242 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



South Ha.ven, Oct., 1889. 

 To Prof . L. R. Taft, HorHculturisi, Experiment Station: 



Sir — The arrangements for a branch or sub-experiment station, at this 

 place, not having been effected till last spring, the planting for such pur- 

 pose has only been commenced since that time, and cannot, therefore, afford 

 useful results during the present season. 



Much planting (especially of small fruits) more or less available for such 

 purpose had, however, been previously done, including also considerable 

 collections of apples, pears, plums, quinces, cherries, peaches, and grapes, 

 as well as a few nuts and other trees, each in considerable variety, selected 

 in very many cases for testing purposes. These had been planted in the 

 spring of 1888, and therefore have not yet shown fruit, and are, for the 

 present, only useful in so far as they afford information respecting vigor, 

 hardiness, habit of growth, etc. 



THE STRAWBERRY (Fragaria.) 



As the earliest of fruits, is the first to claim attention. 



The plat from which the following notes are made was planted in the 

 spring of 1888, and having supplied plants for the sales of last spring, some 

 varieties had been dug very closely, leaving in some cases little beyond the 

 old plants ; w^hile others had been left comparatively full — all being in 

 matted rows. A comparison as to productiveness, by measuring the yield 

 of each, was therefore impracticable. Such comparative yield has there- 

 fore been estimated, using for the purpose a scale ranging from one to ten. 

 The same scale is also used to express the comparative vigor of varieties, 

 hardiness of the plant, under the influences of the past year, together with 

 the size, quality, and firmness of texture of the fruit. 



During the past season a new plat has been planted with reference to the 

 repetition of these observations under more satisfactory conditions. This 

 new plantation is especially arranged for convenience in referring to and 

 comparing varieties, and the rows have been kept evenly filled, and the 

 plants replaced where vacancies have occurred. Many of the newer or 

 recently introduced varieties have also been included. 



In the following descriptions, the letter B following the name of a variety 

 indicates that it is bi-sexual or perfect flowering ; P, that it is pistillate, or 

 practically without pollen-pi-oducing organs. B P is attached to a few 

 varieties whose blossoms show so few anthers that their sufiiciency for per- 

 fect fertilization may be considered doubtful. B P is also attached to cer- 

 tain varieties in which there is a still greater deficiency of anthers, and 

 which, to insure complete fertilization, should be planted near a pollen- 

 supplying variety. 



In the following tabulation the descriptions are extended across two 

 opposite pages, and numbers are used to avoid difficulty in tracing the con- 

 nection. 



