220 Strawberry-Growing 



costing $60 or $70. A hundred bushels per acre up to 

 the end of the picking season is a fairly good yield. The 

 best growers get from $350 to $700 an acre, clear of all 

 expenses. I once had a few quarts in a bushel contributed 

 by different growers which was sold in Boston and netted 

 $52.80." 



After the "big freeze" of 1894 and 1895, strawberries 

 were planted in southern Florida; this competition soon 

 reduced prices very materially. At present, a yield of 

 100 bushels of Klondike to the acre is considered good, 

 but exceptional yields up to 6000 quarts are reported. 

 The average price is eighteen to twenty-five cents a quart ; 

 the first shipments bring seventy-five cents to $1.25 a 

 quart, for a few days. A grower at Plant City, Florida, 

 makes the following estimate of expenses : ^ 



Interest on investment in land . . . $20.00 



Interest on investment in equipment . 10.00 

 Depreciation in value of livestock and 



equipment • 20.00 



Cost of preparation of land 10.00 



Cost of fertilizer 40.00 



Plants 40.00 



Setting plants 5.00 



Cultivation 10.00 



Picking 3000 quarts at 2|^ 75.00 



Grading and packing at 1 fi 30.00 



One hundred crates at 15^ 15.00 



3000 boxes 11.00 



Hauling to station 10.00 



$296.00 



The average yield in Louisiana and Mississippi is 150 

 to 250 twenty-four quart crates an acre. Normal returns 

 are $1.25 to $1.40 a crate. 



1 Estimate furnished by H. C. Thompson, Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr. 



