The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower 



By Frank E. Beatty 



Chapter III— Which shows That One Mistake May Cause Many Bitter Disappointments 



|HE season advanced rap- 

 idly and a more perfect 

 one for strawberries could 

 not have been asked for. 

 As the days went on, I 

 observed, however, that 

 tliough the bloom rapid- 

 ly was disappearing, every bloom was not 

 turning into a big red berry as I so confi- 

 dently had expected. In fact, the berries 

 were very "shy", and many of them were 

 ill-shaped things that came far from meet- 

 ing my ideals of what a strawberry should 

 be. It is unnecessary to say that I felt 

 blue and discouraged, and set out to dis- 

 cover what could have happened to pro- 

 duce such disappointment when the 

 bloom had been so beautiful and so prom- 

 ising. 



Just at the moment when I was about 

 to give up in disgust and despair, I had a 

 visitor who was an old friend of mine and 

 had grown strawberries for many years. 

 He was a kindly old man and entered 

 sympathetically into the consideration of 

 the circumstances, sincerely hopeful that 

 he might help me out. 



What varieties have you got planted 



here, Frank.'^" he asked as he surveyed 



the field. "There's something wrong 



here sure, for the plants certainly look 



ne. 



"Why, I just went over to my neigh- 

 bor's fields and dug up tuo kinds that he 

 thought looked the best in his patch. He 

 said they were Warfields and Crescents." 

 Well, what have you got here as a 

 bisexual.'^ 



"Bisexual! — what advantage would 

 that have beenp" 



"Why, Frank, while the Warfield and 

 Crescent are two of the best varieties ever 

 grown, they are pistillates, or female plants, 

 and you should ha\e set male or bisexual 

 plants with them. Had this been done, 

 you surely would have grown a big crop 

 of fruit this year. What neighbor did 

 you get these plants from.'" 



My adjoining neighbor, right here." 



Well, we went over to the neighbor's 

 fields and talked with the man. We 

 found that he knew nothing more about 

 this matter than I did, as he too was virtually 

 a beginner; but by some sort of luck had 

 planted enough bisexuals to pollenize his 

 plants and give him what he considered a 

 fair crop. 



My first impulse was to give up, as I 

 have intimated. One reason was that I 

 feared the land I had bought on credit 

 was not adapted to strawberry growing. 

 Then I thought of the blistered hands, 

 the aching back, the bitter moments of 

 disappointment, and that made me bluer 

 than ever. But my old friend had shown 

 me that the land was all right; that I had 



^A^ITH this instalment Mr. Beatty enters upon 

 th^ practical work which is to make his 

 aitobiographical sketch o( such value to our 

 riaJers. From now until its completion it will 

 be a veritable school of experience in strawberry 

 production, and not a single number should be 

 missed by those interested in reaching high suc- 

 cess in this field of endeauor.— Editor The 

 Strawberry. 



made a bad blunder, and that it was all my 

 own fault. Then, said I, if the land is all 

 right and nature is all right, what won- 

 derful things a man might do in straw- 

 berry production if only he would work 

 harmoniously with nature's laws — do his 

 work on scientific lines! And new cour- 

 age and resolution came to me, and I 

 said, "I will not give up, but will study 

 to make this business a real success!" 

 That was the turning point in my career, 

 and although I have made mistakes since, 

 and some very discouraging results have 



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followed, I always have had confidence 

 that if I did my part, things would come 

 out all right. 



In the midst of these reflections, the 

 thought of the two acres that I had set 

 out that spring for next year's fruiting, 

 flashed into my mind, and my heart 

 quaked for a moment. I told my friend 

 about it, and he asked at once, "Did you 

 get the plants for that bed from your 

 Warfields and Crescents.?" 



"Some of them, and a part I bought of 

 a nurseryman." 



'What was the name of the varieties 

 you bought.'" 



"Why, they were Jessies, Gandys and 

 a few Michel's Earlys" I replied, hold- 

 ing my breath for his verdict. 



"Well, that's luck! You're all right 



P»g-- 7 



for next season, Frank, for those are bi- 

 sexuals and will mate your pistillates and 

 insure a good crop!" 



The joy 1 felt at that moment none 

 but myself may ever know. And this 

 last remark of my friend was the thing 

 that clinched my resolution to make a 

 win of the enterprise, and as he soon ha J 

 to leave me to catch his train for home, I 

 went to the house and said to my wife: 

 Well, we've learned something, but the 

 tuition fee in the school of experiences 

 comes mighty high." I told her just 

 what the situation was, and that I was 

 now more determined than ever to make 

 this business a big success. 



Strawberry growing is a science," I 

 said, "and I'm going to dig down to the 

 bottom of things and know just what to 

 do and when and how to do it to get and 

 keep control of the work." 



I found I had tackled a big proposition. 

 1 he first thing I sought for was some 

 literature on the subject, but could find 

 no book that v/ould help me out. But, 

 fortunately for me, some friend had asked 

 R. M. Kellogg to send me a copy of his 

 book on "Great Crops of Strawberries," 

 and when I received it I read it until its 

 pages were frazzled. It opened up an 

 entirely new world to me. I said to my 

 wife: "Whether the man who wrote that 

 book is practicing what he preaches, I 

 don't know, but I do know that what he 

 says is just good plain common sense, 

 and I'm going to begin some experiments 

 along his lines, and with the help I get 

 from this book, along with my experi- 

 menting, I am confident that we shall 

 clear away the clouds, and it won't be long 

 before the sun will be shining for us." 



My mistake that had cost me so heav- 

 ily was a serious matter with me, but the 

 hardest thing to bear was the thought that 

 it would compel me to go back on the 

 road for at least another year. But being 

 fully determined that I would not give 

 up I secured the services of a good prac- 

 tical man whom I could trust to see to 

 things in my absence, and returned to my 

 old line of work. The man had nothing 

 of the shirk about him, and worked as if 

 the place was his own. Those two acres 

 received the very best of care until the 

 growing season was ended when they 

 were well mulched and the work of haul- 

 ing manure on the land was begun in 

 preparation of several more acres for 

 setting the following spring. On stormy 

 days he spent his time in making picker's 

 stands, crates and boxes, and everything 

 moved along like a well-greased wagon. 



While the man on the farm was look- 

 ing after things at home I was digging 

 away on the road, spending my evenings 

 in formulating plans for the experiments 



