SIXTIUINTII ANNUAL MEETING. 141 



of soda is made to the beds at the rate of 100 pounds per acre 

 in order to (hstril)ute the small amount oxer an acre. The 

 nitrate of soda is mixed with clean sand or fine loam and 

 spread by hand. A larger amount of nitrate at this time has 

 been found to soften the fruit and also makes it light colored. 

 As soon as the fruit is well set the beds are mulched with the 

 same meadow lia}- that was used in the winter covering. Idiis 

 work has to be carefully done or the mulch will be useless. 

 The hay is placed by hand under the clusters of fruit and 

 shaken with a fork in the spaces left for the pickers. This 

 mulch serves a double purpose in keeping the berry clean and 

 the soil from drying up should a drought set in during the 

 fruitiilg season. The question of pickers has always been a 

 ditTicult one and we have found that except for the third or 

 fourth picking it does not pay to hire children. We have been 

 able the last few years to get Italians, who are paid l)y the 

 day to perform this very important part of the work and they 

 have been found very satisfactory. The men sort the berries 

 as the}- ])ick them, making two grades, which sax'es handling 

 the fruit later on. The first grade ])erries are packed in trays 

 holding twenty-one quarts and with the very best berries each 

 basket is wrapped in paralTine paper; this has been found to 

 add much to the appearance of the fruit when it reaches the 

 market. These trays are packed one on top of the other in a 

 cooling cellar and are kept from slipping together by a cleat 

 on the bottom. The second grade berries are packed in the 

 standard 32 and 48-quart crates, which are also removed to the 

 cooling cellar as soon as filled. All of the fruit is carted over 

 the road b}^ our own teams during the night, so that it arrives 

 fresh in Boston the following day about four a. m. It is de- 

 livered to the commission merchants and the team returns to 

 the farm with a load of empty crates and trays, ddiese tray 

 berries sell from four to eight cents per quart higher than crate 

 berries, but the fruit has to be first class to be salable in this 

 way. 



Generally the bulk of the str.aw berry cro]) is picked in four 

 pickings, after which the plants are turned under and the land 

 planted to buckwheat or cowpeas. 



The most destructive of the in.sect pest is the white grub 



