Everbearing Strawberries 
A Source of Delight — and Dollars! 
Everbearing varieties bear crops of luscious berries far out of the regular 
season. They start bearing in midsummer and continue until freezing weather. This 
idea of having strawberries out of the regular season has become so popular that many 
thousands of gardeners now grow them regularly. Plan to include some of these berries 
in your garden. You will be well repaid for the time and expense in growing them. 
Results come quickly. Plants are set in March, April or May and picking is 
started in late July or August. This is quicker than most vegetable crops are harvested 
and much sooner than any other fruit crop. 
Three crops in 18 months. The first crop is produced the first summer and fall 
after setting. A full crop is produced the following spring and a third crop the second 
summer and fall. All of these crops will be very good if conditions are right. The soil 
must be fertile, there must be plenty of moisture and they must be well fertilized. Methods 
suggested below will help make the most from all of these crops. 
A real money crop. Every year more growers are finding Everbearing straw- 
berries a profitable crop. In some sections where good land is available and best methods 
are used, they equal or excel regular spring varieties. Even as far south as Maryland 
we have made several hundred dollars per acre from these berries, although plants were 
grown in matted rows and best methods for fruit production were not used. Farther 
north profits as high as $2,000 per acre have been reported by one grower who used 
very intensive methods and has irrigation. We believe the crop is well worth trying 
out wherever good strawberry land is available. Although roadside market and local 
trade take much of the total output of Everbearers not consumed at home, the lack of 
a good nearby market need not stop the planting of these varieties. Our outlets have 
consisted of the regular wholesale markets in some of the larger cities. We have used 
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore and have obtained good prices. They are worth 
considering as a money crop. 
Common Sense Methods for Everbearing 
Varieties 
In general the same cultural practices that are used in growing good crops of standard varieties apply 
also to growing Everbearers. There is nothing about the job that a beginner cannot do successfully. 
However, so much is expected from Everbearing varieties in such a short time that it is important to use 
the best methods possible in order to obtain the biggest crops of nice berries. Careful attention to the 
following things will be a big help. 
1. Start with strong plants. A good plant will 
more nearly be ready for the job of fruiting within 
a few weeks than a weak one. One reason why 
Mastodon has had such wide-spread success is be- 
cause the plants usually run large and make a good 
start even if conditions are not always of the best. 
2. Set plants early while both plants and soil 
are in good condition. Strawberries start better 
if the soil is cool and moist and if they have not 
become too much devitalized by a heavy growth of 
leaves and blossoms before setting is done. 
3. Start cultivation soon after the plants them- 
selves start putting out young leaves. This will 
help in making the vigorous plant growth which is 
necessary before fruiting starts. 
4. Blossoms should be cut off at the first hoe- 
ing. Later ones should be cut off as they appear 
until about the middle of July. This enables the 
plant to build up vitality for berry production later 
on when the berries are more salable. It takes 
about one month from blossoms to ripe berries. If 
conditions are good and plants are growing vigor- 
ously, blossoms can be left on from early July and 
picking started that much sooner. Cutting all 
blossoms until August 15th would probably increase 
the average size but would decrease total yield. 
5. The hill system is best. Lack of toal pro- 
duction in the fall has been the chief criticism of 
Everbearers. Careful experiments show that re- 
moval of runners not only builds up stronger indi- 
vidual plants, but increases blossoms and fruit pro- 
duction. This checks with years of observation 
that Everbearing plants in matted rows which have 
made few runners or none always have the most 
berries. However, good results are often obtained 
from matted rows unless they have been allowed to 
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