The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1905-05-01
HORTICULTURE
F. WALDEN

fall he found he COulQ not COHITdcC
these canned apples for what it cost
to put them up-there would be
loss of 10 to Is cents on every can.
What did he do? What would you
do under such circumstances? Well,
most people would not put up any.
Here is just where this man showed his
business foresight. He put up more
of this kind of fruit than he ever did
before. His reasoning about the mat
ter was in this wise: The low price
realized for canned apples will dis
courage many from putting up this
kind of fruit and there will be
scarcity" He was right, for 1T is
now claimed that canned apples were
never so scarce nor so high. There is
a valuable lesson in what this Michi-
gan man did. When prices are low
on any kind of commodity, many peo-
pie will quit it's production or fail to
properly care for what they have.
The result is the price is almost sure
to go up. But the reverse is also true.
When the price is high many will
rush into the business, it will be over
done and as result the price Will drop
in many cases below the line of profit.
Hops are high now and many are
rushing into the business. If prices
do not decline in the next few years
this will be an exceptional case. A
few years ago hops would not pay.
Many people were ruined financially
in trying to raise them. Some plOWed
up their yards, they became scarce,
the price went up and those who
could hold on and did so, made
money. This lesson may be learned
from all this: When prices are de-
clining is not the best time to quit.
If man wants to make a success in
his chosen line of business he must
continue and not be found jumping
from one experiment to another
Matthew Crawford, of Cuyahoga
Falls, Ohio and the managers OF the
kellogg estate of Three Rivers, Mich,
are having a lively tilt over the ques-
ton of "pedigreed strawberry plants.
Mr.. Kellogg claimed that by eXercls-
ing extreme care in taking care OF
strawberry plants their bearing ca
pacity could be greatly enhanced. He
called this care "pedigreeing." Every
careful scholar knows that this is a
misuse of the word pedigree. Pedi-
greed plants can De prOuuceu only
by cross pollenation and the raising
of new sorts. This is not what Mr..
Kellogg called pedigreed plants. That
good care with a strawberry bed will
result in bigger and better berries
is not a disputed question. But will
this care result in fixing these things
in the plants so that they will bear
bigger and better berries than the
same kind that has been neglected,
provided the new plantations receive
the same care? That is the point at
issue. Mr.. Kellogg contended that
they would and Mr. Crawford con-
tends that they will not. Mr. Craw-
ford has decidedly the better of the
argument. You can't change the ma
ture of the plant by culture. The so
called pedigreed plants and the same
kind as scrubs or neglected plants
will bear equally well under the same
treatment At the time of Mr.. kell-
oggs death | made mention OF his
great success as a strawberry grower.
| said then that in teaching people
to care we'll for their strawberry plan
tations Mr.. Kellogg had been a bene-
factor, regardless of his theory of
what he called pedigreed plants.
o1co cold that hic theory WAS called