248 Success with Small Fruits. 



recently, I met with Mr. Andrew M. Hopper, of Pascack, who gave me 

 several interesting points from his early recollections. 



"Mr. Hopper said: ' I am sixty-five years old, and can well remember 

 picking berries for my father, when a boy ten years of age. At that time 

 we had no crates as we have now, but packed them in large baskets that 

 we called hampers. 



" ' Our only shipping point to New York was Piermont, on the Hudson, 

 New York State, a distance of about eight miles. 



"'At this point there was a line of sloops that sailed semi-weekly, 

 when wind and tide permitted. In those days; there were no commission 

 merchants in New York that dealt in berries, and each farmer was compelled 

 to go with and sell his own fruit. The fare on these vessels was one 

 shilling for a round trip, board not included ; and as it sometimes 

 required two days to reach the city, each farmer provided a lunch for 

 himself before starting for home, as well as provender for his team, which 

 was left at the landing to await his return. The usual fee for caring for 

 the team while they were gone was twenty-five cents.' 



"The Hautbois was the first named variety he could remember, which 

 was introduced among them in 1835. In about 1840, the Scotch Runner 

 was introduced at Hackensack. It was a valuable variety for the growers, 

 as it was hardy, a good bearer, and the fruit grew unusually large for that 

 period. An incident connected with the introduction of this variety is 

 worth mentioning, showing the eagerness of the cultivators to procure the 

 plants. 



" A gentleman living at ' Old Bridge,' which is a few miles above 

 Hackensack, secured quite a number of plants, and set them out in his 

 garden for the purpose of propagating them, so that he could in due time 

 plant a large patch of them. The vines being in great demand, his 

 neighbors insisted upon his selling them ; but this proposition he 

 positively refused, and the consequence was that, one night, some person 

 entered his garden and stole every plant he had. At this period, and up 

 to the introduction of the Wilson, all strawberries in thai section were 

 picked and marketed without the hulls. 



"For a long time, I have been trying to find out the originator of the 

 quart berry box and crate, and, thinking Mr. Hopper might possess some 

 knowledge on this point, I inquired of him. He replied : ' I know 

 nothing about the quart box, for I never used them, but I do about the 

 crate. 



" ' In 1840, I made the first crate ever used in our section, if not in the 

 State, and I will tell you how I came to do it. In those days, I raised 



