The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-25
"KING STRAWBERRIES"
OF IntereHS to Strawberry Growers May
RevoIutionizc the Industry

Mr.. T. K. Bruner, secretarv of the
Board of Agriculture, calls the atten-
| ton of the North Carolina growers
to the King" strawberry which has
made such a hit IN the English mar
ket This King not a new
variety. but can be produced from
riety, and should the fashion
| able hostelries of the eastern cities OF
this country pay anything like as lib
orally for this extra large gruit as
is paid in London, it will be worth
while to North Carolina growers to
adopt the method which is set forth
below, in an exchange from the
Scotsman" of Edinburg. This large
fruit brought from so to 60 cents a
pound i'm London. when the marke ct
was full of small fruit at so cents the
dozen pounds The Scotsman" says:
THE arrival of King strawberries
in Covent Garden Market for the first
time bids fair to revolutionize the
strawberry growing industry of the
future. At the present time tons of
strawberries of ordinary quality are
on sale as low as I'd. pound. Quite
a sensation has been produced in the
London market by the arrival of what
are termed King Strawberries by
fruit specialists and horticultural eX-
hibitorS These wonderful fruits weigh
from . to 4 ozs. each Many of them
only require six berries to make one
pound. Several of the punnets contain
six fruits which weigh 16 ozs. The
trick berries, as some gardeners term
them, are obtained thus. Only the cen
trail flower in each truss is allowed tn
set it's fruit, all the others being cut
out As the result of high feeding
the whole strength of the plant IS
thrown into the King berries # the
plant throws out three trusses of flow
ers. only three King fruits are al
lowed to mature on each plant, iu
this way they swell out to an enormoa&
size and reese mble plums rather than
straw berries from their size. In some
exceptional cases the sixteen ounces
of fruit consist of four giant berries
only AS against the run of ordinary
Strawberries, requiri 20 and 30
fruits to the pound, the appearance of
the shapely mammoth King fruits is
remarkable The trade buyers rushed
at the samples directly they were put
on show. The demand for them could
not be met, the supplies only being
marketed to test their value and to
get at the opinion Of dealers Next
season a large quantity will be pro-
duced. That they met a great want
is evident, for though t"~~ of ordinary
quality strawberries were on sale as
low as rs. a dozen POUNDS, the klng
berries secured IS. and IS. Cd.
pound. There can be no doubt that
the bad state of the strawberr-- mar
ket is. due to the continued produc-
ton, of late years, of enormous van
titles of poor low ~~ado" of fruit. The
majority of public buyers prefer a
good quality berry, and will not pay
attention to the common fruit so often
put on show by fruiterers. They sell,
it is true, because they are bought
by the poorest class of city consumer.
The sale of these wonderful King
berries offers an instructive object
lesson to strawberry growers. 1t is
evident that if best prices are expected
cultivatOrs must, increase the size of
the berries they market. 1t is not to
be expected that the public will de-
mand exclusively the production of
King berries weighing 3 or ozs.
each. But there is no doubt that
taking sixteen fruits to
the pound would meet a great want,
and realize high prices in quantity in
the public fruit markets of the four