The blossoms should be picked off all strawberry plants 
for the first six weeks after they are set. As soon as 
the everbearing plants are well established they will start 
putting out strong, vigorous blossom stems. These should be 
allowed to remain and will produce berries in about one 
month. 
Gem, Lucky Strike, Pride of Montana and Empire all 
Red will also start putting out runners about the same 
time. If you want a maximum production of berries the 
first season, pinch these runners all off and the plants will 
put all their energy into fruiting stems. If you want your 
plants to produce a greater total yield including two or 
three crops the second year allow each of these plants to 
set from four to six runners and space them six to ten 
inches apart. 
Yields of from two to four boxes per plant the first 
year have been reliably reported from plants grown with 
spaced and hill row systems. 
One patch, % of an acre, 65 per cent Gem, 20 per cent 
Mastodon, and 15 per cent Lucky Strike produced by 
actual weight (% lbs. per box) at the rate of 10,174 
boxes per acre from July to December, 1937. This was in 
addition to a spring crop in May and June and a fall 
crop from August to November, 1936, of which we have 
no record. 
Those plants were grown in matted rows and were given 
no special attention of any kind except plenty of water. 
Incidentally, these berries sold for an average of 12 14 
cents a box. 
GEM STANDS AT THE TOP 
Gem easily stands at the top for all around quality and 
productiveness under our conditions, so much so that our 
total planting, this year, includes 10 everbearing and 5 
standard varieties, 60 per cent is Gem. If we were limited 
to only one variety to plant for profit. Gem would be our 
choice. 
Since its introduction in 1934 Gem has rapidly gained 
in popularity wherever strawberries are grown. It has 
made good the glowing description of its introduction as the 
finest everbearer ever produced. 
The berries are uniformly large and round, firm enough 
to ship, a bright red color clear through and ripen evenly 
all over. There are no small berries, which put Gem in a 
class by itself as an everbearer. Gem produces, in addition 
to a full crop of large berries, a good number of other small 
plants. 
For size, color, appearance and productiveness it has 
every other variety of strawberry outclassed except only 
Dorsett and Fairfax, and Gem is a true everbearer. Every 
plant set will bear a wonderful crop of berries beginning 
