Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1919-10-09
FINE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR FRUIT RAISING
BY J. G. MOORE,
College of Agriculture of the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin.


sity of Wisconsin.
Starting any business requires capt.
tai. To the man considering what line
of business to enter, the amount Of
capital required to successfully oper-
ate that business is frequently very
important factor. There is probably
no phase of agriculture which re-
Quires a smaller original capital to
operate a successful business than
does the growing of small fruits or
vegetables.
These lines of agriculture are inten-
Rive. The acreage necessary to profit
ably employ the time of man is rela-
lively small and the returns per acre
are relatively large. This combination
makes the initial investment In land
much less than for most other lines OF
agriculture 1t is true the unit price
of land desirable for growing these
crops will be somewhat higher than
that usually used for stock raising or
grain growing, but the area needed for
the latter much more than offsets this
difference.
Berries Give Quick Returns
Another important consideration to
the man with small capital is the
uuickness of returns. In the growing
of vegetables the returns in many in
stances are almost immediate and in
no case is there long interval of time
between the planting and marketing
of the crop. While somewhat greater
interval is necessary for the profitable
production of small fruits, it is not
great, as Strawberries give full crop
the second season, raSpberrieS and
blackberries the third, and currants
and gooseberries produce good crops
in about four years. In the meantime
returns may be had from the small
fruit plantation by intercropping with
vegetables.
The possibility of marketing the
crop after it is produced is vital
problem with the farmer. Market de-
mands and the available supply large
ly control prices. The demand for
small fruit has never been better, the
supply seldom less than at present
The result is high prices. Practically
none of the fairly large markets has
been able to secure a sufficient supply
OF any of the small fruits during the
present season, Notwithstanding the
fact that the yield per acre has seldom
been larger. There is every reason to
believe that the relative supply will
not be greater for some years.
War Trained Home Gardeners.
The market demands for certain
vegetables was not good during 1917
and 1913, due to the large number of
war gardens. In spite of this large in
crease in home gardens, commercial
gardeners who selected intelligently
the crops which they grew in 1918
were able to secure fairly satisfactory
returns. There will doubtless always
be a larger number of families supply
ing their vegetable needs from home
gardens than before the war but many
who gardened during the war are no
longer doing so.
The increased supply due to the in
crease in the number of home gardens
is probably not a relative increase for
the habit of using more vegetables in
the diet because of our wartime train
ing will offset to a large extent the
increased production. The prospects
of a ready market in the future for
high grade vegetables is very promis-
ing. The market demands during the
present season warrant this conclu-
sion.
Marketing Nearby.
To the man interested in these lines
of agriculture Wisconsin offers excel
lent opportunities. With ordinary
care in selecting location and soil
and with the advantage of large mar
kets close at hand the Wisconsin
grower need not worry about markets
or fear competition from other states.
If he finds competition too strong In
the eastern market he can direct his
product to equally good markets west,
north, northwest and southwest.
The desirable opportunities in Wis.
eonsin along horticultural lines are not