The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
839 
Notes From New England 
The Strawberry Crop,— A week of 
unprecedented hot weather ripened straw¬ 
berries unusually early in New England 
this season, but another week of constant 
rain cut the crop short in many sections. 
The rain made picking and shipping im¬ 
possible for several days, just when the 
harvest should have been at its host, illus¬ 
trating once iignin the uncertain nature 
of the farmer and fruit grower's occupa¬ 
tion. While Marshfield, Concord, Digh- 
ton and Abington send many berries to 
market, (’ape Cod is fast becoming 'the 
strawberry section of Massachusetts. The 
development of the industry around Fal¬ 
mouth. where about MOO acres have been 
planted to strawberries, has been phe¬ 
nomenal. and well illustrates the advan¬ 
tages of co-operation. The Falmouth 
section is settled largely by Portuguese, 
many of whom cannot speak English. 
They have been growing strawberries for 
years, obtaining rather surprising results 
under conditions which would ordinarily 
seem unfavorable They grow their ber¬ 
ries by a very intensive system, and do 
most of the work by hand. Formerly it 
•was the practice of HostOn buyers to go 
through the Falmouth section and pur¬ 
chase 'the ertn at the lowest possible 
prices. In 1 season when berries were 
plentiful the growers often received only 
5 or 6 cents a box. This left them but 
little profit. 
Value of Co-operation. —When the 
co-operative plan was first proposed it 
most certain to abound where sod has 
been turned under. If it is planned to 
use new land next season for strawber¬ 
ries, growers will do much to protect 
themselves by plowing tliejand this Sum¬ 
mer and harrowing it frequently. Doing 
this will eliminate the white grubs to a 
large extent, as well as getting rid of the 
cutworms and wireworms. 
Tobacco for Bugs. —I have a letter 
from one backyard gardener who says 
that he has found a way of dealing with 
squash vine borers which is most satis¬ 
factory when only a few plants are 
raised. It may be worth the attention 
of other amateurs. This man buys a few 
cents worth of tobacco dust at a seed 
store and covers the stems of the plants 
from the ground to a height of four or 
five iuebos. He finds that this plan keeps 
the borers away entirely. The plan works 
for both Winter and Summer squashes, 
he says. Of course a heavy rain will 
wash the dust away, so that it must he 
renewed after a shower. Nicotine in dif¬ 
ferent forum is a very satisfactory in¬ 
secticide. A decoction of Black Leaf 40 
poured around the stems of such plants 
as squashes, melons and cucumbers is a 
great help in keeping away the striped 
beetle, as it destroys the grubs which in 
themselves do considerable damage by 
working on tlm mots underground.' To¬ 
bacco dust will help to keep both the 
bodies and the flea beetles from the 
foliage, and when scattered along the 
, cad Compaq 
Cm*. Met.. WA_ 
Health is wealth itself 
—and depends more upon the selection of 
proper food than upon anything else. 
The reason is simple—the right kind of food 
digests promptly and is absorbed into the blood 
for building sound tissue; while food that di¬ 
gests slowly may ferment and lead to serious 
conditions. 
Grape-Nuts—the delicious cereal food made 
from whole wheat flour and malted barley— 
is so easy to digest that even delicate people 
and young children thrive on it. 
This is only natural, because Grape-Nuts is 
baked for 20 hours, which transforms and par¬ 
tially pre-digests the starch elements, resulting 
in easy digestion and quick assimilation. 
Served with milk or cream, Grape-Nuts is 
a complete food—and along with its nutritive 
qualities is that wonderful flavor! 
There’s a Reason 
Made by Postum Cereal Company, Inc., Battle Creek, Michigan 
wns difficult to win the confidence of these 
growers, Mos‘t of them are now members, 
however, of the (’ape (’oil Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, and seldom receive less than 25 
cents a box for their fruit. Even those 
growers who are m>t members have bene¬ 
fited. as better prices are being received 
all along the line. This is the only place 
in New England from which strawberries 
are shipped in carload lots. While they 
have been going mostly to Boston in the 
past, it is expected to extend the business 
so that cars will go to Portland and other 
equally distant cities. Echo is the vari¬ 
ety mostly grown, as it is a good shipper, 
while being well adapted to Cape Cod 
conditions. Growers in that section arc- 
now taking up raspberries as a succession 
crop. The result of 'the increased pros¬ 
perity on the part of the Portuguese 
strawberry growers is seen in better 
homes, better dressed children and better 
schools. The co-operative movement has 
brought about a social as well as an in¬ 
dustrial revolution. 
