Historic, Archive Document

Do not assume content reflects current scientific Knowledge, policies, or practices.

SPRING™ 1913

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C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

ORTY-THREE years ago I set out my first strawberry bed—one-fifth of an acre. How proud I was of it! Took more delight in it than a cat does with her first litter of kittens. My neighbors gave me lots of free advice—frankly told me that I would make more money

9 tolay it down tograss. Next June I picked my first crop and retailed my first berries for

50 cents a quart. Got 980 quarts that season which returned me $280. Mr. Know-it-all that advised

me to grow grass hid behind the lighthouse.

I then leased three acres of low land too wet to grow strawberries on and lost money as easily as a man slides down a toboggan chute. The next move I made I leased very light, dry land, and lost again. I then leased twenty acres of low iand near the Ipswich River but the land was not wet but a frosty location. I set eight acres and the next year I set seven more, and that year we had a late spring—frost that injured my berry crop very much. The next season I had fifteen acres to fruit, with a prospect of having 50,000 quarts of berries. The first week in June it was a sight good for sore eyes to see such a fine prospect for one that had the hard rubs. Well, didn’t I feel rich! No one felt better than I. Then wicked Jack Frost came along again to vex me; said I was getting too big for my boots, and he purposed to take me off my high horse. Well, he kept his word. The morning of June 6, after my beds were all through blooming and the fruit set, he lit on me hard. The glass stood at sunrise six degrees below freezing. I knew it was all day with me—prospects blasted. I was sick at heart and blue as a whetstone. Hada touch of the double-breasted horrors:

I was $2,000 in debt, with all prospect of paying it gone. I got 6,000 quarts. My creditors lit on me like June bugs. I let them have all that there was to have and then I was down and out. I never ought to have done it. I ought to have gone through bankruptcy, but I was too conscientious and too honest to do that. Most people would have thrown up the sponge and abandoned strawberry growing, but I never was built that way. I never like to throw up things. I had grit, so I threw my hat into the ring, as the FAMOUS BULL MOOSE SAID. I had the experience and $2,000 debt, and for ten years I made a heroic struggle with my creditors hounding me for every cent they could get. I have known what it is to have a wife sick in bed with a little one and a sheriff at the door. At last I went through bankruptcy and threw people off my back. This is the only right thing to do. This will give a man a fair chance. Some day I shall pay my debts. I am not obliged to, for legally they are settled, but morally J owe them just the same.

“The World goes up and the World goes down, the Sunshine follows the Rain, Last Year’s Slur and Last Year’s Frown will never be mine again.”

If I could have the trade that really ought to come to me I could pay all my debts this season. If my prices are right, and if you have confidence in me and you can do as well by yourself, please give me your trade for 1918. I never had a finer stock of plants. They are grown on good, strong, sandy soil, well manured and are good, stocky plants. One other thing: they were all covered with two tons of hay per acre last fall and are sure of coming out all right in the spring.

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LOTH TO LAY IT ASIDE STRENGTH TO THE WASTE BASKET

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

We guarantee all plants furnished by us to be first- class, true tonam2, and delivered in good condition when shipped by express.

We do not guarantee stock to grow, or results in any way. No complaint will be entertained that is not made immediately upon receipt of stock.

There are so many causes for failure over which we have no control that we can assume no responsibility after SMES. eee stock is delivered in good order. Poor soil, unfavorable weather, ignorant or careless culture—all contribute to failure and are beyond our control. Don’t buy cheap plants simply because they are cheap. Thirty- five years ago I wanted to set 15,000 Wilson’s Albany. I could buy these from the late J. P. Moore, Concord, Mass., for $8.00 per 1,000, but I had them offered to me from a party in New York for $5.00 per 1,000, and I bought the cheap ones. The result was that the plants were very badly mixed, with a very poor berry, so that I did not get more than one-half crop the next year. That was a time when berries sold at very high prices. For eight days running I took my fruit to market and sold it for $9.60 per crate of 32 quarts. I calculate I lost $500 by not having plants true to name.

