1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
373 
On the Winjr. 
Farm Run by Daughter Power. 
Fruits and Vegetables for the Home Mar¬ 
ket—The Birthplace of the New 
York Strawberry. 
fEDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
Past I. 
A Strawberry and a Woman —la 
1897, W. P. Allen Jr., of Maryland, of¬ 
fered a prize of $100 for 12 plants of any 
variety of strawberry that would pro¬ 
duce as much fruit, of as large size and 
good quality, as Glen Mary. Many were 
the varieties offered in competition for 
this prize, but none came near the con¬ 
ditions required except the berry now 
named New York, which is being dis¬ 
seminated, for the first time, this year. 
This variety came from Tompkins Coun¬ 
ty, where it originated with a woman, 
who deserted the school-room for the 
berry field, and who ignores the middle¬ 
man, by selling to a home market for 
the delectation of the Summer boarder. 
The R. N.-Y. decided that this feminine 
prize-winner must have something inter¬ 
esting to say, and an interview with her 
proved the truth of this impression. 
The Big Berry’s Birthplace —Tomp¬ 
kins County can show some fairly big 
hills—out in northern Illinois we should 
call them mountains — and the fields 
show a good deal of shaly rock on the 
surface of the loose, open soil. A pil¬ 
grim from New Jersey feels some hesi¬ 
tancy in referring to stony fields, be¬ 
cause it is currently reported, in some 
portions of Bergen County, that a farm¬ 
er may build a new stone wall, four feet 
high and three feet thick, to surround a 
10-acre lot, each Spring, with the stones 
gathered on its surface. Still, there are 
stones in the Tompkins County fields. 
There are, also, springs of fine mineral 
water in these hills, flowing from deep 
driven wells, and it is this mineral water, 
together with pure air and beautiful 
scenery, that makes the locality attract¬ 
ive to Summer boarders. 
The Yates Farm. —The truck farm 
upon which the big berry originated 
comprises but 10 acres. Mr. Yates for¬ 
merly operated a large farm—the family 
homestead—outside the village, but this 
was given up when he approached three 
score and ten, and the present home, 
facing the main street of the pretty vil¬ 
lage, was selected. There are no sons, 
but Mies Yates stepped forward as flag 
lieutenant, and soon demonstrated her 
capabilities. She had been a school¬ 
teacher, and later a stenographer, but 
failing health called for an active out¬ 
door life, and fruit-farming suggested 
itself as the most desirable form such 
work could take. 
Fattening the Summer Boarder — 
“What are your principal crops?” I 
asked Miss Yates. 
“Small fruits—strawberries, raspber¬ 
ries, and blackberries—and a succession 
of garden vegetables.” 
“ Where is your market—Ithaca ? One 
would imagine that a busy college town 
wouid furnish an excellent place for 
such products.” 
“ My market is right here,” said Miss 
Yates. “ I don’t try to reach any other 
market. This is a Summer-boarder dis¬ 
trict ; we have two large hotels and 
various boarding-houses right in town, 
and I do not even have to deliver the 
goods. Buyers come to our place, and 
buy the freshly-gathered fruit and vege¬ 
tables. There is no need for a delivery- 
wagon, and no commission for the 
middleman ; I hand our products to the 
buyer, and run a strictly cash business.” 
A Horseless Farm. —“ I suppose you 
keep help all the year around ? ” 
“ We don’t have a resident 1 hired man,’ 
because it is always easy to hire some 
one by the day, and we have neither 
horses nor cows ; the only live stock be¬ 
sides the poultry is the family cat.” 
“ How do you manage about plowing, 
cultivating, etc. ? ” 
“ Hire some one by the day. In this 
district, it is easy to hire men and teams 
for such work, and I have never yet 
found any trouble in hiring satisfactory 
help, by the day or hour. I have figured 
out, to my own satisfaction, that it would 
not really pay me to keep horse or cow. 
I believe that there are many other 
small places where the keeping of such 
stock does not pay, but the matter has 
not been reasoned out, because it’s cus¬ 
tomary to keep a horse, at least. I aim 
to take note of all the small leaks and 
little economies ; it makes a b'g differ¬ 
ence in the year’s earnings.” 
Starting in Business. — “ Did you 
have much trouble in finding sale for 
your products at first ? ” 
“ No ; you see, there was a good mar¬ 
ket at the very door. The hotels and 
boardirg-houses need just such products, 
and need them in quantity. Private 
families have followed them, and now 
many who formerly made their own 
gardens have given them up, because it 
seems less trouble to buy. The private 
trade needs education, though, for many 
consumers hardly know the difference 
in quality between freshly-gathered and 
stale small fruits and vegetables.” 
“ Then you had no necessity to drum 
up trade at the start ? ” 
“No, indeed; the market was here, 
waiting to be supplied. I don’t mean 
that there were no difficulties ; there is 
always plenty of work to be done, but 
the work suits me, and our family 
of three is well supplied by our 10 
acres. We have a comfortable living 
and something over, and I have never 
regretted my change from school-room 
and office to the fruit farm ” 
The New York Strawberry. —A walk 
over the farm showed an array of straw¬ 
berry beds, raspberries, blackberries, 
etc. The berries were just making a 
start after their Winter’s sleep, though 
in the middle of April, many snowdrifts 
showed white on the surrounding hills. 
The New York strawberry could be 
easily distinguished from the other 
varieties; it had a very strong, robust 
look. I asked Miss Yates how she came 
to begin originating strawberries. 
