84 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Wilde. — My impression has been very favorable toward Mr. Shirts' new 

 berry as a family variety. 



Mr. Shirts spoke of his seedling as being of good color and form, with a 

 calyx easily removed, and exhibited samples picked from young vines which 

 were certainly superior. 



Mr. Bridgman. — It is very difficult to have a firm berry and a soft one in the 

 same variety, and that is just what atc must have if we put together the necessary 

 elements for an ideal family berry. AVe want a soft berry for the table, but it 

 is just as necessary to have a firm berry for canning purposes. The Black De- 

 fiance I would namb as the nearest my ideal of a berry for home use. It has 

 quality, color and firmness, and still is not so hard as to make tliis an objec- 

 tion for table use. 



Mr. Merriman. — City people want family berries as well as the grower, and 

 we Avant to put the qualities into our market berries that will render them excel- 

 lent for home use. 



Mr. Lyon. — But this is impossible. The market berry will ever be a different 

 berry from that we would choose to grow in our own garden, which need not 

 be transported farther than our own tables before it tickles the palate. 



W. A. Brown. — The Triomphe de Gaud I like well for a home berry. It 

 has, it seems to me all the qualities save one, that is, few will give it the re- 

 quisite care to secure it in perfection. 



F. A. Gulley, of the Agricultural College. — We raise a large number of sorts 

 as you will see from the array of berries here from the college garden, and my 

 own choice for a berry to pick and eat at my own table would be the Matilda first 

 and Col. Cheney second. These are both too soft for canning, but the Black 

 Defiance, as suggested by Mr. Bridgman, is the berry for that purpose. 



Mr. Bradfield, of Ada, spoke in terms of praise of the Seneca Queen which 

 he had grown for two years; it held out in size until the last one was picked. 



Mr. Lyon also spoke of the same sort as an excellent family berry with him 

 and also mentioned the Golden Queen, but maintained that we were not in the 

 realm of perfection even yet as to family strawberries. 



Mr. Thompson. — A number of gentlemen in Detroit banded together for the 

 purpose of ascertaining the best eating strawberry and the result of the sea- 

 son's experience is this list: Captain Jack, Col. Cheney, Chas. Downing, and 

 Triomphe de Gand. 



Mr. Lyon. — This list would be more valuable if the gentleman, allowing 

 them to be good judges, could have chosen from some other place than the 

 market, because the best sorts rarely go into market, and more rarely are 

 properly named. 



Mr. Gulley asked how the Crescent stood. 



Mr. Keeves, of Benton Harbor, spoke very highly of this variety as grown in 

 his locality. 



Mr. Bridgman. — The society can not afford to give the Crescent very mucli 

 of a puff; it is not always satisfactory, very variable and too soft, and beyond 

 this has not proved to bo very hardy. 



The society next proceeded to review the 



STEAWBERRY LIST IX THE IRUIT CATALOGUE. 



Several additions were made to the catalofnie, including: the Crescent. Cen- 

 tennial, and three new seedlings, the Shirts, Marvin, and Windsor, The 

 grading of a number of sorts was changed by unanimous vote. 