A GOOD HOME MARKET

The possibility of New England for the fruit growers’ success is greater than any other part of the United States, because of its markets. In Massachusetts alone there are nearly 100 cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. There is not another state in the country, outside of New England, that can begin to compare with it. Prof. Shaler says: ‘‘New England is one of the most permanently fertile parts of the country, made so by the steady and gradual disintergration of her rocks and drift formations.’’ Stay East, young man, stay East.

-THREE WAYS OF SETTING A PLANT

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PLANTED TOO DEEP PLANTED TOO SHALLOW RIGHT WAY

Be sure and press the soil firmly around the roots so that you can take hold of one leaf and pull it off without disturbing the plant. There are more plants lost by improper setting than by any other one cause. Do not, under any circumstances, allow the plants to fruit the first year they are set out; when they are well blossomed out go over the bed and pull all the buds and blossoms off, as it is all the plants can do the first season to make runners and get ready to fruit the next year. The first three commandments in successful fruit growing are:

Thou shalt not use poor plants. Thou shalt not set plants carelessly. Thou shalt not use ground until well fertilized and thoroughly prepared. 27°

MY PLANTS ARE F IRST CLASS NOT PEDIGREE

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

Strawberries are divided into two classes: Per- fect or Staminate and Imperfect or Pistillate. You can tell them apart by their blossoms. The Meteor a1 d Sample are the only two Pistillates I have and you must plant every fifth row with some Stami- nate variety.

Terms cash with order. No plants shipped C.O.D.

Six plants at dozen rates, 50 at 100 rate,

~ = -Flowers: 1 and 2 perfect ; 3 pistillate flowers 500 at 1000 rate.

Please write your name plainly so plain you can read it after the ink is dry

ROWS STRAIGHT AND EQUAL DISTANCE

One wants to have his rows straight and equal distance apart. I set my rows 42 inches apart and the plants 15 inches apart in the rows. I have a rope 300 feet long and a man with me and we each have a stick 42 inches long. We stretch the rope, which is a good, heavy 7-8 inch in diameter, when we wish the first row to be straight, and then one will draw it a little and then the other will draw it back. Then we will measure off for another row and repeat it. This will leave a straight mark and one that will not be washed out no matter how hard it rains. The land should be planked”

or rolledt{before you mark it off.

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

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The past winter has been a very trying one for straw- berry plants. It has been freezing and thawing all win- ter. Don't buy your plants of any one that did not cover his beds last fall. I have five acres and I used ten tons of

hay in covering them and it

is well I did.

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In setting plants I use a potato digger with the handle cut off to 18 inches. One can make a hole large enough to set the largest plants, and have the roots set without doubling up. I have made quite a number of different shape dibbles but have never seen any thing that suited me as well as the digger.

I only want one thing, and that is to be the best Strawberry Grower in the state

After I have’set the plants I run a 100 Ib. roller right over the rows to firm the soil around the plants

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

I water my fruiting beds with 1 inch hose which puts on about 25 gallons per minute with 100 feet head town water which cost me 30 cents per 1000 gallons—a price too high unless one has got some fancy fruit to help out. Ten cents per 1000 is all that one ought to pay all he can afford to pay. I commence to water in the morning at 4 o’clock and water until 8 o’clock, then commence at 5 o’clock in the afternoon and water until 9 o’clock, which is the best time to do it.

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I market my fruit in trays holding 15.quarts. They are made out of 1-2 inch stock and are 28 inches long, 17 inches wide, 4 1-2 inches deep inside measure. The trays have covers that fit inside with cleats on them so as not to rest on the fruit. Thetrays are stained a light green which makes the fruit show up great. One can fill the baskets rounding full and not have the fruit jammed, and will reach the customer in fine shape and sell well.

‘C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

This is my headquarters in the City of Melrose, 2 place of 15,000 inhabitants. Here are nine Mel- rose High School boys that sell my berries every afternoon

1st Qualit (S) It will surely y take the place of eg. the Marshall for a family berry. Will produce five times as much from the same space of ground as the Marshall. Great cropper, fine shape, and colors well. This is the berry for your own use. Too good to sell but just right to give one’s best friends. We have never heard of a person who did not immediately become enthu- siastic over the IST QUALITY. There is something—that indescribable something about its flavor that completely captivates the taste. And it is a flavor that grows in favor with every berry eaten. No one ever seems to tire of it. Always a treat when you are ready toeat. The more! see . of this berry the better I like it. There is not a berry in existence that will begin to throw out the number of quarts from the ‘Same amount of ground as this will. The second year’s fruiting the} fruit will be nearly as fine as from a new bed.§ 25¢c. doz., 75c. per 100, $6 per 1,000

