STATE POMOLOaiCAL SOCIETY. 91 



VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES AND MARKETING. H.-^ 

 By Willis A. Luce. South Union. 



That there are beauties in agricultural life, the people of the 

 State are beginning to realize. Now one of the chief of these beau- 

 ties is the strawberry plant. The fact that you can take a plant 

 weighing less than two ounces and raise from that, two quarts of 

 the most delicious fruit or produce thousands of plants from, is 

 wonderful. If there is anything more wonderful in the category of 

 plants, I want to see it. The strawberry is not half appreciated, 

 though it is beginning to be. I saw an article from the pen of J. 

 H. Hale, recently, — you remember he spoke at our Pomological 

 meeting at Damariscotta. He said that twenty years ago in the 

 city of New Bedford, they didn't use a hundred crates a day in the 

 height of the season ; and the population of the city has not 

 increased but two thousand, and now, instead of one hundred 

 crates a day they use five hundred. They realize the value of the 

 strawberry more and more. A.s people become educated they eat 

 less meat and more fruit. He said that during the strawberry season 

 they didn't think of eating meats ; that good strawberries and cream, 

 and bread and butter were good enough for him. A man can do a sight 

 of work upon them. In my own county of Knox I should say that fif- 

 teen years ago, a hundred crates would supply the whole market for 

 the season. Only a few families used them ; but I think I can say 

 now from observation that the present season they have used over a 

 thousand crates. That is due somewhat to the summer travel ; but 

 where strawberries were not used at all ten years ago, they are 

 now considered a necessity. They are valuable for the health ; 

 they come when we need something to sharpen the appetite. Apples 

 are stale and we hail with delight the coming of the strawberry. 

 The first large strawberry was the Hovey, introduced in 1834. 

 This berry has been improved very much. There are thousands of 

 varieties of strawberries, and out of them all, only a very few are 

 worthy of cultivation. Some seem peculiarly adapted to home use 

 and not for the market, while some are good for both. 



In the Maine Farmer of January 8th, there was an article on 

 strawberry culture ; "Some facts about strawberries" by Mr. Dow 

 of New Hampshire. I suppose he would think Mr. Dawes and 



