RISE OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE 53 



Charleston berries came in increasing quantity, and finally 

 forced most northern growers to abandon the cultivation 

 of early varieties and to depend upon midseason and late 

 sorts. In 1869, William Parry of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, 

 who then was reputed the largest strawberry grower in 

 the country, voiced his regret at this situation : ^ " We 

 heretofore endeavored to get our berries to market as 

 soon as possible, and the earliest varieties were preferred 

 as most profitable ; but now we find we must change our 

 course and select the best varieties ripening at a later 

 date, as we cannot compete with the South in early fruits, 

 with which the markets are now well supplied before we 

 commence to send. Our early strawberries the fore part 

 of June scarcely averaged ten cents per quart, which, after 

 paying for picking, freight and commission, leaves but 

 little for the grower ; while fine late strawberries were sold 

 in the Philadelphia market on the 19th of June in large 

 quantities at 35-50 cents per quart." 



By 1880, when the railroads had begun to pour great 

 quantities of southern berries into northern markets, in 

 addition to those received by boat, many northern growers 

 were ready to abandon the business. In 1881 the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society held a special meeting 

 to consider the problem, " How shall southern competition 

 in the small fruit market be met?" Not being able to 

 pass a law which would legislate their competitors out of 

 business, the Society concluded to accept this counsel 

 from Marshall P. Wilder : " Southern competition is not 

 injurious but beneficial. We get strawberries from the 

 South a month or six weeks before they are ripe here. It 

 is an advantage to have these early fruits ; they create 

 an appetite for our own when they are ripe. The pro- 

 1 Amer. Jour. Hort., VI (1869), p. 65. 



