STRAWBERRY-CROWING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9375, 26 December 1912, Page 8

STRAWBERRY-CROWING.

Having in mind .the liigh prices ruling for btrawbcrries, and the open-air conditions under which the industry is earned on, .vonie people primps think strav/lifiiTV-giwiiiK is«» « as >' »» d vei '>: pleasant way of'oarning a i airly good livin". The'othcr side of the picture is , presented in an arficJo in tho Xew Zealand Herald on the etiwliLMTy-grov/inK .m tiie northern shores or the Waiten>ata, where, the industry liar, grown to large proportions. Expert knowledge and hard and unremitting work are escential;; to .success, and the risk of failing is considerable. To begin with the nla'its liave to be chosen carefully, and growers dilfer as to what arc the best of the fiixtv tried varioticsr The soil lias to be carefully prepared, ami ''no garden culture exacts more meticulous rare" than this. ?.lauiH'ing and mulchw cost £]") an aero in the Auckland gardens. The plants' must be sprayed evorv ten days to prevent blight attacking- them, and weeded continuously, for even the smallest quantity of weeds interferes with proper bearing. .Later on .straw must be laid down for the berries to rioon. on cleanly, and it must bo free of weeds, seeds and blight. Then / the (.'rower in also faced with bird nuisance, and has to devise methods to ( he,-!; it. And there is always the weather.; if the grower has not made provision for artificial watering, a fortnight's drought in November or December will ruin his crop. ■ Yet a really .■rood season means such an abundance of fruit that pricre fall so low that there is not a great deal of profit in the business. 'Picking and packing must bo done with great care. The least roughness of touch on an Auckland strawberry causes it to rot before it reaches th--> 'consumer, and an unsound berry will affect a whole,box. The picking is done between four and six iii tho morning, and from five in the afternoon until dark. Women and girls are found to do better than men at picking, and man v school children earn ten shillings a week at this work. As for profits, it is estimated that it costs the grower £75 to put £IOO worth of fruit on the market", and that when the price to.him falls to fid a box lie does not make, anything. Strawberries were selling in the, Auckland shops last weekat from 9d to Is a box. and it was anticipated that prices would be lower this week.