Relation of Weather to Crops 99 



heavy crop, but few of the standard running kinds produce suffi- 

 ciently well to justify their culture. These running varieties do best 

 if planted during June or early July. The plants start well during 

 the weather of these months, continue growing through summer, 

 and produce a crop during autumn. The bush varieties will start 

 during July and August and produce squashes during autumn, but 

 do not grow as thriftily as during spring. 



STRAWBERRIES 



The strawberry is native to many of the high mountain regions 

 of Arizona. While improved varieties may be grown in such locali- 

 ties with comparative ease, their culture becomes more and more 

 difficult with decrease in altitude, and in the hot dry valleys in the 

 southern part of the State it requires considerable skill to manage 

 the crop successfully. Consequently those who have this skill 

 usually secure a high percentage of profit from strawberry culture, 

 due to the very high prices obtainable. 



The greatest difficulty is carrying the newly set plants through 

 the first summer. After becoming thoroughly established they do 

 fairly well. The first good crop that can be counted on if the plants 

 survive the first summer is during the spring of the second year 

 after planting. 



Like alfalfa, strawberries, being perennials, are exposed to the 

 climatic conditions throughout the year. Unlike alfalfa, however, 

 they are very shallow-rooted, resembling in this respect the peren- 

 nial grasses. Strawberries are less sensitive to cold than alfalfa, but 

 are more sensitive to heat, resembling in this respect also the peren- 

 nial grasses. The vegetative parts of none of the varieties of straw- 

 berries are entirely killed by any low temperatures that occur in 

 the region, and some of them produce some fruit throughout the 

 coldest weather. On the other hand, all varieties are more or less 

 injured by the heat of summer, only a few varieties withstanding 

 the summer conditions, and a large percentage of- the varieties suc- 

 cumbing entirely to the heat of midsummer. 



The varieties that have been experimented with most exten- 

 sively and which seem the most promising ones for the region, are 

 Arizona Everbearing, Michel's Early, Excelsior, Texas, and Lady 

 Thompson.- The first variety mentioned has been grown in the 

 region for many years, and is claimed to have originated near 

 Phoenix. The second variety named has been grown here nearly 

 as long, and is now more extensively planted than any other. The 



