Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-08-02
The Strawberry Outlook.
BY wELL-KNowN HoRTIcULTURIsT.


The present will be long remembered a!
disastrous season to strawberry growers
The crop, though a fair average one in size
was very improbable, and some grower;
actually failed to pay the expenses of mar
keting; leaving them nothing for the ex
pense Of growing the crop and to pay them
for their own labor. Some persons will
jump at the hssty conclusion, that too many
strawberries are grown for the market, and
hasten to curtail the supply by ploughing
up their patches-but wait Was there an
over-production The statistics aud reports
published by the railroad companies, show
that there was a less number Of carloads OF
strawberries taken over the Delaware rail
road and its branches than in 1888. Why
then the failure in prizes
Several good reasons may be given. First
of all, the unusually wet season. Very few
berries could possibly arrive even at our
nearest markets in a fair condition. and the
necessity ofkeeping the markets clear and
closing out at once as soon as received by
commission men, ohex led to sales at prices
ruinous to the producer.
A second reason was the uniformity in
time Of ripening over a wide extent Of terri
tory. Berries from Maryland, Delaware, and
New Jersey crowding the markets before
Virginia berries were out of the way. The
northern berry, of course, took the cream of
prices. aHd for good reason. The superior
quality Of Northern New Jersey and New
York grown berries, over berries grown on
our Peninsula can only be appreciated by a
visit to the commission houses in New York
early on June morning. The magnificent
display of Downing and Sharpless strawber-
ries (both entirely untitled for shipment long
distances, and neither adapted to our light
soils) would astOnish grower accustomed
to seeing only such varieties as Wilson and
Crescent, and he would not wonder that the
former would sell rapidly for ten or fifteen
cents per quart, when his Crescents went
slow at Eve cents. third reason-over-
looked by many, but equally pOtent-was
the high price of sugar, limiting immeasura-
bly, the demand for berries for preserving,
and even for table use. It is safe to say that
every cent added to the price of sugar by |
the operations of the infamous sugar trust,
squeezed the fruit growers out of a cent on |
each basket of berries; and this one penny |
often turns the balance between profit and |
loss.
The outlook for the future need not be con-
sidered discouraging. A moderate acreage
Of berries in high state of cultivation, will
pay much better in proportion than larger
one that cannot receive the best attention as
% manuriug and cultivation; and what is
equally important close attention to the de-
ails ofpieking and packing for market. The
price of picking is too high. A sufficient
iupply of help in picking could be secured
It one and a-half cents per quart, if growers
would combine. This is the established
Price in the Western States, where other farm
abor commands much higher wages than
With US, and the prices for picking large va
ieties like Sharpless are in many localities
My one cent per quart.
Only the very best should be sent to mar
,et. Leave all imperfect, knotty, or under
lied berries on the vines, and discharge :
very picker who fails to pick the fruit as
rdered The quality of quart of straw !
erries is always judged by the buyer, by the I
mall berries he sees. If there are half !
oxen large berries in sight he argues that !
hese are the only ones in the basket, and
ERE placed on top purposely to deceive. {
mall fruits really go very small way to- c
ard filling up fruit package. Twenty {
We large Sharpless, or Bubach berries, will
Il a quart basket Take out one-hslf Of
lese, aud it will require twenty-five, fifty,
r perhaps more, understood berries to re-
lace them; and after the basket is filed it t
i'll often not sell for half the price Of the &
elected berry, while the freight charge re- O
aims the same. No farmer, If called to send b
load of corn in the ear to a consumer in s
,wn, would think of loading up his 'nub- il
ms" He would know that the buyer v
ould not receive and pay for them; but S
e same farmer sends his ''nubbin" peaches d
id his ''nubbin" strawberries to market o
-ery year. Don't pillow up your acres that n
e in strawberries. Cultivate them well. Il
eep them free from crab grass and weeds. c.
We them a dressing Of some good fertil- c.
+ that has a good supply Of potash in its h
IMPOSITION. In the meantime try few y
t only few-of new and promising vari- nj
les on your own soil Don't be clam" X
,n't say cit Is not worth while to try any "
the nsw varieties. they ara all hnubngs. {" il