NOTES ON VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES. 



i8^ 



before I can recommend them. Side by 

 side with Morg"an and Magoon on the sandy 

 knoll they were comparatively worthless. 



Crescent and Beder Wood on the sandy 

 knoll stood well up to their old reputation. 

 Crescent, especially, grown from selected 

 pedigree stock offered by a strawberry 

 specialist in Michigan was just as produc- 

 tive as we used to know it fifteen years 

 ago — large, too, tor the season. Beder 

 Wood of course rusted, as it always does, 

 but it bore well and early too. 



Excelsior. — This is the tirst early va- 

 riety the}^ make such a fuss about in the 

 States. Well it is early no doubt — the ear- 

 liest of all I have seen — and it is smooth, 

 glossy, dark red and very firm. But oh it is 

 so sour ! After one year's test I must not 

 talk as if I know all about it, but it must 

 bear a larger crop and stand up a little freer 

 from rust before I can praise it. Yet its 

 great earliness and firmness make it promis- 

 ing for market. 



Michel's Early — Nearly as early as Ex- 

 celsior, and much sweeter — is a better va- 

 riety for home use, but it is quite soft for a 

 market berry, and if allowed to make run- 

 ners without restraint it will be unproduc- 

 tive. Checked a little in running I have had 

 it bear well. 



Johnson's Early — I find more promis- 

 ing than Excelsior — very early, large and 

 firm enough, healthy, moderate in forming 

 young plants, and quite productive even on 

 light land, but rather acid. Only fruited 

 once. 



Saunders, Woolverton, Williams — All 

 fine, large, well-known varieties of Cana- 

 dian origin, of which the last seems to be 

 the most profitable for market. 



Brandywine — A good late variety, about 

 the size of the three last mentioned — fine 

 for late market. 



Gandy^ — The latest of all yet tested, large, 

 very beautiful and delicious, but unproduc- 

 tive on sandv land. 



Ruby — One of the most beautiful and de- 

 licious, large and firm, but only moderately 

 productive. 



Glen Mary (P.) — Late, very large, quite 

 productive, but rather soft and sour, and a 

 poor grower except on rich land. 



Bismark — Large, handsome, of ordinary 

 quality and moderate productiveness. 



Parker Earle — Immensely productive on 

 moist rich land and in a wet season. In or- 

 dinary seasons, with common treatment, it 

 will not ripen half its fruit, so I am afraid 

 it has got to be turned down, — which 

 is a pity considering the size and 

 beauty of the fruit and the greatness of its 

 atterhpts. 



Parker Earle Improved (Arnout's) — Just 

 a chip off the old block. 



Parker Earle Junior — Hardly even a 

 chip, I think- — seems quite worthless. 



Greenville (P.) — Large and productive, 

 but had to be rejected for lack of health. 

 The leaves would draw together, and upon 

 examination were found to be affected with 

 mildew. 



Warfield (P.) — Immensely productive, 

 and the glossiest and most handsome berry 

 for its size of the whole lot, not very large, 

 but large enough for market. But the 

 fruit is of poor insipid quality, and in a wet 

 season a good many of the blossoms would 

 fail to pollenize properly, so that a large 

 part of the crop would be gnarly and small. 

 So when it developed the same fault of mil- 

 dew on the leaves noted in the Greenville it 

 had to go. The Senator Dunlop is said by 

 Mr. Crawford to resemble it greatly in ap- 

 pearance and crop, but to be of delicious 

 quality and of perfect blossom. The plants 

 certainly grew well, and I look forward to 

 fruiting it next summer with eager antici- 

 pations. 



Kansas, New York, Bennett, Mrs. Mc- 

 Dowall, Murray, Darling, Success, Parson's 

 Beauty, Smith's Early, and especially Jos. 

 H. Black's seedlings, viz., Joe, Nettie, Carrie 



