Berrydale Experiment Gardens [catalog]

Historic, Archive Document

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

Vee old idea of Gooseberries was to &

Europe they are as common now as

Gooseberry pie as common there as
berries are not very good for canning, but
intend to cook them or where they do not
in a town I would get a place where I had
bushes, if I had to do without the parlor
plants save me $50 a year on my provision

|
|

j use them in pies and on tarts. All ove-

strawberries are with us, and you finc

ie apple pies here. The Golden Drop Goose-

are extra good for every purpose where you

) need to be used whole. If I were going to live

enough room for two dozen Gooseberry

a carpet to afford it, and I would make these

bill, besides giving me more delicious tood. +

Copyriznt, «Oo12,

Sheet. It will save both your time and ours, and will help us to prevent mistakes

Date Ig1

YDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS
HOLLAND, MICHIGAN

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Amount Enclosed
fox or R. F. D.
How Sent
When Shall We Ship?
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How Ship?
Kind and Variety Price Each Total

t-office address, and complete shipping address, are given. If you leave the selection of shipping methods to us, we will
2 best way. Orders will be filled in sequence. We guarantee all plants to be healthy, strong and true to name, to the
1 of purchase price and transportation charges on the shipment. See inside cover of Catalogue.

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Flora Birdie Mitting gave a party for her doll. They had strawberries, raspberries, cake and tea, out on the porchin the shade
; of Himalaya vines, and they had a fine time

Some of My 1913 Ideas

HE year just past, since my I912
catalogue came out, has been remark-
able in several ways. In the first
place, the winter of I91I—12 was the
most severe we have had for a great

many years. The thermometer went down to

forty degrees below zero in many places in Michi-
gan. This intense cold tested the hardiness of
my berries to a greater extent than they ever had
been tested before, and I am glad to say that all
my best kinds came through with flying colors,
particularly Himalaya Berry, Plum Farmer Black

Raspberry, Shepard’s Pride Red Raspberry, and

Ancient Briton Blackberry.

My business grew nearly three hundred per
cent during the past year. It did this because,

during previous years, I had been building on a

solid foundation of honest dealing, careful atten-’

tion to supplying only the very best varieties and
plants, and telling the truth about them all the
time. If you use a man right, he will always
“find you out,” and come back year after year—
that is my experience. A patron’s success is more
to me than the profit I get from the plants I sell.
I know just how much better it feels to succeed
than to fail; and, knowing this, I do my best to
bring success to all of my customers—which
means to you. Some of the letters printed here
are from customers who have bought plants from
me for many years. Read them. They are inter-
esting.

Right here I want to explain three of my pur-
poses in life. They concern everyone with whom I
do business. One of these purposes is to get better
varieties of berries. This can be done by improv-
ing old kinds, and by developing new kinds. We
think a new one is pretty fine when it first comes
out, yet there always is room for improvement.
In a few years the varieties we thought were

good fall behind in many qualities; which can be
taken as pointing out just how far behind the
present kinds will be as better ones are worked out.
Market conditions are changing all the time.
Cost of labor goes higher, and in many ways it is
necessary for the berry-grower, as for everyone
else, to get more for his product, or have more
to sell from the same ground and work. His
best way of doing this is to grow improved varie-
ties.

Improved varieties are most important to the
beginner selecting his plants. Think of the dis-
appointment and money-loss that can _ result
from choosing worthless kinds! Maybe a man
has only enough money to buy plants and care
for them for one year. His success depends on the
first few crops, and if they do not come, or are
small, the failure is a big thing to him.

In the last couple of years I have been developing
surprises for my friends, in the way of new and
valuable Blackberries and Raspberries. This year
I recommend to your attention the Macatawa
Blackberry and the Shepard’s Pride Raspberry.

Another of my purposes is to give ideas. I
have been in this berry work for forty-five years,
and during that time a whole lot of things have
come under my notice which will help many people,
if they know the points at the right time. I aim
to give as many valuable suggestions as possible.
If you follow my ideas, you will make money.
They are not misleading in any shape or form, and
I know what I am talking about. I want you to
ask me about planting, whether or not your soil
and location are suitable for planting, what kinds
to plant, and what you should do in any of a
hundred points in this line. I know soils. I can
tell you what kind of soil there is on a place without
digging, just by seeing what is growing on it and
the condition of the plants or trees. I often go and

- ee eS 1

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

My first greenhouse at Morris, Ill., a $4,000 affair

lay out the planting of both large and small places.

requested me to lay out a hundred acres for him. I
went there and planted twelve acres, and told him
exactly how to do the rest. A young married man
who wanted to become independent faster than
his salary would permit, came to me and [I laid
out a plan by which he planted five acres in berries.
This should give him $500 a year soon, and be a
prop strong enough for him to fall back on entirely
should anything happen in his other work. I can
do you a lot of good. If you have any such prob-
lems as those mentioned, let us get together.

My biggest purpose of all, probably, is getting
more people to grow berries. This is a_ bigger
thing than you would think at first sight. I do not
want to be regarded as a “knocker,’’ but I cannot
help thinking that there are going to be harder
times during the next dozen years than during the
last ten. And whenever the so-called “good” jobs
begin to go back on people, the first thing they will
think about will be something to eat. That will
lead them naturally to berries and vegetables—if
possible, to berries and vegetables that they can
grow themselves. Every man in the country who
can be affected by hard times, or who is not satis-
fied with his present rate of advancement or
degree of independence, should make it a point to
buy five or ten acres of ground (or even one acre
will do) and plant it in berries. That will make him
independent. If you own a large farm, you can
plant it in berries and insure yourself a profit on

I think so much of Himalaya Berry that I am planting out 22 more acres of it for fruit on
bought for this purpose near Holland

| your investment, because you will be creating
To illustrate: Mr. Colbune, of Iron River, Wis., | a necessity of life, for which there is sure market

What other business can you find so successful?

at good prices, no matter who is President. The
berries will insure you a better return on your in-
vestment and for your work than grain or stock.

I set twenty-two acres more in berry plants for
fruit, this year, and I intend to keep on increasing
my area as much or more every year.

Prices for berries have gone up steadily almost
every year for the last twenty. In 1g11 all berry
crops were heavy. In spite of this, dried and canned
berries advanced 25 per cent, and you cannot buy
some kinds on the market for love or money. The
reasons are that a great many more people are
learning that berries are a necessity; and that th:
men who were young between 1890 and 1900, ana
middle-aged now, nearly all left the farms and
went to cities to work, letting the berry fields run
down, and so cutting off the supply. It will take
a long time to build up the berry production of
the country even to the point where it was twenty
years ago, let alone to what the present increasing
demand calls for. You can take any berry-grower
between the Atlantic and the Pacific, who has
three acres or more and cares for his plants properly,
and you will find him prosperous. I say every one,

Berry-growing is the thing for those who have,
or can get, only a few acres, and for the man who
owns a hundred or a thousand acres. In the fol-
lowing paragraphs I will explain plans profitable
plantings of both these sizes.

a pla

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH. 3

Sa Pi ot. d

My improved greenhouse at Mo

What You Gan Do on Five
Acres

For $100 you can rent five acres of ground, buy
enough berry plants to set it properly, and culti-
vate it. This is about as cheap as it should be done,
however. In two years you can get more than
$500 cash profit. The first year alone the new
plants you get will be worth $250. Letustake such
a five-acre berry farm, and see how things would
be fixed on it. There should be hedges of Himalaya
berry at the sides and back, and maybe roses and
shrubbery in front. Probably there should be a

» little pasture over in one corner, but all the rest
of the farm, except a quarter of ‘an acre reserved
for house, barn, chicken-houses and yards, garden,
etc., should be in berries.

_ There should be a half acre of Strawberries,

_ which would take 7,620 plants, set 3 x 2 feet apart,

_ costing $20, and one acre of Himalaya plants, set

5x10 feet apart—goo plants, costing $18. The

Himalaya hedge, about 70 rods long, would take

500 plants more, worth $10. Then a half acre of

Superlative Red Raspberries, set 2x 5 feet, 2,177

plants, would cost $52.80; a half acre of Plum
| Farmer Black Raspberries, 2,177 plants, would
cost $21.77; a half acre of Perfection Red Currants,
| 5x5 feet, 871 plants, $34.64; a quarter acre of

_Boskoop Giant Black Currants, 5x5 feet, 435

plants, $21.75; a quarter acre of Whinham Goose-

_ berries, 5x5 feet, 435 plants, $43.50; 100 rose

- vlants, Dorothy Perkins, for the hedge fence, $5;

“°C finally fruit and other trees and shrubs for

is, Ill., cost $15,000. 20,000 feet of glass and modern equipment throughout

a

the front yard, orchard, garden, chicken-yards,
etc., $100. The total of all this is $327.66.

Where can you put this amount of money to
better advantage? If you lived in a town, $300
would keep you about three months, and is but a
drop in the bucket so far as buying and maintaining
a home is concerned. But such a five-acre berry
farm is all you need to make a living; and the
living can be compared only with the grade of
living of the salaried man in a town who gets more
than $1,500 a year and spends it all as he goes.
Some five-acre berry farms net $2,000 a year. It
takes work, but almost any grower can live and
save $1,000 to $1,200 or more every year.

Land perfectly suited to berries can be bought
almost anywhere for not to exceed $25 an acre, and
I know of plenty that can be had for $10 an acre.
Think of it—for $125, plus the cost of the berry
plants and planting, you can have a home and
independence!

What You Gan Do on Two
Hundred Acres

Now if you have money or land, and want to
make profits equal to those of any business, and
more than most, you can do it with berries. If
you are a farmer you can make berries your main
crop, if you have money you can buy land and go
into the berry-growing business. B. F. Duncan,
of Seattle, Washington, wrote me last winter
asking how he could handle 200 acres of land in
berries. I put considerable thought into my reply,

4 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

22,000 carnations, 10,000 geraniums, 5,000 coleus, that I planted out for stock plants at Morris, Ill.

to Mr. Duncan’s inquiry, and cannot explain my
idea to you any better than by printing my letter
here.

My Dear Mr. Duncan: Your idea of laying out 200 acres into
ten-acre tracts with six acres of berries on each ten acres
cannot be beat as a money-maker. I tested it myself by
buying twenty-three acres of ground, at $20 per acre, in
April, 1910, clearing off ten acres at a cost of $22 an acre, and
planting seven acres to berries, all at a cost of $1,000. il sold
this land last May for $2,000 cash. There is no better proposi-
tion for a real estate firm or private owner than to lay out
large tracts of land into smaller berry farms. Every berry-
grower from the Atlantic to the Pacific is prosperous and
making a lot of money. You cannot go into any other indus-
try and find everybody getting along well.

Canned berries have gone up 20 to 25 per cent during the
last season, in the face of a full crop in 1911, and you cannot
buy a pound of dried berries on the Chicago market today for
50 cents a pound. I suggest that you leave an acre or two and
put up a canning, preserving and drying plant a year from
planting the berries.

I am posted on all the berries grown in the world, and
would suggest that for Pacific Coast conditions you plant
the true Burbank’s Phenomenal Berry, the Mammoth Black-
berry, Plum Farmer Black Raspberry, Shepard’s Pride Red
Raspberry, Boskoop Giant Black Currant (which should be
a great success in the Washington climate), Perfection Red
Currant, Downing Gooseberry and the Himalaya Berry.
I don’t think I would plant Strawberries, as that berry i
more plentiful than all others combined, and the work i
requires is expensive and hard compared with what anes
varieties demand.

To plant six acres of each ten in a 200-acre tract, would
make 120 acres of berries. I would plant as follows:

On Ten of the Six-acre Patches

Plants
2 acres Giant Himalaya, 5 x 10 feet apart takes........ 1,800
1 acre Mammoth Blackberry, 5 x 10 feet.............. goo
t acre Burbank’s Phenomenal, 5 x ro feet......:;...... goo
1 acre Plum Farmer Black Raspberry, 5 x 5 feet....... 1,750
1 acre Shepard’s Pride Red Raspberry, 2 x 5 feet....... 4,000

On Ten of the Six-acre Patches

Plants
1 acre Boskoop Giant Black Currant, 2 yr., 6 x 6 feet...1,000
I acre Perfection Red Currants, 6 x 6 feet............. 1,000
I acre Giant Himalaya, Ssxqtomtectany nnn goo
I acre Plum Farmer Black Raspberry, 5 x 5 feet....... 1,750
I.acre Downing Gooseberry, 6 x 6 feet................ 1,000
I acre Shepard’s Pride Red Raspberry, 2 x 5 feet....... 4,000

The Cost of Plants for Twenty Ten-acre Places
(Six Acres Planted on Each) Would be as Follows:

30 acres Giant Himalaya, 45,000 plants, @ $20 per

11010) Oa MRR NANG ILO Gio ime k SS 9 - $900

10 acres Mammoth Blackberry, 9,000 plants, @ @ $15
DEH TROOO hh. ee 135

20 acres Shepard’s Pride, 80,000 plants, @ $15 per
TS OOO). oka cigkosuctons ’=\ lhe eens uae ae cr eRe ait cai oe en ete I,200
20 acres Plum Farmer, 35,000 plants, @ $15 per 1,000 525

10 acres Burbank’s Phenomenal, 9,000 plants,@ $25
Per 1000! ALA OST ee ee 225

10 acres Boskoop Giant Currant, 10,000 plants, @ $75
PEF: F000 3s igh saison jo goo 2 ee ieee eee 750

10 acres Perfection Currant, 10,000 plants, @ $50 per
T0008 20 2 oo ee eee te ee 500

10 acres Downing Gooseberry, 10,000 plants, @ $60
Peri TjO00.-./akes bd ee ee ees ee eee 600
120 acres 226'000. DIAMUG ns cists cic crisis ee eee $4,835

The plan above can be changed, but I believe that it cannot
be improved upon. The first crop, I estimate, should run
from $300 to $500 per acre. I often have taken more than
1,000 crates of sixteen quarts each from an acre in Placer
and Santa Cruz Counties, California. These ten-acre places,
after two years, ought to sell fast at from $500 to $1,000 an
acre.

