STRAWBERRY GROWING 



THE STRAWBERRY 



495 



" Strawberries all the year round " is the trite expression by 

 which the charms of the California climate are characterized. It 

 is no fiction, for in the wonderfully-even climate of regions adja- 

 cent to the coast and in thermal belts in the interior, the straw- 

 berry plant blooms and bears almost continuously, providing proper 

 moisture conditions are maintained in the soil. There are, how- 

 ever, more or less well-defined crops, and " strawberries all the 

 year" does not mean a uniform supply; nor does it mean that 

 everywhere in California can one expect such constant fruiting. 

 In the very hot interior situations the plant rebels against the at- 

 mospheric conditions of midsummer, even though the ground be 

 moist; and in frosty places the plant becomes dormant during the 

 wintry portion of the year. The conditions of constant growth 

 and bearing are moderation of temperature and of atmospheric and 

 soil moisture throughout the year. 



SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE STRAWBERRY 



Bearing in mind the conditions described, the strawberry can be 

 grown anywhere in California. The native species, as mentioned 

 in Chapter V, flourish from the sand of the ocean beach to the rich 

 valleys of the Sierra, just below the line of perpetual snow, and the 

 deduction is that w r herever fertile soil and sweet water can be 

 brought together in California, the strawberry will reward the 

 grower. 



Strawberries do well on a variety of soils, but as a rule a deep, 

 moist, loamy soil will yield best results. Boggy or swampy spots 

 should be avoided unless drainage is provided, and in this wav 

 most excellent strawberry ground may sometimes be secured. Land 

 which will produce good potatoes or corn will generally yield good 

 results with strawberries, provided irrigation is furnished. In many 

 regions the plants will hardly survive the summer without irriga- 

 tion, and everywhere a succession of crops during the season de- 

 pends upon irrigation. It is the common experience that light, 

 warm soils yield the earliest and highest-flavored berries, and heavy 

 soils the later and larger ones ; but the size of the berry depends 

 more upon the supply of available moisture, and immense fruit 

 can be produced on loose, open soils by free irrigation. And yet 

 the heavier soil, both because of its usually superior fertility and 

 retention of moisture, is preferred for the strawberry. The largest 

 producing regions for the San Francisco market in the Santa Clara 

 and Pajaro Valleys are comprised mainly of low-lying, heavy val- 

 ley soils, naturally moist and rich, and furnished with abundant 

 water supply for irrigation. And yet in southern California the 

 chief market crops are produced upon light sandy loams with 



