The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower 



By Frank E. Beatty 



Chapter I — In which is shown how Htgh Expectations Create Boundless Enthusiasm 



I HAVE always been impressed with 

 one peculiar thing about mankind 

 in general. I refer to his inevitable 

 view of another man's business as 

 offering greater opportunity for the dis- 

 play of his powers, or as a means to a 

 increased revenue, or greater pleasure; and 

 to consider that whatever of success his 

 neighbor has achieved as the result of 

 some happy circumstance, never stopping 

 to think that such success is the direct 

 result of hard and patient toil and study 

 to master the very difficulties which we 

 ourselves are trying to overcome. We 

 are so apt to think that the other fellow 

 has reached his enviable position by a 

 "streak of luck" and that while we must 

 toil and struggle he lies on 

 floweiy beds of ease. And 

 many a life has been turned 

 from success to failure be- 

 cause, just on the eve of 

 the favorable turn in af- 

 fairs, the discouraged man 

 has "lost his grip," given 

 up and thereby sacrificed 

 all the gain his work had 

 made. And sometimes the 

 thought that I, too, nearly 

 became victim to my fears 

 in that direction, sends cold 

 chills chasing each other 

 up and down my spinal 

 column. 



In this and succeeding 

 chapters of this biographical 

 sketch, it is my purpose not 

 only to present the ups and 

 downs through which I 

 passed on the way to what 

 may be deemed a fairly suc- 

 cessful career as a straw- 

 berry grower, but to give 

 also the manner in which 

 difficulties were overcome 

 and in such a practical way as to aid 

 our readers to meet them with intelli- 

 gence and success. And I am sure that 

 the knowledge of the reader that he 

 is not the only one who has had to 

 meet obstacles with grit and determina- 

 tion, with muscle and with mind, will 

 inspire him with hope and courage and 

 lead him on to success. 



Strawberry growers of this day have the 

 advantage over me in one very important 

 particular. Fifteen years ago there was 

 no literature worthy the name upon the 

 subject of strawberry culture; today les- 

 sons it cost me thousands of dollars to learn 

 are available to you practically at no cost 

 whatever. Let it be remembered that 

 many of the very important discoveries 

 pertaining to strawberry culture and to 

 the nature and habits of the plant itself 

 have been made within that period, and 



it has been my good fortune to be able to 

 contribute somewhat to this important 

 work. It is my ambition to give to the 

 strawberry world whatever of information 

 these years of experience have given me. 

 When I began in the business I knew 

 no more about strawberry culture than a 

 long-eared mule knows about umpiring a 

 game of base ball, but had to dig my in- 

 formation out as I went along, paying a 

 high price for some of it, too. The first 

 thing I did was to set about one acre of 

 plants, and as the varieties used were 

 principally Warfield and Crescent, and 

 the plants were taken from an old run-out 

 patch of the 'pennyroyal" strain, you 

 better may imagine the cost of my first 



lesson than I would care to tell about. 



I was at the time a traveling salesman 

 for a manufacturing concern, or, as some 

 people say, a "runner." My experience 

 as a runner was that the early bird got 

 the order, and so adapted that rule to the 

 strawberry business and set my plants 

 early in April. They were put out on 

 well-prepared soil and I gave them pretty 

 good care. Everything went on as 

 smoothly as the sleigh glides on sleet- 

 covered snow until about the first of July. 

 At this time it seemed as if some magic 

 power had entered into the plants, causing 

 them to burst out into a perfect mass of 

 runners until it seemed to me that the 

 whole world was going to runners. And 

 that is when the sweat started to run. 

 The next few weeks was not unlike a 

 continuous Turkish bath. 



VVhen I first saw these runners 1 



Page 221 



thought they were great, and I rushed 

 into the house and said to my better-half: 

 "Well, wifey, if the firm I travel for can 

 make big money with only a few "run- 

 ners," we ought to make a young fortune 

 in the strawberry business; because every 

 plant appears to be sending out a hundred 

 or more runners, and from the looks of 

 things there must be a new runner born 

 every minute. When all these are fully 

 grown and get down to actual business, 

 then is when you and I will shine with 

 the best of 'em." 



But my wife did not catch my enthus- 

 iastic spirit; she seemed to be more inter- 

 ested in the bread she was making than 

 in that g'orious strawberry bed, with its 

 promise of a golden harvest. 

 "Come out and see for 

 yourself!" I cried; but the 

 greater my excitement the 

 faster she kneaded that 

 dough, not thinking that 1 

 needed her more. 



"I can't leave now; the 

 bread will spoil if I do." 



"Oh! that makes no dif- 

 ference; one poor batch of 

 bread won't give us dys- 

 pepsia. Just come and take 

 a peep at those fine, vigor- 

 ous plants, and you'll begin 

 to see that a few loaves of 

 bread don't count when 

 compared with the great 

 thing? we shall realize from 

 that patch of plants. After 

 we sell the berries you 

 won't have to bake any 

 more bread or anything 

 else. And I'm going to 

 give up my job on the 

 road and go into the straw- 

 berry business right; no 

 more traveling for this boy! 

 So out to the patch we went and sur- 

 veyed the sight together. "Well, Frank, 

 they do look pretty good," admitted my 

 wife, "and things seem to be coming our 

 way. But I think the best thing for you 

 to do is to hold your position until after 

 the berries are marketed and then we shall 

 know just how much clear money there 

 is in an acre of strawberries. A bird in 

 the hand is worth two in the bush, you 

 now. 

 "VVell, wifey, that sounds like good 

 advice, but 1 know your eyes will bulge 

 out when you see the results that come 

 from this patch of berries. I just wish 

 you could view that scene through my 

 eyes. I fail to see any bird in the bush 

 in this deal. There's money in it and 

 lots of it." But she had not heard. That 

 bread dough had come to mind and as I 

 turned about 1 caught sight of her running 