I haven't space to say much more here, but every
farm near a town, and every piece of waste land
that will grow anything, can be handled in this
same way at a great profit. If you are interested
write to me, and I shall be glad to go into the matter
fully with you.

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH. 5

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In this greenhouse, at Loomis, Cal., I grew 100,000 carnation cuttings every thirty days during the rooting-season in 1902

Announcement of My GComplete Book on

Berry-Growing

In my forty-five years of experience growing
berries I have made use of many methods of great
value that are not known to any extent in this
country, and I am now preparing manuscript and
gathering photographs to make into a book which
I expect to have ready in the early part of Ig14.

In Europe the science of berry-growing is devel-
oped much more highly than it is in America. Over
there growers understand how to get enough
berries to bring in $1,000 or $1,500 net profit per
acre, if the fruit were sold at the prices we get in
America. They grow these berries with methods
as much better than ours as their crops are better
than ours.

My father was head gardener for the estate of
Coliner Ramsdown, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Eng-
land, and I grew up in an atmosphere of intensive
berry-growing. My first lesson under my father,
when I was nine years old, was in potting plants,
and it lasted for two years and ten months. Under
the bench at which we worked, we had all the dif-
ferent kinds of soils—leaf-mold, sand, peat, clays,
and mosses, and we were taught to use the kind
of soil best suited to each kind of plant. For
instance, when a begonia was brought for potting,
I used leaf-mold, because the roots like to run in
the soil; if a rose was brought, I used clay-loam that
would stick together when I squeezed it in my hand,
because rose-roots like to pierce the soil; if an orchid

or a pineapple was brought, I used moss. In this
way I learned soils, and I learned them so thor-
oughly, not only in regard to flowers but as regards
the preferences of other plants and of trees as well,
that I could go through the fields or woods and tell
what kind of soil was there simply by looking at
the stuff that grew on the land. Now, when I plant
a Raspberry field I select a light sandy loam; for
Blackberries I want heavier sandy loam. There
were more than sixty different kinds of soil under
that bench, and in no country in which I have
traveled have I found any kind that was not
represented there.

This little incident merely illustrates the kind
of material I am going to put in this new book on
berry-growing. I am going to cover the subject
of berries and flowers in such a manner as no one
in this country has ever covered it before. There
are plenty of such books written from the scientific
standpoint, that give long and involved reasons,
hard to understand, for each process suggested.
They remind me very much of the bill-of-fare I
get when I go into a restaurant in Chicago,—full
of French words that no one but the waiters under-
stand, and which I think are put there so they
can charge higher prices. When I go to eat in that
kind of place I just ask for ham and eggs. Now this
book of mine is going to be a sort of a “‘Sham-and-
eggs’ book—nothing fancy about it at all, but very

6 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT

$3,000 worth of calla lily bulbs

nourishing, very useful, and tasting good to anyone
who is hungry, which, translated, means the man
who is trying to make a practical success of berry-
growing—trying to make a business success and
become independent.

I am going to tell how to do all berry work, but
am going to tell more than this—how to make
money on land, how to succeed with just a few
acres, and make more money than has been made
before. I will give the business ideas as well as the
knowledge of how to produce. It takes selling
ability as well as growing ability to make a financial
success of berry-growing.

There is need of better berries, if our business is
to continue paying the present high profits, because
the cost of growing continually is increasing, just
as the cost of living is, and berry-growers should
demand higher and higher returns from their
labor and their land. In my book I am going to
give unique ideas about money-making and success
and methods of working. I will explain fully just
how I have worked to improve varieties, and exactly

ready t

GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

A. a

o pack in my shed at Santa Cruz, 1908

what I have accomplished. Berry-growers will
find it a reliable guide as to what varieties to plant,
and what to expect from all kinds and sorts.

I want to emphasize that it is going to be no
common book. You can look in it for directions as
to how to cultivate and prune and pick your berries,
and you also can look for the money-making ideas.
I think when you get your copy you will read it and
study it, and then go out about your work and put
into practice the suggestions I give you—and make
more money than you ever did before.

If you want a copy of my book, I shall appreciate
it if you will let me know as soon as you read this, so
I may have an idea as to how many to get printed.
I want to order enough to go around, but do not
want to make a second edition, because it will have
I50 pages or more, and will be pretty heavy and
expensive. My present plan is to issue it in two
styles, one with a flexible heavy paper cover that
will sell for 50 cents, and the other bound in cloth
and boards, the usual book style, that will sell for
$1 a copy.

History of A. Mitting and His Berry-Growing Work

To understand rightly what kind of man you are dealing with, and what the real nature of his

business is, you must look over his past life and see what he has done. The following, from the official
“Biographical and Genealogical Record,”’ will give you a very good idea of my work and of the kind of
berry plants you may expect to get from me. It was written from Morris, Illinois, where I lived 1n 1900.

ALFRED MITTING

The prosperity of a community depends upon its commer-
cial interests, and the representative men of a town are those
who are foremost in promoting its business affairs. Their

energy and enterprise not only bring to them individual
success, but also enhances the general welfare, and thus they
may be termed public benefactors. There are in all communi-

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH. ia

x es se

My two children at home in

ties certain business interests which are not only a credit to
the town, but are also a matter of pride to its citizens, and
such a one is now controlled by Mr. Mitting, the well-known
secretary and business manager of the Morris Floral Com-
pany. He first came to this city in 1876, and established his
permanent residence here in 1893.

He was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent County, England,
March 4, 1858, and his parents, Robert and Lydia (Piper)
Mitting, were both representatives of old English families.
For many years his father has been engaged in flower-culture,
and at this writing, in 1900, is numbered among the leading
florists of Ashurst, Kent, England. Thus in early life our
subject became familiar with the business, gaining a thor-
oughly practical knowledge of the best methods of culti-
vation of plants. His ability in this direction has been the
means of bringing to the Morris Floral Company the splendid
success which has attended their enterprise. The school
privileges which Mr. Mitting received in his youth were
limited, but from reading, observation and experience he is
now a well-informed man. He was trained to habits of
industry, economy and perseverance, and the development of
such traits in his character has made him a splendid business
man, and has enabled him successfully to carry forward the
business undertakings with which he has been connected.

At the age of eighteen years Mr. Mitting came to America,
at which time his uncle, Moses Britt, was residing upon a
farm near Morris. Making his way to Grundy County, he
worked upon his uncle’s farm for two years, and then entered
the employ of the late Judge Hopkins as a gardener and
coachman. In August, 1879, he sustained a sunstroke, and,
his health being impaired thereby, he returned to England,
where he remained till 1881. However, he had become
greatly attached to the United States, and believing that this
country afforded better opportunities than the Old World,
he once more boarded a western-bound steamer that brought
him to American shores. Arriving in Morris, he rented land
of his uncle and engaged in gardening for one season. Through
the succeeding two years he carried on general farming on
rented land near Morris, and then spent four years in a
flouring mill in Newton, Kansas. At the expiration of that
period he returned to Morris, where he engaged in farming
on rented land through several summer seasons, while in the
winter months he worked in flouring mills in Independence,

my Experimental Garden in Santa Cruz, Cal., 1908

= Sou Ss

Missouri; Kewatwen, Canada; Galveston, Texas; Muskegon
and Holland, Michigan.

On the 4th of March, 1893, he again became a resident of
Morris, and since that year has been identified with the floral
interests of this city. On the 7th of August the Morris Floral
Company was organized by Mr. Mitting, S. M. Underwood,
C. D. Britt and Anna Goodenough. They began business on
Canal Street, within the limits of the city, and from the first
success attended their enterprise. In April, 1897, six acres of
land were purchased just east of the city limits, whereon a
larger plant was constructed, consisting of a splendid green-
house with 20,000 square feet under glass and well-arranged
rooms for office, storage and packing purposes. On the east
side is the boiler house, 28 x 35 feet. Over 10,000 feet of pipe
conveys the steam to the different departments, and a fine
artesian well supplies the water for the plant, and there are
two large cisterns containing the rain-water from the roofs.
A fine fish-pond has been arranged on.the grounds, and is
supplied with water from the overflow of the well and cisterns.
Graveled driveways have been constructed, and the entire
plant is a model of its kind, being perfect in every department.
Mr. Underwood is the president and treasurer of the com-
pany, and Mr. Mitting is secretary and manager. The latter
is not only an excellent florist, but is also a practical business
man, and, under his direction, the company has enjoyed a
steady increase of business from the beginning. They supply
the city retail demands, but outside of Morris sell only to
the wholesale trade, the yearly output being about one
million plants, purchased by florists throughout the United
States and Canada.

Mr. Mitting’s hope of benefiting his financial condition
in the New World has been more than realized, for he has
not only secured a good living but has also acquired a hand-
some competence that numbers him among the substantial
citizens of Morris.

To bring the foregoing biography up to date, I
have written the following, much of which touches
on my experience in berry-culture:

In 1890 I married Miss Ellen Griggs, a daughter
of Jacob Griggs, one of the pioneer settlers of Mor-
ris. We now have two children, Ernest DeRoo and

8 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Flora Birdie, the former eighteen years old and the
latter nine. My son is following in my footsteps,
has a berry farm of his own, and eventually will
continue the business.

In June, 1900, my family and I made another
trip to England, and spent three months with my
parents and in going about among the nurserymen
and head gardeners of large estates, gathering
information on new and old plants and flowers that
since has been very valuable to me in my work in
the United States. In September we returned, and
I took charge of the Morris Floral Company, buy-
ing out other heavy stockholders. Though doing
a heavy business, I wanted to increase my knowl-
edge of horticulture, so sold my interests in the
spring of 1901, and went to Placer County, Cali-
fornia, where I bought a twenty-acre fruit ranch
for $6,000. The trees were eight years old.

After raising one good crop of fruit, I built
greenhouses and planted 22,000 carnations on an
acre. From this acre I sold $6,000 worth of rooted

.cuttings. The expenses were only $3,000, leaving
$3,000 profit. This beat any record of profit from
an acre in one year ever known in California. The
carnation cuttings were lifted in the field by four
Japs, and taken to greenhouses, where four girls
trimmed them, then two Japs put them in the sand
to root. It took thirty days to root them. Twenty
thousand were handled daily, and a little more than
700,000 plants were rooted during that season.

In the meantime I was experimenting with all
the finest berries on the coast, and selling more
than 300,000 plants a season. In my travels about
California I discovered that the white calla

A carioad of calla bulbs packed ready to ship at Santa Cruz, Cal.

lily could not be grown successfully anywhere in
California or in the United States except around
the Monterey and San Francisco Bays, so I began
to grow bulbs there, and advertised calla lilies at
wholesale. Orders came so fast that I sold my fruit
ranch at Loomis, and bought a place near Santa
Cruz. Here I bought, grew and sold bulbs in the
summer months, increasing my trade from 50,000
bulbs the first year to 1,500,000 the fourth year,
and some years clearing from $4,000 to $6,000.

In the winters I handled all kinds of nursery
stock, especially berry plants. After eight years
in California, my health became so poor that I
concluded to come back East, so I sold out my busi-
ness there and moved to Holland, where I have
been ever since. I do not expect to move again, as
I like Holland and the Michigan climate. My
berry business is my hobby, and it receives all my
time and skill.

My success has come from knowing a good
thing when I saw it, and then investing heavily
when it was first introduced. For instance, when
Luther Burbank first advertised the Shasta Daisy,
I bought $10 worth of seed, and $10 worth of young
plants. I sowed the seeds, and as soon as the plants
were up transplanted them. When the plants had
four leaves I advertised them in the trade papers at
$10 a hundred, and sold $396 worth of plants
inside of three months from sowing the seed. My
original $10 worth of plants were set out for seed,
and inside of one year I had cleared more than $400
from them. I did the same thing, with Lawson and
Enchantress Carnations, America Gladiolus, and
Giant Himalaya Berry, and a great many other

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Trial patch of sweet peas back of my house

at Santa Cruz. I make everything

9

oo ey an. Wis. os eee ~~

that grows on my place serve some

experiment&l purpose

fruits and flowers that are standard now. All
through my career I have made it a point to take
advantage of every opportunity of making money.

