A question which frequently arises in the mind of the prospective
strawberry grower is whether there actually is enough difference in
plants to justify the difference in the prices quoted by different plant
growers.
If you were to install some modern convenience in your home, would you
not be influenced in your selection largely by the service you could
reasonably expect from it based on its past reputation? You will agree
this would be the logical basis of selection.
It also should be the essential consideration in ordering strawberry
plants, as you are to depend upon them for a service just as distinct in
terms of quality and quantity of berries produced.
Have you ever considered the very slight relation of “price” to “cost,”
also how frequently the word “cost” is misused? An article purchased at
a low price often is referred to as being “cheap” when eventually it may
prove far more costly than a higher priced article of better quality.
Don’t be deceived into believing that low price represents real economy.
There are many factors in addition to price which go to make up ultimate
cost and low price very often indicates “cheap quality” resulting
invariably in “high cost.”
The one satisfactory way to reconcile “cost” and “price” is to be
absolutely sure that the price you pay enables the producer to embody
quality in the article.
The following comparison furnishes an intelligent application of the
question of economy in the purchase of strawberry plants:
Let us assume that you have a strawberry patch consisting of 2,000
plants divided into two sections, each composed of an equal number of
plants of the same varieties. One section is composed of “cheap”
plants. You know nothing about the fruiting reputation of their
ancestors nor the conditions under which these plants were produced.
In fact, for all you know they may have been taken from a fruiting
bed. You simply know that they are strawberry plants and that you
obtained them at a low price.
The other section is set to Kellogg Pedigree Plants for which of
course you paid a higher price. Perhaps you felt that you were unwise
in paying the difference as there may be no visible difference in
appearance.
At fruiting time however, when each section tells its own story, you
will find that the “cheap” plants will have absolutely no argument to
offer in their defense as the Kellogg Pedigree Plants will far
outyield them and the berries will be of much higher quality.
At the close of the fruiting season you’ll more fully appreciate the
difference in “cost.” The “cheap” plants require setting, feeding,
hoeing, cultivating and lodging (use of your ground) to the same
extent as others. In return you have found them loafers while the
plants which at first seemed expensive were constantly on the job at
fruiting time producing loads of big fancy berries which found a ready
market at profitable prices.
This comparison is being made right along by thousands who are thus
brought to a fuller, stronger realization of the folly in being
influenced to set “cheap” strawberry plants.
To the thinking person, it is a self-evident fact that Kellogg
Pedigree Plants which are bred in conformity with Nature’s laws up to
the highest possible standards, must be far more profitable and
desirable than plants produced to meet a certain low price.
Kellogg Pedigree Plants although a trifle higher in price, really
don’t “cost” as much as ordinary plants because their higher
productiveness and better quality berries insures additional returns
which justify an expenditure of many times the difference in “price.”
This is not an isolated comparison but applies in every case where the
product is measured in definite terms. For example, suppose you have a
cow which gives twenty quarts of milk having a high butter test and your
neighbor one which produces but half this quantity having a lower test.
It wouldn’t take you long to decide that your cow, even at double the
price of your neighbor’s would be the more profitable.
It’s quite true that you can obtain plants from various sources, often
at prices much lower than we can possibly quote. Kellogg Pedigree Plants
however are not grown to meet such competition. They are produced just
as good as human understanding of science will permit. As explained on
Pages 11 to 15 inclusive, everything necessary in the way of plant food,
moisture, cultivation, also protection against insects and disease, is
furnished just when and as required to insure the most healthy, vigorous
growth and development both of plant and fruit systems.
We never make up our price-list until late in the fall when all
requirements have been fully supplied and the plants have snuggled down
for their winter nap. Prices then are based on the size of the crop,
cost of producing, plus the small profit to which we are entitled.
If you grow or intend growing strawberries either to supply your own
home or for profit, remember; the use of ground, cost of labor,
fertilizers, etc., is the same whether you set plants of unknown
fruiting qualities or Kellogg Pedigree Plants which are absolutely
dependable for crops and profits. The strain of plants you set is a big
factor in determining your results at the close of the fruiting season.