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

I pick my fruit in the forenoon and ship it to Melrose, six miles from my place, by an auto truck. It takes about 30 minutes. It is left at my tent, which is 10x15 feet with 8 feet sheathed sides and ends, with awning top, and is very neat and convenient. I can retail 300 quarts at the tent in the afternoon and each one of the push carts will sell 100 quarts more. I pay the boys 10 per cent. for selling, so I can retail 700 quarts with but very little expense, and I cut out the commission man, the middle man, and the grower and consumer meet and both are pleased. It is needless to say that I have the inside track of the berry business in Melrose. Years ago I would pick my fruit all day and at 12 o’clock at night start a team to Boston, reaching there about 4 o’clock, and consign it to the commission merchant, paying him 10 per cent. for selling it, which I believe was a small part of what he got for it sometimes. Iam not selling my fruit that way today.

If your fruit sells the PROFIT belongs to the COMMISSION MAN. If it doesn’t sell the LOSS is YOURS.

Gl en M. ar (S) With some growers this is their standby and enormously productive; Y large fruit and a good market berry. I get sold out of plants every season. 25c. dozen, 75c. per 100, $5 per 1000.

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Greenwood Strawberry

(S) I got this variety from a party who has grown strawberries forty-five. years, a man in whose judgment I have. great confidence, and who I believe. would not make a statement that was; not strictly honest. He says it is the finest berry he ever saw. Nothing ever came near yieldirg the amount of fruit: it does. Of pot grown plants set in, August, a good many yielded a full qt.. to a plant the following June. Fruit of' largest size. Limited stock of plants. Only $1.00 per dozen. |

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

Earl Ozark (S) This is by all odds the meanest berry in existence. No man will! y ever care to eat more than one berry, and yet it is one of the finest market berries, and one can just coin money growing it. I commenced to pick them last year 10: days before I did the King Edward and Sample. I got three good pickings of this before I did from the others. I had them in the market selling at the same time New Jersey berries were selling. They are good size and fine shape and very, very firm. Quarts, quarts, quarts, and they hold out picking as long as any berry I ever had. All they are good for is to sell. 25c. doz., 75c. per 100, $5 per 1000.

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_ Meteor Strawberry

(P) Medium to late. Strong grower, dark glossy berry, an immense cropper, fine first-class. fruit and sell in the Boston markets at the

highest price. 25c. doz., 75c. per 100, $5 per 1000.

4 S) It is the rich man’s berry, poor man’s berry, lazy U, S. King Edward ae berry and the Fey eidags baby If one wishes to grow the largest number of quarts to the acre, and has to sell at low prices, this is the berry to grow every time. It is not one of those large, coarse, over-large berries, but of uniform size throughout the season; indeed, every berry looks as though they were all run in the same mould. They are a very attractive light scarlet color. A crate of this fruit is about as fine a thing as one could possibly ask for. The looks alone would sell them. They stand up great, a berry marketmen hike to handle. The plant is a strong staminate variety and is just loaded with fruit. Quarts, quarts, quarts, as thick as cultivated cranberries. It is a mortgage lifter. Unfortunately, there are two. strawberries by the name of King Edward. One originated in England and the best one in America. You want the U. S. King Edward because it is the best. 25c. dozen, 75c. per 100, $5 per 1000

Read first inside cover page and not make the mistakes that I did

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

(S) By all odds the finest and most profitable strawberry in existence. When the merits of this berry become known to the strawberry growers it will sweep the country like wildfire. For years the originator grew it and simply held the trade in spite of all other growers. He could always get a fancy price for his fruit even when the markets were just glutted with strawberries. He is getting old and is about through growing berries, and for that reason and that alone is why I am able to offer it to my customers this season. A strong staminate or per- fect flower, fine shape, and one of the handsomest of strawberries; flavor as good as the Marshall; more productive than the Golden Gate. It makes but very few plants and the price of plants will never be as low as standard varieties. 50c. dozen, $2.50 per 100, $20 per 1000.