In 1882, while driving to town one day (I lived
near Morris, Illinois, then) I saw a lot of very large
willows in a hedge or windbreak on the north side
of a large orchard, belonging to a Mr. Whipple. I
turned right around and went in and asked Mr.
Whipple what he would take for those willows. He
told me if I would cut them three feet from the
ground I could have them all for $15, so I bought
them, and went right into town and sold them for
props in acoal mine at $14 per thousand. I cleared
$96 above all expenses, before the spring work
began. Another time while I was going from Kansas
City to Galveston, Texas, in looking from the car-
window between Houston and Fort Worth, I saw
willow bushes full of large bunches of mistletoe.
On the Chicago market this was worth $10 a barrel.
I got off right there and shipped a lot of it and
made money. Now carloads of it are shipped from
there every year.

In 1882 I had rented thirty acres of ground just
east of Morris, for vegetable-growing. Among the
things we planted was an acre of early sweet corn,
a splendid crop when the supply was not too great
for the local market, but worthless when there was
a glut, which was the case that year. One morning
I had a notion to send a shipment of ten sacks, or
120 dozen ears, by express to Chicago. I shipped
them to M. George & Sons, South Water Street,
and was surprised to get a net return of 50 cents a

dozen. That one shipment started sweet corn
raising on a large scale in that neighborhood; and

today, following out my idea, there are 3,000 acres
grown each year. In 1877, I believe, I originated
the idea of fall plowing for corn in that section. To
get rid of an extra-large accumulation of manure I
hauled it out on oat stubble in October, and then
had to plow it under to keep it from wasting in the
winter. The next summer this land was put into
corn that went seventy-five bushels to the acre.
Other corn went only thirty-five bushels to the
acre. The fall-plowing idea was taken up every-
where.

At the present time men come to see me from
almost all over the world to ask my advice regard-
ing the planting of berries, and about various land
projects. I have just finished an appointment with
a man from the Isle of Pines. Hundreds of people
come to see me when the Himalaya Berries are
ripe. I began advising people a good many years
ago when I lived in California. One day a real
estate man came to me, and wanted me to go into
a neighboring county to look over a couple of
thousand acres of land that a colony of Mormons
was expecting to plant peach trees on. I went over
with them, and found that the land was next to
worthless for peaches. That real estate man would
have paid me aimost anything I asked him if I
would just make a favorable report to these Mor-
mons. But I had never fooled anyone yet, and did
not want to begin it then, so I just told them what
that piece of land was. They went off fifty or
sixty miles in another direction, and had me pick
out a good piece of land, and made a great success.
Just think what disappointment and loss there
would have been if they had struggled along for

10

P # a

Some bulbs stored, in 1909, at my Holland M

several years in the bad location before they found
out what was wrong.

I went up into Wisconsin last year, and laid out
and planted 120 acres of berries for another man.
Nearer home I am continually going out and
selecting land, arranging, planting, etc., for those
who are starting on a large scale. More than just
starting these people, I keep in touch with them and
see that they make a financial success of their
berry-growing business. I point out to them the
good things that I see and try to get them to
stick, up hill and down, until they win out, just
the same as I have stuck to the good things I have
seen and that made me money. I tell them it is
Grit that talks even more than money—Grit and
Honesty.

To make money in any line of business, I take up
something new. In growing berry plants, or in
nursery work, I aim to import valuable new plants
from other countries, and hybridize to produce en-
tirely new plants. In Europe they use the word
“Improved”’ in relation to plants the same as we
use the word ‘‘Pedigree.’’ It means the result of
continual selection of the cream of the plants you
grow, just as if you would sow wheat or oats with
seed selected from the bin, select the best heads of
grain and keep up the selection each year. In five
years you would have ‘‘pedigreed’”’ wheat, or an
“improved”’ quality, as it would be called in Europe,
and it would produce at least ten bushels more to
the acre than the common seed which you selected
from the bin in the beginning.

This cannot be called a new kind of seed, for new
kinds are got by hybridizing. Suppose we want a

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

ichigan, plant, where I intend to stay the balance of my life

new carnation. We select two healthy plants of
different kinds, say one white and one pink. We
plant them in good situations and give them the
best of care, watching them closely. When we find
a perfect stem and flower-bud on each plant at the
same time, we put a roomy cheese cloth net over
their blooms so insects cannot interfere with our
work. As soon as the blooms are fully expanded, we
take the nets from the flowers, and with a small
camel’s-hair brush take a little pollen from one
flower and apply it to the stamen of the other
flower. The stamens generally are long, and if we
want a new plant that will produce a very large
bloom we apply the pollen on the top of the stamens,
if we want a stronger stem and not such a large
bloom we apply the pollen to the stem of the
stamens; if we want a stronger calyx on the new
flower we apply the pollen on the bend of the
stamens. Then we put the net back over the flowers
and leave it on until the bloom goes to seed. This
is the way we form new varieties. It takes time,
sometimes years, before we get anything that is
much superior to existing kinds, but to work with
nature is one of the finest enjoyments of my life.

As I have pointed out, I have made money, but
it always has been in things which I| naturally like
to do. I have been busy improving, or “‘pedigree-
ing,’’ all kinds of berries and flowers, and hybridiz-
ing and originating new varieties. My constant
effort is to get something better than has existed
heretofore. I have succeeded in producing many
such varieties, all of which I list in my catalog and
offer to my customers in an accurate and reliable
manner.

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

11

Corner in my yard near Holland. Himalaya plants, currant bushes, etc.

The Giant Himalaya Berry

The year 1912 is the third year that the Hima-
laya Berry has been grown in the East. During
that time it is safe to say that almost a million
plants have been set out east of the Rockies. The
last season really was the first that heavy crops of
fruit could be expected from the plants, the oldest
of which we started in 1910. The bearing habits
of Himalaya are such that the first and second
years’ fruiting does not amount to much. The
berries are small and relatively few in quantity.
The third year is the first crop by which Himalaya
really can be judged. Blackberries and raspberries
were badly frozen in the winter of I9gII—12, but
Himalaya was not hurt much. The crops of berries
were very much shortened in 1912, but we had here
in Michigan crops of Himalaya that ran two and a
half tons to the acre. In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana,
New York, Nebraska and other states there also
were heavy crops.

For those who have not seen the plants or berries,
a brief description is needed: Himalaya Berry is
not a blackberry, although it looks something like
one both in plant and in fruit. With blackberries
the canes die each year after they bear fruit, and
new ones produce the fruit of the next year.
Himalaya does not die down, or freeze down, and
the fruit and leaves are produced all along the old
and new wood alike, the same as with a fruit tree or
grape vine. The new growth of Himalaya begins
each spring where the old growth left off the pre-
vious fall, and it is nothing remarkable to find
Himalaya canes growing 20 to 30 feet in one season.
Two feet of growth a week is about the average
that the plants make in good soil when they are

well watered. You cannot judge the growth in the |

first and second years, because by the third year
the canes and the whole plant are three times as
big as they were the first two years.

The berries are round, and about three quarters
of an inch thick, very firm, with a tough skin and
no core. They are jet black and very handsome.
Like blackberries, they are quite tart before they
are fully ripe, but very sweet and rich when
matured. They should be left on the bushes for
three days after they turn black; then they will be
firm and solid, and fine flavored. If you want to eat
them at home, you can leave them on six days after
they turn black, when the flavor will be finer, but
they will be a little too soft for shipping. In both
flesh and flavor they are well adapted for eating
raw, canning, stewing, preserving or drying. They
seem to have more pulp than blackberries or
raspberries, and make more cans, or a larger bulk,
when preserved. The berries do not grow stale or
insipid after shipping, for their fine flavor and
appearance are all there after many days, if they
are given fair care.

The first blossoms come on my bearing plants
about the end of June, and I begin to pick ripe
berries about the first of August, continuing to get
good pickings until October, long after other berries
are gone. My average yield is almost eleven hun-
dred crates an acre. A crate contains 16 quarts,
and I got twenty-five cents a quart last season.
An average price of fifteen cents for extensive com-
mercial plantings should be a fair estimate.

The plants come to full bearing in three years.
The first year there are a few blossoms, but no
berries, and the second year a medium crop of
berries. But the second-year berries are not nearly

12

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

so large and fine as those from older plants. The
berries grow in big clusters on the outside of the
bushes, hanging down in plain sight toward ripen-
ing time.

Now the main points about the Himalaya are
these: Its perennial habit, like a fruit tree; its
enormous rate of growth; its great hardiness; its
tremendous bearing, and high quality of its berries.
The winter of I911-12 was the coldest known for
twenty vears; but, in the worst situations, Himalaya
lost less than half of its 1911 growth, and last sum-
mer produced more berries than blackberry plants
do in favorable seasons. I KNOW that Himalaya
is a commercial leader, and that in a few years its
importance all over the country will be so great as
to compare with strawberries now, while in North-
ern States it should replace most blackberries, and
be of enough commercial importance to compare
with the standard tree fruits. Certainly it has
money-making capabilities beyond the average.

Himalaya plants are very ornamental, and can
be used as porch vines, or for covering fences, walls,
etc. [I use them for making hedges around fields.
The leaves are pretty, and the blossoms, which are
produced for two months, are as handsome as
those of many ornamental vines and shrubs. If you
train the plants up a post, and pinch them back
when they get to the top, they will become a sort
of weeping tree that makes good single specimens
in a yard.

Anyone can grow Himalaya, in any soil, and in
any part of the country. Michigan winters are
about as cold as any in this country, and Florida
summers are hot—and Himalaya plants are grow-
ing successfully under both these conditions.
Plant Himalaya, and plant lots of them. Plant
five acres if youcan. If I were setting out ten acres,
! would set eight to Himalaya and the other two to

miles from Holland, bearing very heavy crops in 1912

Bg oes irs mo

eee

raspberries, gooseberries and currants—that is my
estimate of the importance of Himalaya. I have
planted twenty-two acres more here near Holland,
for my own fruit-growing, and there are several
men and firms who are planting hundreds of acres.

You should by all means get some plants, if you
cannot make a large planting this year, so you will
have reliable, first-hand knowledge to judge from
when you are ready to plant on a large scale. If
you want samples of the berries in season, send me
thirty cents a quart. I will gladly give you any
further information I can, and tell you the names
of growers who have Himalaya now. If you are
willing to wait, the six-months plants are all right,
but the older plants, of course, will bear more quickly.

The photographs scattered through this book
show the nature of the Himalaya plants. Now I
shall tell how to plant and care for them:

How to Grow the Giant
Himalaya Berry

Set plants 5 by 10 feet apart. Keep the ground
clean, and let the new canes run on the ground all
summer. About the first of September put the
tips of the canes 4 or 5 inches under the soil to root.
(You can continue to put tips under every week up
to the 15th of October). The following spring dig
the rooted tips, and cut the canes back to two feet.
These second-year canes will give you some fruit,
but it will be small.

One year from planting Himalaya Berry, put up
a fence of some kind, and tie the second-season
canes up to the top wire, then pinch off the tips.
These canes will branch out with new canes that
will reach the ground, where the tips can be put
under as before. They will root inside of three

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

13

weeks, thus giving roots at both ends of canes. In
this shape they will stand the coldest winters. If
possible, plant all kinds of berries where you have
a windbreak on the north and west sides, as it
keeps the wind from driving sleet and snow against
the canes, cutting the bark and killing the wood.
Winds in this way do more damage to small fruits
than does severe cold.

The second crop of Giant Himalaya Berries, in
the third year, will be as large as the biggest black-
berries. After you have picked the fruit each sea-
son, cut the fruiting wood away. That is all the
trimming that is necessary. Keep the new canes
tied up each season. Do not pick Himalaya Berrics
until three days after they turn black. If you do
the berries will be small and very tart. Left on
three days longer, they get larger and become very
sweet, without losing in solidness.

Both responsible and irresponsible persons and
papers have discussed the hardiness of Himalaya
and the quality of the berries. The source of the
criticism lies in the fact that there are three different
varieties of Himalayas, two of which are not hardy
except in California and Oregon, and the berrics
of which are inferior. The first plants of the true
Giant Himalaya to be brought east of the Rockics
I brought in the spring of 1910. Many say that they
have had Himalaya for three, four, five or more
years, that they got the plants from California.
The facts are that the very first true Giant Hima-

gP A Oe

A true Giant Himalaya plant in my yard near Holland. No
freezing; heavy crop in 1912

English Cut-leaved Himalaya plant in my yard near Holland.
Requires protection, and fruit worthless

laya plants offered to the public in California were
1,000 plants in the fall of 1909. It is not likely that
many of these got into the Eastern States. But
California is full of the other two varieties of
Himalaya that are not hardy, and these are those
that our misinformed friends are talking so much
about.

We herewith say to every paper which has criti-
cised the true Giant Himalaya, that it did so with-
out knowing the facts, and that it owes us an
explanation occupying as much space as its fault-
finding. If the editors, or growers, want to know
the facts, come to Holland, and I will show them
all the true Himalaya plants they care to see—
plants that have come through the last three win-
ters with no more damage than I stated. Not only
can I show my own plantings, but those of dozens
of other growers who have plants in perfect con-
dition and bearing heavily. Come and see. That
should be fair for anyone.

As I have visited your place several times, and have been

growing the Giant Himalaya Berry two years, I honestly be-
lieve them to be the best black berry that is grown. There
are loads of berries, and they are easily picked, no thorns to
bother you in picking. If the other fruit-growers had seen as
much of them as I have, they would certainly get a start.
From young plants set out last spring I have as many as a
dozen tips already, and there will be as many more. The
second year is when they do their most wonderful growth.
One can hardly believe it, unless one see them every day as
Ido. I shall plant out ten acres more this fail. For, one, I am
going to boost the Giant Himalaya Berry.—ArtTHuR W.
DEAN, Bangor, Mich., August 10, 1912. :

14

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Read these Letters from my Customers

I have two Himalaya plants and think that there is nothing
to compare with them, and if in need of any more plants and
bulbs I will surely think of A. Mitting, of Berrydale.—
GEORGE DICHLIMAN, 1315 Hickory St., Louisville, Ky., July
28, 1912.

