File:Allen's book of berries for 1936 (1936) (17948059782).jpg

Title: Allen's book of berries for 1936
Identifier: allensbookofberr19alle_20 (find matches)
Year: 1936 (1930s)
Authors: Allen Co. (Salisbury, Md. ); Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection
Subjects: Nurseries (Horticulture) Maryland Salisbury Catalogs; Nursery stock Maryland Salisbury Catalogs; Strawberries Maryland Salisbury Catalogs
Publisher: Salisbury, Md. : Allen Co.
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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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-yielding1 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.

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