You can Sample

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cms ff comm § ff § cm 9 § $f comme fj comme fff seme 9 ff cme ff 9 eee ff ee ee i it Go East, go West, go where you may, you cannot find three better berries for a new beginner. They areall sure croppers, and will throw out quarts, quarts, quarts, for the grower. Py eee

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

15 Strawberries to the Qt.

$500 FROM HALF AN ACRE

That is the Record of the RYCKMAN STRAW- BERRY Under Ordinary Farm Culture

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oes, ae ih : Its great size and productiveness, thrifty

‘Atal i} \ growth, and delicious flavor make if one of the ee AN most valuable berries ever grown for business hs ef in purposes. Many extensive growers say that it

at produces even ae crops the second year than

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Peabo titiniiily on the same ground for several years. It is perfect flowering and mid-season. Personally I know nothing about this berry. The plants are all in the hands of the originator and all orders I receive will be mailed to him and be

si shipped to my customers direct from headquar- ee ee ters. 50c. dozen, $1.50 per 100, $6 per 1000.

Mixed Plants $4 per 100 These plants will be taken up where

two varieties come together and are fine for any one to set for fruit. You Pe a chance of getting some of my newest and highest- priced plants at a bargain. If you wish simply to grow a crop of fruit these are as good as anything you can buy. I have only a few thousand to sell, anyway.

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The following testimonial is from a Boscawen, N. H., grower: ‘‘These berries are the nicest raised in this town. Plants came from C. S. Pratt, Reading, Mass.’’

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

S am le (P) There never was a variety put on the market that took a stand right in front

of the procession and held it as long as the Sample did. It is as fine now as when. I first introduced it. It is one of the very best pistillate kinds in cultivation. The plant is large and: healthy and makes plenty of runners. However close to each other the plants may stand in the bed,. every one will bear. The plant is well anchored by a great mass of roots which insure it against drought and frost. It is a great bearer of large, roundish berries, dark red to the centre, moderate- ly firm, and of good quality. The fruit is large to the close of the season; late. Remember, I am. headquarters for this berry, and you are sure of getting plants true to name. It never fruited as well with me as it did last season. There was not a berry on my place that stood the drought as well as this. It just threw out the berries. Quarts, quarts, quarts. This and the U. S. King Edward are two safe berries for a new beginner to plant. 25c. dozen, 75c. per 100, $5 per 1000.

-Fall-Bearing Strawberries

Yes, we have them, but don’t lose your head and set largely of them thinking that you will get rich quick. They will never supercede the June ripening sorts. You can’t crowd one fruit onto another. It is well enough to grow a few fall-bearing berries for your own table but don’t try to grow them for the market. IT WON’T PAY,

Productive (P) Plants are very large. It makes plenty of runners which fruit the first year. Good size, light red, very firm. One of the most productive of the fall-bearing berries. Plants should not be set nearer than 30x18 inches. $1.50 per dozen.

Americus (S) Plant medium sized, foliage medium, a shade lighter in color than the.

Francis, has a good heavy root system, a fairly good plant maker, blossoms strongly staminate, fruit light red, heart shaped, of fine texture, good quality, half the size of Bran- dywine, fruit-stems stout, holding fruit well off the ground, has fruited on spring-set plants and new runners from July to cold weather. It is not uncommon for a spring-set plant to produce from six. to twelve well loaded fruit-stalks. $1.50 per dozen.

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DO NOT FAIL TO SET SOME OF THESE TWO BERRIES

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

Pint Basket Taken July 20, 1912. Take Note of the Size of the Berries

I have discovered the best raspberry ever grown. It is a giant, as sweet as honey, and as delicate in flavor as a maiden’s kiss. It is as big as the end of a man’s thumb and fingers, and a man’s great toe, if his toe is not too large. It is not one of your coarse, tasteless things that grow on stunted vines among choking weeds. The berry is of fine texture, remarkably juicy, rich in color and keeping qualities, and a wonderful yielder. If you live near a large town, no crop grown will return more dollars and cents. It will average twice the yield that the strawberry will, and will sell for twice the amount. The raspberry did not sell for less than 10 cents per pint basket last season, at wholesale, in the Boston market. With a yield of 8,000 quarts, 16,000 pints per acre, such a crop

_is richer than a gold mine in the Klondike—and will not have any freeze in it, either.

