THE NINE STRAWBERRIES. 429 



Dov/niug iu his revised work on Fruits, speaks of it as follows : " Althoiigli 

 not of high quality, because of its superabundauce of acid, yet no variety has 

 become so generally cultivated as the Wilson's Albany. The vine is very hardy 

 and vigorous, very productive, commencing to ripen its fruit early and con- 

 tinuing to the latest. Hermaphrodite. Fruit large, broadly conic, pointed. 

 Color, deep crimson. Flesh, crimson, tender, with a brisk acid flavor." 



No. 2.— THE TRIOMPHE DE GAND. 



This strawberry, originating, as its name indicates, in Belgium, seems to have 

 been introduced into the United States by several of our leading fruit growers; 

 and (perhaps on account of the prevailing impression as to the unproductive- 

 ness of foreign varieties) to have been laid aside with but a slight trial. Possi- 

 bly, however, its subsequent success may be measurably dne to the elevation of 

 the standard of culture among us, and the introduction of the system of "hill 

 culture," so indispensable to the success of the European sorts. Be this as it 

 may, we find this variety after a trial of ten or more years in our country only 

 well enough known or appreciated to receive two votes as an amateur fruit and 

 one as a market variety at the June meeting of the Fruit Growers' Society of 

 Western New York in 1858. At the session of the American Pomological 

 Society, held at New York in September, 1858, it was placed on the list of 

 varieties that promise well, although it was charged with lack of productive- 

 ness. 



In June, 1862, at the strawberry show held at the ofiice of the American 

 Agriculturist, this variety drew the first prize as the best for general (family) 

 cultivation ; also the first prize for the best and largest three berries of one 

 variety, — weight three and one-half ounces. It also drew the premium of the 

 Salem (Mass.) Horticultural Society for the best quart of strawberries. 



At the strawberry show of the American Agriculturist in 1862, we find the 

 Triomphe De Gand side by side with the Wilson, again carrying off the high- 

 est premiums. This variety was again quite fully discussed by the American 

 Pomological Society at its session at Philadelphia in September, 1860, and as 

 its popularity as well as its dissemination is no doubt largely due to the thor- 

 ough culture and eminent success in consequence, of the late Rev. John Knox, 

 of Pittsburg, Pa., who also disseminated it very widely, it may not be uninter- 

 esting to quote his remarks during the discussion, which were as follows : " I 

 have fruited the Triomphe de Gand for three years. Out of one hundred 

 varieties I have under cultivation, I regard it as the very best of them all. I 

 have fifty acres in strawberries, and would be very glad if the whole were 

 changed to Triomphe de Gand. It seems to me there is scarcely an excellence 

 it has not. The plant is hardy and very vigorous, as much as the Wilson. I 

 think the healthiest and most vigorous plants I ever knew on my place are of 

 this variety. The fruit is large and luscious, bright and glossy, attracts atten- 

 tion, and brings the highest price, — from twenty-five to fifty cents per quart. 

 I am not able to supply the demand. From my place at Pittsburg they have 

 been carried to Cincinnati, where they profess to know something about straw- 

 berry culture, and they sent back for more at fifty cents per quart. I think the 

 question should not be what mode of culture is iiecessarij, but what kind will 

 ^ay best. The mode of culture required by the Triomphe de Gand, and for 

 other foreign varieties, is that which pays better with us than any other. The 

 only mode of culture adopted in Pittsburg is in hills. We place them in rows 

 two and a half feet apart one way and twelve inches the other. It forms 

 quite a number of stools, and bears remarkably well." 



