Page 20 



BETTER FRUIT 



March 



Copyrighted igio by R. Kellogg Company 



MARKING OUT THE ROWS FOR STRAWBERRY 

 FIELDS 



these proportions will yield, where the 

 plants receive proper cultural treatment, 

 very large crops of strawberries. 



One of the first elements of success in 

 strawberry growing as well as in orchard- 

 ing or any other line of horticultural 

 production, is the quality of the plants 

 set out. We are given a striking illus- 

 tration of the possibilities of strawberries 

 where thoroughbred strawberry plants 

 and perfect cultural methods have gone 

 hand in hand in your great State of Ore- 

 gon. On pages 46 and 48 of the "Tenth 

 Biennial Report of the Oregon Board of 

 Horticulture'' is a report of results 

 secured by H. B. Steward, postmaster 

 at Myrtle Point, Oregon. Mr. Steward 

 is a believer in thoroughbred straw- 

 berries, and the plants from which the 

 results related here were secured were 

 of the thoroughbred quality. It is also 

 evident that Mr. Steward believes in 



thorou.ghbrcd cultural meth- 

 ods, and also in the same 

 high order in packing his 

 fruit for market. However, 

 we would better quote from 

 the report, as we are sure it 

 will be most encouraging to 

 soil tillers in your own and 

 neighboring states. The re- 

 port says: 



"Mr. Steward is an expert 

 strawberry grower. The land 

 devoted to his strawberries is 

 located on a high hill, with 

 red loam soil, overlooking 

 Myrtle Point and the Coquille 

 River Valley. Mr. Steward's 

 success with the strawberry 

 at this point has been great, 

 and the profits he has been 

 able to realize from an acre 

 make an object lesson for 

 Coos County that will be a source 

 of great future wealth to the peo- 

 ple of that locality if they emulate 

 the example he has set for them. 

 When railroad connections are had with 

 interior markets the demand for such fine 

 strawberries as are grown by Mr. Stew- 

 ard will be, for many years, greater than 

 they can supply. M-r. Steward assures 

 me that off his three and one-half acres 

 of the Magoon, Glen Mary and August 

 Luther varieties he has been able to 

 realize, net, $1,600 per acre. To many 

 strawberry growers in less favored sec- 

 tions than Coos County, I know, $1,600 

 profit per acre will be taken as a real 

 estate story, told for booming purposes, 

 but it should be known that Mr. Stew- 

 ard's strawberries begin ripening May 

 15th, and continue to bloom and mature 

 their fruit to October 15th, enabling the 

 grower to gather ripe berries every da}' 



Copyrighted igio by R. M. Kellogg Company 



HAULING THE MULCHING ON THE FARM 

 I'luin eiglit tu sixteen teams are used to bring the straw from tlie country to tlie R. M. Kellogg Farms, Three Rivers, 

 iMiL-liifjan. The horses and wagons go astride the rows and the straw is tlirown off in piles ready for the men with 

 forks, who scatter it evenly over the plants to a depth of three or four inches. Great as is the cost of this work, it 



more than pays for itself. 



NEW RUNNER CUTTER WITH HANDLE 

 Manufactured by R. M. Kellogg Company 

 Three Rivers, Michigan 



between the dates mentioned, getting as 

 much as four crops, as compared with 

 less favored sections during the year, and 

 the profits he assures me he gets are, I 

 know, facts. Mr. Steward's soil being 

 very rich and congenial to the growth of 

 the strawberry, and the moisture-laden 

 air, drifting over the land daily and con- 

 densing at night in heavy dew, keeps the 

 vines strong and vigorous during the 

 bearing season, which, with his skill as a 

 grower, are the secrets of his profits and 

 success. Mr. Steward won the prize 

 ofTered by the strawberry king of the 

 United States, R. M. Kellogg, of Three 

 Rivers, Michigan. The prize was for the 

 best crate of strawberries grown in the 

 United States. Mr. Steward's prize win- 

 ning crate contained twentj'- 

 four quart cups and averaged 

 thirteen strawberries to the 

 cup, uniform in size and per- 

 fect in color." 



What Mr. Steward has ac- 

 complished may be done by 

 others, and no matter how 

 many engage in the work the 

 market will take all of the 

 first-class strawberries which 

 are offered. The strawberry 

 is peculiar in that the public 

 never tires of them, and the 

 more the public gets of them 

 the more it seems to require. 

 In the larger markets of the 

 country, where a carload was 

 shipped in ten years ago, the 

 strawberry now comes in by 

 the trainload, and the people 

 of St. Paul and Minneapolis 

 enjoy the Hood River prod- 

 uct just as much as do the 

 dwellers in Portland, Taconia 

 and Seattle. 



Perhaps it may be well to 

 briefly outline here some of 

 the more salient points in 

 strawberry culture for the 

 benefit of those who never 

 have grown this delicious 

 fruit. It must be remembered 

 at the outset that the question 

 of sex in strawberry plants is 



