STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 1 73 



THE QUODDY BELLE. 



During the past year several inquiries have been made about 

 the Quoddy Belle strawberry. The following, copied from a 

 letter from Nathan W. Marston of South Lubec, to the secretary 

 contains a description of the variety and its origin: 



'T am the originator of that berry. I have tried many seed- 

 lings, but this one was the only one that was superior to those 

 I was cultivating. I thought from the start this would make a 

 large berry, for the runners were as large as a pipe stem, and 

 whitish. I consider it a cross of the Crescent and the Sharpless. 

 It is pistillate, and will not succeed well alone. It is readily 

 fertilized by any staminate plant, and will imbibe all the good 

 points of its mate; hence the necessity of mating with a good 

 large staminate. The Sharpless, The Dew and the Chas. 

 Downing are good ones; and the fruit of the Quoddy Belle with 

 these nearest to it has been abundant and large. It is the largest 

 fruit I have grown, except Sharpless, and the Dew. It has every 

 good point of the strawberry, except the sex; and I have never 

 seen a good staminate strawberry for a crop. I have grown 

 berries for twenty or more years, as an amateur gardener, and 

 have tested all the so-called best varieties, and have found them 

 all lacking in some good point. The Quoddy is the only one 

 that I have found that can cover all the required conditions, viz: 

 Strong, healthy, hardy, prolific plants; prolific in large, firm, 

 handsome, delicious fruit. (The fruit will vary some according 

 to the fertilizing plant.) Color will vary also, to fertilizer, and 

 quantity of sunshine. Flavor, sub-acid, and very aromatic, in 

 the sun. I get a full crop the first year, when I take up carefully 

 and reset at once. 



