AWAY DOWN SOUTH IN THE LAND OF (REVISED VERSION) STRAWBERRIES 



The Autobiography of a Strawberry Grower 



By Frank E. Beatty 



Chapter IX — In which is shown the Secret of Success in Selling Strawberries 



AFTER I had hit upon a successful 

 plan of putting my berries upon 

 the maricet, I began to realize 

 how easy it was to succeed with 

 strawberries compared with other lines of 

 business I had been connected with. I 

 now had been growing strawberries for 

 about ten years, and my only failure in 

 getting a big crop was in the first year, 

 and that failure was due to improper mat- 

 ing of varieties. I never had had any 

 trouble in disposing of all the berries I 

 could grow, but the principal drawback 

 with me had been to get a plan of putting 

 the berries upon the market at a price 

 which would pay me a liberal profit for 

 my work. I always was too independent 

 to allow customers to set the price on my 

 products. After having worked hard all 

 the year to grow big, fancy berries, and 

 packing them in up-to-date fashion, and 

 then to have the grocer, who knew noth- 

 ing about the cost of producing such ber- 

 ries, tell me what I should sell them for, 

 did not strike my fancy a little bit. It is 

 too much like giving entertainments and 

 depending upon a hat-collection for pay. 

 I never knew any showman to get rich in 

 that way. 



Some growers will argue that it is easy 

 to sell berries from one or two acres at 



your own price, but that this might not 

 be done with a large acreage. I found 

 that this argument did not hold good. It 

 was just as easy for me to sell the berries 

 from eight acres at my own price as it 

 was from one acre. It was simply a mat- 

 ter of arithmetic. The more acres, the 

 more dealers and towns; and if it can be 

 done with eight acres it can be done with 

 twenty acres. If the grower is careful in 

 packing his fruit he wins a reputation, and 

 as his acreage expands so does his reputa- 

 tion. I had the reputation of being the 

 high-priced man in my locality. If a 

 stranger came to town and inquired where 

 he could get a case of choice berries, he 

 almost invariably would be referred to 

 me, and he would also be informed that 

 he would have to pay a good big price 

 for fancy berries. There was really no 

 greater honor my friends could bestow 

 upon me than to call me the high-priced 

 fellow, for that is one thing that made the 

 stranger desire to see my berries. Anyone 

 realizes that in order to get high prices it 

 is necessary to have high-class goods. 

 No one ever objected to the price after 

 they saw my berries. 



"My conscience! what big red fellows 

 those are on top! Will they stand inspec- 

 tion at the bottom?" would be the first 



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remark. "Yes, sir; just pick out any quart 

 box from a crate, and if you don't find the 

 berries just as fine at the bottom as on 

 top, the whole crate is yours tree," was 

 always my answer. And if the customei 

 did not pick out a box I did, and it was 

 tipped enough to show the berries cleai 

 to the bottom of the box. 



"Did 1 understand you to say thai 

 whole crate was only $3.00?" was the next 

 question. 



Before they had seen the bernes they 

 would say: "What! $3.00 for one little 

 case of berries! It is no use to look at 

 them for I never can pay such a high 

 price'' 



But I showed them just the same, tor I 

 knew that when they gazed upon a crate 

 of those enticing berries, their $3.00 would 

 not look half so big to them. I tell you, 

 dear reader, the eye and the appetite work 

 in perfect harmony, and they have a big 

 influence upon the pocket book. 



I learned from my experience in sell- 

 ing goods upon the road that it was noi 

 good business policy to be stingy, and 

 there were always a few extra quarts of 

 the choicest and sweetest berries set aside 

 to treat customers with. While this was 

 undoubtedly a great help in effecting sales 

 at good prices, yet it was not done es- 



