Gathering and Marketing Strawberries 



By Frank E. Beatty 



WHILE 1 may be able to give 

 some valuable suggestions oti 

 the marketing of berries, yet this 

 branch of the berry business to 

 a large degree must be treated in accor- 

 dance with local conditions. The first 

 suggestion I would otJer has to do with 

 grading and packing. No matter what 

 the local conditions may be, it will pay 

 the grower to exercise great care in pack- 

 ing each grade of berries separately. The 

 grading can be done more successfully 

 and more economically in the field by the 

 pickers than in the packing house. The 

 pickers should ha\e about one-quarter of 

 a cent a quart extra for this work. After 

 pickers get accustomed to grading the ber- 

 ries they will gather almost as many quarts 

 in a day as they could by throwing the 

 berries into the boxes promiscuously. ] al- 

 ways had my pickers gather the fancy ber- 

 ries first, and put them carefully into boxes, 

 then before moving forward, they would 

 clean the vines of ripe second-grade berries, 

 putting these in a separate box, of course. 

 I found that my pickers handled the ber- 

 ries with much more care after I adopted 

 this rule of grading, because they were 

 getting pay for this extra work, and the 

 picker that could not do the work to my 

 entire satisfaction could not pick berries 

 for me. 



The berries should be taken to the 

 packing house or some shady place as soon 

 after they are picked as possible, and 

 whether the packing be done in a packing 

 house, under a tent, or in the shade of a 

 iree, some responsible person should be in 

 charge of the work. Each box should be 

 tipped enough to see if the berries in the 

 bottom are as good as those on top. This 

 is done by taking the box of berries in the 

 left hand; then place the right hand over 

 the top and gently turn 

 the box partly upside 

 down, or tip enough to 

 see the berries which 

 are at the bottom of 

 the box. If found pro- 

 perly graded, reverse 

 this movement, which 

 will allow the berries 

 to fall back to place 

 without bruising them. 

 If the berries are 

 found poorly graded 

 the number on the 

 picking stand or carrier 

 will show who picked 

 them, and then word 

 is sent out to the field 

 foreman to look after 

 the picker known by 

 that number. When 

 the pickers learn that 

 their mistakes and poor 

 work quickly can be 

 traced to the guilty 

 person they are more 



careful to do their woi^ well. And the 

 importance of this may not be overesti- 

 mated. 



Every quart of berries should be faced 

 on the top by placing stem ends down, 

 and each box should be full to the top. 

 Long berries like Haverland should be 

 laid on their sides. A good packer soon 

 will learn to arrange each variety so as to 

 make the berries show up to the best ad- 

 vantage. I often have been asked if it 

 pays to spend time in packing second-grade 

 berries, and my answer always is "Yes." 

 It paid me and it will pay you also, but 

 it will not pay to put better berries on top 

 of the box or crate than those which are 

 in the bottom in any grade of berries. 

 Just take two quarts of second-grade ber- 

 ries, and arrange the top layer of one box 

 nicely, leaving the other box just as it came 

 from the picker. Then set the two side 

 by side and note the great difference in 

 appearance. Take these two boxes to 

 the grocer or some family and ask five 

 cents for the unpacked quart and eight 

 cents for the quart with the top layer of 

 berries arranged with the stems down, and 

 see which sells first. 



Just what plan to follow in marketing 

 strawberries can best be determined for 

 himself by each grower. Those who are 

 located near a good home market will 

 profit more by selling to home people, 

 either through grocers or direct to families. 

 I prefer selling through grocers and mak- 

 ing settlement with them at the end of 

 each week. In this way the returns are 

 to be depended upon, while in selling from 

 house to house some losses through poor 

 accounts are certain to occur. If berries 

 must be shipped, make arrangements with 

 the best grocer in each nearby town, and 

 give him the exclusive sale of your berries. 



A STRAWBERRY FIELD IN THE HOOD RIVER VALLEY OF OREGON 



When the dealer is assured that he ha'i 

 the exclusive sale, he will feel more like 

 advertising and pushing the sale of your 

 special brand of berries. Have it under- 

 stood that you are to name the selling 

 price, and if your berries are nicely backed 

 you need not hesitate in making the price 

 several cents a quart above the market for 

 common berries. I found it a capital 

 idea to advertise in local papers. By do- 

 ing this most all of the second-grade and 

 over-ripe berries may be sold from the 

 farm. Families will purchase by the crate 

 for canning and preserving. 



Large growers who have ten or twent\- 

 acres may find it necessary to sell their 

 berries through some commission firm. 

 rhis is a very good way, provided a reli- 

 able firm can be found to take the exclu- 

 sive sale of the farm's output. Any pro- 

 gressive and honest commission firm al- 

 ways will bid high for fancy and nicely 

 packed berries, and if they will not pur- 

 chase them outright they will agree to 

 sell such fruit at a good premium above 

 the market. The grower should give the 

 commission firm to understand that he can- 

 not have the sale of his berries unless he 

 will hold up the price, and any good 

 commission firm will do this because 

 they know full well that grocers will pay 

 a high price for high-grade berries. No 

 matter how you market your berries, 

 whether from house to house, through 

 grocers or commission houses, arrange- 

 ments should be made long before your 

 berries are ripe. 



Let me briefly repeat the suggestions 

 on gathering and marketing berries: 



1. Pick no berries until they are fully 

 ripe, unless they are to be shipped some 

 distance. 



2. Do not allow pickers to pull ber- 



ries from the vines. 

 See that they pinch 

 them off with the 

 thumb nail, leaving a 

 stem about one-half 

 inch long. This will 

 assist wonderfully in 

 getting the berries to 

 market in good condi- 

 tion. 



3. Do not pick 

 berries when the vines 

 are wet if you can pos- 

 sibly avoid it. 



4. Be sure and 

 have the pickers put 

 each grade of berries 

 by themselves. 



5. Do not leave 

 berries in the fielda fter 

 they have been picked. 



6. Do not try to 

 sort berries after they 

 are picked. The extra 

 handling will bruise 

 and mash them. And 



Pkge 103 



