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THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Nov.  26 
How  He  Came  to  Select  Strawberries. 
“As  a  young-  man  I  was  convinced  that  farming 
could  be  made  to  pay,”  said  he,  “  and  determined  to 
do  whatever  I  could  successfully  do  on  my  place  so  far 
from  market.  Grain  raising  soon  proved  unremunera- 
tive  by  my  book  accounts.  I  then  tried  sheep,  and, 
later,  dairying,  for  neither  of  which  I  seemed  person¬ 
ally  qualified,  but  when  I  began  work  in  horticul¬ 
ture,  I  knew  at  once  that  I  had  found  my  forte.  Straw¬ 
berries  first  commended  themselves  to  my  notice.  The 
few  we  were  raising  for  home  use  showed  what  pro¬ 
digious  thrift  and  productiveness  they  could  attain, 
and  the  prices  current  at  that  time  urged  me  to  try 
them  for  sale,  although  not  near  a  market  with  good 
facilities  for  transportation.  The  novelty  was  a  good 
thing  from  the  start.  I  began  to  raise  them  in  a  small 
way  only  at  first.  Soon  the  crop  showed  its  possibili¬ 
ties  on  a  large  scale,  and  little  by  little  my  area  has 
been  increased  until  this  year  the  total  sales  amounted 
to  nearly  1,300  bushels  of  berries.” 
“  Do  strawberries  p  iy  as  well  now  as  in  years  p  ist  ?  ” 
“  They  do  not  bring  the  prices  of  former  years. 
Sometimes  I  question  whether  they  will  warrant  a  con¬ 
tinuance  in  this  branch  of  farming  ;  but  with  my  large 
experience  and  a  knowledge  of  the  plant  and  how  to 
do  the  work  most  economically,  together  with  lands 
not  excessively  valuable  or  highly  taxed,  perhaps  J 
clear  as  much  as  when  the  fruit  was  not  so  largely 
produced.  1  have  always  been  a  believer  in  special 
farming.  A  man  should  choose  some  line  to  which  he 
is  adapted  and  then  stick.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not 
think  1  would  gain  anything  by  changing  to  other 
crops.” 
It’s  a  Hard  Fight  with  Weeds. 
“It  seems  as  if  you  might  raise  almost  anything. 
Your  farm  is  remarkably  free  from  weeds,  if  one  can 
judge  by  appearances  ” 
“  Conscience  !  no.  It's  the  worst  in  the  country! 
Hut  any  man  who  has  not  grit  enough  to  get  on  his 
knees  and  stay  there  12  hours  per  day,  if  necessary, 
had  better  let  somebody  else  raise  strawberries.” 
“  Does  it  take  the  labor  of  a  good 
many  hands  to  keep  the  fields  as  clean 
as  I  see  them  ?  ” 
“  Yes.  They  have  to  be  cultivated  and 
hand- weeded  six  or  seven  times  in  a  sea- 
son  unless  it  is  very  dry.”  jY  / 
“  Unless  you  are  able  to  hire  help  un-  JJL 7  jfev 
commonly  low,  would  it  not  pay  to  use  p _ 
horse  weeders  more  and  not  be  so  careful  1  n 
to  kill  every  weed  ?  ”  \ 
“  If  we  picked  the  beds  but  one  year,  \  \  /# 
it  might,  although  I  don’t  like  to  see  , 
slovenly  farming.  My  success  in  straw-  \  'WkYA’ 
berry  culture  I  attribute  largely  to  the  '•  \‘ vA 
invariable  practice  of  weeding  just  before 
the  field  appears  to  need  it.  Help  is  not 
cheap.  A  good  man  gets  $1.50  a  day,  a 
boy  from  15  cents  to  $1.  For  picking  we  usually 
pay  by  the  quart :  for  strawberries  two  cents,  rasp¬ 
berries  and  blackberries  three  cents.” 
“  You  do  not  then  plow  down  your  one-year-old  beds 
directly  after  picking  ?  ” 
“No,  I  have  tried  both  methods  and  prefer  clean 
culture  and  two  seasons  from  my  beds  notwithstand¬ 
ing  many  good  authorities  to  the  contrary.” 
“  What  area  have  you  at  present  devoted  to  straw¬ 
berries  ?  ”  k 
“  I  have  eight  acres  of  new  beds  and  six  of  old,  or 
those  already  picked  once.” 