Varieties.- -Strawberries are perhaps 
the most notional of all fruit, and a 
grower makes a mistake if he plants any 
kind heavily until it has been tested in 
his section. All of the strawberry grow¬ 
ing communities have varieties which they 
favor. Marsh Hold is. of course, famous 
for its Marshall berries, among the first 
on the market and unsurpassed for size. 
The Abington berry is largely grown iu 
the town *>f Abington, where it was orig¬ 
inated. Concord has the Minute Mao. 
among other kinds. Senator Dunlap is 
the one strawberry which seems to thrive 
in almost any locality. It is a variety 
which the amateur can depend upon if he 
is in doubt what, to grow. A variety 
which has grown very rapidly in favor 
during the last two years and which 
promises to be very widely grown 
throughout New England is called How¬ 
ard 17. A number of commercial grow ¬ 
ers have taken up this variety and speak 
higldj of it. Private growers who like 
a large and unusually well flavored berry 
have been planting St. Martin, which was 
originated by loans Bruton, who now 
lives in Whitman. Judith is a berry orig¬ 
inated by Ur. Frederick He Due, of Need¬ 
ham. who has received high awards. 
White Grubs. —One mistake often 
made by amateurs is in planting straw¬ 
berries on new land. This practice is 
almost sure to result in the destruction 
of many plants by the white grubs, which 
live upon the roots of grass aud are al- 
rows of growing pens will protect them 
from the birds. 
Registering Woodlots. —Many farm¬ 
ers will doubtless make haste to register 
their woodland under a law just passed 
by the Legislature, and which becomes 
effective early in August. This law pro¬ 
vides thar registered timber land shall be 
taxed only as bare land, ami not on the 
value of rhe wood, as formerly. 'When 
the crop is harvested, however, the owner 
must pay n yield tax of six per cent of 
the stumpage value of the timber cut. 
lie is allowed, though, to cut for his per¬ 
sonal use. or the use of a tenant of such 
a man, an amount of wood not in excess 
of 82,7 of the stumpage value annually. 
This act is one which has been sought 
for some years. It was an evident in¬ 
justice to impose a tax every year on 
growing timber from which there was no 
annual return. The compound interest 
on these yearly taxes over a long period 
cut the possible profits to practically 
nothing. The new law is intended to 
encourage the growing of timber, but not 
to relieve from taxation land which ought 
t" he cut. This situation is met by pro¬ 
viding that only areas valued on the 
town tax list of 'the preceding year for 
land and timber at uot more than 82” an 
acre can ho registered. The reason for 
getting the land registered this year 
arises in the probable tendency of 
nssesors to increase the valuation of all 
timber land in order to offset probable 
losses in revenue. There may be a big 
difference in the valuation this year and 
next. 
Tools for tiik Garden, — An endless 
procession of new implements for garden- 
makers is passing through the advertis¬ 
ing pages of the magazines. I have tried 
many of them, and the majority are in 
a corner of the barn gathering rust, I 
fear, from lack of use. The average gar¬ 
dener finds that he gets along very well 
with a wheel-hoe, a hand hoe, a good iron 
rake, a spade, a garden fork, a trowel 
and a tile. Amateurs often overlook the 
file, but it is really indispensable if a 
garden is to he cared for without undue 
exertion. It is just as unsatisfactory to 
try cultivating with a dull hoe as it is to 
work up wood with a dull saw. One of 
the new tools, however. I like. It is a 
trowel with a saw-tooth edge on each 
side, but sturdily made, as a trowel 
should be. It stands rough usage, and 
is valuable for cutting out weeds as well 
as for transplanting. e. I. f. 
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