NEWER VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES. 179 



sellicg on the track at one dollar a case. It seemed to me that 

 was a pretty good endorsement. While on my feet I wish to 

 speak about another berry, the Clyde. It has not been spoken 

 of yet. I have only fruited it for one year, but it is the most 

 promising of forty or fifty varieties of strawberries. It is of 

 good size and shows nice, but I am inclined to think it is not 

 the best class of shipping berry. There is another new variety 

 variety of Illinois origin we think very much of. I believe it 

 originated with Mr. Reel, of Alton. I received a case from him 

 that had been reshipped two or three times before they reached 

 my place. I put them in the hands of one of our dealers who 

 is an expert in fruit, and he said in quality and size he had seen 

 nothing finer. They call it the "Ruby."' It is so named on ac- 

 count of its peculiar redness all the way through. It is a solid 

 red all the way through, and I think it is one of the most prom- 

 ising varieties we have. I would like to hear some testimony 

 on the Clyde if it is grown here. 



Mr. Lyon: I had a few plants of the Clyde a few years ago, 

 but this last season I had a row of one hundred feet, and they 

 out-yielded two to one of anything I had on the place, and I 

 had a large amount of the older and new varieties. They are 

 not going to be a first class shipping berry; that is the only 

 trouble. 



Mr. C. W. Simpson: I fruited the Clyde the past season, 

 and I was very much pleased with it. They are a nice, even, 

 smooth berry, a good yielder, but inclined to be a little soft for 

 shipping. 



Mr. Wedge: I think we have just now coming forward new 

 varieties of strawberries and raspberries that are going to 

 prove very valuable. We have improved more in the last eight 

 to ten years than perhaps in all the previous time, I do not 

 know whether I am right or not, but that is the way it seems 

 to me. 



Is A Hedge Fence Desirable?— At the recent Christian Co. (111.) 

 Farmers' Institute, Mr. S. C. Wagner in a general way stated that 

 hedge fences for Illinois farmers were undesirable. He stated that 

 many of the best German farmers in this and adjoining counties 

 were digging up their fine hedge fences and burning them. On be- 

 ing questioned as to the reason for this they state they cannot afford 

 the loss of so much ground. The strength is taken from the ground 

 for more than a rod each side, and besides the hedge is a harbor for 

 rabbits and all kinds of insects. It takes a number of years for the 

 hedge plant to get large enough for layering, and even then the 

 fence is at best only suitable for keeping in horses and cattle. Very 

 few hedge fences will turn hogs or sheep. 



