THE STRAWBERRY FEBRUARY 1907 



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124' 



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"NEW IDEA FOR FARMER'S WIVES" 



A woman on the farm is always looking for wava and 

 means to make everj' pt-niiy count . She appreciates" that a 

 ■ 'penny saved is a penny earned, ' ' and we are glad in this 

 issue of The Strawberry that we can direct her to some 

 money saving plans that are new and worthy of her con ■ 

 sideration. 



This idea was sue^ested to us from readina an advertise- 

 ment which appears in this issue of The Strawl)errv. and 

 which was sent to us by Crofts & Reed, a lart'e Ohicaao 

 manufaeturintr firm who manufacture and sell direct to the 

 consumer trroceries and household supplies, such as teas, 

 coffees, soaps, bakine powders, spices, extracts, washing 

 powders, toilet preparations, perfumes, etc. Buying these 

 daily household necessities direct from the maker at about 

 one -half the prices the farmer's wife usually pays for them, 

 seems to us a new idea which she ought to 

 take advantage of, because of the great saving 

 this method of buying affords. 



There is no reason why groceries should not 

 be purchased direct from tbe maker, thus 

 sa\ing all middlemen's profits, just as satis- 

 factorily as the one hundred and one other 

 things used on the farm which are being 

 bought direct from the maker today. 



It is needless for us to tell you' the saving 

 that is derived in buying farm machinen- and 

 farm supplies direct from the maker, and tho 

 opportunity of buying groceries in the same 

 manner is certainly a good one. 



For example, take baking powder for which 

 you are now paying 25 cents per can at retail. 

 you can get direct from Crofts & Reed for 

 12 1-2 cents per can just the same quantity. 

 Laundry soap that costs yon 5 cents a bar can 

 be had for 2 1-2 cents a bar, and so through- 

 out their entire list the regular retail prices 

 are cut one-half. 



This is only one of their many saving plans. 

 Another plan affords an opportiinity wherel:iy 

 the housewife can furnish her home through- 

 out with the same money she is now spending 

 for groceries and get the groceries besides. 

 For instance, with $10 worth of groceries at 

 the prices you are now paving vou can get a 

 Couch, Morris Chair, Rocking Chair, Kitchen 

 Cabinet, or your selection from nearly 1.000 

 other useful articles worth $ 10, such as shown 

 in their advertisement on cover page 3 . 



We might tell you of all their plans, but 

 you had better turn to the advertisement 

 and then send for the book which explains them clearly. 



We want to impress you with the fact that this firm and 

 their goods are absolutely dependable. Don't get the idea 

 because these products can be bought at such a big sa\-ing 

 on their "factory to family" plan that they are not equal 

 in quality to any sold by dealers. To prove this these 

 manufacturers offer to send goods without asking you to 

 pay a cent of money until they have been received and 

 proved absolutely satisfaciory in every respect at your 

 hands. In fact, they tell us that they will send the goods 

 and let you use them for thirty days before you need to 

 send the money. If they are found 'satisfactory after this 

 test, of course you will be only too glad and willing to pay 

 for them at their low cost. 



We particularly suggest that our readers send for their 

 Big Premium Book and free sample of toilet soap. You'll 

 be surprised at the saving and values they offer. Here is a 

 new idea for the economical farmer's wife which will help 

 her to make her expenditures for household supplies go 

 twice as far. or make the same money buv both groceries 

 and the furniture. Be sure to addres's CROFT.S & REED, 

 Dept. 596, Austin Ave,, Chicago, Illinois, when writing. 



our troubles begin. Everything else about 

 berry growing is a pleasure; but getting 

 them picked is a soul-harrowing job. I 

 can get along pretty well with women 

 and girls, but oh the boys! Each year 

 we think we have discovered where the 

 trouble lies and by making changes hope 

 to better things in future, but each year 

 after the biggest picking is over we have 

 the same old crop of annoyances. We 

 always have the boy whose mother says 

 it doesn't pay any more, the sick boy and 

 the tired boy; the boy for whom the 

 weather is too hot, too cold or too wet; 

 also the boy who has to go for his sum- 

 mer vacation and the boy who has a 

 steady job which he must take at once. 

 Individually I like them and they are my 

 friends, but collectively, as Dooley says, 

 "they are my inimies." 



My job is in the "office." I inspect 

 the berries, punch the pickers' tickets and 

 pack the cases. Mr. Hey is his own 

 foreman and all goes well enough appar- 

 ently as long as he doesn't leave the patch; 

 but the moment he is out of sight the 

 visiting, the throwing of berries, the skip- 

 ping of rows, etc., begins. 



I am close enough to see and hear, but 

 not close enough to prevent. I hope I 



have been explicit enough so that all may 

 see wherein we err and that some fellow 

 Strawberry reader may set us right. 



Dixon, III. 



Mrs. Hey is exactly right in her posi- 

 tion that it is better to sell 10,000 quarts 

 of berries at a shilling than to sell twice 

 the number for a lower price. It doesn't 

 cost any more to pick a quart of big fancy 

 berries than it does a quart of little, knotty, 

 ill-shaped things. In fact, it costs less to 

 handle fancy berries than it does a poor 

 grade, beside being easier to secure pickers 

 to do the work when the fruit is large and 

 fills the boxes quickly. Mrs.Hey's method 

 of mating pistillates with two bisexuals is 

 the correct way and her cultural methods 

 are ideal, but plowing under the manure 

 just at freezing time could have been im- 

 proved by plowing earlier and sowing to 

 rye, as it isn't good practice to leave the 

 surface of the soil exposed to the ele- 

 ments during the winter any more than 

 it is in the summer time. F. E. B. 



