower's name. 



In crating the boxes, they should be 

 alike from top to bottom, both the ber- 

 ries in each box and the boxes in each 

 crate. As far as possible, a crate should 

 be made up of one variety. In an exact- 

 ing market, there is much importance in 

 this assorting and care of the fruit. 



Packing Shed on Fruit Farm Where Big Strawberries Are Grown 



Plantation of Mr. Newton Cossitt. Jr.. Grimsby, Ontario. 



