Strawberry Culture 59 



scrupulous enough to acquire the variety in such a way, or did 

 so innocently. Moreover, it does you no good to distribute 

 plants among your neighbors, unless they happen to be men of 

 reputation in the strawberry world, which is not usually the 

 case, but it is a distinct disadvantage to you if you ever desire 

 to sell the control of the variety, as the purchaser has no assur- 

 ance that somebody having plants will not put them on the mar- 

 ket. The best place to have new varieties tested is at the ex- 

 periment stations of the various states. There it is done by men 

 who know their business, are perfectly impartial, have large 

 numbers of other varieties with which to make comparisons, 

 and whose reports are accepted as authority and are given wide 

 publicity. It is also well to send seedlings for testing to a num- 

 ber of plant growers and experts of whose integrity one is satis- 

 fied. 



If, after careful testing by experiment stations and compe- 

 tent judges, a variety appears to be so superior as to warrant its 

 introduction, there are three ways in which to introduce it. 

 The best, in my opinion, is to sell it to some plant grower, if a 

 fair offer is made. The next is to have some person or persons 

 in the trade introduce it on commission, the usual rates being 

 twenty or twenty-five per cent, of gross receipts to the origin- 

 ator, although more is sometimes given, where the variety has 

 been very well tested and has an exceptionally and uniformly 

 good record. The third way is for the originator to introduce 

 it himself. Unless he is a plant man. this is a poor way gener- 

 ally. If one adopts this way, however, he would better use the 

 testimonials of those only whose opinions have some weight. 

 The testimonials of the countrv paper and the village minister 

 go for nothing, and make a circular look as if really valuable 

 opinions could not be had. 



