THE STRAWBERRY OCTOBER 1906 



their children. The work is healthful, 

 refined, inspiring, profitable. It is one 

 which calls for little manual labor that is 

 beyond the physical strength of delicate 

 women, and this heavier work may be per- 

 formed, where necessary, by men. The 

 life is out of doors, and the strawberry 

 season is the most delightful one of the 

 entire year, over a large part of the country 

 wholly made up of those rare days of June 

 of which Lowell sings with so fine rapture. 

 Is there not here the answer to the 

 question, the solution of the problem.'' 

 Certainly the opportunity is present and 

 none may comprehend its greatness. It 

 only requires the energy, intelligence, a 

 certain degree of skill in growing the 

 strawberries and good judgment in mar- 

 keting them, to insure success to any 

 woman who will undertake the work. 

 We believe that in no other direction may 

 so large success be made, considered from 

 the little capital needful to enter upon the 

 work, and so little to carry it forward. 

 Surely here is something that every woman 

 can do; do with satisfaction to herself as 

 a woman; do with a degree of success 

 worthy of her capabilities as a business 

 manager. 



A S yenrs come and go industries of our 

 ■'»■ country will prosper and decline, 

 fortunes will be made and lost, even 

 government may change its form, but so 

 long as the world stands agriculture will 

 be the foundation of national wealth and 

 prosperity. — Aaron Jones. 



Late Berries for The North 



By R. C. Sabin 



WE began in a small way'five years 

 ago under the rules laid down- by 

 the late R. M. Kellogg. , And 

 when we heard of his death we took it, 

 wife and I, as a personal grief and loss. 

 For we felt sure that his work could 

 hardly be carried on by any others. 



But the new catalogues came annually 

 to hand and, to be frank, appeared to be 

 more spicy than ever. But when The 

 Strawberry came to hand we took it as a 

 special act of Providence in our own be- 

 half that the work had fallen into such 

 able hands. For The Strawberry tells 

 things in detail and in a style which can 

 not be done in an annual catalogue. 

 Long be remembered the old; long live 

 the new ! 



We have discovered the truth of what 

 you say, that none but big red berries are 

 able to run the gauntlet of crate-dealer, 

 picker, packer, local buyer, transportation, 

 commission man and retailer. Our suc- 

 cess has been only partial, but the fault 

 has been with ourselves, as we could not, 

 or did not until we got The Strawberry, 

 realize the importance or profit in carrying 

 out to the letter the rules laid down. 



Each year we have ordered some new 

 varieties for test in our soil until now we 



are about ready to begin in earnest to 

 grow the "big red boys." We find that 

 there is no use trying for early berries 

 this far north, for several reasons. We 

 have no home market, and to ship our 

 early berries to Milwaukee or Chicago 

 means simply that they come into compe- 

 tition with late berries from farther south. 

 And here the early berry is either held 

 back by late spring or is damaged by frost 

 while in blossom. The late berry is our 

 standby. 



Ludington, Mich. 



Cost of an Acre of Strawberries 



T HAVE been a reader of The Strawberry for 

 the past four months. I like it very much, 

 and think it will be a great help to me. 1 wish 

 to ask a few questions. I wish to put out at 

 least one-half acre, or perhaps one acre, in the 

 spring, and with the help I receive from The 

 Strawberry I know I shall be successful, al- 

 though the work is almost new to me. 



What will be the cost of putting out one acre 

 of strawberries on a sandy soil.' 



2. How many plants will it require? 



3. What month shall I plow under the 

 cowpeas this fall? 



4. After cowpeas are plowed under, what 

 must I do then? 



Chandlerville, III. Mrs. R. L. 



IT is difficult to give the exact cost of 

 producing an acre of strawberries, as 

 it will depend upon whether you 

 follow intensive methods of cultivation, 

 with a view to securing the largest possi- 

 ble yield, or just give them ordinary care, 

 as the "average" grower is likely to do. 