The plants I had from you a year ago this spring are fine.
On one lateral branch I counted 190 buds, blossoms and fruits.
—Rosert Bupp, Northport, Mich.

The smal] order for plants came today in good order and
are all set in the ground and look fine. I thank you for prompt
returns and a square deal.—F. C. ALBEE, 387 Ryerson Ave.,
Elgin, Ill., May 23, 1912.

Yesterday morning the mail brought us half a dozen Hima-
laya two-year-old plants from you. I was greatly surprised
and the surprise was more than doubled when we got from
the express office six more plants of the same. Certainly
you have done more than any reasonable person could expect
of you. I only thought you would send me what it seemed
was due me, but to send that order twice over on my com-
plaint of non-fulfillment of shipping directions is not the
ordinary method of securing acknowledgement of satisfac-
tion.— HERBERT W. Dentro, Concord, N. H., Route No. 2.
May 14, 1912.

Early this spring I purchased from you three Himalaya
plants, two of which have grown finely, but the third, the
smallest of the three roots, was persistently attacked by cut-
worms and, in spite of our killing many worms, the plant died
The other two have developed into splendid vines, which 1
have covered loosely. with leaves and hay, thinking a little
protection for the first winter would do no harm.—lI. L,
MELOON, 30 Pine St., New York, N. Y., December 14, ro1I.

Last spring I purchased from you one two-year, two eight-
teen-months and twelve six-month Himalaya plants, together
with another small order. The six-month Himalaya are not
growing very rapidly, and the largest are not over 3 or 4 feet
long; however, the two-year and eighteen-month vines have
made close to 25 feet now.—H. H. ANDERSON, Attorney-at-
Law, 545 Society for Savings, Cleveland, Ohio, July 16, 1912.

My Himalaya Berries are doing fine. The two old ones
are loaded with berries. I now have over a hundred young
plants started. If they stand the winter on the trellis without
any protection, I will plant quite a few of them next spring.
—ELLswortH SCRANTON, Montrose, Minn., July 27, 1912.

The “two-year-olds” arrived all right, and really surprised
us aS we were not expecting such strong-looking plants —M.
K. FLEMING, Box 97, Branson, Mo., April 1, 1912.

I am pleased with the plants I received from you. I planted
them and they are growing fast.—F. P. KasELry, Pittman,
Fla., April 14; 1912:

I got a one-year-old Himalaya plant from you in the spring
of rg911. The growth of the plant was amazing. I would like
to see some fruit on it. Am I to prune these long vines, and
how much. [I also got three Black Currant bushes, ‘“‘Boskoop
Giant.”” Do they need pruning ?>—Mary A. Massie, Santa
Fe, New Mexico, April 17, 1912.

I received the two Giant Himalaya plants. They were

fine and I thank you very much for the same.—(Mrs.) HENRY
SWANSON, 824 Prospect Ave., Winnetka, IIll., April 23, 1912.
The Currant and Gooseberry bushes which I ordered from
you arrived some time ago, and I must say they are the finest
bushes I have ever seen, particularly the single-stem Currants.
—DonaLp GRANT, Amsterdam, N. Y., May 14, 1912.

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

15

= = £ , ree

Our first row of Macatawa, the new Blackberry. Fully e

S| a

=. ~ aes Es

xposed 1911-12, but did not freeze any, and

wae

tin Ces =

—— F< — tN

bore heavily in 1912

Blackberries and Raspberries

Blackberries and Raspberries are the old stand-
ard berries which still should form a respectable
portion of most plantings. I now have several
exceedingly valuable varieties, kinds that are
greatly superior to those that growers had to depend
on a dozen years ago.

Berry prices have been going up steadily for the
last dozen years or more. Those who plant berries
now put themselves in a position to profit by this
continual increase in the market value of their
product; an increase which much more than offsets
the increased cost of production and living for the
growers.

Another reason why berry prices have gone up is
that people on farms and in country towns who
used to put up their own berries do so no longer,
but depend on buying the canned fruit at the
stores. At present canned berries are proportion-
ately higher in price than fresh berries. You make
the most money by canning your entire crops.

I say at various places in this book that, when
you plant berries commercially, you never should
plant less than an acre of one variety, and that
five acres are better. The reason is that with this
quantity of berries you can bring buyers to your
farm and do not need to peddle your product.
There never is any money in peddling. Anything
less than an acre is just a home-garden. It will
supply your family, and probably a good many of
your friends; but you cannot make much cash profit
from it.

Black Raspberries should be planted 5 feet apart
eachway. Thiswill put 1,750onan acre. Red Rasp-
berry bushes grow smaller, and should be set 2 by
5 feet, about 4,000 plants to an acre. Blackberries
differ in their requirements. The larger-growing
kinds should be planted farther apart than the
smaller-growing sorts. The ordinary varieties
should go about 6 feet apart each way, or from
1,200 to 1,600 plants to an acre.

BLACKBERRIES

Macatawa

Our front cover shows a new berry that never
has been on the market before. I have named it
Macatawa, as that term carries to me the idea of
our cold Michigan winters and our occasional dry
summers, which this berry stands without the
slightest damage. It went through the winter of

IQII—I2 in an exposed position without freezing.
The Macatawa is a cross between the Giant Hima-
laya Berry and Eldorado Blackberry. Himalaya is
a hardy perennial which bears fruit all along its
branches, on the old and new wood alike, and
propagates from the tips. The cross has char-
acteristics of both its parents. The fruit is very
large and sweet—sweet even when green. It is core-

16

oe

MAGATAWA BLACKBERRY, continued

less and almost seedless. The plants begin to
bloom about the first of June and keep up a con-
tinual production of flowers all summer and until
frost stops the growth.

The berries begin to ripen about the middle of
July, coming along all the time until frost, when
some green ones are frozen. The bloom is white,
nearly 2 inches in diameter, and almost semi-
double. It is a true everbearing berry, the fruit
ripening as the new wood hardens, and one of the
most tremendous yielders in the world today.

The young plants come from suckers, in the same
way as any other Blackberry propagates, but the
form is more bushy—something on the order of
a red raspberry, but larger and wider. The plants
begin to bear during their first year, and produce
a very heavy crop the second year from planting.

Thrifty new planting of Macatawa Blackberry. Plants are very healthy and sturdy

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

I have only 1,200 plants for sale this year, and
particularly want berry plant-growers and old
fruit-growers to try this coming commercial
Blackberry. If you are interested, it will pay you
to come to Holland and see my plants. I have 500
plants in one lot which produced, in I912, 502
quarts, that were sold for 30 cts.a quart, or $150.60.

Ancient Briton

On a trip into Wisconsin, in 1910, I discovered
this Blackberry growing to perfection, with

branches of fruit 2 feet wide and 5 feet long. Judge
Lewis, of the Supreme Court of Minnesota, was
along, and when he saw this fruit he was the most
surprised man you ever came across. I was so taken
with the berry that I gave an order for 50,000
plants to be delivered this season.

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

17

ANGIENT BRITON BLACKBERRY, continued

Ancient Briton is an old variety, which somehow
has been missed by the growers of this country. In
view of its great hardiness and its heavy bearing, I
consider it, from a commercial standpoint, the
finest _all- round, old-style Blackberry that is
adapted to the Northern States. The location
where I found it growing was exposed to full wind
and freezing of Wisconsin winters. Its hardiness
cannot be questioned. Its hzbit of growth is the
same as that of Lawton and Eldorado. The canes
are slender and grow thickly. The berries are long,
black, solid and of very fine flavor. For shipping
they are fully equal to Snyder, and all commission
men know Snyder as the standard shipper among
Blackberries. It produces an average of two and
one-half to three tons an acre.

Mammoth

Recommended strongly for planting in the
South and on the Pacific Coast. It is hardy to a
certain extent in Northern and Eastern States, but
you cannot depend on it in those sections unless
you give it protection. Although the ‘Rural New
Yorker’? has recommended it for the North, I do
not do so. It is one of the best-paying berries that
can be grown in California, Oregon, Washington
and the Gulf States. The berries are very large, all

new plants

The way Siesards Pride Bakpbery niakies

_ five days.

| berry
| money anywhere.

| wet weather without much damage.

eee Raspberty ake t a signs, but strong ones
13 to 2 inches long, and jet-black. They ripen a

little earlier than other Blackberries, and are quite
rich and sweet.

BLACK RASPBERRIES

Plam Farmer

This is the best all-round Black Raspberry that
will grow in the Northern States. It stood the
winter of Ig1I—I2 and produced a heavy crop the
following season, when other kinds froze badly
and yielded nothing. It bears extremely large
berries, often an inch in diameter, of fine shipping
quality. They are so handsome that usually they
bring a few cents extra per quart. The berries are
not jet-black, but are a handsome, dark brownish
klack that will not fade. They ripen early and can
be picked during a period not longer than four or
The flavor is excellent, and is not lost
during wet weather or shipping.

The plants are healthy, vigorous and sturdy.
When not in leaf the canes are silvery blue, and for

| this reason are handsome in a garden or along a
lawn

Plum Farmer is the largest, best-colored,
most attractive and most productive Black Rasp-
in cultivation, and one that will make

Palmer

Endures extremes of cold and heat, drought and
The berries

are showy and firm.

Cumberland

An old reliable variety that is a good second to
Plum Farmer in most respects. The berries are
handsome, rather large and firm, and the bush is
healthy and vigorous, with stout canes.

18 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT

BLACK RASPBERRIES, continued
Gardinal

The berries are jet-black, medium size; bushes
are exceedingly vigorous.

Gress

The berries are fine, and are said to give more
pounds when evaporated than any other variety.
Old, and favorably known everywhere.

RED RASPBERRIES

Shepard’s Pride

A new Red Raspberry which has been grown
extensively by the originator and his friends for
five or six years, but which has not been on the
market before. The berries are dark, velvety red,
very firm and sweet. They are round instead
of pointed, and are larger than any other round
Red Raspberry. The flavor is all that can be
desired, and the berries are firm enough to ship
anywhere. The plants are sturdy, and large
branched. There is no question about its hardi-
ness. I consider it the best all-round Red Rasp-
berry grown in the United States. Three years ago
I bought 3,000 plants from the introducer, a man
by the name of Shepard, in Wisconsin. The first
season’s fruiting in I91I convinced me that it was
extremely good, and the following crop gave
further proof of its great value. It will be a com-
mercial leader. The introducer now has a number
of acres of it, and has practically discarded all other
varieties. I have planted a heavy stock, for I shall
need all of the young plants I can raise to fill my
orders. I recommend this variety very strongly,
and know that it will make money for you.

Branch from a Berrydale Scarlet Raspberry bush, showing natural
They hold on well, even when mellow, and are most

size of berries.
, delicious when left till dead ripe.

GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Superlative

We consider this variety standard. It is sur-
passed by only one or two other varieties, and this
only in one or two points. In 1907 I imported 5,000
plants for trial, and they proved so far superior to
any of our home kinds available at that time that
the next year I imported 10,000. These plants
were sold quickly at 50 cents each. I could have
sold twice as many more. That year, 1909, I grew
or imported: 25,000, and every one of these was
sold during the first five weeks of the shipping
period. The following seasons have shown the same
increase in the demand for Superlative plants. I
now raise my own plants, and have a selected and
superior strain.

The berries are velvety crimson, pointed, about
I inch long, 34 inch thick at the base, solid, with
small core, and they stand upright on the bushes.
The flesh is thick and firm and the berries keep in
good condition for a long time. The flavor is
delicious. Each cane bears 400 to 500 berries. As
the first cane-load ripens, another cane or two of
them grows a similar load which ripens a little
later. In this way the bearing is continuous. I
began to pick Superlative around June 20, and
kept on getting heavy pickings until the first of
August. I figure that Superlative yields twice as
much as the old, reliable Cuthbert. Canes are
upright, 5 to 6 feet high when left alone, and need
no support. For heavy crops and biggest berries
the cane should be pinched when 3 or 4 feet high.

AEton

A new variety well adapted to Indiana, Ohio and
Michigan. Berries large, bright crimson, very
fine in appearance. Plants throw few suckers. A
fine sort for the home-garden.

'
ne | |

| rer eer

a

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

RED RASPBERRIES, continued
—_.—s-— Berrydale Scarlet

This Raspberry has the finest flavor of any berry
that ever has been introduced. It is distinctly a
home-table berry, and is so tender that it can not
be shipped with any satisfaction. The berries are
only a quarter of an inch in diameter, and if it was
not for their delicious flavor they would have little
value. But their flavor is something to be remem-
bered; the perfume reminds one of the flavor of
wild Raspberries. The berries grow in clusters of
hundreds. The canes are red.

Cuthbert

Sometimes called ‘“‘Queen of the Market.’’ Has
been a standard red for twenty-five years or more,
and is a remarkably strong and hardy variety.
Berries are large, conical, rich in color and flavor.

