The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-12-15
concern a most important feature of
it's work. w. H. BURKE.
Three Rivers, Mich.
THE STRAWBERRY OPPORTUNITY


THE STRAWBERRY OPPORTUNITY
The man most vitality interested in
horticultural subjects these days is
he who finds so heavy the burden OF
supporting a family and of educating
his children upon the meager wage
obtainable in anything but specialized
labor that he turns to the soil to see
if it is not possible that in some way
he may find not only better way to
meet life's demands, but a way, as
we'll, that admits of some diversion,
some respite from the killing daily
grind. To such a man l know of no
other line of work that will give such
quick and large returns upon small
investments of cash and labor as that
of strawberry production.
1t has been my privilege, during
the last few months, to read letters
received by a great strawberry plant
growing company from it's patrons all
the country over. IL is difficult to be-
lieve, sometimes, the wonderful
things that are being done by straw
berry growers, not in isolated cases,
but in hundreds of cases. Just i'm
agine, for instance, the experience of
G. M. Hawley of La Mesa, California,
who under date of September 10, 1907
relates his experience for the season.
From two acres of plants had been
taken up to the date named for the
season, $2,596.00, and the plants were
still yielding at the rate of $50 per
week. Prof S. w. Fletcher of the
uici cd
Mr. Hawley's strawberry farm in the
course of the season, and l am told
will use some Photographic views of
that wonderful field in a book soon
to be published.
Henry Clute of Hunt, N. Y, engaged
for the first time in strawberry grow
ing in 1905, when he set out an acre
of plants. He took excellent care of
this acre, and in 1907 he received in
actual cash $888.17 from this first
acre of plants that he had grown; and
it is estimated that fully another hun
dred dollars worth more were grown
in this acre, which were given away
or consumed upon the place by Mr..
Clute's family and the people engaged
in gathering the fruit.
John Rucker of Boston, N. Y, gath
cred more than 5000 quarts of berries
from single acre in 1907, but as he
sold them in Buffalo on commission,
he received a little less than ten cents
a quart, so that his total cash income
from the acre was slightly under 5000.
H. B. Steward of Myrtle Point, Ore
gon, took 81, 500 in the season of 1907
from an acre of strawberries; James
Calder of Clayton N. Y, set out 1000
plants from which he gathered in 1907
1910 in cash. Columbus Knight of
Falmouth, Maine, developed an in
come at the rate of $1,000 an acre
from his venture in strawberries; M.
F. H. Shelter of Van Buren,, Ark,
made $1,079 from an acre in 1907.
Strawberry growing is distinctly a
line of work fitted for womankind.
Some of the most encouraging expert
ences it has been my pleasure to know
about have been those of women
strawberry growers. They usually
press the children into service, and
thus succeed in handling comparative
ly large areas at trifiing outlay for
manual assistance. One woman whose
letter / have had the privilege Of read
ing, wrote from Santa Cruz, CAL, that
in 1907 she took from one-tenth of an