Middletown transcript., 1869-05-29
The strawberry senson.


The New York Times says:-First OF
Summers sweetest fruits, anu tt many the
favorite, the delicious strawberry ur Vir-
ginia, heralding the approach of "'niiiion.
yet unborn" has made lis way TO NV
York, to be received by the op1n-h2art,u
and open -mouthed citizens with hearty
welcome.
An abundant crop, for this season, is
promised New Jersey may not furnish
ginia, and the Counties of Orange, Dutch
ess and Columbia is cheering. Steamers
quick from Norfolk, lightning trains from
Jersey, soon will pour crimson tide of
sweets into his'city. Strawberries will be
more plentiful, and hence, necessarily,
cheaper than ever. What dreams of
church festivals, with maidens fair, vibrat-
ing beating hearts, and the cool solace of
strawberries and cream. And strawberry
sbort-cake, with all its bewildering myste-
rious combination of cream, cake, sugar,
pie, and all the multitude of good things
embraced in one gigantic cake, flows be-
fore the dreamer when he speculates, not
in strawberries, but the surer thought of
the cry soon to be heard, "Here you are,
Strawberries one cent basket.
The season with us commences about
the 5th of May, and lasts until the middle
OF june Lucky man he who places the
first ripe fruit in the New York market;
fortunate indeed, for with a cargo of ber-
res a fortune may be coined Millions of
baskets, with the luscious, tempting fruit
inside, weekly pass over the New Jersey
railroads. Special trains, bearing no
freight save the mouth watering morsels,
come hurrying into the city at daybreak.
Fresh from the vine, picked early in the
afternoon, and moistened with the green
leaf placed as cover over them, the straw
berries enter the market, and the buyer
waits customer in the grocer, or the
fruiterer, as the sun is rising over the
sleepy town.
Washington Market, perhaps, is the
"head- of the strawberry trade, and
in the traffic there are upward of five hun
dred firms engaged. One firm alone is
said to receive 5000 baskets daily There
is more money made in this trade, it is
said. than any other branch of the fruit
line. There is great risk, however, to be
run, in an overcroWded market and per-
ishing stock; but, as a general thing, the
prekts are enormous.
Raspberries, perhaps the most delicate
berry of all the berry family, will not
grace the festive boards long with their
presence. A very small crop is anticipa-
ted, and the fruitmen are preparing for a
vigorous campaign during strawberry sea-
sGH.
In the picking and preparing for mar
ket thousands of "hands" are employed.
In New Jersey boys and girls have the
preference, and are mostly employed at
regular wages by the week. In many pla-
ces, however, men and women as well as
children are employed, and are paid by the
basket or by the ''patch," at the rate of
from one-half to one cent per basket, or
according to the size of the patch.
Growing out Of the great demand for
strawberry baskets, many patent berry
baskets have been introduced, and each
seems to possess an advantage over tn
other. The old ''splint'' basket has pro-
bably had its day, and some new patent
article of one kind or another must be TIL
fayorite. The "splint'' basket has its lar
gest mandatory in Bergen County, N.
j. Here the "splints'' are prepared by
machinery, and the baskets are made by
boys and girls who are hired by the week
1t is said that six millions of strawberry
baskets are manufactured every season at
the various factories The 'splint" bas-
ket is sold at 81 per hundred. The econo-
my fruit-box is sold at the rate of $l2 per
thousand. This box consists of portable
sides, which are tackled together and made
fit for use. The American Basket Com
pany Of New Baitain, Conn. have intro
duced basket of hoop-like sides that has
seemed to meet with general satisfaction.
They are furnished at from two to three
cents per basket 1t is said that this man
ufactory turns out during a season upward
of 5000 baskets daily. The Beecher Fac
tory, at Westville, Conn. also manufac-
ture very large amount of baskets daily
This basket is also popular with dealers
Each mandatory also furnishes crates to
hold the baskets. These crates are pad
locked and will carry from twenty y-four to
ninety baskets. The price of crates is
from 81 so to 50 so, each. During the
season upward Of 100000 of crates are
sent to the Southern States.