Thompson’s

A fine early variety. Plants hardy. Berries
begin to ripen before strawberries are gone.

Miller’s
A Delaware variety which throws few suckers.

Berries large all through the season, round and
bright red. Exceedingly good shipper.

St. Regis

Plants of St. Regis planted in early April gave
ripe berries on the 20th of June of the same year.
For four weeks thereafter the yield was heavy, and
the canes continued to produce ripe fruit freely
without intermission until the middle of October.
The berries were large and beautiful, firm and full-
flavored, to the very last. St. Regis is the only
Raspberry, thus far known, that will yield a crop of
fruit the season planted. Awarded a certificate
of merit by the American Institute of New York.

19

and beans between trees on a ten-acre farm near Benton Harbor, Mich., which has kept its owner since he started

YELLOW RASPBERRIES
Golden Queen

This is the most desirable yellow Raspberry, a
seedling of Cuthbert. The berries are a light
golden color, very sweet and rich, with thick, firm
flesh, and they ripen toward the end of the berry
season. The fine appearance and flavor always
sell them quickly. They hold together through
canning, and present a fine appearance on the
table, either fresh or put up. As an indication of
their quality, I often have noticed people eating
these berries from boxes or from the bushes where
they had a chance to pick red, black and golden
kinds, just as they preferred. After testing all of
them, they would come back to the Golden Queen.

The bush is a strong grower, and is doing well
everywhere. It stands Michigan winters without
damage, and seems to do just as well in the South.
The plants are not very tall and sucker little.
There are many stiff side branches from the main
canes. From the several strains of Golden Queen,
I have selected, by experiment, one which is the
best of the lot.

The Dewberries you sent me were simply perfect—such
roots! I fear they will not like their new home, for we do not
have nice sand like you have. I set them out myself by hand
with the utmost care, and feel that I have done my best and
trust that God will do the rest..—(Mrs.) ERNEsT S. GARRETT,
Artesia, New Mexico, May 11, 1912.

The plants arrived in good condition and I am pleased
with them.—E. W. Situs, Mt. Kisco, N. Y., April 23, 1912.

I vote you a square man. You may and you may not have
“traveled east,’ but I’ll take delight in recommending you,
just the same.—Capt. G. S. WuiTE, Vinita, Okla.

I have the pleasure of acknowledging receipt of very fine
Himalaya Berry plants, and they are so strongly rooted that
I do not doubt getting good results—Cuas. S. HASKIN,
Glencoe, Ill., June 27, 1912.

My Himalaya plants made a fine growth, and I am looking
for some fruit the coming season.—J. A. WAGGETT, Mesa,
Wash., November 28, rort.

20

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Currants

What makes Currant-growing so satisfactory and profitable is the fact that Currants need less care
than any other cane-fruit. The growth is such that little or no wood needs to be pruned away, and the
plants are strong enough to outgrow weeds to a considerable extent. Currant plants continue in the best
of condition for fifteen or twenty years. They are frost-proof, and you are pretty sure of a crop every
year. They have a few enemies, mostly insects that eat the leaves, and spraying is neessary for the best

results.

The fruit is easy to pick, and comes off the bushes very clean. All kinds of Currants are recommended

for planting between orchard trees, as well as in ‘‘Currant orchards,’

’

alone. The bushes will bear an

average of a quart each in one year. The average price received is around $3 per crate of 16 quarts. Plant
them 6 by 6 feet, or about 1,000 to the acre, when set alone.

Perfection

This is a standard variety which probably is
more generally planted than any other. In Currant-
growing sections you can find thousands of acres of
it. The berries are medium to large, bright red, and
come in big, thick clusters which have long stems.
This makes crops large and picking easy. The
flesh of the berries is pulpy, meaty and rich. Flavor
is subacid, with no musty taste, even right off the
bush. With sugar and cream the berries taste like
sweet cherries. For preserves, jelly or jam, Per-
fection Currants are splendid. As the flesh is firm,
the skin tough, and the keeping quality of the best,

.they can be shipped anywhere to arrive in a con-
dition approaching ‘“‘perfection.”’ Berries should be
thinned to make them reach their largest size.
Bushes are healthy and large. No special soil or

fertilizer is needed, and they bear a crop every year.

This variety has won more prizes and medals than
any other red Currant. We have two-year plants
with single stems and bushy tops, of a very superior
strain that has been developed here at Holland.

Boskoop Giant

The leader among black Currants. The berries
are half an inch in diameter when the plants grow
in rich soil, and are very sweet and rich. The best
point about them is that all the berries ripen at
once; one picking is all that you need to get the
whole crop. The berries reach their full size and
color early, but hang on the bushes a long time
without deteriorating. The bushes yield a crop of
uniformly large and fine berries every season,
whether there is rain or not, or whether the soil is
poor or fertile. In poor soil the plants are smaller,
but the berries seem to be as fine as anywhere. On

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH. 21

BOSKOOP GIANT CURRANT, continued
account of their attractive color and their firm,
pulpy flesh, these Currants are exceptionally
well adapted to shipping and canning. We have
a great many plants fruiting here at Berrydale, and
find a big demand for all the Currants we can grow.
Around Chicago and Rochester, large plantings of
Boskoop Giant have been made, and all have
given the best of satisfaction.

Cherry. Very large red berries, a strong grower,
and should have fertile soil and good cultivation.

Fay’s Prolific. A standard red variety, with very
large berries of mild flavor, and long stems. Comes
into heavy bearing early. Excellent commercial
sort.

Northern Star. Red berries; bunches 4 inches
long; flavor mild.

Pomona. Sometimes called Knight’s Improved.
Is credited with the highest acre-yield on record,
and is valuable chiefly as a commercial variety for
large plantings. Berries red; hang in fine condition
for a long time.

Red Dutch. Deep red berries, tart or acid.
Productive.

White Dutch. The same as Red Dutch, except
in color of berries. An old standard variety.

Black Champion. Similar to Boskoop Giant;
smaller berries.

Black Naples. Very large, black berries; good

sort.
ees sce lanie. All the plants Black Victoria. Excellent and productive, but
grown at Berrydale are as good as this one berries small.

*

Gooseberries

This small fruit never has reached the position it deserves in
America. In Europe Gooseberries are eaten both raw and cooked,
almost as freely as we eat strawberries; and they are almost as
good in flavor. The improved varieties are so. much better than
the common and wild varieties that those who do not know them
have to get acquainted with what to them will be a new fruit, in
size and color and flavor.

There are good reasons why every garden should contain a
strawberry bed, but better ones why every garden should have
Gooseberry bushes. A dozen plants will produce a good supply of
fruit for use at home. The plants will bear about two quarts
each when they are one year old, and the yield will increase two
quarts each year for four or five years. The growing of Gooseber-
ries for shipping to canneries by carload lots is a highly profitable
business. Investigate it. If you want to know about men who have
succeeded and are in the work now, ask us for details. Plant Goose-
berries 5 by 5 feet, or about 1,750 to the acre. Commercial plant-
ings never should be smaller than an acre, because a large amount
of fruit will bring buyers to your plantation and get half again as
much per quart as you can get when you have to hunt a market

_ for small crops. This applies to all berries grown on a commer-
cial scale. Never plant less than an acre. Boskoop Giant Currant (much reduced)

22 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Mittins’s Golden-Drop Gooseberry

One of the handsomest of all small fruits, on the bush and
in baskets or boxes. The berries have a thin skin, so nearly
transparent that you can see the seeds plainly when the ber-
ries are fully ripe. They are about the size of Early Rich-
mond cherries. They begin to ripen in Michigan about the
middle of June, though this year they did not get ripe until
July 4. This was before red raspberries began to ripen.

This Gooseberry is not suitable for canning or shipping,
but is just that much better for home use. The flesh and
texture is very tender, and the flavor is rich, delicious and
sweet. The bushes are not large, but are thick, and mature
early. Mildew does not attack the foliage when plants are
located where the sun strikes them the first thing in the
morning, and where they get full air-drainage and wind. It is
impossible to get enough plants in this country, either by
growing them or buying them from other growers here, so we
have to import many thousand from England every year.
Over there they consider these Gooseberries to be finer
than strawberries for eating right from bushes or with
sugar and cream, and many are grown in greenhouses.
(Picture of plant in full natural colors on inside of front
cover).

Whinhams Gooseberry

Mitting’s Whinhams

This is a red Gooseberry when fully ripe, though
it is cream-colored when green. The berries are
extra large; we have had them more than an inch in
diameter. The flavor is rich, something like that of
a grape, and they are sweet and full of juice. They
are fine for eating raw, extra good in pies and jam,
and are excellent to can. This is one of the best all-
round Gooseberries. Our plants were most showy
when laden with their 1912 crop. In commercial

Downing Best Standard

Berries pale green, splendid quality; bush vigor-
ous and exceedingly productive. Good for both
home and market.

Pearl

Superior in size, quality and productiveness.
Pale green berries. Of recent introduction.

Transparent

plantings the berries that are picked for early
market should be just tinged with red and be
mostly the cream-color. We have two-year plants,
single stems with
bushy tops and lots of
fine roots, just as
shown in full natural
colors on the inside
of the back cover.

Last spring I bought
from youseveral Himalaya
Berry plants. Although
they were ordered about
the middle of May, yet
they flourished and did
splendidly. Some of the
shoots have attained a
length of 25 or 30 feet and
promise to cover a pergola.
Should they be cut back
rather severely, or do you
recommend letting them
remain as they are? Many
of my neighbors are very
much interested.—F RED
WonseER, 1418 Tribune
Bldg., Chicago, IIll., Nov.
14, IQII.

Pe

acre of Gooseberrie

ir
my

An s at Big R

a

4+ Another clear red Gooseberry, similar to Whin-
hams, but not quite so fine flavored. It is excellent
for ‘shipping to large cities. ;

me as

pids, Mich., planted by a mechanic who has his eye on the future

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH. 23

This is the way we grow Grapes in Michigan (see page 25 for prices)

Straw berries

Fruit-growers in many large sections depend almost entirely on Strawberries for their income. On the
Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware, Strawberries are regarded in the same light as wheat is regarded
in the Dakotas, while in many of the Middle Western States Strawberries are grown on thousands of acres
and produce four times as much profit as any of the grain-crops grown on neighboring farms. Every home
should have a small Strawberry bed to produce berries for table use; and if your farm is located right, and
your soil is adapted to Strawberry culture, you should have from one to five acres as a regular crop. I
recommend King Edward for the Middle West; but all of the other varieties I list have been thoroughly
tested and found satisfactory. ‘‘Per.’’ or “Imp.” following the name of the variety indicates whether
that variety has perfect or imperfect blossoms.

Kins Edward (Per.)

Mr. D. J. Miller, of Millersburg, Ohio, says: “It
is the finest thing on my place, beyond a doubt, and
my careful and deliberate judgment is that it is the
most beautiful and the grandest Strawberry on the
globe. This is true of it wherever Strawberries are
successfully grown. The foliage seems to resist
disease and insects, with no blighting or killing.”

The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station Bul-

_letin described King Edward as follows: ‘Large,

conical, blunt, very slightly necked, regular;

Strawberries are the most profitable crop you can grow between trees.

brightly colored, fresh, glossy crimson; attractive.
Flesh light in color, firm, fine-grained, mild, sweet,
and good; blossoms perfect. First blooms May 7,
full bloom May 21; first fruit ripe June 9; period
of the heaviest fruiting June 15 to 23. Last picking
June 26. This was at Wooster, Ohio. Plants large,
vigorous, light green, making a beautiful row. A
very promising variety, originating in Holmes
County, Ohio, where it is reported to have done
exceedingly well.”’

ee ee ae :. e. <%
This orchard near Bangor, Mich., is a very good example

24__BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH,

Brandywine Strawberry
(Per.)

Big plants with tall fruit-stalks;
very productive. Berries medium red
with large yellow seeds on the surface.
Best on heavy loam or clay.

Senator Dunlap (Per.)

This variety has been growing in
popularity ever since it was introduced
in 1900. It seems to succeed equally
well in every locality, and is per-
fectly satisfactory in the Middle
Western States. Berries ripen over a
long season, are medium to large and

conical. Can be regarded as a stand- |

ard commercial sort.

Warfield (Imp.)

Berries very dark and attractive
when grown in good soil. Fine for
canning, and a great plant-maker.

Asparagus

Gandy Strawberry (Per.)

Standard late variety. Plants are
strong, grow very thick and make lots
of runners. Berries always large, and
is one of the best shipping kinds
known. Needs light, warm soil, and
succeeds best in more southerly ‘loca-
tions.

Glen Mary (Per.)

Berries very large and fine looking.
Does best in light, warm soil facing
south. Although the blossoms are
perfect, it generally needs fertilizing.
Very successful in the North, especially
on clay land.

Pride of Michigan (Per.)

Originated in Michigan, and is per-
fectly adapted to Michigan conditions.
Berry glossy, large, oblong and firm.
Valuable variety for the North.

Columbia Asparagus

Rhubarb

A vegetable that is grown most easily, and is very
profitable when properly handled. We know of one
bed of seven-eighths of an acre, in New Jersey,
which has brought in $1,200 during the last nine
years. Almost anyone located within reach of a
town could add several hundred dollars a year to
his income by growing Asparagus on an acre or two;
and the work this would take would be no more
than a couple of hours a week during the growing
season. Cultivate the same as other garden vege-
tables, cutting and marketing tips each day, and

Half a dozen plants or so will supply a large
family with all it can use through the season, when
the right varieties are planted and proper care is
given. Once established, the plants last a lifetime.

