Get The Most From Your Berries 



To realize the maximum of pleasure and profit from your berries there are some points 

 that must be considered beyond the actual production of the fruit. 



1. Plant onlj^ such varieties as produce firm, at- 

 tractive fruit of liigli dessert quality, which are 

 adapted to your locality and marliet. 



2. Set your berries on good, rich soil, that is well 

 drained, retentive of moisture and in good mechan- 

 ical condition. Plants that are well fed will pro- 

 duce larger berries. 



3. Take special care that the plants do not be- 

 come too crowded in the ro^\^ Encourage the early 

 runners to root as these Avill produce more and bet- 

 ter berries than the late runner plants. A bed 18 to 

 24 inches wide with the plants spaced to 9 inches 

 apart in the bed is ideal for heavy production of 

 high quality fruit. Fruit will be more firm and 

 there will be less decay in wet weather, as a result 

 of the improved ventilation. 



4. Keep the borries closely picked so that they 

 do not become too over-ripe and in so doing lose 

 their quality and appearance. 



5. Care in picking and handling will aid greatly 

 in retaining the high quality of the fruit. This 

 should receive special attention when the berrie.s 

 are to be shipped long distances or are to be kept 

 for two or three days. Berries that are bruised and 

 crushed will often mold quickly while fruit hand- 

 led carefully will keep in good condition. The ber- 

 ries should be kept as cool as possible and not be 

 permitted to stand in the sun any longer than is 

 absolutely necessary. 



G. Careful grading will also aid greatly in main- 

 taining high quality. All decayed and imperfect 

 fruit should be discarded and any undersized ber- 

 ries packed separately. 



7. Mulching will aid greatly in keeping the ber- 

 ries clean during a rain and also keep the ground 

 cool a'nd moist. This practice is a great aid in pro- 

 ducing high quality fruit. 



8. Always use new or clean packages, these great- 

 ly enhance the appearance of the Iruit and make 

 selling much easier. Dark, dirty crates and bas- 

 kets should never be used. Quite often dark, unat- 

 tractive i)ackages will detract twice as much from 

 the selling price as new containers would have cost. 



0. Have your baskets well filled. Everyone likes 

 good measure, give it to them, it PAYS. 



t 



An inexpensive shanty where berries can be packet! 

 and kept in tlie shade until sent to market 



To Grow And Deliver Better Berries 



Fancy berries always return larger profits for the grower and are more quickly and more 

 easily sold than small inferior fruits. The U. S. Department of Agriculture and several State 

 Experiment Stations have been conducting experiments to determine the best methods of in- 

 creasing the size, quality, yield and keeping qualities of the fruit. ^\e give here, briefly, the 

 results of these experiments. 



SPACING PLANTS: The U. S. Dept. of Agri. cooperating with the North Carolina Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, in liJ.34 established conclusively the value r.f sjiaeing the runner plants of Blakemore 

 in North Carolina. These tests Avere as follows: 



Yield qts. No. I's per cent. Culls per cent. 



Spacing per acre aver, of G pickings aver, of G pickings 



24 inch rows. G in. spacing 47G0 SO 20 



2-i inch r(.ws. 9 in. spacing 499-3 S4 IG 



12 inch double hill 3500 00 10 



30 inch matted row 2331 57 43 



12 inch matted row 2098 GS 32 



...For the season a difference of $1.50 per crate Avould have been realized between the berries of the 

 double row and matted rows, at least $1.00 more for the spaced than the matted row berries. On this 

 bg.sis with an average of $2.00 per crate for the matted row berries, the income per acre would be: 



G inch spaced row. $447.00, or $311.00 more than the 30 in. matted row. 



9 inch spaced row. $4G8.00. or $332.00 more than the 30 in. matted row. 



12 in spaced double hill. $385.00. or $248.00 more than the 30 in. matted row. 



30 inch matted row. $13G.OO. 



12 inch matted row, $1.32.00, or .$4.00 less than the 30 in. matted row. 



The keeping qualities of the fruit was also much improved by the better ventilation afforded in the 

 spaced rows. 



In "Science" magazine of October 5, 1934, Dr. George M. Darrow, of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

 states, in part "Careful observations during the current season of the new varieties, Dorsett and Fairfax 

 and the older variety, Blakemore. all introductions of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture support the ex- 

 planation that spacing is the chief factor in the local adaption of strawberry varieties. Apparently in 

 varieties such as Blakemore and Dorsett, where vigor of plant may be expressed by the production of 

 many runners, yields may be increased by restricting the number of runner plants to the optimum per 

 square foot. Runner restriction, conserving as it does the soil nutrients and moisture, tends towards 

 more crowns, more fruit buds and more fruit per plant." 



In an article for the American Pomological Society, Dr. Darrow states further : "Last June I saw 

 fields in matted rows both in Conn, and in N. H., where decay would be equally as high as in the experi- 

 mental matted row. (North Carolina. 1934, decay was 26% one day after picking fruit from 30 inch matted 

 rows). In one field with dense matted rows in this state (Conn.) a large part of all the green berries 

 on the plants were rotting. Spacing plants so that dev,' and rain can dry off much more quickly than in 

 matted rows is an effective way to reduce decay in tlie field." 



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