24 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



The largest picking that I remember ever seeing Avas one of about one 

 pint. I remember that there was company at the time; another thing I also 

 remember very distinctly, was that a taste of them was about all that a little 

 boy like myself could hope for. The idea that I could ever sit down to a. 

 table where strawberries were as i)lenty as potatoes, or bread and butter, was- 

 something that had never entered into my childish imagination. Yet I cer- 

 tainly fared as well, and, I think, better than the average of my neighbors. 

 In fact, I do not recollect ever seeing a bed of cultivated strawberries in the- 

 days of my childhood except the one above mentioned. They were then a 

 lu.xury to be enjoyed only by a very few. Now they are, in their season^ 

 within the reach of, and enjoyed by, all to a greater or less extent. Thej' 

 have ceased to be a luxury, and are considered one of the necessary articles 

 of food by tens of thousands of our citizens. 



It is j)erfectly safe to say that one hundred bushels of berries are now used 

 at the North where one bushel was used iifty years ago. What has caused 

 this remarkable change ? Hovey's Seedling was introduced at an early day, and 

 was a great improvement upon any variety then in cultivation. Soon after 

 the Early Scarlet, sometimes called the Jersey Scarlet, made its appearance- 

 and contested the field with the former. 



This was not far from 1830, though I am unable to give precise dates. 

 They produced a great change, and were the leading varieties at the North 

 until about I860, when Wilson's Albany Seedling began to make its appear- 

 ance. It had been grown by a few for some years previous to the above 

 date, although it was a novelty to many people until ]S63. At this time it 

 had about taken possession of our Northern markets, and as a market berry 

 it has virtually held its own until the present time. 



New varieties by hundreds have been brought forward, and every eflfort 

 made to supersede it with something better. None of these have yet suc- 

 ceeded, unless some of the new varieties now upon trial shall prove to be its 

 superior. 



No one will claim that the Wilson is in all respects a perfect berry, still it 

 has certiiinly shown itself to be the most remarkable one for the millions ever 

 yet put into cultivation. 



Where and how can it be grown ? I believe it is at home in most parts of 

 the Sunny South. In the North, it is safe to say, in general terms, that a fair 

 crop of the Wilsons may be grown wherever a good crop of either corn or 

 potiitoes can be grown. It is also perfectly at home upon the shores of Lake 

 Superior and in districts too far north to grow either of the above-named, 

 creeps wiih any degree of certainty. If I could just have the soil I preferred 

 for them, I !<hould select a light loam, rather damp than dry, and have it thor- 

 oughly drained. Manure it heavily, say from twenty to forty loads of good 

 stiible manure per acre. 



In my latitude, 44.}°, it is not often that the weather will allow us to set our 

 beds before some time in April, and sometimes not until the 1st of May. 



If I were upon a farm where a little land, more or less, was of no couse- 



