ANNUAL MEETING AT NEVADA. 233 



THE BEST VARIETIES. 



Having experimented with many varieties for the last eight years, 

 I have at last settled on the Crescent and the Capt. Jack as the best. 

 Some years other varieties have done equally as well, but on an average 

 for a number of years those named are ahead. They are hardy, healthy 

 and unequalled in the production of good-sized, firm berries of good 

 color. For profit a commercial berry must be selected; one that yields 

 heavily and that can be handled and shipped to distant markets. No 

 large, soft berry will do; and as a rule the extra large berries are not 

 only soft, but most of them are unproductive as well. Firmness I re- 

 gard ot first importance; size only secondary, and quality last. At the 

 East it is said to be different; quality and size being considered of 

 primary importance, but for my own part, I doubt there being much in 

 this cry often heard for better quality. In fact, the acidity of the old 

 Wilson, the Crescent and others of that class, is not, in my opinion, so 

 much of an objection as is sometimes claimed. They come at a time 

 when the system requires and the appetite craves an acid, and in what 

 better form, I ask, can it be obtained than in the luscious, aromatic 

 strawberry ? Then let the theorist raise the large-sized, soft, sweet 

 berries, if they will, and educate the public up to the appreciation of 

 good fruit; but let the man who desires a healthy bank account with a 

 good balance on the right side of the ledger, stick to those kinds that 

 can be depended on for a large yield of firm, good-sized, but not large, 

 berries. They are the kinds to plant for the money there is in them, 

 and this, after all, is what most of us are in the business for. I would 

 rather raise Crescents on my place, and sell at any given price, than to 

 raise Sharpless' at ten times that price. 



It takes a strawberry about four weeks to ripen after it blooms. 

 When the danger from late spring frosts is considered, it is the opinion 

 of the writer, that earlier sorts than Crescent and Wilson are not 

 desirable, and that late kinds are comparatively unprofitable. I usually 

 get the last berries of the season from Capt. Jack, anyway, and the 

 Crescent lasts nearly as long. They both last, on my place, about six 

 weeks, from the first to the last picking. They cover the whole straw- 

 ben y season completely and well. The Cumberland Triumph has few 

 equals for home use, but it is not a commercial berry. It is too soft and 

 lacks color. 



