R. M. KEUOGO'S GREAT CROPS OF 
Excelsior 
DOLLARS AND CENTS. 
It is important that you comprehend the differ- 
ence in profits between intensive fruit growing as 
taught in these pages and the common methods of 
the average fruit grower. Take one thousand 
bushels of berries as the basis of calculation for 
comparison. 
The average crop under ordinary methods is 
from 50 to 75 bushels per acre, and so to produce 
the 1000 bushels we must furnish and fit at least 
135^ acres of land. You must then buy and set 
53,300 plants, (7000 to the acre). The cost of 
picking aud marketing berries grown in the old 
way is always greater because you must go over so 
much more land for the same amount of fruit, and 
on the market you must accept what the purchaser 
sees fit to pay. You cannot secure regular custom- 
ers at an extra price for common fruit. 
To produce one thousand tiushels by these im- 
proved methods and basing calculations on my 
own experience I should not think of using over 
four acres of land, ( 250 bushels per acre) and should 
therefore have to purchase and set only 28,000 
plants. My crops have rarely dropped as low as 
that and have exceeded five himdred bushels per 
acre. Now I should sell this fancy fruit at from 
three to five cents per quart more than the common 
fruit grown by the old method and can hold regular 
customers who are glad to get this grade of fruit 
at the advanced price. 
While it does cost some more work to give 
this intensive culture, yet the extra price of $960 
received for the fruit would pay for the entire 
cost of plants, use of land, manuring, marketing, 
etc. and leave me more than the gross price of 
common fruit for net profits. 
As these ])lants would be grown in hills or 
hedge row they would not become exhausted by 
seed or fruit bearing and would produce large crops 
for three or four ytars while by the old way the 
beds generally cease to be profitable after the se- 
cond year and must be plowed under and re-set. 
These comparisons an- not exaggerated, for in 
this calculation I have taken the larger estimate of 
common crops— 75 b"- P^r acre— and the smaller 
amount grown by the improved method— 250 
bushels per acre and the lowest per cent of gain on 
quality— 3 cents per quart, which gives a very con- 
servative comparison. 
SHORT CHAPTER ON " DON'TS." 
Don't try to lift the 
whole world at once but 
only as much of it as will 
afford you profit and 
pleasure. Don't imagine 
you must have all the 
fancy tools to start with ; 
you will be able to get 
them later. Any good 
farm tools will answer 
the purpose. Don't set 
any more plants than you 
can manure the ground 
for and cultivate thor- 
oughly. 
Don't forget that one acre of rich land set with 
Pedigree Plants and given thorough tillage will 
produce more clear profits than five acres of ordi- 
nary land set with scrub plants. 
Don't forget that while many markets are 
glutted with poor fruits dealers find it exceedingly 
difficult to get really fine fruit and are hunting for 
the man who can produce it. 
Don't forget that you can talk Pedigree Plants 
and high tillage to nine-tenths of the fruit growers 
till Doomsday and they will keep right on in the 
old ruts traveled in by their fathers and grand- 
fathers and use scrub plants and give poor tillage 
and thus leave the profits to the "up-to-date fruit 
grower" 
HOW PLANTS FEED. 
About ninety- five per cent of plants by weight 
comes from the atmosphere and only five per cent 
from the soil. There are about sixty ingredients 
in the soil which plants use but they get along very 
well if only sixteen of them are present. These 
ingredients are found in abundance in all fariable 
soils, except potash, j)hosphoric acid and nitrogen 
which must be replenished by manures. 
These foods must be dissolved in the soil water 
and are sucked upby the little hair roots and passed 
from cell to cell through the center of the plant to 
Glenn Mary 
12 