“  A  portion  of  your  farm  you  don’t  seem  to  set  to 
strawberries.  Is  it  possible  that  on  a  single  farm  some 
parts  are  better  adapted  to  growing  this  fruit  than 
others  ?  ” 
“  Such  is  the  case  on  my  farm.  Some  fields  are  es¬ 
pecially  productive  of  strawberries  with  little  fertil¬ 
izer,  while  others,  apparently  just  as  well  situated  and 
as  fertile  naturally,  can  never  produce  as  well  even 
with  high  artificial  fertilization.  If  you  will  drive  out 
through  this  lane  I  will  show  you  a  streak  of  land 
that  seems  full  of  berries,  or  the  material  they  are 
made  of.  This  field  of  one  acre  would  not  grow  grass. 
I  employ  about  100  pickers.  On  account  of  scarcity  of 
help  I  have  some  undesirable  ones  who  waste  more  or 
less  fruit  unless  watched  very  closely,  and  in  hot  and 
damp  weather  it  is  difficult  to  pick  closely  enough  to 
prevent  the  berries  from  getting  soft.” 
How  The  Berries  Are  Fed. 
“  What  do  you  do  for  f>  rtilizers?  You  cannot  make 
enough  here.” 
“  Oh,  no.  I  keep  but  little  stock.  I  cannot  profitably 
haul  manure  from  Bridgeport,  12  miles,  and  I  depend 
almost  entirely  on  chemicals.” 
“Could  not  the  wagons  carrying  off  berries,  return 
partly  full  of  manure  ?” 
“  It  would  never  do  to  haul  stable  manure  and  straw¬ 
berries  in  the  same  wragon  ;  besides  they  are  all  light 
wagons  with  easy  springs  and  cannot  be  loaded.  If 
they  could  it  would  be  folly  to  spend  time  hauling 
manure  in  the  strawberry  season  when  we  are  so 
rushed.” 
“  What  fertilizers  do  you  use  the  most  of  ?” 
“  Potash  and  phosphoric  acid  have  proved  .specially 
valuable.  I  am  buying  muriate  and  bone.  I  vary  the 
proportions  to  suit  the  field  where  it  is  applied.  Bone 
is  particularly  valuable  on  my  land,  giving,  as  it  does, 
such  lasting  quantities  of  phosphoric  acid.” 
“  Would  not  hard-wood  ashes  that  can  be  bought  in 
this  region  supply  potash  more  cheaply  ?” 
“  No,  I  think  I  can  buy  potash  in  chemicals  cheaper 
than  in  ashes.” 
“  You  must  have  an  object  in  mixing  your  own  fer¬ 
tilizers.” 
“  Yes,  I  find  I  can  save  $5  per  ton.  Two  men  will 
mix  a  ton  thoroughly  in  an  hour  on  a  wet  day.  One 
advantage  of  fruit  raising  is  that  nitrogen,  the  most 
expensive  element,  is  not  bought  or  needed  extensively. 
An  element  which  I  have  found  very  useful  is  humus, 
or  vegetable  matter,  in  the  soil.  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
as  a  home  production  and  a  cheap  aid  to  strawberry 
growers,  however  far  from  market.  Green  manure 
will  raise  strawberries.  I  hardly  believe  it  contains 
the  necessary  plant  food  in  large  quantities,  but  I 
A  Fouk-Wheeled  Dump  Cart.  Fig.  297. 
attribute  its  usefulness  to  the  fact  that  it  holds  mois¬ 
ture  in  the  soil,  even  through  severe  droughts.” 
“  What  green  crops  do  you  plow  in  ?” 
“  Corn  proves  to  be  as  good  as  anything.  Here  is  a 
field  where  I  plowed  in  corn  12  feet  high  and  rye  after 
it.  On  the  rye  I  set  strawberries.  The  next  year 
when  they  came  into  bearing  the  extremely  dry 
weather  made  strawberries  a  failure  throughout  the 
country,  but  my  sales  for  the  year  amounted  to  $3,000. 
The  moisture  held  by  the  humus  in  the  soil  did  it.” 
Still  Trying  Experiments. 
“  What  is  that  corn  doing  among  the  strawberries  ?” 
“  It  is  an  experiment  I  made  to  see  whether  shade 
would  not  be  just  as  beneficial  as  humus.  Two  stalks 
were  allowed  to  grow  in  hills  six  feet  apart  each  way. 
I  hoped  to  make  the  strawberries  later,  as  well  as  to 
supply  them  with  moisture,  and  to  have  the  stalks 
prove  a  winter  aid  by  holding  snow  on  the  bed.  But 
I  do  not  like  the  plan.  The  corn  is  in  the  way  of  cul¬ 
ture,  but,  still  worse,  it  takes  plant  food  from  the 
strawberries.  I  find  an  artificial  mulch  on  the  surface 
more  desirable.” 
