CATSKILL FAIRFAX DORSETT 



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



There Is Money in Growing Strawberries 



It is a cheerful thought for strawberry growers that every year somebody makes a profit 

 growing strawberries. In 1934 in the drought areas it was the grower with irrigation. In the 

 frosty areas the grower with favored locations or hardy varieties, and in the areas where weather 

 was normal it was the grower who produced the biggest crops of better berries. In high price 

 years nearly all growers make money. In low price years only the belter growers. 



It would be useless for us to state that you can make, say, $500.00 from an acre of strawberries. 

 Frankly we do not know if you can do this and neither does anybody else. We do know that 

 under average conditions with good soil, good varieties and good care it is easily possible to 

 obtain from 3,000 to 10,000 quarts per acre. Growing the crop should not cost over $90 to $150 

 per acre including plants, land rent, fertilizer, labor hired and fair wages for your own time. 

 Cost of crates and picking vary but will run about lV^(f per quart for crate and basket, and from 

 l/4(^ to 3^ per quart for picking. Except in years of extremely low prices these figures seem to 

 leave room for a nice profit. We do not think a profit of $300 per acre is too much to expect 

 where the grower intelligently makes use of all the information available and has fairly fertile 

 soil to start with. P'rofits much larger as well as much smaller are possible, however. Suggestions 

 on these two pages, as well as on pages 11-15 are made with the idea of helping the strawberry 

 grower make the most of all the factors which are under his control. 



Suggestions 



1. Have some berries every year. The most 

 successful strawberry growers keep at it year 

 after year. Jumping in and out of the game is 

 not good business. 



2. Consider strawberries in comparison with 

 other crops. Strawberry profits may have been 

 low in some years but so have other crops. 

 There may have been losses but on the avei-age 

 we believe that strawberries offer an opportunity 

 for more profit per acre than any other widely 

 grown and easily grown crop. Cotton growers in 

 the South, dairy farmers, poultrymen, stockmen 

 and others might find an acre or two of straw- 

 berries highly profitable in connection with their 

 regular line. For example, Mr. B. L. MuUins 

 who owns a stock farm and raises cattle in 

 Roane Co., W. Va., wrote, "In spring 1933 I set 

 about 3500 plants. In spring 1934 I picked about 

 4,000 quarts which sold for 10y2<l' to 17y2«S per 

 quart. Whether I have made more money from 

 them than from my cattle this year I am unable 

 to say, but the berries made a nice thing for me 

 and I am going to continue in the game for a 

 while." It may pay you to consider strawberries 

 as a cash crop when making your plans for 1935. 



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 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 so get the 

 best, and it is this Idnd that brings the highest J 

 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, well 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 8. 



