The sweet cherries of the Flathead Lake shores do not ripen until August 

 after the bulk of competing cherry production has been consumed. Most of the 

 1928 crop was contracted by commission men at prices to growers of 18 to 19 

 cents. 



STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION IN MONTANA 



Montana shipped 18 cars of strawberries in 1928 or the equivalent of about 

 518,000 pints which netted growers about $29,000 at average season prices. Truck 

 movement and less-than-carlot shipments probably added the equivalent of about 

 400,000 pints indicating a total production in the neighborhood of 900,000 pints 

 with a total value of about $63,000, according to data assembled by the State- 

 Federal crop reporting service. 



The 1928 production of strawberries in Montana was somewhat less than in 



1927 when 21 cars were shipped and below that of 1926 when 25 cars were shipped 

 and prices to growers in 1928 were lower than in 1927 due to a very large national 

 crop. Montana has greatly increased her yearly shipments since 1925 when they 

 amounted to but 4 cars. Between 1922 and 1925 the average yearly carlot ship- 

 ments were about 4 cars. 



Strawberry production in Montana on a commercial basis is at present large- 

 ly confined to the Bitter Root, Flathead and adjacent valleys in western Montana 

 although berries are grown in small quantities at many places east of the con- 

 tinental divide. Montana strawberries are of late varieties which reach market 

 after July when the peak of national marketing is over. The bulk- of the berries 

 are of the Everbearing strains. States competing with Montana in the late berry 

 market include Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the eastern states 

 of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. This group of states in 



1928 shipped 428 cars compared with 632 cars in 1927 and 608 cars in 1926. 

 Washington led with 109 cars and Montana was in sixth place among the nine 

 late shipping states. 



Strawberry growers in 1928 encountered difficulties from the large 1928 

 planted acreage. Total national shipments by rail were 18,716 cars compared 

 with 17,891 cars in 1927 and 13,620 cars in 1926. Average jobbing prices for the 

 1928 crop dropped to a low point of 7c-13c per quart in June when the peak of 

 the market movement occurred. 



The 1929 outlook for strawberry growers is fairly good in the late shipping 

 states where there is limited competition and acreage does not promise to be 

 excessive. In the second early and intermediate states where acreage and pro- 

 duction still promise to be in excess of market requirements, the situation is less 

 promising. 



Shipments from the early southern states to April 13 this season were un- 

 usually heavy and at 3,379 cars compared with 1,409 cars for the comparable 

 period in 1927. 



With the same acreage in 1929 as in 1928, Montana should produce a some- 

 what larger crop with an average yield considering the fact that 1928 yields 

 generally were below average. 



