22 N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 279 



when active runner production begins. Late in the season as the number 

 of runners niultipHes, the task of hoeing and weeding increases rapidly. 

 In this section the beds are usually allowed to produce for one season 

 only, and many growers do not attempt to keep them perfectly free from 

 weeds as the season advances. The berries are picked by women or chil- 

 dren by the quart, but some labor is required for supervision, handling 

 and marketing of the fruit. The peak demands may be made to come in 

 mid-June to August when little work is required on the orchard unless 

 apple thinning is practiced extensively. 



The only competing orchard operation that is very definite as to time 

 requirement is spraying. However, the many hours of weather unfavor- 

 able for spraying, together with the intervals between sprays, are sufficient 

 for the culture of a limited acreage of strawberries without neglect of 

 either operation. For instance, on Farm 4 the four men including the 

 operator worked on strawberries in this period whenever the weather was 

 too windy or unfavorable for spraying. About two acres of strawberries 

 were made to fit into the orchard program very satisfactorily. 



On this farm, as shown in Figure 10, labor on strawberries in May 

 tended to increase as the apple spray program diminished. The peak 

 labor periods on strawberries in the middle of June and the first part of 

 July fitted into slack orchard periods. Most of the harvesting was done 

 by women and children by piece work and is not included in the chart. 



On Farm 4, the peak labor requirement on strawberries in May con- 

 flicted with the orchard spray program, but in this case the area of straw- 

 berries was rather large in relation to number of fruit trees. 



On Farm 2, also the work on strawberries was done by the regular 

 hired labor without serious conflict between spraying and hoeing. 



On Farm 4, a total of 1,334 hours of man labor, not including picking, 

 267 hours of horse labor and 88 hours of truck time were used in pro- 

 ducing two acres of berries. If one assumes a rate of $.40 per hour for 

 the labor, the $1,600 worth of berries sold cost approximately $1,360, 

 leaving a margin of $240 for management and risk. Or stated in another 

 way, the labor returns on strawberries amounted to approximately $.58 

 per hour. 



But as to whether strawberry growing is a profitable use of the 

 orchardist's time can best be considered from the viewpoint of the addi- 

 tional expenses and additional receipts. For instance on Farm 4, the 

 operator keeps a regular crew sufficient to meet the labor requirements in 

 spraying. If we take for granted that he must keep these men through 

 the growing season in order to have them when needed, the situation in 

 1926, a good year, was about as follows : 



Additional income from sale of berries $1,600 



Additional cash expenses : 



Extra labor harvesting $300 



Plants (used own plants) 



Trucking (estimated cost) 100 



Fertilizer 100 



Cover mulch 40 



Boxes , 80 



Miscellaneous 50 ,__. 



o/U 



Additional income $930 



J 



