no BOx\RD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



small fruits carefully, as the slightest bruise on such tender 

 fruits as the strawberry, blackberry and raspberry will show, 

 and decay will quickly begin. As a rule, men are better than 

 children for this sort of work, but it may be necessary to 

 employ any kind of labor one can get, in which case the 

 grower will be put to it to devise means of having his fruit 

 handled with care. 



Raspberries and blackberries should be marketed in pint 

 boxes, while strawberries, currants and gooseberries can be 

 shipped in quart baskets. 



Your market will depend largely upon yourself. Whether 

 you care to develop your local market, or whether you intend 

 to ship to the large, near-by city, is a matter which will have 

 to be decided by the individual. We would like to see a 

 greater development of the local market in order that peo- 

 ple may get a better product direct from the producer, and 

 thus use more of it. On the other hand, where it is possible 

 to use a motor truck and make at least two deliveries a day, 

 the large city market can be used to very good advantage. 

 It is always best to avoid as far as possible the shipment of 

 strawberries and raspberries by express, as the rough hand- 

 ling which they get usually places them on the market in 

 very bad condition, and the grower will have to take a re- 

 duced price for them. Having developed your market, try 

 to keep it supplied, as long as the season lasts, with your 

 products, so that customers may call for yours and be sure 

 of getting them. 



Varieties. 



Certainly one of the most important points to consider 

 in the planting of small fruits is variety ; not as important 

 as with the larger fruits because our plantings are more tem- 

 porary, but still, if we would succeed nothing counts like 

 variety. Cape Cod has made its reputation in strawberries 

 on the Marshall berry ; ISTew York, its reputation in currants 

 on the Fays, and so on ; and while we know that one variety 

 of the strawberry will do better in some locations than in 

 others, when we have found a variety that suits a locality 

 we should stick to it and make our reputation with it. It is 

 practically impossible for me to tell you what will succeed 