BURBANK’S GIANT CRIMSON WINTER

Probably the best variety we have ever tested at
Berrydale. Stalks are about 1 inch in diameter, of
good length, crimson clear through. The skin is
very thin, and so tender that it does not need to be

mowing the old stalks each fall.
Conover’s Colossal.
shoots.
buyers on the market.
Columbia.
able for the clear whiteness of the skin.

My new unnamed Bean

Has very large,
Well known among market-gardeners and

Shoots of mammoth size, remark-

pared off. Flavor is mild and not very acid. Can
be used from the middle of May until frost comes.
As fast as the stalks are pulled new ones grow in-
their places. In the Southern and Pacific States it
may be used the year round if watered in dry weather.
In the Northern States it requires protection to do
its best. It has a special berry flavor of its own.

Linneus. Medium size, early and tender. Hardier than
the preceding, but not so productive nor of so good quality.

Victoria and Queen. Old standard varieties which need
no introduction.

Wagner’s Hardy Giant Crimson. A cross between Vic-
toria and Burbank’s Giant Crimson Winter, which I have
found to be very hardy. It has almost all the good qualities
of the fine Crimson Winter, with a flavor resembling that of
red raspberries.

A New Bean. Not Yet Named

This is a cross between White Lima and Scarlet Runner.
The beans are an inch long. I made the cross and developed
the first plants, but am not introducing it. If vou want further
details, write me. My experimenting and trials are producing
good kinds of berries and vegetables all the time.

/

tender

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

25

How I Prefer to Do Business

GUARANTEE. Every plant that leaves my nursery is a
thrifty, lusty specimen; but plants are perishable things,
and I have to set limits to my guarantee. I guarantee that
all plants will arrive at your station or post office in satis-
factory condition, and also that they are true to name. If
you do not find them satisfactory when they come, imme-
diately pack and return them to me, and your money will be
refunded. I can not assume responsibility for plants living,
because that depends largely on the care you give them and
the climatic conditions at the time of planting.

THE PRICES given here are net, Cash with Order. I will
quote special prices on quantities larger than are listed.
Make all remittances payable to A. Mitting, Proprietor,
Berrydale Experiment Gardens.

SHIPMENTS will be made as soon as the order is received,
weather permitting, or will be held until spring if desired.
I ship by express or freight, whichever is best, unless other-

wise stated in your letter, my letters, or in this book. So
seldom do I receive complaints about plants or packing that
I hardly know what they look like. About seven was the
number for 1911-12. I often pack plants so that they require
five cents postage, when many other growers are cutting them
back, root and branch, and packing them so lightly that they
require only one cent postage. Heavier shipments are packed
just as well. Plants can be shipped anywhere. I fill orders
for Europe, Mexico, Australia, Japan, etc.

SAMPLES of ripe fruit of any of my berries will be sent in
season to any applicant. The charge is to cents for each
kind, or 30 cents a quart. Berries will be put up in alcohol
for demonstration at $2.50 for each sample. I must have the
orders for these samples not later than the first of May.

NOTE. No order for less than 1,000 plants of any one
variety will be accepted from China, Japan, Australia, India,
or Europe.

THESE PRICES GANCGEL ALL PREVIOUS QUOTATIONS— 19138

Six plants at dozen rates, 50 at 100 rates, 500 at 1,000 rates.

MACATAWA BLACK- Each Doz. 100 1,000
BERRY. t-year. oc... $1 co $10 00
GIANT HIMALAYA. 6 mos To. 1 00 §$4° Got $36400
Te2ENTOSS Meee hse eels twee 20 2 00 6 00 5° 00
APES 821 bony hsT ves oe Son! i GO) 30.00
PRMIOS nak cise ates see I 00 I0 00
GOOSEBERRIES.
Mitting’s Whinhams. 2 yrs.. 256) 72 OOL 12 COW) 100. OCG
TRLVAE tees (ofa Shevohe ss ia.3. seeroust Peavey 3 15 1p COL OMOOns 50) OO
Golden Drop. 1 yr......... He SE OOr ©6000! Ge 00
Hoventon. ot? yrds. s. TO vig) A 50 tO) 00
Jesselyn.) 2 yrs. fe ZO aE D5. -, 7 SO. gO X00
Pearl and Downing. 1 yr LS) aiexCOe 0: CO” less CO
mransparenty.-2).°o. 62. a. o: 2Oe =i) 25726: 00 450) 00
CURRANTS.
Perfection. 2 yrs. Scarce... ZONE Dogg O04 ems): OO
Tg ees. te, 10 Ta 5 AO OO
Cherry: 2 yess. = os FO. | I: OO, AA GOMES 5 CO
Fay’s Prolific. 2 yrs........ Ee LLIOO. 4 CO = 35 OO
Tere! co. 5 8 1 e 05 50” 2850)... 201,00
Northern Star. 1 yr........ 05 ROMs 2aho | 20 106
2 VIS: . eee Ss 8 10 eoiy Utooy 23506
ea EVES =. 5... 1: FOG 4 i OOl> 74s OOr 35-00
We os.) ee 05 Open 2-50) 220.00
Red mtd White Dutch. 2 yrs EG). ES OOM a ABO, 625500
Lh ee 8.0) os ee 05 FOmr 2550.4\120 700
Champion Naples and Victoria. 25 125 600 #45000
Boskoop Giant. 2 yrs. (best). 20 125 #700 #265 00
Eiyt., fmes(esbys:.......2 EO!) HEGO, » 4400.1 3500
TREE CURRANTS AND
GOOSEBERRIES.
4-foot stems, bushy tops. 1 50 12 00
RASPBERRIES.
Shepard’s Pride........... 50). 300 . 425 Go
St. Regis Everbearing...... FOR te) OO.) 6 00)4 +) 50700
. Superlative. Largest of all 5OW. 3100 «= 2257-00
Perfection. Imported fortest 10 100 600
Berrydale Scarlet ......... Ol, (00. > 6.00
Cuthbert. Old standard.... I 00 6 00
reDGyis 2: Eee Go# F200) ! 1s 06
Wier iseeee . oo). Shae {> emis a1 5 00
ERGMpSOMeS .. 6. us =. 22 2 I 00 5 00
Plum Farmer. The best... gon Sees ATO OG
Cumberland. Second-best .. BG iaix SIS Lt. TONOO
Royal Purple. Best poe, 205, 2126" 4.7, 00m) «60: 00
Shaffer’s Colossal Purple .. oy ie Gor Let 2 OO
ATEIAL Ge occ ss oA 5) a 50. (GtO OO
Gregg and Palmer........ Pyar. io 5 00
Golden Queen ........... is §1..0O™. 300° “25/160

1,000,000 Berry plants for sale

BLACKBERRIES. Each Doz. 100 I,000
Macatawa. See first column.
Eldorado. Best early....... $0.25 $1 50 $12 00
Ancient Briton. Hardicst. 2 etebess) ) 12).00
Crystal White. ee : $0 ie) HOES OO" 4 15° OO
Mersereau.. : Ps IO AO. 32-00 ~ “15 oo
Early King.. See ey. TO Hore 00-15 CO
Rathbun. . ee, FILO wast P20!) \T50G.
Blowers. A fine berry.. as: ie) Ons 2e25 0 17. OO.
Wilson Early.22 5 ios e8 se) Bp “~~ *Es50" stotoo
SHYGEES I. Hoe se Mei: eet ie) gai. “5G. “EO. 'oo
Mammoth Blackberry..... FO eh, GO ues OO! 215-100
DEWBERRY.
Eucretia:. Bhe Dest. ..::..: 05 30," £-0O 7 00
ASPARAGUS.
Columbians 2 yis-o. 2. te IO 50° 2 00
Te St erat ths enn a 05 25 I 00
Conover’s Colossal. 2 yrs.. ie) 50 2 00
Epi, POPE T ONY, 05 25 I 00
RHUBARB.
Victoria (best green), Crim-
son Winter, and others
listedewrrayie joe... To’ <7 {oot | R00! /46h Go:
GRAPE-VINES.
Concord. Oldstandard. ryr. to 50 3.00 25 00
Niaparastthytsac eases} S 15 Treas OO! Bsoo
Moore’s Early. 1 yr........ 15 7g 49.4) a0 35 So0
Moore’s Diamond. 1 yr.... 15 5 \ «00. ! 35°00
Catawba. <r'yr.. sesh. 3% 20» EfOO! S004 FO Co
Wordens ftyr.. 220). 2228 15 Fig PEA CORNEZ5 oo
Wyoming Red. 1 yr........ 15 igh LEATOOo! 35206
STRAWBERRIES.
King Edward. Self-fertilizer.............. I 00 8 oo
Senator Dunlap. Old standard. Per....... 50 3 00
Nertitelge: Darn i. 6 60a eae koe op He 50 3 00
eR MELE. 6 eat ccia cin oe ee Gee es et ois 50 3 00
Grete ran ys? Det gd. ‘ctad dived Lis.eisis toatsi e's - » 50 3 00
aU WVINIGS IEEE: coy il .s, aaisteie bis F619 > 9 F je fe « iv 50° 3 00
Pride ofviichinans «Peri eer cess Sele wees « 50 3 00
FAL SOW Onder. Per. .-2 2.5515)... sj sabes iciel 200 10 00
Stevens’ Late Champion. Per............. 50 3 50
PIC MRPEU A Ars ieg 2 5 0s eID. Aes tages die dela tars 50 3 00
ROSES FOR HEDGES. Each Doz. TOO I,000
Dorothy Perkins. Shell-pink$o0 05 $0 60 $5 00 $50 00
White Dorothy............ 05 60.. 5-00 {50,00
Blue Rambler. Steel-blue... 05 6q 3) 45.00," 50: Go.
Crimson Rambler. Red.... 05 607,55) 09,) “50.00

1-year-old Rose plants of above at double prices named;
2-year-old stock, 25 cts. each, $2.50 per doz., $20 per Ioo,

26 BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Canners

You can get 50 per cent more for your entire crop of berries, large fruit or vegetables, by canning them than by
selling them fresh, if you have a half-acre or more in anything perishable. You don’t get wonderful prices for canned
stuff, but you do get good big market prices regularly and dependably. Take apples, for instance.
Canned apples sell for about $1 per dozen cans, and a bushel makes twenty cans. That is about
$1.75 a bushel. The cost for labor and material is 4o cents or less, giving you a net price of at
least $1.35.

An ordinary pot will boil water, but when you drop cold
cans into it you cool the water, and lose the first essential
in successful canning, instant heating. The difference between
a pot and a canning boiler is in heating surface and shape.
You seal up the cans air-tight when cold—then sterilize them
or ‘‘process” them. Fruits for home canning can be left on
plants or trees until dead ripe and the full flavor developed.

BOOK OF INSTRUCTIONS with each canner will enable

you to become an expert canner very soon. It contains full
instructions about every point of canning.

Baia

Description of Canners

These canners are of heavy galvanized
steel, with oval-shaped tubes projecting down
from the bottom. These projections are
entirely surrounded by fire, and the water in
them circulates directly to the can chamber,
; Ee which is provided with notched bars to hold
ile, 6 is aaa eae . baskets of cans at right height. The baskets

—_ ce ee are of tin, with projections that slip into
notches in boiler and hold basket properly.
as They have convenient handles for lifting.

i #7 The entire canner is constructed for the greatest ease,

mee f comfort, speed and efficiency in using. Anyone can

No. 3 Portable Canner. Price $25 . operate it without previous experience. The outfits shown

here have a furnace, because most canning is done right

out in the field, and the canner should be moved about to save hauling of the fruit; but they will work on a cook-stove or on

a furnace built of stones or bricks, or even over a campfire. The furnaces we supply use poles—you don’t need to cut and

split the wood if you don’t want to. These sizes are the most popular and the handiest, but both smaller and larger outfits
are made.

No. 2 Outfit

Complete portable equipment that will put up
400 cans of fruit or 200 cans of vegetables a day.
By using several of these boilers you can duplicate
the production to any amount. Boiler is 19 x 9/44
x 12 inches, and the baskets hold two tiers each of
eight 3-lb. or quart cans. This makes a capacity
of 16-quart cans at once. The furnace is of sheet-
iron, built large so wood needs little cutting. The
canner is separate from the furnace, and can be
lifted off and the foul water emptied easily.

We ship complete equipment, including a pair of
soldering coppers, a fire-pot for heating them, a
pair of can tongs, and an instruction book. Outfit
weighs 14 pounds net, and it usually is best to ship
by express. Price complete, $10 Complete with-
out furnace, $7.50.

No. 3 Outfit

Boiler 19 x 38 x 12 inches. Has four baskets
that will hold 64 quart-tins at once. We include
one capping steel, a pair of soldering coppers and
fire-pot for heating them, pair of can tongs and
instruction book. Net weight 30 pounds.

