Greig, Thanks about the note on Stiwell. I had always hear of Stilwell being the Strawberry Capital. When I started working with the Crawford County Genealogical Society I ran across some of the old newspaper stories about Van Buren and it's Strawberry Festival. I am sure Watsonville, Ca. holds that distinction today. I visited one strawberry farm there a few years ago. He had 7,200 acres of strawberries in one patch. Picked with harvesting aids (big machines that people lay on to pick) that allowed 16 rows to be picked at once. A belt carries the berries to the center of the machine for boxing. Berries picked one day will be to all US markets within 48 hours. Fascinating !! Gail -----Original Message----- From: arcrawfo-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:arcrawfo-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Greig Lewis Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 2:44 PM To: arcrawfo@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ARCRAWFO] STRAWBERRIES IN AR This is interesting about strawberries in the region. Stilwell, Adair County, OK has a strawberry festival every May and also calls itself the strawberry capital of the world. At one time there were canneries in many small towns in the region. Greig Lewis Greig Lewis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janette Perryman" <janettesworld@sbcglobal.net> To: <ARCRAWFO@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 12:45 PM Subject: [ARCRAWFO] STRAWBERRIES IN AR > David, my history book says that strawberries became 'King" of the > crops > in the late 1880's and early 1890's. Mr. Frank Smeltzer was the first > farmer to plant strawberries for the market. After he shipped so many on > the Frisco Line the market, others planted, causing the flooded market > and the prices fell. I do know that in the 40's the market came back up > and stayed throught the 60's. I am not too sure now. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ARCRAWFO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ARCRAWFO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message