Picking and Packing 155 



four or five weeks. In the f restless districts of southern 

 California, plants will bear more or less every month in 

 the year, but there are fairly well-defined periods when 

 they bear most heavily. In commercial fields, the plants 

 are allowed to rest a short time in a semi-dormant condi- 

 tion between seasons. The crop can be "thrown" at 

 any time of the year by manipulating the factors of time 

 of setting, irrigation and runner cutting. When the plants 

 begin to slacken in bearing, the runners and leaves are 

 cut off and irrigation stopped. After the soil has dried 

 out and the plants begin to wilt a little, water is turned 

 on and the plants bear again. The influence of altitude 

 on the season of ripening is well illustrated in the Hood 

 River Valley, Oregon. Near the Columbia River straw- 

 berries ripen first; those on the higher benches, a few 

 miles distant, ripen a month later. 



Weather conditions immediately preceding the ripen- 

 ing of the crop modify the picking season. Some years 

 the shipping seasons of districts that normally come into 

 market consecutively are coincident, with disastrous 

 results. Early, midseason and late varieties ripen prac- 

 tically together in a backward spring. Hot weather 

 hastens ripening, reduces yield and shortens the picking 

 season. Cold weather prolongs the ripening season and 

 gives firm berries. Wet weather retards ripening and 

 makes the berries soft. In the North, the picking season 

 normally is three to four weeks, but it may vary from 

 eighteen to forty days and be two or three weeks earlier 

 or later than normal. 



As affected hy the age of the plant. 



In the South, the picking season is regulated somewhat 

 by the time of planting and the age of the plants. In 



