SMALL FRUITS. 239 



the Wilson, or into me. I would like the Wilson's friends to 

 stand up and defend it, but the Wilson is not paying one -tenth 

 what it did twenty-five years ago. It has been the finest berry 

 we have ever had in the United States. It has degenerated. I 

 can call it by no other name. 



In regard to the Lady Rusk, I think it is one of the best va- 

 rieties. There is no plant that will do well everywhere. I 

 cannot name five varieties that will do well anywhere. 



M. Pearce : I think there is no doubt but what we can grow 

 the Wilson, but no ordinary man can do it, and I will tell you 

 why. There is no plant that grows that is more liable to rust, 

 or rather, fungoid, than the Wilson. I can grow almost as pure 

 a Wilson to-day as I ever could, but you must use a great deal 

 of care in regard to this fungoid. It seems to work more on 

 the Wilson than any other variety. It seems to be sure death, 

 destructive to the crop every time. The plants die off when 

 the fruit is about two-thirds grown. I would not recommend 

 the Wilson for general planting among farmers. An expert 

 can grow them. I do not think the Wilson will ever degenerate, 

 but everybody cannot grow it. 



J. S. Harris : I will take some exception to Mr. Pearce. I 

 do believe that the Wilson, which we can procure now, has de- 

 generated and gone back. It is not what it was twenty-five 

 years ago. Twenty-five or thirty years ago I raised as good a 

 crop of Wilson on my grounds as I now raise Crescent, and I 

 have discarded the Wilson, even for fertilizing purposes. 



Judge Moyer : I live out in Western Minnesota, way out on 

 the back prairie, near the west line of the state. I have tried 

 a good many years to raise Wilson strawberries, but never 

 could raise any at all. The Wilson is an entire failure out 

 there. 



H. W. Gordon : A year ago last spring I plowed up about 

 three -fourths of an acre, which, when I settled on my place 

 was a regular duck puddle — I could shoot ducks there all sum- 

 mer long. A year ago last spring I plowed it up and put it 

 into corn and cultivated it reasonably. Last spring I plowed 

 it again and planted the Wilson, and I never saw nicer looking 

 plants than those Wilson are now. They were entirely free 

 from rust, but what the fruit will be I can tell you better next 

 winter. 



M. M. Frisselle : You have heard something about the Wil- 

 son and something about rust. Now has some one not some 

 remedy for rust. It is generally supposed there is a dete- 