“I didn’t start with any special idea 
of raising new varieties. About seven 
years ago, I noticed some fruit of extra 
size and beauty upon a plant of Bubach 
No. 5, which had been fertilized with 
Jessie. One berry was particularly fine, 
being 7 % inches in circumference, so I 
decided to perpetuate it. and sowed the 
seed in a little box. The seedlings 
raised displayed all the excellence of the 
parent, being vigorous and productive, 
and bearing these large, showy berries. 
We did not realize that we had anything 
of extra value, so we gave no name to 
the new variety, merely describing the 
fruit as ‘ the big berries.’ Our customers 
admired the fruit exceedingly, and the 
Summer boarders, who like to visit our 
place and see how things grow, often 
bought the fruit for their own private 
eating, or to take home to the city. We 
grew the 1 big berries ’ in ordinary field 
culture, narrow matted rows, treating 
them just like any other variety, so 
that they have never had any coddling 
or special treatment. When I saw Mr. 
Allen’s prize offer, I thought I might see 
whether my strawberry really competed 
with others, but, though every one who 
had seen it had assured us that it was of 
extra value, I must own to a very pleas¬ 
ant shock when I learned that it dis¬ 
tanced all competitors.” 
Miss Yates stated that her local mar¬ 
ket demands a dark-colored berry ; 
light scarlet varieties are looked on with 
some doubt, hence she was guided, to 
some extent, in her selection of varie¬ 
ties, by this prejudice. Her strawberry 
season begins in time for the heaviest 
demand of the local market. e. t. r. 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adm. 
Crumbs of Comfort. 
A novel device for carrying daily balm 
from Holy Writ to our friends, whether 
sick or well, but especially the former, 
is found in a bag of “Crumbs of Com¬ 
fort,” described by the Chicago Record. 
This bag is made of some light, dainty 
silk, of plain color, sewed firmly to a cir¬ 
cular bottom covered with the same ma¬ 
terial. A draw-string of narrow ribbon 
of a harmonizing or contrasting shade 
runs through the casing near the top, 
while embroidered in silk of the same 
color as the ribbon, are the words. 
“ Crumbs of Comfort ” on the side of the 
bag. Comforting texts, well chosen, arc 
written, with their correct refe'ences, on 
long, narrow slips of paper, a tbiL 
parchment being good for the purpose 
and then curled up into rolls by running 
the dull edge of a knife blade over the 
slip held in the fingers. A bag shoulc 
contain at least 30 of these, being daily 
texts for a month, or 52, giving one foi 
each Sunday in the year. 
The idea is capable of variation, how¬ 
ever, as the bag might also contain 
“ Golden Nuggets,” these being the terse, 
epigrammatic sayings of well-known 
writers, the best thoughts of the best 
minds, or “ Sparkling Gems,” gleanings 
of wit from humorous pens In these 
latter cases, the author’s name and the 
work quoted from should be given in 
place of the Bible reference. Several of 
these bags would prove acceptable con¬ 
tributions to hospitals, old people’s 
homes, etc , as the best is there without 
searching for it, and in such form as to 
be easily handled by weak and aged 
fingers. They should, therefore, make 
desirable Easter gifts, and would, doubt¬ 
less, sell well at fairs. 
The Aftermath. 
... .In every duty there is strength when 
the duty is actually present, though not 
an hour before. For every sacrifice 
there is joy, deep-hidden, sweet, but not 
till the voice is heard, “Come, take up the 
cross and follow me.”—Bishop Thorold. 
-Meekness, love, prudence, and dis¬ 
cretion, with other talents below medi¬ 
ocrity, will effect more in correcting 
error, reforming the vicious, and ad¬ 
vancing pure and undefiled religion, 
than the talents of an angel could ac¬ 
complish without them.—L. C. Judson. 
....There are two worlds: one where 
we live for a short time, and which we 
leave never to return ; the other which 
we soon must enter, never to leave. In¬ 
fluence, power, friends, high fame, great 
wealth, are of use in the first world ; the 
contempt of all these things is for the 
latter. We must chcose between the 
two.—La Bruyere. 
... .It is not seeing one’s friends, having 
them within reach, hearing of and from 
them, which makes them ours. It is the 
believing in them, the depending on 
them; assured that they are good and 
true to the core, therefore, could not but 
be good and true to everybody else, our¬ 
selves included.—Dinah Mulock Craik. 
... .No man’s spirits were ever hurt by 
doing his duty ; on the contrary, one 
good action, one temptation resisted and 
overcome, one sacrifice of desire or inter¬ 
est, purely for conscience sake, will prove 
cordial to weak and low spirits far be¬ 
yond what either indulgence, or di 
version, or company can do for them — 
Paley. 
fraiklinmill5 Flour 
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B. & B. 
choice wash goods 
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est to buy. 
New Madras Ginghams, 10c., 12&c , 15c. 
Fine Madras, 20c. to 35c. 
Lots of the popular corded effects. 
Fine Imported Cheviots, 20c. 
Pretty American Dimities, 6hfc , 8c , 10c., 12|4c. 
Handsome Imported Dimities—a collection of 
rare excellence, 20c , 25c. 
Cotton Coverts for Skirts, 12^c., 15c. Imported 
Cotton Skirtings, 20c. 
Special lot of corded white India Linon, 12*4c. 
—nice for shirt waists. 
Other choice white goods for shirt waists, 15c., 
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Plain and fancy white and colored Piques, 
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Dainty Wash Cottons—beautiful fabrics for 
gowns—Swisses, mousselines, tissues, etc., 25c. 
to 50c. 
Aren’t you concerned about a wash goods 
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merit ? 
BOGGS & BUHL, 
Department C, 
ALLEGHENY, PA. 
GOOD INCOMES 
(20,25 and.'lO percentcommisslon) 
made by getting orders for our 
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