The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-03
CITY NEWS.
FALL STRAW BERRY
It Is Becoming Staple Product at
High Prices in the
Market.
Secret of It's Culture Discovered
Successful Experiments Near
Christmas Lake.

The autumn strawberry, Minnesota
grown, promises to become a staple on
the local market. 1t has made its appear
ance as a novelty for several years. Ma
lures hint has now been acted upon and
local fruit growers believe they have dis
covered the secret of maturing a crop in
September. Heretofore scattering ber-
ries picked from the vines late in the fall
have been regarded as freaks. It was said
that copious rains and balmy at
mosphere had fooled the plants into the
notion. that another spring was at hand
and they must be up and doing. Garden
ers called them overambitious and looked
upon the f1owerlets with pity fancying that
early frosts would nip them. 1t was
feared second crop would sap the twice.
bearing vines of energy and curtail the
regular yield. It was the theory of the
growers that after the berries were gath
cred IN June the rest of the summer
should be utilized by the plant in produc-
Ing tratlers calculated to become indie
pendent plants the following spring So
when the season refused to settle down to
the dignity Of autumn and continued its
spr1ngt1ne FRANKS which set the vines to
bearing fruit. the gardener cussed the sea-
sons for getting awry.
certain wise growers, however, gave the
1reaklsh strawberry plants some thought
and concluded there was profit in them
SO upon all tours they crawled among the
vines. and gathered many quarts of the red
berries which they sold to the city folks
TOR as many dollars. So the autumn
strawberry found It's way to the tables of
fashionable cafes. They were served in
dainty china cups so deeply f1ounced and
conVoluted as to make three berries look
like generous helping and left for the
waiter no change from two dollar bill
Inc results Of this seasons experiments
have, however, shown that the autumn
strawberry Is not an anomaly, but per-
fectly natural growth which may be pro-
duced any season when the weather con-
d1tlons are normal In some fruit gar
dens near Minneapolis a finely .matured
crop OF strawberries was gathered during
the past two weeks: This crop was not a
mere "happenstance'. but the reward Of
careful observation and cultivation. Judg-
ing from these results fruit growers in
Minnesota Will In the future supply the To-
cal markets with fresh autumnal berries.
For long time there was mistaken
theory, that the same vine produced ber-
ries twice in the same summer as re-
suit of peculiar weather conditions Fl
nally it was discovered that the same vine
did not bear twice. but that If the trailers
were taken from the mother vine in the
spring they would under proper cultivation
bear for the first time the following
autumn
Acting upon this theory +. W. schu-
mann, fruit grower near Christmas Lake
planted half acre with trailerse, a. year
ago last spring and gathered twenty -four
quarts Of the berries in the fall. u Mr..
schumann discovered. however, that his
patch had been located most unfavorably
as 1T was exposed to the cold northern
winds. This spring he started a. new bed
Tor fall crop on southern slope and la st
week had picked forty quarts Of the ber-
r1es, which does not represent the entire
yield. Profiting by these experiments
other fruit growers have planted their
vines on the sheltered clopes and have
realized WE'LL for their efforts. They find
the Beederwood variety best suited for au-
tumn bearing. This vine Is a native of
Minnesota and is Injured to the rigors OF
the climate. ~ - - =
The berries are not so numerous at this
season as in the spring, but they are lust
az delicious. It Is also difficult task to
pick" them. In the autumn the foliage
Is dense and 1t is impossible to find the
fruit without pushing back the large
leaves. The pickers to do this move
along the rows upon all fours,. which Is
extremely trying to the eyes and back
On the Minneapolis market the berries sell
for forty cents per quart and when served
upon the tables in restaurants they cos,
fifty cents for each order In New York
city they bring $3.50 per order.