102 FRUIT RANCHING. 



especially if the car is lo be iced. It is, of course, 

 unwise not to have it full, for the freight cost will be 

 the same whether the car is wholly or only partly filled. 



I cannot help thinking that, all things considered, 

 it is a mistake to rely exclusively upon such a perish- 

 able commodity as strawberries to tide the fruit 

 rancher over the early years. Potatoes, for instance, 

 are nothing like so precarious a crop, and not only 

 can they be dug under less insistent pressure than 

 strawberries can be gathered, but also there is a cer- 

 tain amount of latitude and choice in the time at 

 which they may be sold. At Bonnington, on ground 

 that was simply dug, practically used in a state of 

 nature, we obtained a yield of three tons per acre. 

 Had the land been properly worked and properly 

 manured, and had the potatoes been planted a month 

 earlier than we were able to get them in, the crop 

 w^ould have been at least 50 per cent, heavier. Say, 

 then, the yield is 4^ tons per acre, which is equal, in 

 Canadian measure (1 ton — 2,0001bs.), to 9,0001bs., or 

 ninety 1001b. bags. Take the selling price of these 

 at $1.25 per bag, and we get a yield per acfe of 

 $112.50 (£22 10s.). This figure might very easily 

 run up to $135 (£27) per acre. In the spring of 1909 

 potatoes were selling at $3 per bag. This, on the low 

 basis of yield assumed above, would have yielded 

 $270 (£52). The cost of production of an acre of 

 potatoes is, of course, very much less than the cost 

 of production of an acre of strawberries. 



If the fruit rancher prefers to pin his faith to 

 strawberries, the question of varieties becomes a 

 matter of paramount importance. If the berries arc 

 to travel 1,000 miles, it is imperative that they should 



