THE STRAWBERRY NOVEMBER 1906 



mand at the fashionable hotels. His 

 scheme fizzled almost as soon as the 

 stewards of the local houses saw the ber- 

 ries. No amount of persuasion could 

 convince them that the berries were not 

 green when picl;ed and subjected to a 

 chemical process that would give them 

 every other appearance of ripeness. 



In any event they refused utterly to 

 have anything to do with them. And this 

 resulted in the Italian venders getting the 

 white berries at a bargain. They did 

 their best with them from house to house, 

 but the people of Boston were as skepti- 

 cal as the hotel stewards. 



This did not bother the Italians, though, 

 for they simply went to a vacant lot in 

 West Roxbury, picked over their berries, 

 and mixed the white ones with the red. 

 In the process some of the leaves in 

 which the Jamaica brand were packed 

 fell to the ground, where they took root 

 and thrived. A little girl removed them 

 to the family strawberry bed, and this 

 year they have yielded a crop that, plant 

 for plant, makes their red sisters look 

 small. The discovery is regarded as im- 

 portant by horticulturists, who have for 

 years regarded the Jamaica white berry 

 as a standard so far above the ordinary 

 red berry that it has been considered im- 

 possible to reach it. 



Success Under Difficulties 



By J. M. Rimel 



NOTWITHSTANDING my fail- 

 ure to get a stand of plants last 

 spring I have them all reset three 

 feet one way, twelve inches the other, 

 with plants I raised myself for the most 

 part. I commenced to reset in July and 

 finished September 1. My plants ha\ e 

 grown finely. 



I think this would be a good place to 

 start a propagating bed to supply plants 

 in the fall. By setting plants here in the 

 fall we can have nice plants by the first 

 of August. What do you think of the 

 project — do you think it would pay."" 



I see a great deal in The Strawberry 

 about the white grub. This summer, 

 when I was culti\'ating what few straw- 

 berries I had, I found the ground full of 

 white grubs, and I thought they surely 

 would get what few plants I had. I 

 turned on the water and when the ground 

 got thoroughly wet the grubs came up 

 near the surface and the birds (mostly 

 robins) found them out. The birds just 

 riddled the ground; picked it so full of 

 holes that it looked like a seive. 1 have 

 cultivated my strawberries since 1 reset 

 them and found but four plants eaten off 

 and found only two grubs. 



The Strawberry is a welcome visitor 

 and seems to get more interesting each 

 month. 



Asotin, Washington. 



Mr. Rimel did not give up because 

 of discouraging conditions in the spring, 



but kept right at it. The result is that 

 he is to be rewarded, no doubt, with a 

 bountiful crop of berries in 1907. Too 

 many of us give up if things don't go off 

 smoothly the first pop, and by so doing 

 lose not only a crop of strawberries but 

 the fun of compelling things to come our 

 way. — Editor The Strawberry. 



One Way of Reducing the Cost of 

 an Acre of Strawberries 



By Joseph Bolt 



I SAW an article in the October num- 

 ber of The Strawberry on the cost of 

 an acre of strawberries, which I think 

 subject to modification. I showed that 

 article to a friend. He read it and 



JOSEPH BOLT 



laid the paper down, saying; "Yes, I see; 

 to raise fancy strawberries is a game for a 

 rich man to play at, but a poor man bet- 

 ter keep his hands off. 



Now I always claim it is a game for a 

 poor man to get a start with, and so I 

 said: "Let us see if we can't shave that 

 down some and not lose any of the inten- 

 sive part of it." And so the following 

 dialogue took place: 



"Your land is rather poor; it needs 

 building up.'" 



"Yes; too poor for strawberries." 



"Well, suppose you start next spring 

 to build up one acre. You have a horse.^" 



"Yes, an old plug; but able to pull a 

 plow." 



"Well, you plow one acre and plant it 

 to peas; common cow peas. When they 

 are ripe pick off the peas and plow the 

 vines under. Then put on another 

 crop of peas; pick the ripe peas and plow 

 the vines under again. Now let us see 

 about a manure pile. 



"Yes," said he, "that is a question. 1 

 have no straw and can't afford to buy it. 



Pa«e 21} 



"Well, can't you go into the woods 

 and rake up leaves — any kind except pine 

 —and keep your horse stable well filled? 

 Then put a few posts in the ground and 

 nail on some old boards, or rails, so as to 

 make a pen or large box, and from time 

 to time clean out your stable and put the 

 manure in there. Then you have chick- 

 ens.'^ 



"Yes, about twenty-five." 



"Well, throw a few shovelsful of earth 

 under the roost, say once a week; and 

 when you have a load put that on your 

 manure pile. And what does your wife 

 do with the soap suds from the weekly 

 washing.'" 



"Throws it away!" 



"She does, eh.? Well, suppose you 

 take that to your manure pile — it helps to 

 rot it. Then what do you do with your 

 ashes — you burn wood.? Put a barrel 

 somewhere handy under shelter and de- 

 posit the ashes in that, and you will be 

 surprised to see what a big pile of manure 

 and ashes you can gather in a year. Then 

 after the second crop of peas is rotted 

 spread on your manure and plow that 

 under, and you are ready for your plants, 

 except to put your ashes on and work this 

 land a couple of times with disc or har- 

 row. Then you can do all the rest of 

 your work — a great deal of it before 

 breakfast. You can nail up your crates 

 at odd times; you can be your own fore- 

 man and carry the berries in; your wife 

 can do the packing. 



"Yes," said he, "I see you have been 

 through the mill." 



So when we were done shaving down 

 the cost stood some like this: 



Pickiiifj h, 000 (luarts strawberries .f hO.OO 



250 crates 20.00 



6,000 boxes 18.00 



7,000 plants 28.00 



Total outlay . . . $126.00 



Sold 6,000 quarts at 9c . . . $540.00 

 Total outlay 126.00 



Leaving cash balance of $414.00 



To which add for the two crops 



of peas sold at least . . . .^5.00 



Making grand total net earnings $449.00 



Then my friend said: "I shall fix up 

 an acre, or at least a half-acre; and when 

 I want any shaving done I'll call on you! 



Certainly these figures represent the 

 poor man's way of making money with 

 strawberries." 



Brooklyn, Fla. 



Every reader of The Strawberry will 

 read Mr. Bolt's clear statement with in- 

 terest and satisfaction. The figures given 

 in the October issue represented the case 

 of those who employ labor in the work 

 and pay for all the work done. Mr. 

 Bolt shows how the man who employs 

 his own hands in the work and is aided 

 by his wife, can make a handsome rev- 