“  Are  you  troubled  with  diseases  common  to  straw- 
than  formerly,  so  do  the  baskets  and  crates.  I  have 
paid  as  high  as  $30  per  1,000  for  the  former  and  $2  each 
for  the  latter.  Now  they  are  but  $4.50  and  50  cents 
respectively.  Under  existing  conditions  I  provide  free 
packages  for  a  dozen  or  more  smaller  and  dishonest 
competitors,  losing  an  average  of  13,000  baskets  in  this 
way  per  year.  During  the  pressure  of  the  season  my 
teamsters  can’t  always  get  the  first  chance  to  select 
my  crates  and  others  appropriate  them.  I  insist 
always  on  using  neat,  clean  packages,  believing  it 
pays.” 
Noticing  a  large  pile  of  slats,  crate  length,  rotting 
down  outside  of  a  shed,  The  Rural’s  representative 
inquired  whether  Mr.  Burr  manufactured  his  crates. 
“  I  formerly  did,”  said  he.  “  That  stuff  was  got  out 
for  crates,  but  I  afterwards  found  that  I  could  buy 
them  for  less  than  the  cost  of  nailing  these  slats  to 
gether,  and  here  they  have  lain  ever  since.  We  never 
do  things  at  a  loss  on  this  farm  if  we  can  help  it.” 
Besides  his  money  crop,  Mr.  Burr  raises  many  things 
for  home  consumption  and  enjoyment,  and  these  some¬ 
times  yield  more  than  is  needed,  so  a  neat  little  sur¬ 
plus  can  be  taken  to  market.  Among  these  are  peaches, 
•apples,  pears,  and  this  year  100  heavy  grade  chicks. 
Here  are  Mr.  Burr's  own  words  about  his  apple  sur¬ 
prise  : 
“  Twenty-six  years  ago  a  neighbor  leaned  over  my 
fence  and  saw  me  setting  an  orchard.  He  expressed  a 
doubt  whether  I  would  live  long  enough  to  eat  the  fruit. 
Although  much  older  than  myself,  he  lived  to  see  me 
sell  $000  worth  of  the  fruit  in  one  year.  There  are  100 
trees,  covering  2%  acres.  I  set  them  34  feet  apart  each 
way,  and  they  would  do  better  45  feet  apart.  I  culti¬ 
vated  small  fruits  between  them  for  10  years,  then 
seeded  and  left  the  land  to  grass.  I  pasture  the  field 
every  year  until  the  stock  begins  to  pick  the  fruit, 
when  I  remove  them.  This  keeps  down  the  worm 
plague,  so  common  where  orchards  are  mowed.  I  have 
just  finished  picking  this  year’s  crop  of  300  barrels. 
They  will  sell  well,  as  apples  are  scarce  and  high.” 
Mr.  Burr’s  success  with  peaches  is  phenomenal,  and 
is  noteworthy  because  achieved  under  conditions 
totally  different  from  those  followed  by 
_ the  famous  Hale  Brothers  at  South 
Glastonbury.  His  trees  are  many  of 
them  six  to  eight  inches  in  diameter  and 
well  advanced  in  years.  They  occupy 
4  the  heavily-sodded  head-lands  along  the 
s  stone  walls  with  which  his  farm  abounds. 
In  no  case  are  they  in  plowed  land.  To 
a  remark  of  surprise  in  this  connection, 
Mr.  Burr  said  : 
“  I  don’t  like  to  see  them  there.  It 
seems  as  if  they  were  neglected  and 
lf  i,  f  abused,  and  it  is  against  my  principles  to 
serve  anything  in  this  way  that  responds 
so  liberally.  (The  trees  were  bowed  to 
the  earth  with  great,  juicy,  yellow  and 
white  peaches  and  bear  heavily  nearly 
every  year.)  But  contrary  to  Mr.  Hale’s  experience, 
I  find  that  I  can’t  feed  peach  trees  and  have  them  live. 
