THE STRAWBERRY MARCH 1907 



he observes the golden rule. We are 

 sorry to say that the manufacturer's state- 

 ment is correct, but the man who uses 

 the big boxes is the one who gets the big 

 price, holds his trade and maintains his 

 own self-respect. 



A. B. B., Wheeling, VV. Va. I hope to pur- 

 chase some time next spring, if I can see my 

 way clear, a small farm of about twenty-two 

 acres which I think is admirably suited for 

 strawberries and many other things. My 

 idea is to grow about five or six acres of 

 strawberries and build about one dozen green- 

 houses for raising roses, carnations chrysan- 

 themums and many other flowers; in other 

 words, I am very anxious to engage in the 

 strawberry and flower business, and want 

 your help and advice in the strawberry end of 

 the business. Will this pay — is five acres 

 enough, or would you advise more acreage? 

 How would it do to plant five acres, say, one 

 year and then keep five acres in reserve for 

 the next patch and plant a new patch every 

 alternate year.' 



2. Please give me your advice as to how to 

 run or start this little business. The place I 

 speak of is only a short distance from the 

 Baltimore A: Ohio Railroad and is iust out of 

 Wheeling, which is a first-class market for 

 the strawberries. 



3. What would it cost to stock this farm.' 

 Give me in detail, if possible, all the informa- 

 tion you can on the subject. My little patch 

 of plants set last spring is doing finely and I 

 am looking for a large crop of berries next 

 year. 



4. I made one mistake — I failed to cut 

 enough runners off earlier in the season. 

 Will it be all right to give them a good 

 working and cut the surplus runners off now.' 



5. Will 1000 plants grown in a propagating 

 bed produce enough plants for one acre? 

 When should I take the plants from the prop- 

 agating bed, and should they be allowed to 

 fruit before transplanting? 



6. Please describe the difference between a 

 propagating bed and a fruiting bed and the 

 best way to manage both. 



7. Would it not be an excellent idea to grow 

 potatoes in the ground one year and plant 

 strawberries in it the next year and so con- 

 tinue every alternate year growing some one 

 thing that would make a good bed for straw- 

 berries? 



I am now working on a trade mark to have 

 printed on every individual strawberry box 

 that I send out. I believe this would be a 

 great thing for a grower and believe that if 

 the growers over the country would take more 

 interest in the business such a thing as this 

 would greatly benefit them. 

 I read The Strawberry with continued interest 

 and believe anyone who will read this paper 

 certainly will succeed in the strawberry busi- 

 ness. 



"\'our plan to purchase a small farm 

 is certainly a good one, even though you 

 were to go into debt for a large share of 

 the price, because everywhere land stead- 



ily is increasing in value, and the sooner 

 you get a home of your own, and a pro- 

 ductive home at that, the better, and the 

 less it will cost you. In our experience 

 the happiest people in the world are those 

 who make their homes upon small pro- 

 ductive farms. 



You certainly have a fine opening 

 where you are for starting in as a grower 

 of fruit and flowers, and while we would 

 not lessen your enthusiasm in the straw- 

 berry part of this work, we feel it our 

 duty to caution you against setting out 

 too large an acreage at the start. We 

 take a personal interest in every member 

 of this school, and are anxious that each 

 shall make a success of his undertaking: 

 and if you were to set out too large an 

 acreage to begin with, conditions might 

 arise to discourage you. But by begin- 

 ning on a moderate scale and "growing" 

 with the business, we are sure you will 

 be far ahead in the long run. For this 

 reason we would suggest that you set not 

 to exceed two acres the first year. Of 

 course, you have had quite a little ex- 

 perience with the plants you set last 

 spring, and this will be of great help to 

 you in your new undertaking. 



Some of the reasons for thus advising 

 you are, first, the fact that you will need 

 experience in getting control of your 

 plants so that you will understand how 

 best to handle them. 



Then there is the matter of picking 

 and packing and creating a market for the 

 berries. When this is done and you are 

 familiar with all the details of the work, 

 you may safely extend the area of your 

 fields. It will then be easier to handle 

 five or ten acres than it would be to han- 

 dle one acre the first year. Your plan of 

 alternating and setting a few acres each 

 year is excellent. 



2. Assuming that you will set two 

 acres next spring, on well prepared soil, 

 in the spring of 1908 this two acres will 

 be in full fruit. By that time your ex- 

 perience will justify the setting of three 

 acres more, which will be done, of course, 

 before the first two acres fruit, and, after 

 the last picking has been made on the first 

 two acres, the plants in that patch should 

 be mowed oiT and when dry burned over 

 and prepared for second crop, as has been 

 described in The Strawberry. After this 

 has been done, you will have five acres 

 to cultivate during the remainder of the 

 season of 1908. Both new and old bed 

 should be cultivated alike through the 

 entire growing season. Then in the fol- 

 lowing spring (1909) you will have five 

 acres in full fruit, of which three acres 

 will be giving off their first crop and two 

 acres their second crop. The experience 

 you have had in growing and marketing 

 the first two acres will have prepared you 

 to handle the five acres which are then to 

 be picked and marketed. Early in the 

 spring of 1909 we think it would be safe 

 for you to set five acres more, as the first 

 two acres will be discarded after picking 



Page 79 



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