Evening star., 1897-06-05
Something About the Earliest Palate
Ticklers of the Year.
GREAT INCREASE IN TEE INDUSTRY
Large Profits That Are Made From
Strawberry Growing.
A VORED SECTION

Along about the first Of May the streets
Of Washington begin to echo with q cheer
ing and palate-inspirtng cry, "Strorbrys.
| "Strorbrys!" "Strorbrys.' Housewives
hurry to their windows and servants move
about with surprising alacrity, expecting
directions from above stairs to '.go out
and call that man." That man is usually
an illy-dressed. unshaven. shambling indi-
vidual. who has "a horse in similar need
of repair and a wagon worse Off than
either. He has perhaps a pair oe dimiEu-
tive boxes in his hand. which are barely
filed with the little red berries so dear to
the public in gentle springtime.
"Yes'm." says the man to the lady of
the house. They are fresh and sound.
Right from Nor Carolina, mum. Picked
yistiddy. mum. Yes'm. thutty cents box
Is high, but tn seasons early, mum. An
yer never see no finer berries n these here;
now, did yer. mum. You'd halter pay
forty cents down ter market. an not git
EN- half as good. Yes'm, 1 will let fo'
boxes go fur er dollar, but they cost
more'n that in Nor Carolina, an that's a
fact"
The housewife puts a dollar gingerly in
the outstretched hand AMI receives and
hands to her waiting servant four short"
boxes of strawberries, holding altogether
about three quarts. There are some mis-
givings. to be sure, when the berries are
beins capped" but one or two of them
squeezed between the teeth Danish this
and the children come together the feast
Is sufficient to put everybody at ease.
Where They Are Grown.
The North Carolina berries are the first
to be sold on the streets in Washington.
and they always bring good prices, though.
Of course. they diminish considerably from
the figures quoted above. There are earlier
berries sold in the markets, which are
grown In Florida and South Carolina, and
later ones, sold everywhere that come from
Virginia and the vicinity of Washington it.
self. but the first big supply comes from the
old north state, and it is not too much to
say that most of the berries that are sold
at prices which put them within reach of
what is known as the general public in
Baltimore and Philadelphia at an early
date in the year come from the same state.
The strawberry industry in North Carolina
has reached amazing proportions in a COM
paratively brief time, and the general bus
mess of raising truck as fresh vegetables
are termed, has kept rapid pace with it.
Fortunes are being made at the business,
employment Is given to thousands and rail-
roads are tried to their freight-carrying
capacities transporting the products to the
north. Southeastern Virginia, eastern North
Carolina and eastern South Carolina have
long been regarded as presenting oppor-
tunities for becoming the greatest fruit,
the country For years Charleston and
Norfolk were the greatest trucking CEN
ters III the country. but now Wilmington IS
pushing the n for supremacy. and between
that point and Goldsboro the recent de-
velopment has been remarkable, particu-
larly in the culture Of Strawberries. And
the most remarkable thing about 1t is that
the land which is proving so fecund for the
purpose is largely what is known as worm
out cotton land.
An Idea of the Profits.
An instance Of this is quoted freely by
North Carolinians. among many others. A
man bought fourteen years ago worn-out
cotton farm of Is acres. 43 of which were
cleared. 1t was without fences and the
buildings were in decay. With this farm
and 81 900 he began truck farming, making
Strawberries his principal crop. His net
cash receipts from Strawberries grown on
80 acres of the land last year were $14 900.
and this year he will do equally as well
when the returns are all in. 1t is said to
cost 800 an acre, or at times $125. to culti-
vate an acre of Strawberries and to pay for
their picking. packing and shipping. An
easy calculation based on the highest fig
ures will show profit Of $345 an acre. The