STRAWBERRY SEASON ENDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 11, 14 January 1926, Page 9

STRAWBERRY SEASON ENDED.

""—"— ♦■■■ SHORTER THAN USUAL. FEW AFTER THIS WEEK. Few strawberries will be seen in Auckland after this week. The season has come almost to an end, and most growers have stripped their last crops. What berries are being picked now "are chiefly for jam, and even these will be finished in a few days. Reviewing the season this afternoon, an Auckland fruit merchant said that it had not begun until the middle of November, a fortnight later than usual, and had consequently been shorter than other years. The chief plantations were at Birkdale, Glenfield and Northcote, on the northern side of the Waitemata; but Mount Roskill growers had held their own, and the bulk of the plants had turned out well in all districts. Not so many plants were grown as last year, and the supplies had never exceeded the demand during the two months that strawberries were sold in the city. Prices before Christmas and during the holiday week maintained a good average, but there had since been a decline owing to the new season's fruit coming on the market. Fruit and crops have all been late in Auckland this year; but if the weather continues favourable some heavy yields of peaches and apples are expected in the Henderson district and in other orchard areas.