21 : 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



June 



4. A supply of extra laborers near enough to 

 be promptly available in emergencies. 



5. Plant no more than can be thoroughly cul- 

 tivated and profitably marketed. 



Strawberries.— Any good Corn or Wheat land 

 will do, but must be very rich, though it should 

 not have too much nitrogen, for fear of undue 

 foliage growth. Sandy or loamy soil is best, en- 

 riched with phosphoric acid. It should have been 

 in cultivation a year or two. Then plow deep, 

 early in spring and harrow repeatedly. Check off 

 rows three feet apart with Corn marker, and set 

 plants 13 to 20 inches in row. 



If pistillate varieties are used, plant every third 

 row with a strong perfect-flowering sort that 

 blooms at same time. Cut off blossoms or fruit 

 stalks as they appear, and as soon as growth is 

 well started begin summer culture, repeating 

 every two or three weeks till frost. 



The narrow-row system is most profitable. 

 Each spring-set plant roots a few of the first 

 runners near the row, all other runners being cut 

 off as they appear. This permits proportionally 

 more horse-power in cultivation, as in hill cul- 

 ture, and yet always young plants enough to 

 form one continuous row; plenty of room for 

 sunlight and air to reach berries, much to their 

 benefit. Also it costs little to clean out a bed of 

 this kind after fruiting and renew for another 

 year; in matted row culture it seldom pays to 

 continue a bed in fruiting more than one year. 

 When ground freezes, cover field lightly with old 

 hay, straw. Cornstalks, or the like. This need not 

 be removed; partly uncover crowns of plants 

 when growing time approaches, the mulch will 

 benefit by keeing ground moist (very important), 

 and berries clean. Irrigation is of the greatest 

 benefit, it practicable; $1,000 to $2,000 invested for 

 this purpose will pay, if product of five or more 

 acres can be regularly sold. Very thorough 

 preparation of soil and frequent cultivation 

 answers partly the same purpose. 



One picker should bring in 30 or 40 quarts daily; 

 one superintendent to 15 or 20 pickers should 

 assign rows, inspect work and see that vines are 

 not trampled. Pick clean and grade the fruit. 

 Give each picker a .stand or rack, holding 4, H, or 

 8-quart baskets marked with his number. He 

 must return all baskets (full or empty) to pack- 

 ing shed, and receive daily account ticket. This 

 is of tough paper, IH by 3i4 inches having name 

 and number of picker, date and 5 columns of 

 eight figures representing 1, 2, 3, 4 or 8 quarts, 144 

 quarts in all. Punch out numbers showing quarts 

 delivered, giving picker at the same time a fresh 

 lot of baskets At night the ticket is taken up, 

 and number of quarts punched out of a weekly 

 ticket, 2!^ by 5J^ inches, bearing name and num- 

 ber of picker, amount paid per quart, date on 

 which week ends, six columns for record of 

 berries picked each day, and column for sura 

 total and cash paid Saturday night. The weekly 

 tickets are taken up when paid, and filed, giving 

 complete record. 



Picking, except for local market, should not 

 begin before dew is off, and should not continue 

 through heat of day; 4 p. M. till dark is best time. 

 The packina: shed should be cool, airy, and con- 

 venient to field. Baskets and boxes should be 

 new, clean, and of the whitest wood possible. 

 Fill rounding full, exactly the same quality all 

 through. Pack in clean, bright crates or boxes. 

 Do nrit ventilate very mucfu unless berries are 

 picked in the heat of day, or wet, and packed at 

 once. Picked und(!r favorable circumstances, 

 or cooled immediately after picking, they are 

 far better if packed tight. 



Raspberries.— Require much the same soil as 

 Strawberries, except that they stand far more 

 nitrogen. Plant in fall, except cap varieties. 

 Prepare ground as thoroughly as for Strawber- 

 ries. Plant in check rows, b or 6 feet apart, ad- 

 mitting more light and air and more horse culti- 

 vation than with hedge-rows. 



Cultivation begins early in season and con- 

 tinues through summer, stimulating growth and 

 permitting wood to mature in fall. New growth 

 is pinched back when 1.5 to 18 inches high, caus- 

 ing strong growth of laterals, which are allowed 

 to grow at will, lea\nng further trimming till 

 early next spring. 



