3266 



STRAWBERRY 



STRAWBERRY 



strawberries the following year, in case the plants are 

 set in the spring. 



In sections where vegetables are not grown com- 

 mercially, oats may follow the cowpeas turned under 

 the second season. 



The varieties of strawberries grown in the South are 

 Klondyke, Missionary, Lady Thompson, Excelsior, 

 Aroma, Gandy, Chesapeake, and Early Ozark. In the 

 lower sections of the South, the Klondyke and Mission- 

 ary are grown more than all others. For a succession 

 of crops the Excelsior or Early Ozark may be grown for 

 early fruit, the Missionary, Klondyke, and Lady 

 Thompson for medium, 

 and the Aroma or 

 Gandy for late ripen- 

 ing. In the upper sec- 

 tions of the South, the 

 Early Ozark, Chesa- 

 peake, Klondyke, 

 Aroma, and Gandy 

 are all grown, but very 

 rarely does any grower 

 raise more than two 

 varieties for commer- 

 cial purposes. 



3724. Belmont strawberry. (Natural size.) 



As a large part of the strawberries grown in the South 

 are shipped to distant markets, they must be picked 

 before they are fully ripe. For long distances the berries 

 should be fully grown and about three-fourths ripe. 

 When picked before they are at all colored the berries 

 will shrink and wither, making them unfit for sale. 



The berries should be well graded and packed before 

 being shipped. When experienced pickers are employed 

 the best results can be secured by grading the berries 

 in the field, as they are picked, so as to avoid rehandling 

 and the consequent bruising and deterioration of the 

 fruit. The common practice, however, is for expert 

 packers to do the grading and packing in a packing- 

 shed to which the fruit is delivered by the pickers. The 

 top layer of berries should be placed so as to hold them 

 in place, but care should be taken not to put small 

 inferior berries in the center and large berries on top. 

 All types of berry boxes are in use in the South, but the 

 tendency is toward a standard full-size quart box. In 

 some sections of the South, particularly in Louisiana, 

 pint boxes are used for the early shipments. The fruits 

 carry better and the price received is higher; later in 

 the season as fruits become more abundant and the 



price is lower, fruit from these same regions is shipped 

 in quart boxes in crates holding twenty-four or thirty- 

 two quarts. A long narrow box is objectionable. 



Berries which are well graded and sorted and put in 

 clean, neat, attractive packages of standard sizes 

 command the highest price and sell most readily. The 

 type of crate depends upon the boxes used. Any crate 

 that is substantially built and well ventilated is satis- 

 factory, but the cost is an important consideration, as 

 they are not returned to the shipper. The largest crate 

 that can be handled conveniently is the one to use, as 

 the large ones are cheaper in proportion to the quantity 

 of berries they carry. The twenty-four- and thirty-two- 

 quart crates are in most common use, although in some 

 sections the sixty-quart crate is employed. Crates with 

 hinged lids have the advantage that they can be opened 

 easily and quickly, and as a result invite inspection. 

 A large part of the Florida crop is packed in quart 

 boxes which are placed in pony refrigerators for ship- 

 ment to northern markets. 



The cost of growing strawberries in the South is from 

 $75 to $150 an acre, divided about as follows: 



Interest on investment (land and 



equipment) $8 00 to $15 00 



Preparation of land 5 00 



Manure or fertilizer 10 00 



Plants 10 00 



Setting plants 8 00 



Cultivating and hoeing 20 00 



Mulching 15 00 



10 00 

 25 00 

 20 00 

 12 00 

 35 00 

 25 00 



Total for growing $76 00 to $142 00 



Picking, grading, and packing 2,000 



quarts $40 00 to $70 00 



Crates and boxes 20 00 25 00 



Hauling to station, loading, etc 5 00 10 00 



Total for picking, packing, grad- 

 ing, etc $65 00 to $105 00 



Total for growing 76 00 142 00 



Grand total $141 00 to $247 00 



The lower estimate is about the average for 

 most sections of the South, while the higher figures 

 cover the extreme cost. The average cost in Florida 

 is between the two estimates, but nearer the higher. 



H. C. THOMPSON. 



The strawberry in California and northward. 



California conditions include both those most favor- 

 able and most trying for the growth of strawberries. 

 There are situations where, through local topography 

 and proximity to the ocean, winter temperatures are 

 very seldom too low for the growth and fruiting of the 

 plants and where, by summer irrigation to maintain 

 this continuous activity of the plants, it is possible to 

 gather fruit every month in the year. This fact is not, 

 made of much commercial account, however, nor is it 

 widely true that one can have strawberries all the year 

 round in the open air. It is true, however, that even on 

 the lowlands, where the commercial crops are chiefly 

 grown, the winter is so mild that strawberries begin to 

 ripen in shipping quantities as early as March and by 

 proper cultivation and irrigation the fruiting is con- 

 tinued until late in the autumn, and the grower has 

 therefore a very short closed season. The trying condi- 

 tion for the strawberry is found in the long dry sum- 

 mer, which enforces dormancy as early as June on light 

 loams in the more arid localities of the interior. Such 

 soils become dry and hot to a depth of several inches in 

 spite of surface cultivation and cause the dwindling and 

 death of a shallow-rooting plant like the strawberry 

 unless frequent irrigation is begun in time. This trouble 

 is less acute on more retentive soils in regions of lower 

 summer temperature and greater rainfall, and plants in 

 such situations may survive the summer dormancy, but 

 it is true that everywhere in California and even in the 

 more humid states on the north that strawberry-grow- 



