Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 221, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1910 — BERRY CROP IS SHORT [ARTICLE]

BERRY CROP IS SHORT

Cultivated Product and Bad Seasons Reduce Supply Demand Also Increases Faster Than Bupp|y—This Answer Applies Particularly to Strawberries —Culture Found Profitable. Bangor, Me.—Years ago during the summer season everybody in Bangor and eastern Maine had plenty ol raspberries and blueberries at low prices. Now the berries are scarce and costly, and people are wondering why. There are undoubtedly many explanations and probably all of them would be true enough, but the teal cause of It all Is that the demand for berries has Increased much faster than the supply. This answer applies in a general way to all berries but is particularly true of strawberries. > The strawberry season is a long one, beginning early in the spring and lasting until nearly the first of August. This was not always the case, however, and the great length of season has been brought about by careful cultivation which has been made profitable by the ever-increasing demand for the product- v tJntii recent years the wild or field strawberries were the only ones to be found In the market in large quantities, and eyen then the demand was not so large as to make it profitable pick and prepare then} for the market, and those who did tht work ■were poorly paid for their labor. But the women who live its the berry district are workers and they were glad enough to do the work though the wage was small. The Introduction of the large cultivated berries from parts tempted the men 6f the families to try cultivated strawberries and to share with the women the labor and the profit. It was found to be profitable culture, both the demand and the supply Increased and each year the selling price was better than that of the year before, showing that the demand was Increasing faster than the supply. Thus It has been up to the present time bo far as strawberries are concerned, but with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries conditions have been different Blueberries have been cultivated without trouble —In fact the only trouble comes from the rapid spread of the bushes after they have once been planted, and those who have taken any pains with blackberry cultivation realize that they are even more profitable to raise than strawberries and Just as easy to market With raspberries and blueberries the natural supply of wild berries haa been depended ppon, and this changes from year to year, the demand being entirely dependent upon the supply and the price being made by the pickers. Raspberries have to be picked one at a time, and it is a smart picker who can pick twenty quarts per day, If the supply be large and the berries plentiful, and these, at an average price of from 12 to 15 cents, would give the picker from two to three dollars per day. But the supply of rasp-

berries does not increase. It seems to decrease. Sheep are kept In the pastures where the berries used to grow, and that spoils the “patch.” Then there are a few Area, and locally the supply has fallen off rapidly in the last few years. In the large raspberry fields the supply is large enough, but few people care to travel any great distance to obtain raspberries as they do blueberries, because of the work of picking them, difficulty of transporting because of the perishable nature of the berries, and the fact of the season coming so close to that of the blueberries.