Fertilizing the Strawberry 

 By D. I. Duncan 



THE strawberry plant can be grown 

 on any soil that will produce a 

 good corn crop, but a rich, light 

 loam, free from drouth, is preferable. If 

 only a heavy clay soil is available, its me- 

 chanical condition will be improved by 

 the use of lime and subsoiling. While 

 plenty of moisture is required for the plants, 

 they will not flourish if their roots are in a 

 cold, sodden soil. Very low-lying places 

 should be avoided, since there is in such 

 conditions considerable danger from frost. 

 Correct fertilization is as important as 

 soil selection, since some seemingly im- 

 possible soils have been made to produce 

 heavy crops of select berries. It goes 

 without saying that after the soil has been 

 selected it will be well plowed, and then 

 with harrow and roller it will be put in 

 the best possible tilth. The period of pre- 

 paratory growth of the plant before bear- 

 ing is but one year, and the crop that may 

 be obtained is largely dependent upon the 

 strength and vigor of the plant which has 

 been acquired during this period. Hence 

 it is desirable that the soil in which the 

 plants are set should be abundantly sup- 

 plied with mineral elements — potash and 

 phosphoric acid. Therefore, about 500 

 pounds per acre of a fertilizer analyzing 2 

 per cent nitrogen, 7 per cent phosphoric 

 acid, and 10 per cent potash should be ap- 

 plied and well worked into the soil pre- 

 vious to the setting of the plants. In the 

 spring an application of 100 pounds per 

 acre of nitrate of soda should be worked 

 in between the rows as soon as the first 

 growth appears. This top dressing is to 

 be made the first season and also the sec- 

 ond, but should never be applied after the 

 bloom is on, since it will encourage a too 

 late setting of the fruit, and a too 



PiKe 38 



WHEN YOU BUY an incubator be 

 sure you get one you can depend 

 on. Every incubator -will hatch 

 well sometimes— when all out- 

 side conditions are favorable, but 



Mandy Lee 



Incubators and Brooders 



give results all the time. Heat. 

 ventilation, and moisture— the 

 thiee essentials of a successful 

 hatch— are under separate and 

 absolute control all the time. 

 There is no gruesswork about the 

 "Mandy Lee" Incubator. It don't 

 make any difference what outside con- 

 ditions are, you can always make 

 "hatching" conditions in the egg 

 chamber. 



If you want to learn the hows and whys 

 Send for Catalog. Also ask about 

 "Mandy Lee" Brood- 

 ers, thedirectcou- 

 tact heat 

 kind that 

 f u r n 1 a 

 beat in a 

 n atnral 

 way. 



Geo.B. 



Lee Co, 



Dept. 51. 

 Omaha, Ni b. 



:^ 



Ion? ratalnrr PDfE Describes and prices 45 varie- 

 3UI udlalUg rnLL ties fancy poultry and eggs. 

 S. A. HUMMEL, Box 13, Freeport, Illinois 



'The Whole Thing in a Nut Shell" 



200 Eggs 

 a Year 

 per Hen 



HOW TO GET THEM 



THE sixth edition of the book. "200 E^re a Year 

 per Hon. ' ' is now ready. Revised, eulart:ed, and 

 in part rewritten, 00 pai^es. Contains amont:; other 

 thlniTs the method of feedintr by which Mr. S. D. Fox, 

 of Wolfboro, N. H., won the prize of $100 in gold of- 

 fered by the manufacturers of a well-known condition 

 powder for the best ecrg record during the winter 

 months. Simple as a, b, c — and yet we guarantee it to 

 start hens to laying earlier and to induce them to lay 

 more eizea than any other method under the sun. The 

 book also contains recipe for egg food and tonic used 

 by Mr. Fox, which brought him in one winter day 68 

 eggs from 72 hens; and for five days in succession from 

 the same flock 64 eggs a dav. Mr. F. F. Chamberlalc 

 of Wolfboro, N.H.. says: *" By foUoning the methods 

 outlined in your book I obtained 1.406 eegs from 91 

 R. I. Reds in the month of January, 1902." Prom 

 14 pullets picked nt random out of a farmer's flock 

 the author got 2.990 eggs in one year — an average of 

 over 214 eggs apiece. It has been my ambition in 

 writing "200 Eggs a Year per Hen" to make it the 

 standard book on egg production and profits In poultry . 

 Tells all there is to know, and teUs it in a plain com- 

 mon-sense way. 



Price 50 cents; or with a year's subscrip- 

 tion to the American Poultry Advocate, 

 both for 75 cents, or given as a premium 

 for 2 yearly subscriptions at 50 cents each 



Our paper is handsomely Illustrated, 44 to 80 pages, 

 50 cents pe. vear. 'S months' trial, 10 cents. Sam- 

 ple free, CATALOGUE of poultry books free. 



AMERICAN POULTRY ADVOCATE. 



85 Hogan Block. Syracuse, N. Y. 