If  they  grow  rapidly  they  winter-kill.  I  have  experi¬ 
mented  with  them  until  I  find  the  present  is  the  only 
way  I  can  grow  them  successfully,  and  surely  this 
ought  to  satisfy  the  most  indifferent  cultivator.  I  set 
them  in  small  places  dug  up  in  these  rich  headlands 
and  for  two  or  three  years  cultivate  or  mulch  them, 
taking  pains  that  they  shall  not  be  choked,  but  also 
that  they  shall  net  make  a  great  growth.  When 
well  started,  I  let  the  grass  come  in  and  their  growth 
is  retarded.  The  trees  do  not  begin  bearing  so  soon 
as  if  cultivated,  but  live  and  bear  indefinitely.” 
Fruit  has  apparently  given  Mr.  Burr  almost  every¬ 
thing  mortal  can  desire,  and  he  is  wise  to  nail  his. 
colors  to  it.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  two- 
daughters,  one  of  whom  is  a  successful  landscape  and 
portrait  artist,  and  the  other  is  now  taking  a  college 
course  at  Mount  Holyoke. 
If  all  young  horticulturists  could  be  sure  of  such 
triumphs  as  Mr.  Burr  can  look  back  upon,  well  might 
they  devote  their  energies  and  lives  to  this  noble 
pursuit.  HOLLISTER  SAGE. 
A  GOOD  FOUR-WHEELED  DUMP-CART. 
It  has  now  been  in  berries  10  years.  This  year  I  set 
90  pickers  to  work  here  at  one  time  and  gathered  70 
bushels  of  berries  in  2  hours  and  15  minutes.  That 
piece  of  four  acres  adjacent  is  rough,  broken  land,  but 
I  wras  induced  to  set  it  to  strawberries  because  it  was 
adjacent  and  it  proves  to  be  the  same  kind  of  land.  It 
is  old  pasture,  not  broken  in  30  years  but  has  in  it  the 
elements  for  good  fruit.  Where  that  plowed  field  is  I 
picked  1,000  bushels  year  before  last.  It  measures 
only  5  ac-es.” 
“  It  must  take  some  genuine  engineering  to  dispose 
of  so  many  berries  before  they  spoil,  perishable  as  they 
are.  Do  you  anticipate  a  still  greater  growth  of  the 
business  ?  ” 
“  During  the  last  10  years  I  have  steadily  increased 
my  acreage,  but  I  can  hardly  go  much  further.  There 
has  been  an  increasing  waste  in  the  past  three  years. 
berries  ?” 
“Leaf  blight  is  proving  a  great  affliction  to  straw¬ 
berry  growers,  myself  included.  I  would  give  $1,000 
quickly  to  know  how  to  prevent  its  ravages.  Drive  to 
the  right,  please.  Do  you  notice  this  part  of  the  field  ? 
Early  in  the  season  it  was  as  green  as  thrifty  plants 
could  make  it.  Now  it  is  nearly  bare  and  will  prove 
a  great  loss  in  time,  money  and  prospects.” 
The  other  fields  seen  were  free  from  blight  and  pre¬ 
sented  a  marked  contrast.  To  the  query 
“What  do  you  think  of  free  packages?”  Mr.  Burr 
replied  : 
“The  time  is  not  distant  when  the  receptacles  for 
strawberries  will  be  given  away  w;th  them,  and  I 
shall  be  glad  wh»n  it  arrives.  Consumers  will  be  only 
too  glad  to  pay  an  extra  cent  per  quart  if  necessary, 
but  this  will  rarely  be.  If  strawberries  bring  less  now 
A  good,  broad-tired,  low-down  hay  wagon  and  a 
two  horse  dump-cart  combination  I  made  by  sawing 
off  the  spokes  of  an  old  wagon  and  putting  on  four- 
inch  wagon  tires  at  a  cost  of  about  $6  (see  Fig.  297.) 
The  tires  are  fastened  on  the  spokes  by  passing  wood 
screws  through  the  tires  into  the  ends  of  the  spokes, 
dispensing  with  the  use  of  felloes.  Instead  of  weld¬ 
ing  the  tires,  they  are  bent  back  at  the  ends  and 
bolted  together,  as  shown  in  cut,  at  the  ends,  which 
admits  of  tightening  them  with  bolts  instead  of  the 
costly  cutting  at  a  blacksmith’s  shop.  The  low  front 
wheels  shown  in  the  cut  are  used  for  both  the  lowj 
down  hay  wagon  and  the  two-horse  dump-cart,  by  the 
simple  removal  of  one  coupling  pin.  This  cart  has  a 
history  ;  the  wheels  were  made  for  artillery  purposes, 
but  instead  of  being  used  to  destroy  life,  they  are  now 
employed  to  handle  material  to  sustain  life. 
Anderson  County,  S.  C.  j.  c.  striblinq. 
