THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 



who are seeking for a business that they 

 may depend upon at all times to yield 

 them a livino; and perhaps something 

 more. 



It is not a pleasant thing to do to turn 

 from the contemplation of such a case to 

 that of our friend Bunker, who, instead 

 of following the intensive methods of 

 Simpson, has a hit-or-miss plan of his 

 own, with results very like those de- 

 scribed in the story of the Irishman's flea 

 — only Bunker never has the pleasure of 

 seeing anything in the way of profits. 

 But the lesson is an important one, and 

 should serve a good purpose. Bunker 

 doesn't keep any books, and so we have 

 found it difficult to get a clear statement 

 of receipts and expenditures from him, 

 such as Simpson was able to give us 

 without a moment's hesitation; but after 

 questioning Bunker and getting a few ac- 

 tual figures as to what he had done, and 

 some of his reasons for not doing others, 

 we have cast up the following table, 

 which is a fairly faithful e.xhibit of his re- 

 ceipts and expenditures: 



EXPENDITUHES 



Value of land, SlOO an acre, $-100; interest at 



6 percent $ 24 



Manuring, none; wanted to hold down ex- 

 penses 



Plo\\ing and harrowing (no rolling was done) (J 

 7,000 plants taken from an old bed; digging 



cost about 50 cents per ^I 14 



Setting plants on the "live-i>r-die'' plan 10 



One man's wages on half-time,,. 108 



-Mulching; thought it cost too much., 



Cost of crates and boxes SO 



Cost of picking.., , 120 



Cost of foreman; thought it a useless ex- 

 pense 



Cost of packing; let the picker.s' work stand 

 Cost of labels; never used labels; money 



spent tor nothing ,.. 



Cost of pickers' tickets 1 



$ 303 



RECEIPTS 



Sale of 500 crates second-grade berries {of 

 course he had no fancys) at SI. 50 a crate, 

 less express and commission, 30 cents a 



crate 600 



Expenditures 3«3 



Net returns from four acres 3 ^" 



But even that table doesn't tell all of 

 the story of failure and loss. Bunker's 

 splendid land, one of nature's rarest gifts 

 to man, steadily is "running out" of 

 plant food and each season the weed crop 

 takes a larger share of it. So that his cap- 

 ital is becoming impaired. Another thing 

 the table does not show is the dreadful 

 condition of his fields at picking time as a 

 result of ha\ing no foreman. Compared 

 with Simpson's splendid crop Bunker's is 

 pitifully meagre; but even that is not 

 garnered, for the pickers, working in the 

 field with no watchful eye over them, 

 gather only what they choose, eat the best 

 themselves and trample bushels into the 

 ground that might have added somewhat 

 to Bunker's limited yield. 



Consider this contrast. Land equally 

 as good at the beginning of their respective 

 enterprises; every opportunity Bunker's 

 that had invited Simpson into the field. 

 The bright warm sun that painted the 

 rosy cheek and distilled the sweet flavors 



of the strawberry shone alike on both; the 

 "gentle dews of heaven fell alike" upon 

 these fields, so unlike in appearance and 

 so different in results. Simpson, with 

 ample time at his disposal, having a good 

 man at the cultural end and a foreman 

 over pickers who sees to it that everything 

 is right in that department, is free to look 

 after his customers and to see that no- 

 thing leaves the packing house that is not 

 worthy of the label he has made of such 

 high value in the markets. Poor Bunker, 

 here, there, everywhere, in his nervous 

 haste, rushing about like a hen without a 

 head, really sees nothing and has no idea 

 of what actually is going on, reaches the 

 end of the season worn out and utterly 

 discouraged, his "net" returns really rep- 

 resenting a loss. 



You will observe that Bunker "saved" 

 at a great many points. But it was the 

 saving that 'tendeth to poverty." Simp- 

 son paid with generous conservatism for 

 those things he knew were necessary for 

 the success of his work — it was the "scat- 

 tering that increaseth." Bunker kept his 

 eye forever on the expense account; 

 Simpson was looking for results, was 

 working for results, and he accomplished 



results. These are in truth typical cases. 

 We can show you many Bunkers who 

 might be transformed into Simpsons 

 would they but stop and consider a few 

 simple facts, study their own situation, 

 and seek to perfect themselves in their 



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Pftge 15 



