1900. 
THE RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
863 
THE FACTS OF A STRAWBERRY YIELD. 
Good Returns in Indiana. 
Below is an itemized statement of expenditures 
and receipts on exactly two-thirds of an acre of 
strawberries set in the Spring of 1908, crop harvested 
in the Spring of 1909. These were cultivated in the 
narrow matted row system; plants were set 18 inches 
apart in the row, and the rows 3 feet apart. It must 
be remembered that we had an extremely wet Spring, 
and the plants were not set till May 14, and then 
they were “mudded in.” Cultivation was then started 
at once, but by July 1 we only had about 50 per cent 
of a stand. Plants were held too long waiting for 
the ground to dry; although we had them heeled out 
many did not start off right after the permanent 
setting. What did survive had a hard pull through 
a long dry Summer, although we kept a dust mulch 
over the entire patch, and not a weed was allowed 
to grow. Some grew in spite of adversity, and from 
the runners we managed to get a few plants to fill 
in the blank spaces in the rows. It has been said 
that a strawberry plant resembles a cat in that it has 
nine lives, but I think many a cat would have suc¬ 
cumbed to the drought of 1908. By November 1, I 
estimated that we had 50 per cent of a stand on two- 
thirds of an acre. Had we not given persistent and 
thorough cultivation! throughout the season the con¬ 
dition would have been much worse. 
It must be remembered also that 
the work shown below in tabulated 
statement does not cover all the 
work done in the patch, as my 
wife and self put in many spare 
hours hoeing, cultivating and pinching 
off runners. Now, as to the varieties 
and the harvest. We set five varieties 
in the patch as follows: Excelsior, War- 
field, Buster, Cardinal, Stevens Late 
Champion. The Buster stood the dry 
weather better than the other varieties, 
and if it only had a darker color it 
would be an ideal berry. We like the 
Stevens Late; they color up well and 
are extremely handsome. Their large 
size goes a long way towards selling 
them. We picked six berries of this 
variety that when laid, along in a row 
measured exactly 12 inches, one berry 
measuring 4-% inches in circumference. 
The Warfield is my favorite for eating 
and color, but they are like the Excel¬ 
sior in that they are a little too small 
to bring the fancy price. Excelsior is a 
fine early berry and seems almost frost¬ 
proof. Cardinal is worthless, a little 
above the average size; it is a rough 
uneven berry with hard seedy tip, and 
unproductive. 
We used the standard full quart box 
and the 16-quart crate with a neat label 
on the outside. We set our own price 
and got it, which is quite a victory 
when you consider that we had many 
cheap berries to compete with. We 
commenced picking May 15, and got 20 
cents cash per box for every quart sold 
up to and including June 4. On June 7 we lowered the 
price to 15 cents per box and never sold a box for less. 
This only increased the demand, and we could not 
fill half of our orders. My wife personally inspected 
every box that was brought from the field, and every 
cull and damaged or imperfect berry was thrown out. 
The result was that people would call for our berries 
at 15 and 20 cents per box when others would go 
begging at two for a quarter, so that it more than 
pays to put your fruit up in a fancy attractive style 
and only sell the best. Make jam of the culls or 
give them to the neighbors, but never let anything 
but a strictly first-class box go on the market, and 
you will never lack for customers. One may draw 
his own conclusions as to whether it pays or not, but 
at any rate we have the old patch left tor next year 
minus about two-thirds of the original expense. 
EXPENSES. 
1907. 
Nov. 19. Plowing ground. $1.50 
21. 32 loads manure. 30.00 
1908. 
April 1. One hag nitrate of soda. 5.93 
25. One hag commercial fertilizer. 1.87 
25. 5,000 strawberry plants. 14.25 
25, Express on same. 2.25 
May 14. Setting plants. 4.25 
26. Iloeing “ 2.00 
•Tune 10. “ “ . 2.00 
July 25. “ “ . 2 00 
Aug. 20. Resetting “ . ......... 3.20 
“ 21. 
TTet. 28. . Two loads wood ashes... 2.00 
Oec. io. Straw and labor putting on. 7.50 
1909. 
May 1. 4f)0 crate labels. 5.00 
_ “ 1. 50 crates. 1,500 boxes. 10.00 
•Tune 25. Picking to date. 7.00 
Total .$100.75 
Sold berries to June 25th, last picking.$140.73 
Total expenses. 100.75 
Net profit. $39.98 
This does not include the fun we had which should 
be added to the profits. s. h. burton. 
Indiana. 
R. N.-Y. —The picture, Fig. 484, shows how young 
peach trees are growing among the strawberries. 
Strange how opinions differ regarding varieties. Our 
customers do not care for Stevens. They consider 
the color too light and flavor too poor. Excelsior is 
called with us a fine canning berry, but too sour for 
general sale. _ 
GOOD ADVICE TO A HEN MAN. 
Starting in the Right Way. 
I bought a 13-acre place within five minutes’ walk of 
a place of about 3,000 inhabitants, 24 miles by rail from 
Philadelphia, and it is also situated in a small settlement. 
I wish to take up the chicken business, asparagus and 
different kinds of berries. Can you recommend any good 
book on those subjects? I wish to make a success, for 
I have lots of people ready to give me the laugh if I 
don’t succeed. What kind of chickens would you advise 
me to get for eggs in particular, and to dress up well for 
the table? n. f. m. 
