1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
157 
SELLING STRAWBERRIES ON 
SHARES. 
Hauler, Pennsylvania.—1 can rent a farm 
for a certain rent, but the owner reserves 
one-half acre of strawberries set last 
Spring, well taken care of. What will be 
fair between us if I pick and market the 
berries and he gets his share in cash? 
What can I pay provided I get the full 
proceeds from the patch? 
Not knowing anything about the mar¬ 
ket distance to haul and probable cost 
of picking makes this question hard to 
answer. In my opinion the only fair 
way is to divide the proceeds, and with¬ 
out knowing more about the matter I 
would say the owner should have one- 
half the selling price at least. He evi¬ 
dently knows something of the value of 
this half acre, for as your correspondent 
alleges, they can agree on everything 
else, and as the strawberries have been 
well taken care of there will be nothing 
now to do but rake off mulch and pick 
and market. w. a. freed. 
Pennsylvania. 
If our friend were to pay a fixed 
amount and run his chances I would ad¬ 
vise him to buy at a very low figure, as 
he is liable to lose money if the crop 
is a partial failure or prices rule low. 
In regard to harvesting the crop on 
shares, I think it would be a very un¬ 
satisfactory way to do, judging from 
our local market, as prices sometimes 
go so low as hardly to pay for baskets, 
picking and marketing, and at other 
times give a net profit of 16 to 18 cents 
per quart. If I could not buy the crop 
at a low figure, say $50 or $75 for the 
half acre, I would market them for the 
owner, charging him for baskets, crates, 
picking, etc., and for time spent. This 
should be worth a little more than reg¬ 
ular wages for man and team, as it is 
hard work, long days, and comes at a 
busy time when help is scarce. 
Massachusetts. geo. g. walker. 
Let us consider first the cost of grow¬ 
ing the fruit on the acre of strawberries 
based upon average production which 
we may presume will result from the 
fact that they have been “well taken 
care of.” I would place the cost to the 
producer, the owner of the land, at four 
cents per quart. Allowing 1% cent for 
picking and one-half cent for marketing 
would make the whole cost six cents, of 
which the owner has paid two-thirds 
and the handler one-third. I should say 
that the proceeds should be divided up¬ 
on the same basis, two-thirds to the 
owner of the land and one-third to the 
one who picks and markets the fruit. 
Whatever transportation charges have 
to be paid should be taken from the pro¬ 
ceeds before being divided as above. 
Whether it will pay or not depends up¬ 
on the price at which the fruit is sold. 
New York. Walter f. taeer. 
In renting strawberry land there are 
several things to take into considera¬ 
tion. It would be difficult to rent for a 
single year for best satisfaction, as it 
takes two years to secure first crop, and 
most profitable returns are not secured 
in less than three or four years. It 
would also make some difference wheth¬ 
er the tenant had any previous knowl¬ 
edge of growing and marketing berries, 
as no matter how well the berries are 
grown, if they are not properly market¬ 
ed there will not be the profit that 
there should be. There would also be a 
difference whether the landlord expect¬ 
ed to continue to have strawberries 
grown. Presuming that there is a good 
market and the right varieties grown to 
produce the berries required in such 
market, and that the landlord intends 
to have berries grown each year, I 
would think it would be right for the 
landlord to furnish land, plants, ferti¬ 
lizer and the straw to cover the plants 
in the Fall. The tenant to set out each 
Spring and cultivate an amount equal to 
that part of the bearing bed that will be 
plowed under after the fruiting season; 
to sow such land plowed to Crimson 
clover or other green crop; to pick and 
market the berries from the fruiting 
bed; to cultivate the old beds that are 
to be kept for another year; to cover 
the strawberries with straw; the re¬ 
ceipts to be divided equally. As the 
half acre in question has already been 
grown by the landlord and nothing is 
said about planting a new patch the 
tenant could give three-fifths of re¬ 
ceipts, while he would have two-fifths 
left for picking and marketing. The 
cash rent would depend largely upon 
the conditions named above. It takes 
time and a good knowledge of the mar¬ 
ket to build up a paying trade in the 
strawberry business, and unless one has 
a previous knowledge of marketing ber¬ 
ries and expects to continue in the busi¬ 
ness it would be best to give part of 
the receipts. elmer g. tufts. 
Indiana. 
Body Blight of Pears. 
0. S., Fnctoryville, Pa .—I set some pear 
trees three years ago, and the second year 
after setting some of them turned black 
for a foot or more above the ground and 
the bark dried and cracked. Some thus 
affected died, and others made but little 
growth. What caused this, and is there 
a remedy? 
Ans. —The pear trees you speak of are 
probably affected with a body blight, a 
disease that causes the bark on the trunk 
and limbs to die out in irregular patches. 
It is serious but not usually fatal. A very 
promising treatment is to scrape out 
most of the dead bark and paint the 
wounds with pure petroleum, oF~rock 
oil, not letting the oil extend very far 
from the margin of the wound. This 
seldom injures the tree, and usually 
causes the affected bark to drop out and 
healthy new bark to take its place. It 
is always worth trying on badly affected 
trees. 
f~ cr Japan Persimmon in Ohio. 
L. G., Union Village, 0.—Would Japan 
persimmon ripen in this climate, south¬ 
ern Ohio? 
Ans. —Japan persimmon trees are 
not likely to be reliably hardy in your 
locality. Some varieties might grow for 
several years and ripen fruit, but severe 
Winters would be quite certain to kill 
them sooner or later. 
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