Strawberry Losses
A few days of heavy, low cloud can make an astonishing difference to a strawberry bed, particularly if the plants are of a leafy variety such as Climax, for without sun the berries fail to ripen, turn brown and rot. The early part of the main crop season was bad from this point of view, a market gardener informed me at the weekend. Early strawberries of the Cambridge strain were successful, but in our locality, where a main crop glut was expected, brownitfg and rotting caused a loss to growers of between forty and fifty per cent. of the anticipated crop. When the berries fail to swell and ripen in the ordinary way they have to be picked and cleared from the bed. If the weather improves the sun brings the younger fruit to maturity without it suffering, but dull days during picking time can put up the price of strawberries for a week and waste the labour of the gardener and his assistants.
Previous page
