June, 1890. 
115 
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J ii lie Jottings. 
The fruit-grower now begins to receive 
some returns from the fruit of his labors 
and the amount received will be in propor- 
tion to the skill and care with which the 
fruit is marketed. In another column is 
given some very practical instructions re- 
garding the harvesting of strawberries, by 
an experienced fruit-grower, to which little 
can be added. It will pay well to mulch 
the rows of strawberries with cut grass, salt 
hay, or straw, that the berries may be kept 
off the soil. We have found straw, run 
through a straw cutter, the best material 
for the purpose, easily applied and readily 
worked in among the plants. Moisture is 
essential to the development, of the straw- 
berry and in dry weather water may be very 
profitable applied whilst the fruit is swell- 
ing but should be withheld after the berries 
begin to color. Dry. warm weather during 
the ripening process induces fine flavor and 
firmness in the berry; the inverse conditions 
cause softness, mould and poor quality. 
* * 
* 
Currants are often splashed with grit and 
earth from heavy rains and for this reason 
need mulching also. Weeds or any litter 
may be thrown around the roots and will 
be sufficient for this purpose. The grape 
baskets that have now come into general 
use make capital packages for shipping cur- 
rants. The ten and fifteen pound sizes can 
be bought quite cheaply and fruit in them 
will bring a much better price than if put 
up in boxes of all sizes procured at the gro- 
cery store. 
* * 
* 
That the gooseberries may have a fair 
■chance all possible means should he taken 
to keep the roots cool and moist during our 
hot, dry summers. Mulch should be ap- 
plied of any sort: even stones make a go^d 
mulch for this fruit if sufficient are put on. 
Pinch out shoots fi om the centre of the bush 
that the air may penetrate freely. Weak 
liquid manure applied often will give goose- 
berries of large size. 
* * 
* 
The young plantations of raspberries and 
blackberries must be kept well cultivated 
and free from weeds. The new canes should 
be pinched back at about three feet high to 
cause them to throw out laterals and to in- 
duce a stocky growth. This should be done 
to the new canes in both young and old 
plantations. Better pinch off now and stop 
unnecessary growth than cut the canes back 
next spring; a useless growth of wood is a 
waste of energy. If anyone has neglected 
to set out a new bed of raspberries or black- 
berries in the Spring and has a bearing bed 
upon his grounds, he may easdy make it 
now by choosing a rainy day for the opera- 
tion, whilst the soil is wet, and taking up 
the young, green sucker plants from the old 
patch with a shovelful of soil adhering to 
the roots. The holes should he prepared 
beforehand in the new plantation, and it is 
then an easy matter to move the plants 
without wilting in the least. To gain a good 
crop next year we recommend placing two 
plants in a hill. The tops should be pinched 
off when they reach a height of 2}i to 3 feet. 
Gathering aud marketing Strawberries. 
There is more cause for care and anxiety, 
more need of vigilance, patience and skill, 
and often more expense, in the strawberry 
patch, after the crop is grown, than in the 
growing. 
When grown on the matted-row system, 
one of the first things to be attended to is to 
see that paths of sufficient width are provid- 
ed for the pickers, and that the rows are 
not too wide. Be s«re and have the paths 
wide enough. Remember, the vines will 
grow up and bend over with their load of 
fruit, and that the pickers sometimes have 
large feet, or at least, require a good deal of 
room for them. 
Of course you will see that the packages, 
of whatever style you use, are on hand, and 
cleaned up all ready. Be sure and have 
enough. It is far better to have more than 
you need than to run out in the height of 
the season; and we cannot always get our 
empty packages back as soon as we expect- 
ed, especially when we ship to a commission 
house. 
Unless the patch is near to the house, or 
other suitable building, packing-houses or 
sheds should be provided, to protect the 
berries and packers from the sun and sudden 
showers. On cool days early in the season, 
I usually load the berries direct from the 
packing- house upon the wagon for market; 
but in hot weather, they should be taken to 
the cellar as soon as a few bushels are pick- 
ed. The wagons should have the best of 
springs under them. 
We prefer to use the quart baskets to pick 
in. carrying them in a frame holding four. 
In cool days, and good picking, our best 
pickers are sometimes allowed to take two 
of these carriers. If the rows are wide, I 
put two pickers in a row, — one on each side. 
Where the rows are long, I prefer to divide 
them into two parts, by a line running 
cross- wise of the patch. 
In picking a patch of five acres, with rows 
forty rods long, I divide it into two patches, 
with a packing-house for each, and pick 
one half one day the other the next; 
thus keeping the pickers in a more compact 
body, and nearer the packing-house. Each 
picker is required to bring in his own berries, 
and they are immediately placed in the 
crates and tickets given. 
In gathering a patch of any size, at least 
two persons are required to attend to the 
pickers, and usually, three or four. One to 
superintend the pickers, and be with them 
constantly, to give out rows, see that they 
pick all the ripe fruit, and leave all the green 
fruit, do not mash the vines or berries, nor 
molest their neighbor’s row, nor sample too 
large a portion of the fruit. This may ap- 
pear to the looker-on to be the “soft-snap” 
of berry-growing, but a short trial would 
convince him that he is woefully mistaken. 
Then, one or more persons will be required 
to receive berries and pack them, and give 
out tickets When picking seventy- five to 
one hundred bushels per day, it required 
three hands in the packing-house. When 
possible, berries should be taken to the mar- 
ket in the cool part of the day or night. 
The methods of marketing depend so 
much upon local circumstances, that it is 
well nigh impossible to give rules of gener- 
al application. There are some principles 
of universal application, however, and hon- 
esty is one of them. Do not “shingle.” 
Give good measure. 
T put my entire crop of fruit of all kinds 
in the hands of a commission-house that has 
handled them for several years. And now, 
just a word as to commission-men. I am 
well aware that they have many chances to 
defraud their patrons, and, no doubt, in 
some instances, they improve these oppor- 
tunities; still a commission-man, like a nur- 
seryman, cannot afford ro do crooked busi- 
ness if lie values his business reputation 
or future prosperity. Still, it will not hurt 
an honest man to watch him, he lie commis- 
sion-man or nurseryman; but when you do 
find them honest, amid such great tempta- 
tions, do not be backwards in rendering 
them due praise. 
The berry -grower, although he sorely feels 
the need of a day of rest, is often inclined 
to wish there was no Sunday, until berries 
were gone. The small grower can usually 
manage to dispose of his Saturday’s picking, 
and rest in peace until Monday, but one 
who has several acres, cannot pick berries 
Saturday, and if half of the patch was pick- 
ed Thursday, and half Friday, he knows it 
will not do to let it go until Monday so he 
is forced to pick Sunday or quit the busi- 
ness. It is to be hoped some plan of cold 
storage, or some other method, will be de- 
vised whereby this unpleasant feature may 
be avoided. 
I usually make a bargain with my pickers 
that those who stay during the entire season 
shall receive better pay than those who only 
pick during the height of the season. For 
instance, I agreed to pay one and one-half 
cents per quart for picking raspberries, and 
all who remained to the close of the season 
were to receive an extra half cent per quart 
— making two cents. My neighbor made 
no such provision, and towards the close of 
the season, found it next to impossible to 
get his berries picked, even at advanced 
prices. 
There are few departments cf horticulture 
more wearisome and vexatious than secur- 
ing a large crop of berries in the best possi- 
ble manner, and it behooves us to lighten this 
task as much as possible by careful fore- 
thought and preparation. — W. W. Farns- 
worth, Lucas Co., O. 
