Picking and Packing 



Careful pitkiug cau make a thing of beauty 

 out of a quart of fancy strawberries. It can 

 make ordinary berries very salable. But care- 

 less picking can reduce the value of fancy berries 

 and make unprofitable less fancy but otherwise 

 marketable berries. Careful picking will pay. 



AToid grrecn sides and tips by selecting a 

 variety that ripens evenly and without green tips. 



Have the picker.s discard undersized berries 



and those which have soft or rotten spots (espe- 

 cially after a heavy rain). 



Dirtj- or Britty berries (after rains) can be 

 largely avoided by using a mulch or partly by 

 selecting varieties whose foliage best protects 

 the berries from this fault. 



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. 



Brnisin^ and mashint? berries detract from 

 their value and can be avoided by careful picking. 



"WcU-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 

 sometimes 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. 



Yields and Profits 



2,200 Quarts From 1,300 Plants 



Larue Co., Ky., May 29th, 1934. — During the 

 spring of 1932 I ordered of you 1,500 Premier 

 plants, all of which lived. During the fruiting 

 season of 1933 I gathered (an accurate account) 

 550 gallons, or 2,200 quarts. — Mr. W. H. Howard. 



Another Fine Yield 



Plymouth Co., Mass.. Jan. 26th. 1934. — Enclosed 

 find an order for plants. My last year crop was 

 the finest in this community. Our Premiers ^'ere 

 the finest berries in any store in our town. "We 

 picked 1.056 boxes (quarts) from our small patch 

 of 1,000 plants set. — Mrs. Josephine "Warner. 



2,656 Quarts From One Quarter Acre 



Mifflin Co., Pa., April 30th, 1934. — I am well 

 pleased with every one of the strawberry plants 

 I got from you. They are all growing and getting 

 blossoms and buds already. From my first bed, 

 which I planted three years ago, -we picked 83 

 bushels, or 2.656 quarts, of Premier berries from 

 a quarter of an acre.^Mr. M. Z. Byler. 



Big Crop From Aberdeen and Premier 



Lawrence Co., Pa., Oct. 1st, 1934. — A year ago 

 last spring I bought from your firm 5,000 straw- 

 berry plants. 4,000 were Premier. 1,000 Aberdeen. 

 Gave them shallow cultivation and they made a 

 fair showing for a dry season, covering about 

 seven-tenths of an acre. Here are some figures: 

 5,000 plants set on 7/10 acre. This June we picked 

 140 bu. of berries. Received highest market price 

 for every bushel, not a second grade berrv in- 

 cluded. At least 20 bu. wasted by poor pickers 

 and tramped. Many baskets full with 33 berries. 

 How many of your growers exceeded the above? — 

 Mr. C. E. Fullerton. 



Marketing 



Ad-rcrtise. 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 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 Market. 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 riglit 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. 



And Another Thing! 



Little money is needed to start a strawberry 

 garden or a small 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. 



Part time jobs can 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, per- 

 haps a neighbor would let you use that vacant 

 lot. Fertile land is best. Rank weed growth 

 indicates good land. 



They Like to Pick Dorsett 



