Strawberry Culture in the South. 33 



lar crops of berries, sufficiently large, attractive and sweet to satisfy those 

 who prefer this class of fruit. In and around this city it is preferred by 

 many to any other variety. Were we asked to select two varieties for the 

 "South, we say Wilson first and Charles Downing next. In our judgment 

 they represent more completely, and in a higher degree, all the really desir- 

 able qualities of their respective types than any others to be found in the 

 whole range of varieties. They can be raised with greater certainty and in 

 Jarger quantities, with less expense than others— are less fastidious about 

 soils, require less fertilizing, and will continue to bear good crops longer on 

 the same land. Cumberland Triumph deserves high rank for local and 

 home use. The plant is strong and hardy; bears heavy crops of the most 

 uniformly large berries of any variety yet fully tested on our grounds. It 

 •only needs to be better known to be more fully appreciated and generally 

 cultivated. Monarch of the West has been, and is still, a great favorite in 

 many sections of the South. It gives a good percentage of the largest and 

 most deliciously flavored berries of any variety we have tested. During 

 spring and fall months, the plant is a strong and vigorous grower, but is 

 tender and hard to carry through the hot, dry summers we sometimes have ; 

 but for its great beauty and excellence it deserves a choice spot in all our 

 gardens. Captain Jack, for a time, gave great promise for both home and 

 -commercial use, and in some localities it is still a valuable acquisition, but in 

 many localities a complete failure. Beyond the first five above mentioned 

 the field for selection is almost without limit, but we are strongly of the im- 

 pression that in these five varieties nearly all of the really desirable and val- 

 uable qualities of the entire strawberry family, so far as yet fully developed 

 are well represented. For the ordinary grower to multiply varieties, for the 

 sake of variety, is one of the serious drawbacks to success. 



In the undeveloped possibilities of some of the new or future varieties we 

 may find good reasons to modify or even change our present views. On this 

 subject, as we have not, we will not, indulge in a" Rip Van Winkle sleep," or 

 advise our friends to do so. 



We now come to the actual field and garden work. For want of something 

 that suits us better on this part of the subject, we shall quote parts of some 

 articles we had published in 1880. Referring to this subject we then said : 

 At this point, too many of our people seem to conclude that the brain work 

 can be suspended, and quite too often the plants are turned over to some 

 one ignorant of their habits and necessities, with instructions to plant them 

 in such a place in rows of a given width, allowing so much space between 

 the plants in the rows. Instructions much of the same careless character 

 are given when the time comes for working. But when it is remembered 

 that the berry is largely composed of water, and that for the health and vigor 

 of the plant, and the full perfection of the fruit, a uniform and abundant 

 supply of moisture is needed ; that neither plant nor fruit can bear without 

 injury, and sometimes overthrow an over supply, it will be seen that the 

 brain must still maintain its supremacy. 



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