Remember, you must live near a ready market in order to be able to sell in the afternoon what you pick in the forenoon. Then the money will roll in like the torrent of a Niagara and will not come drivelling in as it does from many crops. The Herbert will sell for the same price day in and day out; there will be no glut in the market, as is so often the case with the strawberry, forcing the price down to the vanishing point and sending you home dead broke. Take the Herbert Rasp- berry to the market and you will go home with a pocketbook stuffed as full as a stuffed goose.

One acre of the Herbert will yield larger returns than one and half acres of the best straw- berry ever grown. The Herbert will stand the New England winter where the thermometer goes up to the sweating point and then DOWN, DOWN to the freezing point of Iceland.

I am living within eight miles of eighty-seven thousand people. That is a market. Come and look at my five acre patch of the Herbert, then look at ten acres more added this year. Come when the berries are ripe and bring your vocabulary of exclamations. The Herbert will astonish you, but the money it will make will astonish you more and delight your wife. Forty years of strawberries have not made me rich, but the Herbert promises to do so. If you are a young man, set out an acre of the Herbert, keep your hoe busy, in two years marry the best girl you can tie up to (if you are worthy) and live off the constant inflow of MONEY FROM THE HERBERT RASPBERRY,

That I will make more clean profit out of the Herbert Raspberry the next three | years than I have made out of the Strawberry the last 43 years _

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

HERBERT RASPBERRY

The Herbert Raspberry is a chance =< seedling that sprang up in 1887 in the -garden of R. B. Whyte, one of the most _ prominent and best known horticultur- ists in the City of Ottawa, Canada. It has undergone a thorough test beside all the other varieties, as well as the later introductions, and has completely outclassed them all. It has been thoroughly tested, not only by the originator who, although a most scrupu- lous and conscientious man, may be ac- cused of over-zealousness, but also by several experimental stations as the greatest yielding and finest all-round raspberry in existence.

I have no hesitation in saying that there has never been a raspberry put on the market in the United States or Canada that has proven so universally successful as the Herbert. From all over the continent-—North, South, East,

== West—comes most flattering accounts of its behavior from the most uninterested authorities in each of the two countries. Kansas is the only state from which we get a report detrimental to this great berry, one man there reporting that it was not hardy in that state. There may be something in the climate of that state that kills a plant that is hardy in Peace River Territory, where the thermometer goes to 59 degrees below zero; Put the fact that thousands of spurious plants have been sold, some even by one of the largest nur- series on the continent, led me to believe that the plants grown in Kansas were not true Herberts. Twelve plants were mailed to the Government Experimenter at Fort Vermillion, Peace River Terri- tory, 400 miles directly north of Edmonton, Alberta, in the spring of 1908, 1100 miles nearer the North Pole than Boston. After travelling nearly 3000 miles by train in a mail bag, they had 700 miles to go by team on the trail, which left them very late in arriving, and in not the best condition, but four plants survived and made a nice growth, which stood that winter and had about a pint of fine fruit the next summer. The thermometer there registered 51 degrees below zero in December and 59 below in January and February.

From Bulletin No. 56 by W. T. Macoun, horticulturist at the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa, I take the following lists of yields, which is the average from 12 plants for three years:

Herbert. t , : ; 3 ; 3 : 36 lbs. 7 3-4 0z. Turner 5 ! i é : : i é : 15 lbs. 13 OZ. Herstine . 2 Z : ; : : : : 14 lbs. 4 OZ. Columbian : : : : : 2 z : ll lbs. 9 1-4 oz. Marlboro . : : : : : e : : : 7 lbs. 12 1-2 oz. Loudon ; 5 : : : : 2 : : 7 lbs. 12 OZ. Shaffer ; : é : é f : : p : 6 Ibs. 10 1-2 oz. King 3 , : § . 4 : ; : SAbs, 15.c" woz. Golden Queen . : : F ; ; : e 4 lbs. 15 1-2 oz.

