THE STRAWBERRY SEPTEMBER 1907 



mulched with pea and wheat straw in the 

 fall. Our winters are always fairly severe 

 this far north in Canada, but in spite of 

 frost, drought and all the rest of it I am 

 convinced that there is less risk of losing 

 an entire crop of strawberries than of any 

 other crop that grows in this wide world. 



This spring was the most unfavorable 

 one for plant growth that I have ever 

 seen. Continual frost and cold weather 

 when all the snow was gone, extending 

 right up to the time when the plants 

 should have been in full leaf, kept the 

 plants back. But in spite of all this we 

 never had a finer crop. Over 1,000 boxes 

 were picked and sold besides what was 

 eaten and used at home. 



I used a circular in advertising the ber- 

 ries. People were running over each other 

 to get my berries, which were far beyond 

 all others in size and quality. There was 

 such a demand that before half the crop 

 was picked I had to stop taking orders. 

 I am giving these particulars to encourage 

 those who think they are not in a favor- 

 able locality to market berries. 



Before I commenced growing berries 

 one or two of my neighbors who grew a 

 few in the ordinary way had great diffi- 

 culty in selling them at all, even at five or 

 six cents a box. This shows how easy it 

 is to dispose of a first-class article. I live 

 in a farming country fifteen miles from the 

 nearest town. There are three small vil- 

 lages not fa. away however, of from 100 

 to 300 inhabitants each, and in these and 

 the surrounding country I am sure I could 

 sell five or six hundred dollars' worth of 

 berries. I have one merchant in each vil- 

 lage handle my berries exclusively. This 

 season I sold the berries at ten cents per 

 box and $2.25 per crate of twenty-four 

 boxes. The merchants retailed them at 

 ten cents per box straight, making only 

 fifteen cents per crate. But they consid- 

 ered it a privilege to have the exclusive 

 right of handling my berries. 



We picked the first berries June 28 and 

 made our last picking July 20. A few 

 days after the last picking we mowed oft 

 the tops, let them lie for a day, and then 

 raked oft leaves and mulch into piles. 

 On the same day we cultivated between 



PRKSIDENT KOOSEVKLT and 50 other kinds of 

 Strawberries. Blaek and Red RaspbeiTy plants, Catalpa, 

 Poplar and .Japan Walnnt trei's. Send for catalogue. 

 Alva C'atlioart. Itristtil. liuliaiia. 



Isle 



of 



wanted-ii^,z: 



in October and look over my 

 proposition on the Isle of Pines. 

 I have several tracts of land there 

 that can be worked on shares. 

 TX» The Island is a great place for 



K^in/^O Sirawberry growing, also all 

 I lllt-O ^'"^^ ofVegetables, Melons, Cit- 

 rus Fruits, etc., and a great place 

 Wi for Poultry and Bee keeping. 



• 1* 1 want to get in touch with par- 



ties who could go with me in 

 October to the Isle of Pines and investigate my 

 offerand proposition. 



We can gel a special rate on Ward Line Steam- 

 ers from New York to the Isle of Pines for $30 

 one way. For more particulars, address 



F. M. VanEtten, 



238 Delaware Ave., 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



PLANTS IN THE FIELD OF H. B. STEWARD, MYRTLE POINT, OREGON 



the rows and raked the loose earth thinly 

 over the top of the row. Then we took 

 chr.fT forks, carried the leaves and mulch 

 back again and put it evenly in the de- 

 pression between the rows. This helps to 

 retain moisture and keep the earth loose. 

 Although we have had only one small 

 rain since then, the plants today are spring- 

 ing up fine and green through the layer 

 of earth. 



The Enormous is the most productive 

 of berries we have tested. On one plant 

 we counted 175 berries, including a few 

 blossoms. Dozens of other plants had 

 over 100 berries and blossoms, but on ac- 

 count of the terrible drought not half of 

 them matured. 



We always pick in the forenoon and 

 have the berries on the market early in 

 the afternoon. We never have berries for 

 market lie on our hands over night in the 

 boxes, but let the consumer have them 

 the same day they are picked. 



Carefully arrange the berries stem down- 

 ward in the top of the box. Have berries 

 uniform in the crate; you will make no 

 mistake by putting the big fellows in the 

 bottom. One of my customers made the 

 following remark: "Those berries I got 

 from you were the finest I ever saw. 

 Why, I am sure the berries in the bottom 

 of my crate were larger than those on top." 



iMy home is about one hundred miles 

 north of Toronto, and from the success I 

 have I am sure that berries can be grown 

 even farther north than this and a good 

 crop be assured in spite of frost and all 

 other unfavorable conditions. Narva, Ont. 



1I>R1TISH hygienists are just now en- 

 *-* gaged in a vociferous attempt to show 

 that the beautiful and delicious strawberry 

 is the source of many human ills and that 

 disease and death lurk within to attack 

 those who eat of it. Last season it was 

 an alleged Buffalo physician who ran 



Pigt 184 



amuck over the country decrying the 

 strawberry. Now the fact is that people 

 afflicted with certain diseases of the stom- 

 ach or liver are affected by certain acids. 

 Among the most injurious to some are the 

 citrus fruits — lemons, oranges, grape fruit 

 and limes. Some folk are immediately 

 affected by eating tomatoes. So the straw- 

 berry is not agreeable or healthful to some 

 people; but we venture the assertion that 

 no other fruit, unless it be the apple, is 

 beneficial to so large a proportion of the 

 human family as the strawberry; and this, 

 no doubt, the British hygienists who have 

 succeeded in creating a dog-day scare, will 

 themselves admit. 



MAMA, I's got a stomach-ache," said 

 Nellie, six years old. 

 "That's because you've been without 

 lunch. It's because your stomach is 

 empty. You would feel better if you 

 had something in it." ^ 



That afternoon the pastor called and 

 in the course of conversation remarked 

 that he had been suffering all day with 

 the headache. 

 "That's because it is empty, " said Nellie. 

 You'd feel much better if you had some- 

 thing in it." — Judge's Magazine of Fun. 



OUR thanks are due those members of 

 The Strawberry family who have sent 

 us marked copies of local newspapers con- 

 taining flattering notices of their strawber- 

 ries. Evidently "our folks" are the ones 

 who know how. 



QUITE unusual is the otTering made by the 

 Century Furnace Co. of Youngstown, 

 Ohio, in this issue of The Strawberry. This 

 company belie\ es in the people, and as proof of 

 its faith is offering its furnaces on a part-pay 

 plan that makes it a simple matter for people 

 with limited means to secure a furnace and have 

 it installed in their homes. Read their adver- 

 tisement and write for further information. 