Capacity 1,000 to 2,000 cans a day. Canners
ready for work. Other details not mentioned are
same as No. 2. If preferred, four No. 2 canners See :
(boilers) can be used on furnace instead of the
one No. 3. This really is the more desirable out-
fit. Price complete, $25. Complete without
furnace, $20. No. 3 furnace and four No. 2 No. 2 Portable Canner
canners, $35. Price, $10

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

27

Sprayers

In all my work of growing berries, as well as growing large fruit and vegetables, I find that spraying not only pays but is an
absolute necessity for getting any kind of respectable profits. Proper spraying with the right materials kills insects of all kinds
that chew or suck at your plants and fruit, and prevents the young from hatching. It prevents blight and all rots by controlling
the fungi that cause them. Sprayed leaves and bark keep healthy and green long after unsprayed leaves drop.

Atomizer Sprayer
No. 1

Works with compressed air and gives a spray continuously,
not just when you work handle; holds a quart; has tin barrel,
tin or galvanized iron tank, and removable brass valve. Large
enough for using on a dozen plants, rose bushes, etc., or on
cattle or small chicken-pens. Price, 50 cts.

Atomizer Sprayer
No.3

Same as No. 1, except has
tank placed crosswise instead de
of lengthwise. You have choice of
brass tank also. Price, tin, 75c.; brass,$r.

Kant-Klos, Style G

A most reliable, very well fitted |
little sprayer. Fine for trees, small f
fruits and vegetables on half an acre §
or less, for applying fly-killer to stock,
for whitewashing, etc. Body is made of
heavy brass or galvanized steel,
tested to double working pressure. A
few seconds of working pump charges
sprayer with air, then you can spray
for several minutes without pump- |
ing. Fitted with Kant-Klog nozzle |
that will, by adjustment, throw
two round and one flat sprays, and
two sizes of solid streams. Also
hose, cock, base, carrier strap and
safety valve. Price, galvanized steel, $5; polished brass, $6.50.

Junior No. 5

Looks like a plain pump, but
= will do many different kinds of
~ work. Set it in the bung-hole of
2 barrel and spray two acres of trees a
day, or five acres of plants. Will pump
from bucket, spring, boat or anything.
Needs no fastenings. Has automatic
mixer, regular hose and Kant-Klog
nozzle. Weight 4 lbs. Price com-
plete, $3.50.

Sage Saas

tees
The“ <i ieee
te KantKlao Spraye?

"Jr. No. 5

Four-Row Attachment

Adjustable for rows 2 to 6 feet apart. Used with
Barrel Sprayer, and can be attached to any wagon
or cart, any height. Four nozzles, and four extra
nozzle caps. Price, $6.

| TWO-ROW ATTACHMENT.
= = Same as four-row, but only
3 feet long. Price, $1.50.

Four-Row
Attachment

Barrel Sprayer

If you have an acre or more of trees, gar-
den, potatoes, etc.,a barrel pump will pay for
itself and will save you lots of
time. It sprays better than
smaller sprayers because of its
higher pressure. You can use
two lengths of hose, and either
two or four nozzles. Fitted with
churn-dasher agitator, 5 feet of
hose, a 5-foot iron extension pipe
and Kant-Klog nozzle. Buy a
coal-oil, whiskey or vinegar
barrel at home cheaply. No. 4
has brass cylinder 2% x 7 inches,
brass piston and brass screw
spout—price $9.50. No. 8 is
same as No. 4 except that it has
all brass plunger, valve and
valve seat. Price, $11.50.

Kant-Klosg Nozzle

Throws nine different kinds
of ‘“‘stream’’—round and flat,
spray or mist, and solid stream, three sizes of each, differing
in volume and fineness. Any clogging is removed by pressing
end of nozzle against something or by pressing rim of nozzle
with thumb, when the clearing pin and the current do the
work quickly and surely. Polished brass. Frice, $1.

Brass Extensicn Pipe
Plain three-eighths pipe, quarter-inch standard threads.
You may connect as many lengths as you want. Price, 3 ft.
40 cts.; 18 inches, 30 cts.

Spring Hose Cut-Off
ock

A valve for the hose, just be-

.)hind nozzle or extension pipe,
r that enables you to
carry pressure in hose,
and to turn off or on the
Saves solution, and makes

spray instantly with thumb.

spraying cleaner work. Price,
plain, 75 cts.; or with lever
as shown, 85 cts.

For turn-
ing nozzles
any direction you want, and
reach under

you can
and upper sides. of
branches without any
trouble. 40 cts.

Kant-Klog Sprayer in Action

28

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

Pruning Tools

Good pruning tools save you time and enable you to get the right kind of pruning done in its proper season. I use the

tools listed here, and I heartily recommend them to the ‘“man who does the snipping.

”

Every bit of metal used in these Pruners

is forged steel or cold-rolled steel. The blades are forged from a special tool steel. There isn’t one casting used. These tools

are not cheap, nor are they built for cheap trade.

7 enn tn inn ff
f ee TM

ye:

No. SSS. Hand Pruner

This is the best pruning shear that I have been able to
find. It is good, heavy and strong, blades open very wide
with a smaller movement of the hand than most
shears, gets a good grip in cutting large canes
or branches, and cuts through easily on account
of the leverage. It is second to none in work-
manship. Price, $1.60.

No. 777. Two-Hand

Pruner

In removing large blackberry and
Himalaya canes and in pruning trees that
have been neglected, the hand pruners
are too short and too small for easy and
effective work, and you can make good
use of a two-hand pruner. The one I sell
here is built a little differently and a little
better than any other I ever used. The
blade is on the side that you operate with
your right hand. When you cut, the blade
closes in and cuts through the limb, while
the hook merely supports the pressure
against the limb, without bruising and
tearing the bark as do the two-hand prun-
ers that have their blade on the other side,
and which force the limb over against
the blade. The shape of the blade is such
that the limb will positively not be pushed
out, for the cut really is a draw back
toward the pivot. The blade works close
to the hook, but positively will not
cut into it. 26-inch handles. Price, $2.

No. 707. Two-Hand Pruner

24-inch handles, plain finish, without locknut, otherwise
same as No. 777. Price, $1.35.

AINKON

TOT Ne

No. 18. Hand Pruning Saw

A great many fruit-growers prefer a saw to a two-hand
pruner, and a saw is a necessity for many limbs over an inch
in diameter, or where it is necessary to get up into the trees.
But much depends on the construction of the saw, I have
found, and this saw comes pretty close to my idea of what it
should be. The picture shows how it is made. It is very light
weight, the blade is on pivots and the cut can be made at
any angle from the frame with little danger of buckling the
saw. It cuts very fast and clean. Price, $1.75. Extra blades,
25 cts. each.

No. 1. Extension Tree Trimmer

Here is a very practical tool for pruning from the ground
trees from 7 to 20 feet high. Many fruit-growers imagine
». that these long-handled pruners are playthings,
> )\ or that they are so slow in operation as to be
J impractical, but you can use them just as easily

and just as fast as you can the two-hand short-

handled pruners and, of course, with the addi-
tional advantage of being able to reach up high
while you are standing on the ground. This ex-
tension trimmer is made differently from any
other. The cutting head has what is called a
compound lever, a double action that gives you
twice the power on the cutting blade. It is
calculated for heavy work and will cut a limb up
to 14 inches in diameter. Instead of the little
connecting rod running down one side of the
shaft, it crosses over and puts as much strain on
one side of the shaft as on the other. This
stiffens up the rod and allows a lighter weight
to be used. The strength, durability,
ease and speed of working of these
trimmers will make a hit in your
orchard. Price, 6- and 8-foot poles,
$3; 10- and _ 12-foot
poles, $3.25; 14- and
) 16-foot poles, $3.50.

No. 3
Extension
Trimmer

The same as No. 1
except that it has a
simple cutting head,
with just one lever. The picture
shows the difference. A very
durable tool. In a field of Hima-
laya or blackberries that have
been neglected these tools will
save you many scratches. Price,
6- and 8-foot poles, $2; 10- and
12-foot poles, $2.25; 14- and 16-
-foot poles, $2.50.

It affords me pleasure to write you concerning those Giant
Himalaya Berry plants I got from you. One year ago I got
a few plants that made surprising growth. One branch had
a few berries on, but this winter they froze. Three of the five
came forth again and are making a fine growth, and have some
fine berries on. Think if I had pinched them back they would.
have come more woody and resisted the hard winter. This
spring I set out quite a few. Just about half of them grew,
due to cold and then dry weather. Those that survived are
doing fine. In order to satisfy myself that they were true to
name, I took a trip to Holland, to see your berries. I could
readily convince myself that they were true to name, and as
you represented.—SAmMuEL H. Botton, McComb, Ohio,
August Io, 1912.

The Himalayas are doing fine, some over 12 inches high,
stalks already. Grapes doing nicely. Currants also. Goose-
berries bearing a large quantity. This coming fall I may place
another small order for plants.—ERNEST REINBURG, Bridge-
port, Conn.

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

29

Books That May Help You to Make Money

Small Fruit Culturist. On propagating, cultivating and
marketing; well illustrated. By Andrew S. Fuller, 298 pages,
5 x 7 inches, cloth. Price $1.

Beginner’s Guide to Fruit Growing. Gives fundamentals
as well as late developments. A dozen pictures. 120 pages,
5 x 7 inches, cloth. By F. A. Waugh. Price 75 cts.

The Fruit Garden. Illustrated. 516 pages, 5 x 7 inches,
cloth. By P. Barry. Price $1.50.

Strawberry Culturist. Complete. Thoroughly illustrated. 5
x 7 inches, flexible cloth. By Andrew S. Fuller. Price, 25c.

New Rhubarb Culture. Complete guide to both field
culture and dark forcing. By J. E. Morse, the Michigan
rhubarb man, and G. B. Fiske. Many pictures, 130 pages,
5 x 7 inches, cloth. Price 50 cts.

American Grape Growing and Wine Making. A revised
edition. Illustrated, 269 pages, 5 x 7 inches, cloth. Price
$1.50.

Successful Fruit Culture. Written to help practical growers.
By Samuel T. Maynard. Illustrated, 274 pages, 5 x 7 inches,
cloth. Price $1.

American Fruit Culturist. Propagation and culture of all
fruits adapted to the United States. Nearly 800 pictures,
758 pages. Price $2.50.

Peach Culture. Illustrated, 204 pages, cloth. Price $1.

Pear Culture for Profit. Complete and practical. Illus-
trated, 136 pages, cloth. Price $1.

Plum Culture. Complete manual. By Prof. F. A. Waugh.
Illustrated, 391 pages, cloth. Price $1.50.

Quince Culture. Completely illustrated hand-book on
quinces. 180 pages, cloth. Price $1.

American Apple Orchard. Modern commercial methods
are given attention in this book. Illustrated, 226 pages,
cloth. By F. A. Waugh. Price $1.

Gardening for Profit. By Peter Henderson, whom every-
body knows. Many pictures, 376 pages, cloth. Price $1.50.

Any of these books forwarded postpaid on receipt of price.

I bought three plants of you and three of another party, |

and only three of the six lived. I cannot say which—I think
one of yours and two of the others. I made a substantial
frame, 7 feet high and 21 feet long, and trained canes until
they ran over frame, when I cut them back. I find one cane
I can follow plainly that measures 34 feet. I think several
made longer growth, and my frame 7 x 21 feet was covered
by the growth of two plants.—EpWwarp Price, Little Rock,
Ark., February 17, 1912.

Last year I set out on my ranch near Coulee City, Washing-
ton, a dozen or more of your young Himalaya plants on trial.
They made a bigger growth than I ever imagined a plant
could make.—A. E. Post, Waverly, Wash.

Gardening for Pleasure. For those who keep gardens for
pleasure, with attention to greenhouse, conservatory and
window-garden work. Finely illustrated, 404 pages, cloth.
By Peter Henderson. Price $1.50.

Practical Floriculture. Complete directions for cultivation
of all flowers. By Peter Henderson. 325 pages, cloth. Price
$1.50.

Vegetable Gardening. Every phase of vegetable growing.
Hundreds of pictures, 550 pages, cloth. Price $1.75.

Market Gardening and Farm Notes. Many pictures, 315
pages, cloth. Price $1.

Southern Gardeners’ Practical Manual. Tells how to have
fresh vegetables every day in the year. Many pictures, 220
pages, cloth. Price $1.

Asparagus. Exclusively devoted to this vegetable. Many
pictures, 174 pages, cloth. Price 50 cts.

Fertilizers and Crops. Explains why each and every
material should be used. 500 pages, cloth. Price $2.50.

Farmer’s Cyclopedia of Agriculture. Takes the subjects
as in a dictionary, and gives facts about six to seven thousand
different topics. 700 pages, 500 pictures, cloth. Price $3.50.
In half morocco, price $4.50.

The Farmer’s Manual of Law. In plain, common-sense
language. 470 pages, cloth. Price $2.

Our Farm of Four Acres and the Money We Made On It.
A story written by a woman, interesting as though it wasn’t
true, and gives many suggestions which you may follow with
profit. 126 pages, paper cover. Price 30 cts.

Play and Profit in my Garden. Practical book by the
minister who wrote ‘Opening a Chestnut Burr,” and “A
Knight of the Nineteenth Century. 350 pages, cloth. Price
$x

Ten Acres Enough. A very small farm can keep a very
large family. The author tells how he worked things. 220
pages, cloth. Price $1.