(Cuthbert has been a failure, owning to winter injury to the canes)

From this table we see the enormous superiority in yield of Herbert over all other varieties. Prof. Bailey, one of the best authorities in the world, places the average crop of raspberries per acre at from 54 to 100 bushels. Estimating the average yield, as reported by 56 growers, Card found the average to be 69 bushels per acre. But at the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, in 1904, Herbert roduced at the rate of 319 bushels and 26 lbs. per acre, or nearly five times as much as the average. his is simply wonderful. Imagine a pile of raspberries twice as large as the average crop of pota- toes coming off the same amount of ground. My stock is absolutely pure. I got my original plants from headquarters in Canada. Price of Plants, 50c per dozen, $2.50 per 100, $12 per 1000. Rasp- berries are a better paying crop than the strawberry.

PERFECTION CURRANT BUSHES--Strong 2-year old plants $1.50 per dozen

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

EVERY FRUIT GROWER

SHOULD PLANT

Sf. Regis

BERRIES EVERY DAY FROM. JUNE UNTIL OCTOBER - IT'S SIMPLY GREAT

A Very Valuable New Red Raspberry. Itis in a Class by Itself and no Fruit Grower Can Afford to be Without It. Our Plants are Pure Stock. Look Out for Substitutes of this Variety.

Raspberries for four months! That’s what you get when you plant St. Regis—the new ever- bearing variety. Moreover, they are not only raspberries, but raspberries of the very highest grade in size, in brilliant crimson color, in firmness, in flavor. The variety has been aptly termed ‘‘the early ’till late variety,’’ for it is the first red raspberry to give ripe fruit, while it continues to pro- duce berries without intermission until late in October.

St. Regis is of pure American blood and of iron-clad hardihood, the canes enduring the severest cold uninjured and are wonderfully prolific. Its foliage never suffers by sunburn or scald; nor is its growth impaired by the heat and drought of summer. In addition to the bright crimson color and large size of the fruit, it is so firm and rich in sugar that it will stand shipping 200 miles, arriving at market in first-class order; and it can readily be kept in perfect condition for several days after being gathered. $1 per dozen, $5 per 100.

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A Few Things a Fruit Grower has to be Thankful For:

That we may have a ride without paying for it.

That we know where our boys and girls are at night.

That we need not worry about the house rent or fuel bills.

That business depressions are powerless to make us cold or hungry.

That we may raise most of our living in our own gardens.

That we have the opportunity to give our boys and girls a start in the world if we desire to.

That we have many days off—between chores—which the working man in town cannot afford.

That we may entertain our friends without having to cut down our family living expenses for the next week in consequence.

That we have long, uninterrupted winter evenings in which to read and study and weld the family ties so strongly they will never break.

That we need not be stupid, or ignorant, or uninteresting unless we choose, for there are many things for us to learn in our country homes.

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

HIMALAYA GIANT BERRY

The Himalaya vine looks like a blackbery vine and the fruit tastes like a blackberry, still the plant has the nature of a tree or a grapevine in that the wood does not die down every year as with raspberries and blackberries, but continues to bear fruit right along year after year and is as long lived as a peach or pear.

One thing that greatly impresses me is the enormous growth that the Himalaya plants make. ‘One can almost see them grow, making 20 feet of growth a season. A person in riding past a three year old patch of Himalaya plants would think he was looking at a grape arbor, for the plants make such a growth that they have to be trained up on wires just as grapes are and cover the wires even more thickly than grapes. One would think this would be a disadvantage in picking the ripe fruit, but this is not the case, as the berries cluster around on the outside of the vines and not in among the briars.

I have only had this berry one year and this is the first winter, so I cannot tell about its hardi- ness. It is claimed to stand 30 degrees below and that is cold enough. Plants ready to mail the last of May. Plants $1.50 per dozen.

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| "oof when others let go; who pushes ahead

toe If the day looks | kinder gloomy = = when others turn back; who stiffens up

= _—sAn’ your chance is kinder slim— § = when others weaken; who advances

If the situation’s puzzlin’ when others retreat; who knows no

An’ the prospect’s awful grim, such word as ‘can’t’ or ‘give up;’ and I

= An’ perplexities keep pressin’ = = will show you a man who will win in

a Till all hope is nearly gone, ry 4 the end, no matter what opposes him,

Jus’ bristle up, and grit you teeth, no matter what obstacles confront 3 An’ keep on keepin’ on. LJ LJ P

him. q :

Tawosae 11) ecm (4) acme 1) $5 coma {jf} eee j

C. S. PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

Two Country Boys

One goes to the city to be chained down to a life job at $18 per week with no better prospect

ne ahead. In time marries; hires a tenement in a flat. What a life!

