Vol. LXXIX. 
r“ec1 Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St., New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 7, 1920 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. June 2G. 1879. at the Post 4^00 
Office at New York, N. Y.. under the Act of March 3 , 18T9. 
A Record Strawberry Crop in Florida 
G OOD RETURNS.—Some readers may remember 
the report of a remarkable crop of strawberries 
from a trifle over one-fifth of an acre which I con¬ 
tributed to The R. N.-Y. during the Summer of 1917. 
The figures, I think, were total yield ,2.295 quarts, 
gross sales $703, or an average yield of about 11.000' 
quarts and gross returns per acre of over $3,400. 
The strawberries had been a side line for the home 
Part I. 
failures fell like the afflictions of Job. The straw¬ 
berries were a total failure through an infestation 
of red spider, the tomatoes were a complete loss, 
owing to a heavy frost just as the first fruit w r as 
ready to pick, and the cabbage, though a record crop, 
struck an overstocked market and returned no profit. 
To cap the 'climax, due to the general labor unrest, 
the help struck, so replanting the tomatoes, which 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME.—But the Summer of 
191S was not a congenial season for such an expedi¬ 
tion. The abnormal activities of the time made 
tiue appraisement of the advantages of an unknown 
locality difficult, if not impossible. At any rate, I 
found nothing that looked good to me. So in the 
Fall, much discouraged, we returned, got back our 
home by returning most of wffiat had been paid as 
^clmnarctli TwUhthl S 7/ "'' f lo ” da st *' awberr V field. This one , printed for contrast, shows a good field of berries grown by Albert 
k in UK of c Honda field on page 1287. Notice that these Maine berries are planted in a young apple orchard. This is 
an example of fine culture and a good stand of plants 
•ukit, with tomatoes as the main crop, together 
' some potatoes and cabbage for shipment to 
Northern markets. 
A YEAR OF AFFLICTIONS.—This had not been 
‘ Ust °M»enence with strawberries, but by far the 
s < I" °litable. The following season the area in 
■w\ unie.s was increased to almost tw r o acres, the 
impai acreage again being devoted to tomatoes, 
1 some ca M>age for shipment. That year crop 
might have saved the financial balance of the season, 
was impossible. 
CLOSING DOWN.—It was the worst of a long 
series of unprofitable seasons, and so, in disgust, we 
rented the place, sold household goods and farming 
implements; my wife visited, while I took an extend¬ 
ed trip over this State and later up the Atlantic 
coast as far as Delaware, bent on finding a new loca¬ 
tion w r here nature would be less obdurate. 
rent, and for the Winter I just settled down and 
loafed. 1 felt that a half-cynical, half-humorous 
neighbor was pretty nearly right. He says: “In 
Florida there is only a nickel's worth of difference 
between the farmer who works and the farmer who 
don’t, and the one who don’t gets the nickel.” 
TIRED OF LOAFING.—But loafing is not my 
forte, and never has been: in fact, I have tried it 
several times, and as a promoter of happiness or even 