 So all that we can do will be to give the 

 cost of the intensive methods, and you 

 may cut down this cost at will, of course, 

 with the inevitable lessening of yield and 

 lowering of grade of the fruit. Here is a 

 dependable estimate: 



Fifteen two-horSe-loads of manure at $t $15.00 



Team plowing, }4 day 1.50 



Preparing soil (harrowing, rolling, etc.) 



tL^am J4 tlay 1.50 



Marking out rows, man }4 day .... .50 



7,000 plants at S4 per M 28.00 



Setting plants, one man 3 days .... 4.50 

 Sixteen cultivations; man and horse 3 



hours each time at 17)4 cents' an hour f-40 



Six hoeings 24.00 



Mulching; 3 loads of straw at $2 per load 6.00 



Spreading mulch, one man 1 day . . . 1..50 



Parting mulch inspring, one man J^ da.y .50 

 With such in tensive methods fi.OOO quarts 

 should be grown to the acre, whicli 

 will require 250 i4-quart crates, 



costing 8 cents each 20.00 



AndB.OUOquart boxes, at $3per M . .18.00 



Making the crates; ouu man 2 days . . 3.00 



Making the boxes; one man 3 days . . 4.50 



Picking 6,000 quarts at 1 cont a quart . 60.00 

 Foreman and man to carry berries to 



packing house 25.00 



Packing berries in attractive form . . 12.00 



$233.90 



RECEIPTS 



Out of the 6,000 quarts, 4,000 at least 

 should be fancy selects, which prop- 

 erly packed and A\'ell marketed 

 should bring 10 cents per quart . .8400.00 



2,000 quarts of medium berries at 7 cents 



per iiuart 140.00 



Total Receipts - - - g340.00 



Total Expense - - - 233.90 



Net income for one acre - 83116.10 



As we have said, the expenses may be 

 cut down greatly — as much as one-half. 



Page 190 



but in doing so the cash income will be 

 much less, the pleasure will be lessened 

 and you will not be building up a repu- 

 tation that will insure you a ready market 

 at high prices in the succeeding years. 

 Tiie estimates here given are based upon 

 our own farm experience, and in giving 

 the yield, have by no means overestimated, 

 as many of our readers report much larger 

 yields than here are given. 



2. You may calculate upon from 

 6,000 to 7,000 plants to the acre. 



3. The time of plowing under the 

 cowpeas will depend upon the season, 

 but you should not turn them under until 

 the vines begin to ripen and become 

 woody. By so doing time is given the 

 nodules on the roots in which to mature. 

 The early days of October will, on the 

 average, be the proper time. 



4. After the peas are turned under it 

 generally is too late to sow rye, and we 

 do not like the idea of leaving the ground 

 bare during winter; therefore suggest that 

 you cover the ground with manure, 

 which will shade the ground, keep it 

 from puddling during winter rains and 

 increase its plant-food content. 



The Farmers' Congress 



THE Farmers' National Congress will 

 open its twenty-sixth annual session 

 at Rock Island, 111., on the 9th of 

 October. This organization is composed 

 of delegates from the different states ap- 

 pointed by governors or departments of 

 agriculture. One of the subjects to be 

 discussed before the coming meeting is 

 business methods in farming — a very im- 

 portant subject, as there is no business 

 that we know of which, as a general rule, 

 is carried on in a more unbusinesslike man- 

 ner than is farming. David RaUKin of Tar- 

 kio. Mo., and L. Whitney Watkins of 

 Manchester, Mich., will discuss this in- 

 teresting topic. 



Mr. Rankin is one of the half dozen 

 most extensive and successful farmers in 

 the United States. He started without 

 capital and is now a millionaire, nearly all 

 of which he has made out of farming. 

 He has 23,504 acres of fertile land in 

 actual and high cultivation. He puts 

 16,000 acres in corn, on the average, and 

 feeds and ships each year an average of 

 9,000 cattle and as many hogs. He has 

 never before consented to prepare a paper 

 or address for any meeting. 



Mr. Watkins is a graduate of Michigan 

 agricultural college, has served six years 

 on the Michigan state board of agriculture; 

 is president of the Michigan state associa- 

 tion of farmers' clubs and president of the 

 Michigan association of breeders of im- 

 proved live stock. The Watkins farm 

 contains 2,300 acres in the highest state 

 of cultivation. The land was taken up 

 by Mr. Watkins' grandfather from the 

 government in 1834, and not an acre has 

 passed from the ownership of the Wat- 