The other stays at home and lives like a prince. Goes and comes when he likes and is his own boss; lives in his own house. He lives!

)

If, instead of farm boys and

\} \ f \y O) 5 men going to cities and mills, —2 they would go to a nursery or ets a y orchard and learn the business,

they would soon be able to start for themselves, and become inde- pendently rich a good dea] quicker than they possibly could in any other work. And if, instead of struggling on in a city with an <_ income that is too small, people would buy a place in the country and grow fruits, they would find life easier, healthier and happier, and would be able to provide good home for themselves.

There is an enormous grow- ing demand for fine fruit all over the world, while the production is actually no more than holding its own. Many a lawyer, judge, merchant and professional man wishes he had a place in the country, knew what to plant, and how to go about it so that he could make an independent living there. These people are tired of city life and realize that there is some- thing better for them on the green and brown hills.

Every person Strives for two things: money and luxury. A fruit grower has both. He grows something that the public needs. He may dress in overalls yet be the envy of a National Bank President.

When a man is rich and making lots of money he has many friends. But when he is poor, the first of these friends may give him a loaf of bread, but I doubt that the second will. So it’s up to you to be a judge of your own affairs, to do your own thinking, and to” put yourself in such a position that you will be in no danger of starving some day, physically, morally or mentally. Get a business you can be proud of; make your business your hobby; and you will make money and be happy.

C. S..PRATT’S NURSERY, READING, MASS.

TABLE OF DISTANCES

To show at a glance the number of hills or plants contained in an acre of land, at any given distance from each other, from 40 feet by 40 feet, to 1 foot by 1 foot, omitting fractions. Dividing the amount by 160, will show the number for 1 rod.

