Varieties 287 



be set. Always have a standard variety near it for 

 comparison. 



POINTS TO CONSroER IN SELECTING VARIETIES 



The answer to the perennial question, "What is the 

 best variety of strawberry," constantly is becoming more 

 involved. For many years a reply, "Grow the Wilson," 

 would have been quite satisfactory in most cases. Now, 

 desirable varieties are more numerous and market re- 

 quirements much more diverse and exacting. The adap- 

 tation of varieties to localities, soils and purposes is so 

 intricate and personal a problem that few growers care 

 to advise others what to plant. 



Adaptation to climate and soil. 



No fruit is more fickle about its habitat than the straw- 

 berry. Each region has favorite varieties; the same 

 sort may give radically different results on neighboring 

 farms. Many varieties are of local adaptation only. 

 The Longworth has been forgotten, save on the San 

 Francisco market. The Atlantic disappeared from cultiva- 

 tion, except in Oswego county, New York. The Dollar was 

 discarded everywhere, except in the Florin district, Cali- 

 fornia. The Clark was of little value in the Willamette 

 Valley, Oregon, where it originated, but found a congenial 

 habitat in the Hood River Valley. At Selbyville, Dela- 

 ware, over seventy-five per cent of the planting is Parson ; 

 at Bridgeville, twenty-five miles away, nearly all the acre- 

 age is Superior. It would be interesting to speculate 

 why the Longworth, Wilson, Monarch, Sharpless, Jessie 

 and other old varieties have persisted in commercial culti- 

 vation on the Pacific coast, long after they have been 

 discarded elsewhere. 



