Picking and Packing Selling the Berries 
Careful picking can make a thing of beauty out 
of a quart of fancy strawberries. It can make 
ordinary berries very salable. Careless picking 
can reduce the value of fancy berries and make 
unprofitable less fancy but otherwise marketable 
berries. Careful picking will pay. 
Avoid green sides and tips by selecting varie- 
ties that ripen evenly and without green tips. 
Have the pickers discard undersized berries 
and those which have soft or rotten spots (espe- 
cially after a heavy rain). 
Dirty or gritty berries (after rains) can be 
largely avoided by using a mulch which is even 
more effective if plants have been spaced so the 
mulch can be worked down between the plants. 
Berries look best in the package when the caps 
are left on and from one-quarter to three-quar- 
ters of an inch of stem is left. 
Bruising and mashing berries detract from 
their value and can be avoided by careful picking 
and handling. 
Well-filled packages not only make the buyer 
feel that he is getting his money's worth (even at 
a higher price) but they actually make the 
berries show up better. 
After being picked berries should be carried to 
the packing shed in a relatively short time. One 
hour's exposure in the hot sunshine will some- 
times ruin an otherwise fancy quart of berries. 
In packing, face the berries some if you must 
but not too much, as a reputation for an honest 
pack will help you sell on any kind of a market. 
Clean, bright packages will make your fruit 
more attractive to the buyer than dirty, soiled 
packages. Improved types of crates which do not 
cut and bruise the berries as much are being de- 
veloped. If available it may pay you to try them 
out. 
Part Time and Small Capital 
Part-time jobs may be profitably rounded out 
with strawberries. A small acreage can be made 
to do so much that a minimum of land is neces- 
sary. If no land of your own is available perhaps 
a neighbor would rent you that vacant lot. 
Fertile land is best and rank weed growth indi- 
cates fertile land. 
Little money is needed to start a strawberry 
garden or a small berry business. A few simple 
tools, a small outlay for fertilizer, and the plants, 
which were never more reasonable in price than 
now. Also, strawberries yield quicker returns 
and bring in money earlier in the season than 
any other fruit crop. 
Advertise, Especially for local markets a 
small ad in your local paper or a sign in front 
of your farm may bring telephone orders or even 
farm buyers to your place in such numbers as to 
take your whole crop. We have many reports 
where this is done. Try to have a fancy, high 
quality product. If you can, selling will be much 
easier. 
Roadside Markets. If on or near a well-traveled 
highway try a roadside market. Many growers 
are successfully disposing of their crops of 
strawberries as well as other things by this 
method. It is surprising how many automobilists 
like to buy fruits and vegetables right on the 
farm. On our own roadside market we have 
many regular customers who drive out from town 
in the afternoon to buy at the farm. Others 
traveling through on business or for pleasure 
notice the market and stop to buy on their return, 
sometimes days later. Attractive products, espe- 
cially fruits, will be bought by tourists to enjoy 
as they travel. Unless you have a market already 
developed look into the possibility of a roadside 
market. Like many others, we were amazed at 
the results from our own, even the first year. 
Perhaps you will be. 
Hotels and Grocery Stores. It is an old truth 
that any produce well grown and well packed 
is half sold. We have many reports from cus- 
tomers that they dispose of all they can grow 
to such outlets, much of it being engaged even 
before it is harvested. 
Wholesale Markets. If you are well situated 
from a standpoint of land and labor to grow 
considerable acreages of strawberries, keep in 
mind that the motor truck or train will quickly 
put your berries to the large Wholesale Markets. 
Even in seasons of low prices, the price range 
is wide enough so that if you can get top quota- 
tions there is almost always margin enough to 
allow you a fair profit. 
A sample makes a sale. We are positive that 
on the roadside market, in a local grocery store, 
or to the actual consumer, a sample of any prod- 
uct of superior quality will help sell it. This is 
true even on the wholesale markets. Try it with 
varieties like Fairfax and Dorsett especially, also 
with Big Joe, Catskill, Chesapeake and William 
Belt. 
A brand or label will help if you are selling in 
any quantity. Sell only a high grade product 
under your brand name. We have developed a 
real demand for our Dorsett, Fairfax and Catskill 
berries in Philadelphia and New York. They 
were identified by variety and label and were 
often sold before the actual shipments arrived. 
A fine crate of Dorsett berries. Dorsett is the most profitable early berry with us 
