Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1909-04-30
A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
FOR REAL WORKERS
we Must Produce More Garden
Truck, More Berries, More
Butter and More Eggs
(By Dennis H. Stovall.)

phine county it is more truck farm
ers. There are already number
here, and they are happy, but there
Is room and abundant opportunity
for more. A man with "only half
a head" by slight investigation, will
learn the need of more men to grow
the things we eat and use. Here
we are, shipping In too much but
ter, too many eggs, nearly all the
produce and much of the small
fruits; paying freight. and giving
the money to the truck producers of
other districts. We even get a fra
quent glimpse of the really shame
full spectacle of receiving baled hay
by the carload at our local freight
yards. To any man who has lived
in a farming country, such a sight
as this Is sufficient to give him bad
case of the pee-wees.
Not only more garden trnck, but
a much greater quantity of small
fruits needs be grown here, and can
be grown here If the ground is util-
lied. or course, apples and grapes
and peaches are great and will bring
good returns, but last year the
Grants Pass cannery, of which we
should all feel proud, was obliged to
ship in a very great portion CT the
fruit it canned. Now cherries, pears,
or any other kind of fruit shipped
here from the Willamette valley
and put in cans at our factory is not
Josephine County" goods We may
put our brand on 1t and sell 1t as
our stuff, but the credit really be-
longs to the other fellow just the
same. He gets the money that
should have been received by local
growers.
AS an authority on canned goods,
the writer begs to make the claim
that there is no better canned toma-
toes sold than is grown here and
from the local cannery. There was
a good demand for these tomatoes,
even though they were held at a
slightly higher figure than tomatoes
from California and northern facto-
ries. This difference was willingly
paid by the consumers, not merely
through a feeling Of pride, but be-
cause they were easily worth the
price asked.
This is cited as just one instance
in which the local grower has an
opportunity; for tomatoes, II grown
on a large scale for disposal at the
cannery, are profitable.
A few men are growing straw
berries on Josephine county soil, and
these few are doing well. A few
days ago the writer had talk with
one of these. He is worker, q
real "son of Martha" and naturally
modest, as all real workers are, so
his name is not given. Anyway, the
Song is more important than the
singer" Here is the song:
1--WE started to grow strawberries
for fun, but the returns were so
flattering after the first year that
we increased our patch. Our expert
ence has taught us that the prime re-
quisites in strawberry growing are
selection OF soil, preparation of
ground, selection and settiLg OF
plants, cultivation and care, picking
and marketing. Any deep loan will
grow strawberries, but soil carrying
some sand Is the best. The field
should be selected with a view to
getting the most OF the sun. New
land on which berries are to be set
should be deeply plowed in the fall
IL the plants are to be set in the
spring We have put out plants
both in the spring and fall. We
think the spring is best Plants set
this spring will bear heavily next
year, II cultivated well during the
summer.
Rows should be laid out three
feet apart, and set the plants six or
eight inches apart in the row. II
Is risky to plant new or untried
varieties. We have had better re.
suits with old standards These are
the Wilson's, Crescent and Downing
for table and general use, but par.
ticularly adapted to preserves and
canning. The Glenmary IL also q
good berry OF this sort and especial
ly desired because II Is early In bear
ing. The Sharpless Is good berry
for display, as 1t grows to an i'm
mense size, but is not as good "a
Wilson varieties for all round pur
poses. As to market, we have never
lacked for that right here at home
and the price holds to an average oI
10 cents a box"
AS previously limited we send ava,
for nearly all our eggs. A lazy cltl
zen explains this by declaring thal
the hens won't lay" It isn't tha