I guarantee their safe arrival

I have left the farm and am taking up berry-growing on
the edge of town, and my specialty will be the red raspberry
and Himalaya Berries. You have my order for 200 of the
Himalaya, and I set out one acre of the raspberries last fall.
I’m glad that I have made your acquaintance. I like the way
you introduce yourself. I want some one to call upon now
and then till I get started. You have saved me some money
already.—Wwm. BLACKBURN, Box g5, Dorchester, Saline Co.,
Nebr., February 24, 1912.

I want to get some Himalaya plants. I got three last spring;
they did well; I had vines 18 feet long. If you have the true
berry plants, quote best prices.—C. J. ByLER, New Bedford,
Pa., January 1, 1912.

THIS CERTIFICATE IS TO COVER STOCK GROWN AT HOLLAND, MICH.

Certificate of Wursery Inspection

No. 1278

Chis is to Certify that | have examined the nursery stock of Berrydale Experiment

Gardens, Holland, Mich., and find it apparently free from dangerous insects and danger-
This certificate to be void after July 31, 1913.

ously contagious tree and plant diseases.

Agricultural College, Mich., Sept. 11, 1912.

Leak: aft

State Inspector of Nurseries and Orchards

30

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

A Little of My 44 Years’ Experience

As I travel all over the United States, I often come
across people who are sick of being mere “runners on
the road.” Many a lawyer, judge, merchant and pro-
fessional man wishes he had a place in the country, and
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 something
better for them on the green and brown hills beyond the
ends of the streets.

The people who are willing to help themselves are the
ones I want to help. As the years pass, I see more and
more plainly that the Lord gave us our hands to work
with, and our brains to think. He did not mean that we
should use one only. We should think of the simple
things. We should live the easiest way. But we don’t
seem to want to do this, and we keep looking for secrets
that will make the way easier. There is where the
trouble lies, for there are no secrets and everything is
easy in this world, if we only open our eyes to it.

When a man isrich 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 your-
self 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.
I do these things, and I know how it works.

Each year we bring to this country from across the
water over three million dollars’ worth of nursery stock.
This, with the millions of dollars’ worth that is grown at
home, is planted, and most of it made to produce fruit
in a few months or years. 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.
If, instead of farm boys and men going to cities and
mills, they would go to a nursery or
orchard and learn the business,
they would soon be able to start
for themselves, and become inde-
pendently rich a good deal quicker
than they possibly could in any
other work. And if, instead of
struggling on in a city with an in-
come 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
homes for themselves.

The best soil a grower of fruits
can have is a sandy loam. Here is
how I would go about picking my
location. Find an eastern or south-
west slope, and go about half-way
up. If you get too high, you will
lack moisture, if too low the ground
will be damp, and spring frosts will
catch the blossoms. Air-drainage
is necessary for a successful fruit-
farm. An exception to the general
rule is that peaches do well on hill-

A. Mitting

tops. New land is the best of all, and, when you find it,
walk over it and look for brakes, or bracken. (Some call
them ferns, but this is not correct.) Brakes will grow
only on rich, sandy loam, which is exactly what you
want, and the more brakes the better the soil is likely to
be. When I first came to Holland and bought Berrydale,
people said it was the poorest, sandiest soil around.
Now they ask: ‘‘How did you do it, Mr. Mitting?”

If the ground is new, clean off brush during winter
and have it ready to plow as soon as spring opens up. If
you have selected cultivated land, plow it the fall before
and let it lie rough over winter. Do not plant your fruit
this first spring. Keep the ground in as nice shape as
possible—deeply and thoroughly mixed, packed so
there are no air-spaces, very fine and smooth.

Plant no less than five acres of one variety of berry if
you want to go into it commercially. By having five
acres of one kind, you can bring the buyer to your door,
where if you have small, mixed plantings of several
kinds, you will have to hunt the buyer. If you wish to
peddle your product, get at least five acres of ground.
Plant three acres in berries and use two acres for build-
ings and stock lots. You can make a good living from
such a place. If you want to know how it is done, I
will tell you what to plant and help you all I can. Do
not use any fertilizer when you plant fruits. Wait until
the following year, then sow a ton of air-slaked lime to
the acre. Lime is needed to sweeten land, or correct
acidity, to destroy insects, and as a fertilizer to a certain
extent. If your soil is sour and full of poisons, it is
unfriendly to roots, and in it no plants or trees will
thrive or bear fine fruit. Other fertilizers can be added
as needed, in the cheapest and easiest form to apply.

When trees and plants come, unpack them and put
the roots in water, unless they are frozen, then they
should be gradually thawed out in a cold cellar. If not
ready to plant, heel-in, roots, tops and all. When start-
ing to plant, see that roots are so
wet that soil will cling to them.
Trees should go an inch deeper than
the graft mark, plants the same
depth they were before, which can
easily be told. Plant in as long
rows as possible, to make cultiva-
tion and working easier. Keep the
newly planted ground cultivated
clean from early spring till frost
comes. No matter whether you
have weeds or not—keep stirring
the soil. Hoe along each side of
berry rows, dig around trees. Do
this early in spring and later also.
After hoeing, get a hand-rake and
rake each side of the rows. Use a
slant-toothed harrow or a drag
between the rows. Keep this treat-
ment up all summer, going over the
ground every ten days as near as
you can, unless it rains and after-
wards bakes a crust on the surface,
when you must go over it sooner.
Do not let a weed get two inches
high. Remember that you are pre-

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

How clusters of Himalayas look

paring the plants or trees for next year’s crop, as well as
‘finishing up this crop. In berry-picking season, better
get extra pickers and let the regular help go on culti-
vating.

Moisture is the great need of nearly all fruit plants,
and the grower’s problem is to get enough of it. Irriga-
tion is practised in many sections, but it is expensive
and, furthermore, is not needed except in a few of the
Western States. Proper cultivation will keep moisture
in the soil to an extent few appreciate. The sun and the
dry air draw moisture from the ground whenever a
crust is allowed to form on the surface. But if you
break up this crust, and keep a two- or three-inch layer
of dry dust on the surface, the moisture cannot escape.
It is the same where there is a board or a stone on the
ground—there is damp earth underneath. Get this
dust-mulch on the surface early in May, and keep it
there all summer. Harrow as soon after a rain as the
ground begins to dry and keep the water for the use of
the trees and plants. Forget about weeds and think of
moisture, and you can raise a big cropif there is no rain
from spring to fall.

Always cut out all branches which have borne fruit,
right after harvest. Insects lay their eggs in the fruiting
wood, which dies and is of no more use to the plant. If
you let the old canes stand till spring, the eggs will
hatch; but, if this wood is burned, the eggs will be
destroyed. If you allow no dead wood or trash to stand
or lie about your place, you will not be bothered very
much with insects, providing you plant healthy stock.

People should go to nature for lessons on pruning.
Notice that a tree in its wild state, when growing out in
the open where it gets lots of air and sunlight, has limbs
right down to the ground. Then why should we trim
fruit trees 5 or 6 feet high? The sun should never
directly strike the stem of a tree, or the bark anywhere,

31

during the growing season. This would interfere with
the flow of sap, as well as with other things. Leaves are
meant to shield the bark, to absorb light and food from
the air. They feed the tree just the same as roots do,
and they keep the branches cool. A good, rich crop of
foliage is necessary if the tree is to thrive and grow, and
produce fruit that is worth while.

Plant one-year trees only. Those that have an
upright habit of growth should be cut down to no higher
than a foot or fifteen inches. Cut ona slant which faces
the north, as the sap flows more on that side of the stem,
and the wound will heal quicker than if the cut was on
the other side of the stem. This cutting back should be
done about a month after planting, or just as the sap
begins to flow. Plan the head of the tree right there and
then. Leave only three or four branches, growing in the
right direction, and prune to form a hollow center, or
open head. Cut out all cross limbs each season. (Note:
Weeping growers, such as Burbank’s plum, should have
a 3- to 4-foot stem left.) Peaches should have half of
each year’s growth cut back in the spring, as well as all
dead twigs cut out.

Study the habits of growth of the trees you plant.
Ask the nurseryman what they will do and how to han-
dlethem. Thousands of trees all over the country would
be alive today, and bringing the owners great profits, if
they had been properly pruned and cultivated and
sprayed. Instead of this, the orchardists forgot or
ignored the spraying, pruned them wrongly or not at all,
and made a pasture of the orchard. The cattle or
horses, to keep flies off and to find a cool place, gathered
under the trees, tramping the soil so hard that it would
crack in the summer. I have seen these cracks so wide
that you could put your hand in them. Think what the
effect of this is on the trees!

blossoms and new plants by the thousands

32

Severe Gold Does Not Kull
Plants so Often as Sleez

On examining some of the plants which I
thought had “‘winter-killed”’ in the zero weather
last winter, I found something I had never thought
of before, but which is very important. The bark
on many plants was pounded off several inches up
and down, about a foot above the ground. Even
the wood was worn away in some places. A little
reflection told me that it was done by sleet, ice and
snow driven before the wind, on top of a crust of
snow. I followed up this idea, and sure enough,
found that wherever the plants were protected
from the direct drive of the wind along the surface of
the crust, they did not “‘winter-kill” one-tenth as much.
I should like my friends and customers to investigate,

BERRYDALE EXPERIMENT GARDENS, HOLLAND, MICH.

One

and protect their berry fields whenever possible.
of my patches was sheltered by a windbreak of trees,
and it was not damaged.

If You Gan Your Berries, You Will Realize

50 per cent More from Them

When there are small crops of fruit, it is possible to
sell all the berries you could raise on a thousand acres,
in one community, for very high prices. But when there
is a heavy crop, so many wild berries and carelessly
grown cultivated ones are marketed everywhere that
for a few weeks there is a low-priced market for the best
of berries. Then is the time for you to make your
money. Later in the winter the prices will be high
enough to suit anyone, and all you have to do is to get
a home canning outfit, and put your berries up in tin
or glass. I know that it pays enough to return the cost
of the work and material, and fifty per cent more than
average prices for fresh berries.

There are canning outfits on the market for any price
you are able and willing to pay, from $10 up to $5,000.
With them you can get the same results as the big com-
mercial canning factories, and your canned fruit will be
of a superior quality. The work may be done by your
own family, or by hired men and girls, and is no more

troublesome or difficult than any ordinary farm work—
no harder than making butter. There isn’t any more
danger of an overproduction of canned berries than
there is of an overproduction of sugar or flour. During
1911 there were 720,000,000 cans of peas, corn and
tomatoes alone canned—and consumed.

Every can of this stuff brought a good, stiff price that
paid the canners well. The demand for such food is
increasing all the time, because everyone is learning
to appreciate the convenience, economy, purity and
palatability of this source of supply. It is all right to
sell early products and crops in good years, when they
are fresh; but don’t depend on the fresh market for
your profits. The middlemen will get the biggest part
of your profits if you do, taking the average year after
year. But if you can your crops, or your surplus, you
will be independent, and will be on the high road to
prosperity. I shall be glad to help you get a canning
equipment, or tell you how to use one, if you write me.

Last spring I bought from you three Himalaya Berry
plants, which grew at least 15 feet.—C. J. GROENNOLD,
1617 E. 21st St., Cleveland, Ohio.

I received my order of berry plants, and found them all in
good condition. I am especially pleased with the Currant

bushes.—JosrpH ANDERSON, Lehi, Utah, April 24, 1912.

~
Sx Ot

-_ ay Siew e- Ss
Ernest DeR
manage Berrydale some day

00 Mitting in a field of Himalaya, newly set. He likely will

Last spring I set out 500 Giant Himalaya tips, and wish to
tell you they are nearly all alive and growing fine. I went
out today and measured some of them, and they have grown
from 8 to 12 feet already. This looks good to me. I was at
your place in Holland two weeks ago, and was pleased with
your place—the gardens especially,—with your irrigating
water-supply, and with the outlook for a good crop of
Giant Himalaya Berries, and also with the new berry,
Macatawa, you have developed. I think they are the
largest berries I ever saw, and of the best flavor. I pre-
dict a great demand for them, and hope to get some of
them for my garden. All your plants look well. You
are certainly doing a great work. Wishing you great
success in all your undertakings, I beg to remain,
Ler ToweEtson, Galesburg, Mich., August 5, 1912.

I wish you would send me your “Berry Book.” Ihave
half a dozen Himalaya Berry bushes that are growing
very fast, and have some fruit on this season. The
Blackberry bushes in this section are badly infested with
rust. I wish to put out Himalaya instead. Will you
kindly advise me as to the care of these bushes; also
your large Gooseberries.—H. H. Sessions, Lakeside,
Mich., August 10, 19f2.

The McFarland Pubinicrsee Harrisburg, Ba:

Mitting’s Strain of Whinhams Gooseberry

HY is it that in America so few farmers 7, know how good Gooseberries are to eat fresh?

Even strawberries right off the plants are | not so good, and no other berry is so rich and

syrupy with sugar and cream. An ordi- 7 »mnary thrifty Gooseberry bush of these improved
varieties with the large berries will yield from a peck to a half bushel. An average family can
use, by eating them fresh and putting them up in cans and preserves, from two to three bushels.
You, therefore, shouid plant a dozen or more Gooseberry bushes. Put them on the south side
of fences or buildings where they get the fullsu and air. The richer the soil and the warmer the
sun, the sweeter will be the flavor of the #2 berries and the more of them.

HIMALAYA
BERRIES