THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 



was given up to answering all sorts of 

 questions relating to better methods in 

 plant selection, soil preparation and culti- 

 vation. 



One thing that was brought out very 

 clearly by the trouble experienced with 

 lice and beetles at Durant was the fact 

 that where growers had taken special 

 pains in selecting their plants from young 

 healthy beds and had employed modern 

 methods in cultivating them — in fields 

 where such plants and such cultivation 

 were the rule, they were comparatively 

 free from the insect pests that were rav- 

 aging their neighbors' fields in which 

 plants taken from old, run-out and in- 

 fested fields were used. 



BEFORE retracing my steps to the 

 North I visited the ^lississippi Ex- 

 perimens station at Starksville, upon invi- 

 tation of Prof. A. B. McKay, horticul- 

 turist of the station and college, and a most 

 enthusiastic friend of the strawberry, in 

 the interest of which he is carrying for- 

 ward some extensive and very important 

 experiments. This college and station 

 has a splendid plant and is a growing 

 institution. With the rapid strides of the 

 people of the South toward a more rational 

 agr culture- — away from cotton and corn 

 and toward the diversification of pro- 

 ducts — has come a new spirit of progress, 

 and education all along the line is "look- 

 ing up" in more ways than one. I had 

 the pleasure of meeting here also Prof. 

 G. W. Herrick, entomologist of the 

 station, who is greatly interested in the 



work being done at Durant for the eradi- 

 cation of the destructive beetle and louse. 

 I cannot forbear referring to the royal 

 hospitality that met me at the college and 

 to express my appreciation of the uniform 

 kindness shown me both there and by the 

 courteous people of the city of Durant. 



TH V. strawberry industry of the South 

 is becoming something immense be- 

 yond realization. The little city of Du- 

 rant alone ships 150 carloads a year, and 

 what is true of Durant also is true of a 

 large number of towns in every state from 

 North Carolina on the Atlantic to Texas 

 in the distant Southwest. One fact in 

 this connection is to be noted as particu- 

 larly gratifying, namely, that the increas- 

 ing output below Mason and Dixon's 

 line does not injuriously affect a single 

 Northern producer. Indeed, it is a fair 

 question if the increasing production of 

 the South does not actually serve as an ap- 

 petizerfor the Northern berry. Certainly, 

 the increasing demand all through the 

 North justifies the belief that this is so. 

 And I found down here that big fields 

 kept up the yield to high averages. You 

 often hear it said that a man might grow 

 a big lot of strawberries on a small piece 

 of ground, but when he came to plant 

 out a large area the figures per acre di- 

 minished. This has not been found lo 

 be the case in the section I visited. My 

 friend Sam Wherry of Durant — I say my 

 friend, for no one could know him with- 

 out feeling that he was a friend indeed — 

 one season sold over $10,000 worth of ber- 



The I^aylor 



(Bmbinaiion jf fjarrow 



TWO TOOLS IN ONE 



'T'HE best harrow on earth because it puts the soil in ideal condition at less cos* 

 * than any other. Onre over the ground with the Navlor Combination wil' 

 prepare the soil in much better condition than twice working with any other, and 

 it is easily drawn by two horses. JJ The spring teetli dig deep doun, thoroughly 

 mixing the soil; the spike teetli pulverize and level the soil, and lc:\\eit a perfect 

 seed bed. Each harrow has eighteen spring teeth and forty-two spike teeth. Two 

 levers enable the operator to adjust the teeth to any desired position. Just the 

 thing for orchards and berry farms. 



In (he fall of 1905 the Naylor Harrow was severely tested on 23 of 

 tfie best farms in Si. Joseph county. Nicfi.. and 22 of these farm- 

 ers purchased them-.a record unequalled by any other harrow 



Don't buy a harrow until you know all about The Navi.or Combin.ation. 

 Write me today and I will tell you all about it 



FRANK R. FISHER, Box 5. MOOREPARK, MICH. 



ries from his sixteen-acre field, and his 

 neighbor, Mr. Wellhouser, cleared $500 

 per acre from his field, the exact dimen- 

 sions of which have slipped my mind. It 

 is unnecessary to multiply instances; one 

 finds them everywhere — if good plants 

 have been set out and right cultural 

 methods followed. 



The Young Man's Opportunity 



THE door of opportunity swings 

 wide open to the young man who 

 loves nature, has the courage to fit 

 himself for a horticultural career and en- 

 ters upon strawberry production in a com- 

 mercial way. Indeed, we know of no 

 other field more tempting to the man 

 who has it in him to win success through 

 the use of mind and muscle. 



Look at the vast increase in strawberry 

 production during the last few years. 

 Wiseacres shook their heads when this 

 movement began a few years ago, and de- 

 clared that the markets would le over- 

 supplied. The South began shipping by 

 hundreds of carloads; this quickly wcs in- 

 creased to as many thousands of carloads, 

 but there was no diminution in the de- 

 mand. The bigger the supply the 

 stronger the demand for more, and al- 

 though there are in this country today, 

 perhaps, ten acres of strawberries for 

 every one in existence a decade ago, there 

 is no doubt, if the present area was doubled 

 within one year, the entire product would 

 be consumed and there would be no visible 

 reduction in price. What other line of 

 business could stand such an increase in 

 production and maintain prices.' 



Horticulture is not only a fine business; 

 it is a calling that gives free rein to the 

 widest culture and the keenest business 

 judgment. Look about you and you will 

 see that the men who are making the 

 large successes in strawberry culture are 

 those who have, in the first place, mas- 

 tered the details of the business "from 

 the ground up," and then expanded their 

 "plants" and trade year by year, winning 

 by their own energies and insight that 

 success which never fails to give satisfac- 

 tion as well as profit. 



The young man who engages in straw- 

 berry culture is truly independent; he is 

 master of his own career. He enjoys 

 out-of-doors, the health-giving contact 

 with Mother Earth; no "pent-up Utica 

 confines his powers," the whole range of 

 land and sky is his. His work is a safe 

 one; little fear need he have of loss, al- 

 most none of failure; for the strawberry is 

 a hardy plant, and seldom disappoints 

 him who knows its nature and satisfies its 

 needs. He has an unlimited market for 

 his berries if he has seen to it that his 

 product is of the high quality that always 

 is in demand. His calling is not an en- 

 slaving one; it gives him time to think, 

 to study, to read, to travel. And it al- 

 ways invites him to still further experi- 



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