6 - 



Advancing or retarding harvest . Harvest can be advanced 3 to 5 

 days by planting through black plastic and 10 days by covering the 

 plants with plastic tunnels. Harvest can be retarded 7 days by an 

 application of mulch in early winter and its gradual removal as 

 growth starts in the spring. 



Harvest and sale . For fresh consumption, the berries are picked 

 with the calyx, and for processing, they are picked without the 

 calyx. Berries for fresh market are harvested into veneer baskets, 

 8 to a flat. The majority of the berries, both for fresh consump- 

 tion and processing, are sold through auctions. 



Harvest of June-bearing varieties year of planting . In one area 

 of southern Netherlands, growers are fruiting June-bearing varie- 

 ties in August and September of the year of planting because the 

 soil is too sandy and the soil temperature too high for satisfac- 

 tory yields of everbearing strawberries. The productivity of cold- 

 stored, June-bearing varieties, when grown as a late-summer crop, 

 is higher than that of everbearing strawberries under these condi- 

 tions. 



Harvest of June-bearing varieties in the year of planting re- 

 quires the use of cold storage plants, and a deviation from ordi- 

 nary cultural methods used in the Netherlands. The plants are dug 

 from a waiting" bed when they are completely at rest. This occurs 

 between mid-December and the end of February. However, research 

 has shown that January is the best time for digging. The plants 

 are dug, cleaned, and then packed in plastic-lined boxes and stored 

 at 26.6 to 30.2°F. Generally, the production field is planted in 

 early June because later plantings are less productive. Harvest 

 starts 7 to 8 weeks after planting and lasts 3 to 4 weeks, depend- 

 ing upon weather conditions. 



Everbearing Strawberries 



General . Although the cultivation of everbearing strawberries has 

 been known for years, until 1960 they were grown only by home garden- 

 ers. In 1960, the 'Repita' and "Revada' varieties were introduced 

 by the Institute for Horticultural Planting Breeding (IVT) , 

 Wageningen, Netherlands, and these became the foundation of a commer 

 cial industry. ' Revada ' was especially successful in the North 

 Holland Province. The fruit quality and yield of these everbear- 



Cultivation . Everbearing strawberries are planted in April. Run- 

 ner plants are either taken directly from the propagation bed or 

 first grown in a greenhouse or cold frame to give them an early 

 start. When giving the plants an early start, the rooted runners 



