THE STRAWEERRY JULY 1906 



receipts $243. We are dissatisfied! Look- 

 ing into tile causes wliich have prevented 

 us from reaching greater resuhs we have 

 come to this conclusion: We are, after 

 all these years, just beginning to give the 

 business the study necessary to bring suc- 

 cess in the highest degree, or, to bring the 

 question down to a fine point, we failed, 

 at the start, to make a study of details. 



So to the beginner we would say, go 

 into the business in a whole-hearted 

 fashion — go in to win! Get a definite 

 and thorough understanding of the why 

 and wherefore of plant life. Make the 

 subject of soils and plant physiology a 

 matter of careful study. By having a 

 definite knowledge of the plant's con- 

 stituent parts and general make up; by 

 knowing how they get their food from 

 the soil and how they assimilate it; why 

 and how they breathe, and why they 

 must have sunlight — by learning these 

 things one will be the better fitted to sup- 

 ply their needs and more zealous in car- 

 ing for them. Hence, it may easily be 

 seen that to just the extent we give our 

 plants better care — apply our energies in 

 a more intelligent, scientific manner, if 

 you please — in the same degree will our 

 profits increase. 



Exact knowledge, systematically, ener- 

 getically, persistently applied, then, is the 

 secret of big profits in strawberry growing. 



This being true, why is it that intensive 

 culture can not be coupled with extensive 

 culture with a corresponding increase in 

 net profits.'^ 



There are several reasons why this is 

 so. One is that the grower with but a 

 small acreage under cultivation is able to 

 give all the details of the work his personal 

 attention, and we ha\e no hesitation in 



artirming that labor performed by one 

 whi) is personally interested will be more 

 efficiently performed than if done by hired 

 help. 



Kven though the help employed be 

 conscientious in their desire to do the 

 work right — just as the "boss" wants it 

 done— yet is there not something still 

 lacking.? First, the hired help does not, 

 in all probability, have the love for the 

 work that is so characteristic of the most 

 successful fruit growers — those who se- 

 cure such wonderful yields, and who will 

 say that he is as capable of doing the 

 work as well as the one whose affections 

 are centered in the plants! 



The strawberry plant may be compared 

 to the feminine part of the human race in 

 that it will thrive wonderfully with 

 petting. The secret of the matter being 

 this: loving the plants we are zealous in 

 supplying their every need! Now how 

 is it if we have twenty or thirty acres in 

 strawberries instead of one or two acres:' 

 Our whole time would be taken up in 

 overseeing. Indeed, with that number of 

 acres under cultivation we would need 

 several foremen, and to get the detail 

 work done to that nicety that characterizes 

 the work of the enthusiast would be out 

 of the question. For one thing, the soil 

 of this large acreage must be put into the 

 highest state of tilth and fertility. We 

 will grant that this would be compara- 

 tively an easy matter, and the ground 

 fitted to the highest state of perfection; but 

 when it comes to the setting of the plants 

 we must dissent. Then comes the mat- 

 ter of pruning and cultivation, and there 

 is where the greatest deficiency will come 

 in. And we also should take into account 

 the fact that the grower of thirty acres can 



-^¥- 



ONE VIEW OF MR. EDGERTON'S STRAWBERRY FIELD 







' '^x^i. 



SOME OF MR. EDGERTON'S WARFIELDS 



not dispose of his crop at the same high 

 prices that the small grower receives for 

 his fruit. He must frequently depend 

 upon distant markets, and transportation 

 charges and dealers' commissions that 

 consume his profits. 



Now, please remember that we do not 

 say that these larger acreages can not be 

 grown at a profit. This question is one 

 of capital and executive ability. What 

 we do say is that when it comes to great 

 yields and profits approximating ,$1,000 

 per acre, the extensive grower can not 

 equal the results achieved by the man 

 with the small acreage. 



Pctoskey, Mich. 



A MAN'S life is 1 lid in the loom of time 

 to a pattern which he does not see, 

 but God does, and his heart is a shuttle. 

 On one side of the loom is sorrow, and 

 on the other is joy; and the shuttle, struck 

 alternately by each, flies back and forth, 

 carrying the thread which is white or black 

 as the pattern needs. And in the end, 

 when God shall lift up the finished gar- 

 ment, and all its changing hues shall glance 

 out, it will then appear that the deep and 

 dark colors were as needful to beauty as 

 the bright and high colors. — H. W. 

 Beecher. 



ONE advocate of organization, basing 

 his statement on observation of what 

 already has been accomplished in this way 

 says: "Desired results in the strawberry 

 business have come about largely as fol- 

 lows: First — A strict organization, resuL- 

 ing in practical uniformity of varieties, 

 good cultivation and strict rules governing 

 picking and packing. Second — Thorough 

 inspection and grading. These conditions, 

 well developed, have resulted in our putting 

 up a strictly fancy product, and there being 

 so little of this class of goods on the mar- 

 ket, compared with the large amount of 

 inferior quality, has brought buyers to us 

 from the best markets in the country. 

 We have always had more buyers than ber- 



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