The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-08

Yesterday was the biggest day for
the shipment of strawberries out of
this section ever known. Two hun
dred and t~wenty-six cars are reported
by the Armour people for yesterday.
The week has also beer a record
breaker, 1,168 cars of berries having
gone forward.
1t was said last night at the Offices
of the Armour Line, in this city, that
the shipment was the greatest ever
known in the history Of the berry in
dustry. 1t is said that the high mark
of the season has been reached and
that there will be a gradual dropping
off in the number of cars from now on
to the end of the season.
The record of shipments for each day
this week was as follows: Monday, 1874
cars: Tuesday, 1913; Wednesday 1856;
Thursday, 1872; Friday, 1879; Saturday,
226. These with ten cars which have
gone out from the short cut section,
between Florence and Wilson, bring
the total up to 1,168 cars.
: The report OF Mr.. II. T. Baumau.
business agent of the Eastern Carolina
Fruit and Truck Growers Association.
of the number of cars to pass through
South Rocky Mount was 100, distribu-
ted as follows: New York AZ. Newark
3. Philadelphia IS, Boston 20, Provi-
dence s, Cleveland 5, Buffalo II, Pitts
burg Is, Albany 5, Washington, Scran-
ION, 4 each; Baltimore, Worcester,
bridgeport, Harrisburg, Columbus,
Schenectady, Syracuse, Montreal. 2
each; Springfield 8, Brooklyn, Keen,
Fall River, Reading, Wilkesbarre, Lo-
gansport, Erie, Burlington, Elmira.
Canton,- Portland, New Britain, New
Haven, Binghampton, Rochester, Troy,
Norristown, Hartford, Hornellsville,
Amsterdam, Newbedford, Utica, Hazel
ton, Pittsfield 1 each.
The berry season on the W. & w.
road is now at it's highest and the out
look is that there will be a very large
crop. Farmers are, of course, better
satisfied than last season but still they
are not pleased at the prices berries
haye been bringing for the past few
days. The first of the week there was
no complaint and as late as Thursday
berries were bringing 81 per crate.
On Friday the price cropped to S1.75
and yesterday $3.50.
1t is expected that the price will be
quite low on Monday as such is usually
the case. The above prices may not
have prevailed on the entire road but
i'd was certainly true in some sections.
Farmers in the Warsaw section say
no trouble is being experienced by rea-
o of a shortage Of cars. One farmer
said it looked to him like they had so
many that they were in the way. There
is no complaint, as far as can be learn
ed, on the w. & w. as to cars, not be-
ing iced and supplied on time.
To appreciate the magnitude Of the
berry business one has to go through
the great berry belt and see the large
fields where hundreds of people are at
work picking the luscious fruit. And
when it is considered that the enOrm-
Gus business is handled in the period
of only about three weeks it can read
lily be seen how enormous is the task.
If the crop gets much larger facilities
for taking care of it will have to be in
creased enormously. One of the great
est troubles seems to be that of getting
cars iced.
An enormous amount of money is
now pouring into eastern Carolina and
the banks located in the different towns
in the trucking belt are kept busy day
and night. Saturday is a big day for
paying off and yesterday morning a
Wilmington banker was seen going to
a nearby town on an early morning
train with a large bag Of money and
ere this article is read it will be dis
tributed among hundreds of people who
are picking berries in the vicinity
where the bank is located.