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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST. 



was the most promising. He described 

 the color as bright scarlet turning to 

 crimson, surface glazed, seeds on sur- 

 face, season medium, quality good. All 

 the party expressed themselves highly 

 pleased with the display of fruit, and 

 ate it with a good relish. The plant is 

 vigorous, with large glossy dark green 

 foliage, the blossoms hermaphrodite (or 

 perfect), the fruit handsome, large, lus- 

 cious, firm, and in great abundance. 



The party returned to Rochester, and 

 were invited to visit a small plantation 

 there of the James Vick fruiting under 

 hill culture, the rows lying between 

 bearing grape vines, not the most desir- 

 able position as the grape roots must 

 have occupied the entire soil. Here a 

 sight met their eyes that they could 

 not have anticipated, and such a dis- 

 play as probably was never before made 

 by any strawberry. The stools were 

 large and vigorous, and around each 

 was a pyramid of ripe berries piled one 

 on another like a walled fort, and so 

 thick together that a bug could hardly 

 have crawled into the enclosure made 

 by the fruit without climbing the barri- 

 cade. Berries on every plant were 

 " uniformly of good size," as was re- 

 marked by Secretary P. C. Reynolds, 

 The fruit stems were long and stout, 

 but could not sustain the great burden 

 imposed upon them (often 12 to 18 ripe 

 berries on one fruit stem), thus the 

 fruit rested one berry on another in a 

 circle about the plant. 



The news soon spread among the 

 lovers of fruit of the city, and early 

 next morning our leading pomologists 

 came to inspect the newest wonder. 

 After these came the younger enthu- 

 siasts, the foremen, and others who 

 desired to see for themselves if half 

 were true that had been told them. 



Mr. Charlton said that as soon as the 

 Norfolk (Va.), and other large straw- 

 berry planters learned of the value of 



the James Vick for market, and ship- 

 ment, the demand would be something 

 wonderful. 



The following is from the Geo. A. 

 Stone nursery, Rochester, N.Y. : — 

 " Dear Sir : I saw the James Vick to- 

 day at Rochester. It would certainly 

 seem to possess all desirable qualities. 

 It is very prolific, firm of texture, and 

 of fine flavor." 



Geo. S. Wales, the Bannockburn 

 nurseryman, said he had seen nothing 

 equal to the James Vick. 



Secretary P.'C. Reynolds, of Roches- 

 ter, N.Y., considers the quality of 

 James Vick very good, and well suited 

 to his taste, which is exceedingly critical. 

 With possibly one exception he has not 

 seen anything to equal it in productive- 

 ness. He considers it more productive, 

 larger and of better quality than the 

 Manchester. 



We sent fruit of the James Vick to 

 Mr. J. T. Lovett, over 300 miles dis- 

 tant, and he reports that it came in fine 

 condition. As a shipping variety it is 

 particularly desirable. 



THE POINTS OF MERIT 



of the James Vick are briefly : 



( 1 ) Fine quality, unusual vigor, and 

 hermaphrodite (or perfect) blossoms. 



(2) Color, form and firmness of berry, 

 which approach the ideal. No white 

 tips, no coxcombs. 



(3) Ability to stand on the vines a 

 week after ripening, without becoming 

 soft, or rotting, or losing quality or 

 much lustre. Instead of softening it 

 shrinks a trifle, and becomes firmer 

 than when first ripe. 



(4) Uniformly large size, and pro- 

 ductiveness unequalled by any other 

 variety. Two hundred and eighty ber- 

 ries were counted on one average plant, 

 and from one row about 100 feet long 

 nearly two bushels of berries were 

 gathered. — Greens Fruit Grower. 



