48 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



members is that expressed by Judge Lampherc and President Lyon, quoted 

 above, very few having ever expressed a preference for Wilson, even when 

 -well ripened upon the vines, for their own tables. 



MARKETING OR " CARRYING" QUALITY. 



There remains, therefore, but this single point upon which the great repu- 

 tation of the Wilson has been builded ; upon which farther, or continued 

 •cultivation can be warranted. 



That the " Sour Wilson " has been the leading and most profitable berry 

 grown for long shipments, there is no doubt; the only question, then, re- 

 maining is, have we convincing evidence or proof that there is any other 

 variety known which is hardy and prolific in plant, and whose fruit is supe- 

 rior in quality, and can be safely shipped long distance^? I emphasize long 

 distances, for no intelligent cultivator of strawberries will question that there 

 are many varieties superior to it in vigor, hardiness and productiveness of 

 plant, and quality of fruit, which may be grown with greater profit where 

 shipped not to exceed one hundred and fifty miles from producer to con- 

 sumer, and used within fifty hours from the time of gathering. 



We have made many tests of the carrying and keeping qualities of straw- 

 berries, and have held quite extensive correspondence with growers of 

 strawberries who have had long experience in shipping them for from two 

 to five hundred miles to market, and find the preponderating testimony to 

 t»e that, for shipping long distances, say three hundred miles or over, to reach 

 a distributing point aiid from thence to he re-shipped, the Wilson is of greater 

 value than any other variety as yet put to such a severe and unnecessary 

 test. As has been remarked, the facts of its firmness and becoming colored 

 before fully ripe, admit of its being picked green and shipped long distances 

 before ripening and before softening. It perhaps has no equal in these re- 

 -spects. There are, however, other hardier and prolific varieties, producing 

 berries which can be shipped without loss from three to four hundred miles, 

 as has been often proved. 



We have received the Bid well in excellent condition after a journey of three 

 hundred and eighty miles. The Capt. Jack is claimed by many to endure 

 -quite as long journeys as the Wilson, if picked at .same stage of ripening, 

 though one shipper writes that it loses color sooner than the Wilson. The 

 Sucker State has been shipped a distance of three hundred and thirty miles, 

 through the season, arriving in good order and outselling the Wilson. The 

 Piper Seedling has been put to quite as severe a test as this, in a small way, 

 and proved the superior to any variety ever shipped or received by us; and, 

 in point of quality, is far superior to the Wilson and of much better flavor 

 than either Capt. Jack or Sucker State. After a two days' journey, and be- 

 ing kept nearly five days from the picking, on each of which days the mer- 

 cury rose to above 90^ in the room where kept, berries of the Piper have 

 been placed upon our table and pronounced excellent by all the members of 

 the family. It is quite probable that berries of Wilson, picked as before 



