STRAWBERRIES AT THE O. A. C, GUELPH, 1903. 



DURING the past summer eighty- 

 eight standard varieties of straw- 

 berries were fruited at the col- 

 lege. This number includes the best out 

 of nearly 400 kinds which have been tested 

 during he past eight years, and a number of 

 new ones. 



Some of the most desirable early berries, 

 taken in order of ripening, are : Van De- 

 man, Anna Kennedy and Splendid. Van 

 Deman is a bisexual or perfect blossomed 

 variety, a fairly vigorous grower, with firm, 

 dark crimson, varnished berrieS' of medium 

 size. It yields well and is very early. 

 Anna Kennedy has pistillate or imperfect 

 blossoms, and must be grown near some 

 other perfect flowered kind which blooms 

 about the same time. The berry is firm, 

 bright scarlet in color, with bright yellow- 

 seeds. It is a very desirable fruit for can- 

 ning, as its flavor is excellent. Splendid is 

 a firm, dark crimson berry, of medium size 

 and of very good quality ; the blossom is 

 perfect and the vine vigorous. 



Ruby, Burt, Buster, Lovett, Warfield, 

 Williams, Clyde, Haverland, Hero, Echo 

 and Barton's Eclipse are among the best 

 mid-season varieties. Ruby is a fine dark 

 crimson berry, of medium size and good 

 flavor, although slightly acid ; it is a good 

 cropper and the blossom is perfect. Burt 

 is a bisexual or perfect blossomed variety, 

 producing a large crop of medium sized 

 light scarlet berries, which stand long ship- 

 ment very well. Buster is a pistillate or 

 imperfect blossomed variety, producing 

 large, medium firm, light scarlet berries, the 

 foliage is strong and dark. Buster pro- 

 mises to be one of the useful kinds for a 

 local market. Lovett is a medium sized, 

 firm, crimson berry, which is worthy of be- 

 ing more extensively grown, as the qualitv 

 is good and the vine fairly productive. 



Warfield, that old standard variety with the 

 dark crimson firm fruit, so much sought 

 after by canners, did very well this year. 

 Warfield is shallow rooted, and does best 

 on a rather moist soil ; it is a free runner 

 and makes a very solid row ; the blossom is 

 pistillate. Williams, the berry which has 

 been so generally cropped over Ontario, did 

 not do so well as usual this year ; neverthe- 

 less, it is too profitable a berry to be entirely 

 discarded by the commercial grower. Clyde 

 gave the usual heavy yield of soft to fairly 

 firm fruit, a fine large berry, but a little too 

 light in color to be called handsome. 

 Where a good local trade can be supplied 

 the Clyde gives excellent results, as it is a 

 vigorous grower and heavy cropper. 

 Haverland did well again this year, and the 

 many excursionists who saw it remarked 

 that its bright scarlet color and its good 

 quality should make it a good canning 

 berry. Its long flat shape is against it, but 

 rts good qualities to a great extent over- 

 come this defect. Hero is a perfect flow- 

 ered, vigorous growing kind, with fine, 

 bright crimson berries of medium size. 

 The seeds are bright yellow and varnished. 

 Echo, another of the newer varieties, with 

 perfect blossoms and good strong vines ; it 

 promises to be among the commercial 

 varieties of the future. The fruit is of 

 medium size, firm and scarlet, but owing to 

 the dull color of the seeds it cannot be called 

 handsome. Barton's Eclipse still remains 

 among the varieties at the head of our list, 

 it's firm crimson, high flavored berries mak- 

 ing it a favorite with those who supply a 

 fancy trade. 



Among the best late varieties are Par- 

 son's Beauty, Saunders and Irene. ^ar- 

 son's Beauty did not do so well as last year. 

 The vine is very vigorous, the blossom per- 

 fect- and the fruit a firm crimson berry, just 



