Vol. LVI. No. 2472. 
NEW YORK, JUNE 12, 1897. 
$1.00 PER YEAR 
FROM PLANT TO CONSUMER. 
'PICKING, SORTING AND SEELING THE STRAWBERRY. 
What Makes a Business Berry? 
To place upon the table of the consumer a basket of 
well-grown, fresh, ripe strawberries, costs the careful, 
progressive, enthusiastic fruit-gardener quite a good deal 
of well-directed labor, plenty of business, affords consider¬ 
able profit and some fun. Especially may this be true 
if he attend personally to all the details of planting, 
cultivation, pruning, weeding, mulching, picking, pack¬ 
ing and marketing. While to such a person a well-man¬ 
aged strawberry plantation is, at all stages, a source of 
interest and delight, there is ever a pleasant anticipation 
of the season when he may throw open the doors of the 
packing-house, welcome in and entertain his little “ busi¬ 
ness friends ” as they pass through upon their way from 
plant to consumer. 
A view very similar to that shown at Fig. 165 is a very 
familiar one indeed from the door-way of our packing¬ 
house, during the busy days of berry picking. While we 
often employ many more pickers than are shown in the 
picture, we much prefer just such a little company of 
really expert, steady, reliable ones, who will stay right 
with us from start to finish. We have never needed a 
bristling code of iron-clad laws for the government of our 
pickers. A few simple rules kindly given are at all times 
respected and obeyed to the letter. Each picker is pro¬ 
vided with a light, strong picking stand holding four 
baskets. One 
of these 
stands—our 
own design 
and, as well 
as all of our 
fruit ‘pack¬ 
ages a prod¬ 
uct of our 
“home fac¬ 
tory”— is 
shown at 
Fig 168. For 
various rea¬ 
sons, and 
from the 
fact that our 
portable 
packing- 
house is al¬ 
ways nearby 
we prefer this size. When the baskets are nicely 
filled, they are carried at once to the packing¬ 
house and delivered upon the receiver’s counter, 
where a “check’’for the number of baskets is 
given. We use 1, 2, 3, 4 and 20-quart checks. 
These bits of manilla paper are passed as freely 
among the pickers and received with as much 
confidence at an adjacent country store as if they 
bore the stamp of Uncle Sam. At the close of 
each week, these checks are presented and cashed. 
A distinctive feature of “ pay day ”, which seems 
to be greatly appreciated by our pickers, is the 
“ free drinks”. This means to each one that he 
shall test his capacity from a large bucket of rich, 
cold lemonade. Such a “ treat” costs less than 50 
cents and, to me, it is worth at least $1 to witness 
the real enjoyment it affords the little company of 
hard-working, hot and tired pickers. See Fig. 166. 
As the well-filled baskets are received from the 
pickers, they are packed at once, each variety 
separately, in attractive packages of 16 quarts 
each. As to grading strawberries, each grower 
should, by experimenting a little along this line, 
determine for himself just what the demand of 
his particular market will justify. I do not think 
it would pay one to grade our smaller varieties. 
Last season, for the first time, we graded such 
AT THE CONSUMER’S DOOR. 
164. 
THE PICKERS IN THE FIELD. Fig. 165. 
THE START FOR THE MARKET. Fig. 167. 
varieties as Wolverton, Bubach, etc., and, as wemot only 
dispose of our berries in our home market, but each day 
meet, face to face, a class of consumers who appreciate 
and are willing to pay for the additional time and care 
required to prepare for them a superior grade of fruit, 
the result was such that we shall not hesitate to do so 
again this season. In grading, we use a small, shallow 
tray, upon which the berries are emptied, one basket at 
a time. The small and imperfect ones being quickly re¬ 
moved, the “fancys” are very carefully transferred to 
clean, new baskets, and packed in their separate crates. 
From one season’s experience, all things considered, I 
believe one may realize at least 50 cents per bushel extra 
for grading, providing his market demand this sort of 
treatment. From the fact that a skilled grader might 
prepare many bushels a day for the fancy trade, it is 
evident that he would, at the above conservative estimate, 
make pretty good wages, especially if he be the “ pro¬ 
prietor of the concern that gives him employment ”. The 
“culls” from our Bubachs, Muskingums, Wolvertons, 
etc., were of equal size, and were sold at the same price 
as the smaller and medium varieties. 
In these days of keen competition, success or failure in 
fruit-gardening is usually determined upon the “smoky 
side ” of the packing-house. The boy who resolves that 
he will win a home of his own upon a little corner of the 
old farm should be well prepared to fight the decisive 
battle in the streets of the city. That he may win the 
victory, he must necessarily be a good salesman ; and 
v good breed- 
in g in a 
salesman is 
as indispen- 
sable as 
thorough 
culture in 
the straw¬ 
berry plan¬ 
tation, or 
good taste in 
the packing¬ 
house. Easy, 
courteous, 
pleasant 
manners 
and a strict 
regard for 
personal 
cleanliness 
and neat¬ 
ness, constitute a “ crop ” that he should not fail 
to cultivate if he would be successful. A neat, 
serviceable business suit does not cost much, and 
its introduction into his “outfit” may make a 
surprising difference in the season’s returns. 
Dusty, rusty, sweaty raiment, at the door of the 
consumer, is as decidedly out of place as kid gloves 
and a silk hat at the handles of the cultivator. 
Perhaps the picture shown at Fig. 167 will be of 
double interest to some of the younger readers of 
The R. N.-Y., as it shows not only a load of our 
“home-grown berries”, ready for market, but 
also a partial view of our “ berry-grown home ”— 
the product of “ a little corner of the old farm ”. 
Our wagon was built to order especially for the 
business, and hangs very low upon the “ Duplex ” 
gear. It snugly accommodates 26 16-quart pack¬ 
ages or 13 bushels, when loaded to its full capacity. 
The little gray mare shown in the picture is a 
veteran in berry transportation, she, herself, 
having safely landed in our market, 8% miles 
away, fully 1,000 bushels of small fruits during 
the past seven seasons. 
Fig. 164 represents my assistant as having 
reached the vital point in strawberry culture— 
the point at which it is determined whether his 
labor, time and care have been at a premium or 
A “ FREE DRINK ” ON PAY DAY. Fig. 166. 