Some very good varieties (Cuthliert, Marlboro, 

 Caroline, Golden Queen, Carman, Springfield, 

 Souhegan), when well grown, will stand most 

 winters with little injury; but it is wise, north of 

 42° to protect them. Plenty of snow will do, or 

 eaith. Two men may apply it, one with heavy 

 gloves bringing the canes close together and care- 

 fully bending them down lengthwise of the row, 

 the other throwing a shovelful of earth at the 



base, on the side the canes are bent to prevent 

 their breaking; a few shovelfuls on the tips 

 will hold them in place. After the field is thus 

 gone over, both men complete the covering with 

 shovels. The whole cost will be from $5 to $8 

 per acre. If rows are far enough apart, the final 

 work may be done with plow and reduce cost. 

 In spring when frost is out and ground dry 

 enough, uncover, straighten up plants, thin out, 

 and shorten laterals S to 15 inches. Thorough 

 cultivation may be given up to blooming time ; 

 soil should not then be stirred till after fruiting. 

 Gather and market same as with Strawberi'ies, 

 except that half-pint and pint boxes or baskets 

 should be used instead of quarts. 



Blackberries— Incline to much wood growth 

 so select land of moderate fertility. Plant Ugh- 

 bush sorts in spring or fall— latter is best— setting 



BERRY PINCHED OFF AND SNAPPED OFF." 



same as strong-growing Raspljerries; trailing 

 kinds and the Dewberries in spring, in rows ten 

 feet apart, three to four feet in row, forming 

 matted row. Close pruning and protection are 

 essential to success. 



Currants.- The supply is still far less than the 

 demand, while for Gooseberries there is only a 

 limited sale. Plant in strong, rich, fairly moist 

 soil, after leaves drop in fall, or very early in 

 spring; check rows four and a half to five feet 

 apart. Growth is made in flret two months of 

 summer, therefore cultivation must be early and 

 thorough to insure best wood growth. First 

 two years prune only to form broad, open head; 

 in after years pinching back all new growth when 

 two or three inches long, will promote formation 

 of fruit spurs and buds. This is not the general 

 practice, but is a point worth noting, even by 

 those who have only a few bushes. 



To make money in small fruit, there must be 

 thorough culture, best possiVile shipping package, 

 and honest packing of fruit, with fine appearance. 



Varieties. -Study your market, visit growera 

 in your neighborhood, county and state; learn 

 the well-tested and approved varieties, and plant 

 largely of these. On my own 80 acres, the old 

 Crescent, Wilson and Dowmng Strawberries, 

 Cuthbert and Souhegan Raspberries, Snyder 

 Blackberry and Victoria Currant have always 

 been profitable. Among the newer sorts, Jessie, 

 Bubach, Pineapple and Miami Strawberries, Car- 

 man and Scarlet Green Raspberries, Lucretia 

 Dewberry and Fay Currant are wonderfully fine, 

 and likely to surpass many older ones, and others 

 are coming to the front. Test these in a small 

 wa.v; some will in time be found tosuit yoursoil, 

 and give you an advantage in the market, while 

 meantime you make the best with old vaiieties. 



Production. — With the culture recommended, 

 Strawberries should yield 4,000 quarts per acre, 

 and sell in your market at about 8 cents per 

 quart- netting $150 per acre. Raspberries about 

 3,000 quarts, at 10c. , netting about same profit. 

 Blackberries should give more quarts than Rasp- 

 berries, but selling at less price with less profit. 

 Currants 1.500 to 2000 quarts, at 6 to 8c., but as a 

 field can be kept fruiting an indefinite number 

 of years, they are one of the most profitable of 

 the small fruits, at less cost of culture— Straw- 

 berries being renewed every two or three years, 

 and Blackberries and Raspberries every five 

 years, for best results, though fields 8 to 10 years 

 old give good returns. 



The Home Garden.— Every farmer should de- 

 vote half an acre or more to small fruit. He will 

 find a home market taking every day quarts 

 upon quarts at high prices. Every dollar expen- 

 ded will save two in meat and medicine bills. At 

 home and at school, fruit is better than cake and 

 pie, and the table the year round should be sup- 

 plied with fruit, either fresh or canned. In the 

 latter form. Raspberries retain their flavor best 

 of all Farmers say they can buy better than to 

 raise, but the.v never buy enough. In my own 

 family— not large— we use fiom six to ten quarts 

 of small fruits daily from June to August. A 

 friend with a half -acre city lot had it plowed and 

 fertilized, and planted $26 worth of plants, kept 



account of expenses for five years, with credit at 

 market rates for fruit consumed; the profit 

 was $100 annually. Every farm and home should 

 have such a half acre, and then will be found 

 health and happiness, as well as money, in small 

 fruit. 