Feet Feet | Per Acre || Feet Feet | Per Acre || Feet Feet | Per Acre || Feet Feet | Per Acre 40 by 40 27 11 by 5 192 56 by 16 5280 3 oby-3 0 4818 Sonar 39 28 LO. 8 435 —..10 7920 —..29 4882 38 38 30 —- .. 8 544 520i, 0. 11742 —..26 5361 37 37 Bi _ 6 726 ..46 1936 a ou 5956 36 36 oo ., 5 871 —..40 2178 —..20 6701 35 35 35 , 4. 1089 —..30 2904 —..19 7658 34 34 37 . 3 1452 —,.26 3484 —..16 8935 33 33 40 —. 2 2178 —..20 4356 ole nace liae 10722 ae 32 42 . 1 4356 rs Ma 0) 5808 ays 0 13403 31 31 45 9 : 9 537 —..10 8712 o OS. oee 4840 30 30 48 4. 8 605 AO%.- 4:6 2151 —..29 5289 29 29 51 —. 6 806 —..40 2420 —..26 5808 28 28 55 . 5 968 —..86 2765 ee A 6453 27 VAS 59 on, 4 1210 —..30 38226 —..20 7260 26 26 64 —. 3 1613 —..26 3872 —..19 8297 25 25 69 —. a 2420 —..20 4840 —..16 9680 24 24 75 —. 1 4840 —..16 6453 ee eS 11616 23 23 82 Sa 8 680 —..10 9680 —..10 14520 22 22 90 . 6 905 40..40 2722 22D 5760 PA i3s 21 98 . 5 1089 Ss Oe 2904 —..26 6336 20... 20 108 —. 4 1361 —..86 3111 ,.23 7040 —. 15 145 ae 1815 —,.88 3350 —..20 7920 —. 10 217 =o Nae 1722 —..30 3630 i de9 9051 —. 5 435 BOA. ae 5445 —..26 4356 ee ov la 6 10560 19 . 19 120 ares. te O 888 —..23 4840 —i.138 12672 —., 15 152 ,... 6-6 957 —..20 5445 BS eg) 15840 —,. 10 229 Se 0) 1087 Sene V9 6222 DEG ast: ja20 6969 , 5 458 S50 1244 —..416 7260 —..28 7740 18. 18 134 ie.) 46 1382 “> —. 2 es 8712 —..20 8712 —. 15 161 ,.40 1555 || —..10 10890 —..19 9950 —. 10 242 ..36 1777 3-9 2-339 3097 ek 6 11616 —.,. 5 484 Seiya |) 2074 ..386 3318 —..18 13939 5 Lae 17 150 =" 23 26 2489 == g SA See 3574 —..10 17424 —. 5) 170 ..20 3111 —..30 3872 2S ae eS 8604 —. 10 256 ..16 4148 BD es Ome. 4224 —..20 9680 —. 5 512 ..10 6222 —.,.26 4646 —..19 11062 16. 16 170 6.*. + 6.0 1210 | —..283 5162. —,.16 12906 —. 15 175 ..56 1320 —..20 5808 —.,.1383 15488 —. 10 Dies ..50 1452 eer 6637 —..10 19360 —. 5 544 ..46 1613 —..16 7744 Ag edi Ag 10890 15) 2 15 193 ..40 1815 —..13 9272 —..19 12445 . 10 290 ..386 2074 —..10 11616 —..16 14520 , 5 580 ..380 *2420 36..36 3535 —..13 17424 14743 14 222 ..26 2904 ..38 3829 2 NO: 20780 —. 10 311 me. Bea 3630 —..3090 4148 19... eas 14223 —. 622 ..16 4840 —..29 4525 —..16 16594 Ser 13 257 = 221 0 7260 —..26 4978 ae ame 19913 —. 10 335 56..56 1417 —..23 5531 —..10)| 24454 —.,. 5 670 ..50 1584 —..20 6222 16 .-2 246 19360 1 12 302 ..46 1760 =. 7111 —..18 23232 —. 10 363 ,..40 1980 —..16 18297 —..10)} 29040 —. 5 720 ..86 2262 —..18 9956 1.3.2. Lesa 208tS i ty Ae 11 360 ..30 2640 —..10 12445 —..10 34848 . 10 396 ..20 3960 SO one 4124 L509 43560

* Raspberries + Currants t Strawberries

THIS IS PRATT!

STRAWBERRY PRATT

CHARLES S. PRATT - READING, MASS.

Pratt is not good looking, but his plants are: and they are better than they look---so is Pratt!

Pratt is good natured: you will be if you trade with

PRATT

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS—STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

Official Certificate No. 21 Boston, AUGUST 26, 1912.

To WuHom IT May CONCERN: —This is to certify that I have this 22d day of August completed the inspection of the nursery stock of C. S. Pratt, grown at Reading, State of Massachusetts, and find it to be apparently free from all injurious insects and diseases which might be transferred on nursery stock from the nursery to the orchard or garden.

This certificate is good until August 1, 1913.

Inspected by L. S. McLane and W. S. Regan. (Signed) H. T. FERNALD, Inspector.

5 (S) Last but not least. I have only fruited this in a small way but I believe it is Gibson one of the most promising berries now before the public. The following is from one who has fruited it.

The Gibson commences to ripen with the Dunlap and continues well into the season of the later varieties, which is an indication of its strong vitality. The fruit stems are large and strong and the dark green foliage is ample pro- tection for the blossoms and fruit. It is a per- fect blooming variety. The fruit is large and regular in shape and continues large to the end of the season. In color it is a rich red all over, the meat also being red. The calyx is large and green. Nota speck of rust on it.

As a shipper it hasn’t a superior, being so firm that it will carry to the most distant mar- kets in the best of condition. We have never seen a variety that makes such a sturdy growth as this one. In standing and looking over a patch set with Gibson and other varieties you can pick it out at a glance by its healthy, luxuriant foliage. The new plants are also exceptionally strong and well rooted, as you who bought some of this variety from us last season know. Taken altogether the Gibson is an ideal variety of a size, shape and color capable of commanding the highest price in any market and of a sturdiness able to withstand the drawbacks peculiar to every section.

Price for strong plants: 25c. doz., $1 per 100, $6 per 1000. THE END

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