THE STRAWSBERRY CROP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15096, 12 September 1912, Page 8

THE STRAWSBERRY CROP.

r PROSPECTS j FOR THE SEASON.,

i' At about the end of October or the beginning of November it is anticipated that • strawberries will bo obtainable in Auck- . land..; ' Yesterday the representative of a • firm which handles strawberries very largely discussed with a Herald reporter the crop - prospects for tho . season. 1 .V "There is not quite so large an area as usual under cultivation this year," he said, ".because the season last year was so bad that it drove, many people out of the industry. A number of growers lost money and have been unable to carry on. Then the now plots are a little backward for this time of the year, due to the Bad weather met with. It is too early yet, by at least three weeks, to say what the extent of,the crops will be, because rain and hail likely. to come along at any time and upset all previous calculations." Queried regarding the possibilities of trie Phenomenal strawberry, which, it will be remembered, fruited in the winter last year, the merchant went on: "This berry ■came from a grower at Mount P.oskil!, ;\and was the first to arrive;,on'the market. It was grown in a .very sheltered position, well up to the sun and well. away from bird.-infested trees. - Moreover, it. did not '<'Offi« to maturity' in tho spring, and, the favourable autumn intervening, the fruit 'did not actually appear till he winter. The •special and unusual circumstances which •led to this result must be born a in mind, -as they may not repeat themselves. The Phenomenal berry is now being extensively planted, and whether there arc sufficient possibilities in it to encourage growers to go in for it as a regular thing will be decided almost finally by the results of this year's experiment." The merchant then touched on the damage done to strawberries by birds. "Every year," he said, hundreds of pounds are lost through the depredations of blackbirds and thrushes. It is not so much what they eat as what they spoil."