Management of Strawberry Pickers 



by Michigan Growers. 



{Paper by A. J. Kinsley, before the Michigan Horticul 

 tural Socii^ty, Discussion. | 



One of the perplexing problems of the 

 fruit farm is the management of berry- 

 pickers. A good thing to avoid is the quite 

 common practice of permitting pickers to 

 take empty cases into the patch and return 

 them, filled, to the shed where the nailing 

 and stencilling is done. 



Do not allow pickers to " snap off " Ijerries, 

 leading the stem and calyx adhering to the plant 

 take more to fill a box, " bleed " readily, and are 

 apt to arrive in market in a moist, mussy con- 

 dition. Do not employ pickers who are not quite 

 ready to attend to their work as a business. The 

 usual price paid for picking Strawberries in Ber- 

 rien county has been a cent and a half a quart. 



Do not expect or undertake to regulate the 

 price of picking or transportation by resolution. 

 There is no sound reason why the price of culti- 

 vating, picking or transporting Strawtjerries 

 should be contingent upon the state of the mar- 

 ket on South Water street, Chicago 



The only sensible business rule to be followed 

 in the case is to pay fair prices for all .services 

 rendered— from plowing clear down to transpor- 

 tation—and then, if on that basis, the venture 

 proves unprofitable, quit. 



It will pay the grower who is extensively en- 

 gaged in the business of raising Strawberies to 

 have one trusty man to every twenty pickers, 

 whose business it is to see that the berries are 

 picked clean— all the ripe ones and no green ones 

 —and that over-ripe ones are kept out of the 

 boxes. Also that the plants are not trodden 

 down. Teach new pickers a lesson that they 

 generally are in need of— to let go their berries 

 before the hand is so full that the juice runs out 

 between their fingers. 



Have the packing shed convenient to the patch. 

 Furnish each picker with two carriers holding 

 four boxes each. The packing shed, or sheds, 

 should be under the charge of one {or more if 

 the business requires it ) competent and trusty 

 person, whose business it is to issue to the pickers 

 tickets for their berries as they are brought in, 

 and to place the boxes into crates and see that 

 they have not been filled wrong side up. 



Many large growers in Berrien county have 

 found it satisfactory to erect ciuartcrs for their 

 pickei's, where they " camp out " and do their 

 own cooking during the berry season. Many of 

 the pickers thus employed come from the local- 

 ities where berry raising is not a leading industry. 

 Have your individual trade mark, and endeavor 

 to build up a reputation for straight packing. 

 Your berries cannot all be fancy or No. 1. 



Although it requires some moral courage to 

 hide away an extra fine specimen in the bottom 

 of a package, endeavor to have the contents of 

 the boxes uniform and true to appearance. 



A. G. GuUey : I spend my whole time keeping 

 the pickers in place and seeing that they do their 

 work properly. In wide matted rows, esi)ecially 

 with slow pickers or small boys, I often put two 

 on a row. I don't repack the fruit in the shed ; 

 the man there only sees that the boxes are full 

 and puts them in the cases. I pay the pickers 

 once a week. 



P. W. Johnston : We do not muzzle our pickers 

 in Michigan. They are each provided with a 

 tray that will hold six quart boxes. They are 

 made light and shallow, have a hoop handle, 

 like a market basket. The pickers are assigned 

 to a row each, or if the rows are wide, two to a 

 row. The names of the pickers for each day are 

 entered on the page of a blank book kept for 

 that purpose. As the full trays come in, the 

 number of quarts is entered on the line with 

 each name, being careful to place a point after 

 each entry. The pickers place the full quarts on 

 the counter and refill the trays from a large bas- 

 ket that IS kept full of empty boxes by the 

 packers, who repair any that may have been 

 pulled apart. At the close of the day's work 

 the number of quarts picked by each is carried 

 out on the book, and checks are given to the 

 regular pickers, and transients paid off, each 

 account being checked or marked paid as the 



