THE MINNESOTA 



HORTICULTURIST. 



VOL. 25. MARCH, 1897. NO. 3. 



traWberries. 



BEST THREE VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES FOR 



MARKET. 



W. S. WIDMOYER, DRESBACH. 



On the third of November, I received a letter from our secretary 

 asking^ if I would prepare a Gre minute paper on the above sub- 

 ject and promptly answered that I would do so.th inking it would be a 

 very easy thing to do for one Avho had been raising strawberries for 

 fourteen years; but aftercarefully studying it over for two weeks, find 

 it the hardest work I ever undertook in the strawberry business. I 

 had rather pull weeds all day in the hot sun. This is a very difficult 

 question to answer and suit all soils and locations, as well as to do 

 justice to all the worthy varieties, so I will describe my soil and 

 location and tell which varieties do the best with me of all those I 

 have tried. My berry grounds are on a bench of land froin thirty to 

 fifty feet above the Mississippi river, sloping to the east; the rows 

 run north and south, are about 1,200 feet long, and in that distance 

 the soil varies from a sandy muck at one end, near an old marsh (now 

 drained by a railroad cut), to clayey gravel near the center and to 

 light clay loam at the other end. This last is the best soil for straw- 

 berries, and I find the sandy muck to be the poorest for them. 



In selecting a list of strawberries for market, we must consider the 

 distance they are to be shipped; therefore, I will submit two lists, 

 one for near by and the other for more distant markets. In the first 

 list, I will put Cumberland, Princess and Enhance. The Cumber- 

 land would be my choice for familj' use if only one variety was 

 to be planted, being so large, perfect in shape and fine flavored (for 

 so large a berry), its only fault being its light color when canned 

 and not being firm enough for shipping long distances. It is much 



