CATSKILL FAIRFAX DOKSETT 



These Varieties, Grown and Picked Like This, Mean Profit for the Grower 



Strawberries Pay 



Strawberries will pay. Just how much and how consistently no one can answer. Except in 

 cases of extreme drought, flood or frost we believe good growers almost always make some profit 

 or at least good pay for their work. Good growers are those who have good strawberry land and 

 who make the most of all the factors which are under their control. We do not believe it is too 

 much to expect a profit of around $200 to $400 per acre under such conditions. Profits much larger 

 as well as much smaller are possible under varying conditions. 



Under average conditions, with good soil, good varieties and proper care, growers can count on 

 from three to ten thousand quarts per acre. From $100 to $175 per acre should cover the cost of 

 growing the crop, including plants, land rent, fertilizer, labor hire and fair wages for the growers' 

 time. Cost of crates and picking will vary, but will average about 1%$ per quart for crates and 

 basket and from lVatf to 3^ per quart for picking. Except in years of extremely low prices these 

 figures seem to leave room for a nice profit. 



Here's the record from one of our own fields of Dorset! this year. Acreage 2f. Yield, 15,700 

 quarts. Gross returns $1600. That field made us a good profit even though size and total yield 

 were reduced by having the plants badly overcrowded. Figures from our Catskill sales quoted on 

 page 24 were also quite satisfactory. 



Mr. Virgil Bogart of Ulster Co., New York, picked 1,055 quarts of berries from 800 plants set, 

 and sold them for an average of 10^ to 154 per quart, which brought him $116.37. Mr. B. L. Mullins 

 of Roane Co., W. Ya., had slightly over one acre of berries fruiting in 1935. They were Premier. 

 Dorsett, Fairfax and Chesapeake. Wrote Mr. Mullins : 'T kept no exact record but estimate my 

 crop at 10,000 to 12,000 quarts. I am glad I began growing strawberries as a side line. Have found 

 it profitable." These are not extreme profits made possible by fancy prices, irrigation or other 

 unusually favorable factors. They are results which any grower who makes his plans carefully 

 and carries them out faithfully can hope to equal or excel. 



Making Plans 



1. Have some berries every year. The most 

 successful strawberry growers keep at it year 

 after year. With berries every year you can get 

 by in bad seasons, make a profit in average years 

 and real money in good years with high prices. 

 Jumping in and out of the game is not good 

 business. Too often this means plenty of berries 

 when prices are low and none when they are 

 high. 



2. No crop shows a profit every year, but we 



believe strawberries offer an opportunity for 

 larger and more consistent profits than any other 

 widely grown and easily grown crop. Cotton 

 growers in the south, dairy farmers, poultrymen, 

 stockmen, vegetable growers, and others, might 

 find an acre or two of strawberries highly profit- 

 able in connection with their regular line. It is 

 for each grower to decide, but improved varieties 

 and better methods make strawberries a good 

 bet at this time. 



3. Select some of your best land. You will put 

 relatively a large amount of labor and expect 

 relatively a large return from your strawberries. 

 Do not waste your money and labor on poor land. 

 Give your strawberries^-some of the best, and 

 give it careful preparation. 



4. Set fancy high-yielding 1 varieties best suited 

 to your purpose. We have tried to tell you the 



honest truth about all our varieties. We have 

 summarized our conclusions on page 32 under 

 "Picking the Winners." It should not be hard 

 for anyone to know what to plant to get the 

 best, and it is this kind that brings the highest 

 prices. 



5. Grow as many as you can handle properly 

 but no more. The amount of other work you are 

 attempting to do, the amount of land you have 

 available, the locality in which you live, and the 

 methods you intend to use in marketing would 

 all have a bearing on this question. A half acre 

 field on good land, Avell cared for and handled 

 properly in marketing might well give more 

 profit than twice the acreage poorly cared for. 



6. Get good, dependable, well-rooted, true-to- 

 name plants. Of course we hope you will get 

 your plants from us, and we believe you will 

 find it profitable to do so, but wherever you pur- 

 chase, be sure they come up to the standards we 

 have outlined on page 6. 



7. Better methods. On pages 12-15 we discuss 

 results from saving early runner plants, from 

 spacing or restricting formation of late runners, 

 and from fertilizing to build up a large leaf area 

 per plant in the fall. We believe these things 

 have a definite place in any program of growing 

 berries for profit. 