Whether a man can make a good living on 13 
acres of land depends on three things. First, the 
man; second, the location, in regard to markets; 
third, the soil. I place the man first, because he can 
make his own markets if he will produce something 
people want, and he can in a large measure make his 
soil what+e wishes. To do this he will have to have 
some capital of course, as well as some experience. 
In this case, we will suppose he has secured a good 
little farm of 13 acres, all tillable land. What build¬ 
ings he has on the place he does not state, so we 
infer it has a house and wood-house, barn and other 
outbuildings, including the henhouse commonly 
found and worth more for firewood than to keep 
good stock in. There ought to be an apple orchard 
of an acre or more. If there are two acres of old 
orchard it will be just the place for hens, and 500 
or 600 can be let range there, with their houses 
scattered well over the orchard. This with the 
land used with the buildings already mentioned will 
account for three acres of the 13. If the location 
is suitable for peaches I would set out four acres 
with three varieties, not more, of peaches, 18 or 20 
feet apart, planting strawberries between the rows 
of one-half of the orchard and setting raspberries 
between trees in the tree row. The other two acres 
of peach orchard can be used as a truck garden, 
raising crops that can be readily sold or used as 
green food for the hens in Winter, which will put 
the land in good condition to plant strawberries on 
the second year. When the first crop is picked the 
land should be plowed and used as a garden for a 
year before strawberries are raised on it again. Of 
the land that is left he could use two acres for corn 
and two for potatoes the first year. 
From my experience with asparagus I would not 
plant very extensively of it, as it takes two years 
before you begin to get returns, and requires lots of 
hand labor, although fairly profitable on early soil. 
The first year the chicks can be raised in colony 
house brooders in the orchard where they are to 
remain when the permanent houses are built; after 
that they can be raised on any unoccupied land 
where they will not be a nuisance, some farmers 
using their lawns for this purpose. The breed to 
be kept depends on the breeder’s fancy to a large 
extent. There is no one breed that combines all the 
good qualities. The Leghorn, while an egg machine, 
has not the table qualities of the large breeds, and 
if one only wishes to keep a small flock he will 
select some of the American breeds such as the 
P. Rocks, R. I. Reds or Wyandottes, but there 
seems to be no other breed that will stand ranging 
in flocks of a thousand or more, like the White 
Leghorn. floyd q. white. 
NEW TYPE OF REAL ESTATE AGENT. 
Fitting the Farm to the Man. 
I was greatly interested in the remarks of a real 
estate dealer, who has been quite successful in selling 
a good many farms situated within the territory 
which may be included within the region of New 
York’s unoccupied farms. This dealer is a little 
farther south and west than I am, and 
the difference of practically two count¬ 
ies brings one to a district where the 
price of farm lands has already com¬ 
menced to advance. This dealer is re¬ 
ported to be of a somewhat abrupt 
type, and opposed to the idea of mak¬ 
ing a sale if he believes the purchaser 
is not getting the kind of a farm he 
ought to have. He appeared, at the time 
of my call, to be sincere in his repre¬ 
sentations, but to be able to present the 
best side, and to do it in an attractive 
manner. At that time he h-'d a pros¬ 
pective customer from the city, more 
than 200 miles distant. He was led to 
remark to the man who wished to buy 
that lie suspected him to be a profes¬ 
sional man. He replied that he is a 
physician, but wishes to get away from 
professional life, and wants a farm. 
He never lived on a farm, but had 
some notions of farming, as he had 
read of the situation, and studied a 
good deal. “And you, madam, were 
you brought up on a farm??’ “Oh, no,” 
replied* the wife. “I was brought up all 
around the country. I was a Metho¬ 
dist minister’s daughter.” “Then I must 
get you a farm that I can sell again 
within two years,” remarked the dealer, 
“and I will have to find you one where 
the dwelling is in the village. You 
won’t be quite so lonesome there as you 
would be on a farm farther from 
neighbors.” “I know a good deal about 
farm affairs, for I have been reading 
about them in the magazines and pa¬ 
pers for some time while living in the 
city,” remarked the lady. “We will look at a farm 
about eight miles from here,” replied the agent. “It 
is a pretty good farm of about 160 acres, and can 
be bought for $6,600. It reaches down to a little vil¬ 
lage, and if you buy this farm you will have neigh¬ 
bors close by. Besides, if you want to ship any 
produce it will be handy to the station.” 
There are quite a number of city people who are 
buying these farms, being attracted by the advertise¬ 
ments in the farm- journals. It is necessary to adver¬ 
tise a farm if it is to be sold, and I cannot help think¬ 
ing that our State Department of Agriculture might 
aid the people of a few counties, where lands have 
gone down disproportionately, by making further 
effort to bring the attention of buyers to these farms. 
Of course, all sections of the State should have the 
same opportunities, but not many sections have lands 
that sell at such low prices, w-hen real values are con¬ 
sidered. People in other localities and in other States 
are constantly looking and inquiring about localities 
where good farms may be purchased at reasonable 
prices. I regret to say that the city purchasers in the 
locality to which I have alluded are not making a 
wonderful success as practical farmers, as yet, but 
they appear to be learning, and if they can continue 
to think that the country is the place in which to live, 
they will, in time, succeed in their farming enterprise. 
H. H. LYON. 
R. N.-Y.—There, are many cases where discourage¬ 
ment with farm life results from the wrong choice of 
a farm. This is not the case with city people alone, 
but also with farmers who have not studied all sides 
in making a change. 
AN ENGLISFI MOTOR PLOW AT WORK. Fig. 483. 
PEACH TREES IN A STRAWBERRY PATCFI. Fig. 484. 
