3264 



STRAWBERRY 



STRAWBERRY 



Scarlet, Hudson's Bay, Early Hudson, and Crimson 

 Cone. These persisted until the introduction of the 

 Wilson. The first variety of any fruit produced in 

 North America by hand-crossing was the Hovey, 

 originated by C. M. Hovey, of Boston, in 1836. The 

 Hovey was a failure as a market variety, except in a 

 few places, but it was an excellent amateur variety 

 and greatly increased interest in strawberry-culture. 

 The heated discussion of "Longworth's Theory" (1841- 

 1845) concerning sex in the 

 strawberry also stimulated 

 interest and offered a practi- 

 cal solution of a pressing cul- 

 tural problem. As yet, how- 

 ever, the strawberry was 

 mainly a fruit of the open 

 fields and home-gardens; the 

 commercial planting was very 

 limited. The total quantity 

 of fruit marketed in 1854 was 

 less than 40,000 bushels, the 

 product of about 1,400 acres. 



3722. Haverland strawberry. 



The variety that marked the beginning of commer- 

 cial strawberry-culture in North America was the 

 Wilson, originated by James Wilson, of Albany, New 

 York, in 1851. Until then, strawberry-culture had been 

 difficult, and the results very uncertain; the Wilson 

 thrived under even indifferent care. Its introduction 

 was followed by a remarkable increase, coincident with 

 the extension of railroads, in commercial planting. The 

 "strawberry fever" that swept over the country between 

 1858 and 1870 has not been equaled in intensity by the 

 boom days of any other fruit. The inevitable reaction 

 came between 1870 and 1885. This was emphasized by 

 the heavy losses from shipping berries long distances 

 without refrigeration. The experiments of Parker 

 Earle, of Cobden, Illinois, resulted in the first success- 

 ful use of the modern refrigerator-car system, in 1887, 

 and made possible the great shipping districts of today, 

 many of which are over 1,000 miles from their markets. 

 There are now approximately 150,000 acres of straw- 

 berries in the United States, and 14,000 acres in Canada. 

 The value of the crop is $20,000,000 annually. The 



strawberry is fourth in commercial importance among 

 deciduous fruits, being preceded by the apple, peach, 

 and grape. The most important shipping districts, 

 according to the Census of 1909, are Maryland, 14,292 

 acres; Tennessee, 10,761; Missouri, 9,048; New Jersey, 

 8,684; Michigan, 8,051 ; Arkansas, 7,361 ; Ontario, 7,702; 

 Delaware, 7,194; Virginia, 6,606. Sussex County, Dela- 

 ware, has the largest county acreage, with 6,404 acres 

 in 1909. 



There are several serious fungous diseases and insect 

 pests of the strawberry. White grub is controlled by 

 avoiding newly plowed sod land when setting the bed; 

 weevil, by planting largely of pistillate varieties or 

 profuse-blooming staminate sorts; leaf -roller, by spray- 

 ing with arsenate of lead, and burning the leaves; root- 

 louse, by setting clean plants in clean land. The several 

 types of leaf-blight (Fig. 3726) may be prevented to a 

 considerable extent by spraying with bordeaux, but it 

 is more practicable to plant resistant varieties. The fun- 

 damental treatment of all these is to fruit the bed but 

 once, or at most but twice, and to grow succeeding 

 crops on other land, cleaning up the old plantation 

 thoroughly after the last fruiting. Short, 

 quick, and sharp rotations and clean culture 

 do much to keep all enemies in check. 



The American book writings on the straw- 

 berry are: R. G. Pardee, "A Com- 

 plete Manual of the Cultivation 

 of the Strawberry," New York, 

 1854, and subsequent editions; 

 A. S. Fuller, "The Illustrated 

 Strawberry Culturist," New York, 

 1862, and subsequent editions; 

 J. M. Merrick, Jr., "The Straw- 

 berry and its Culture," Boston, 

 1870; Charles Barnard, "The 

 Strawberry Garden," Boston, 

 1871; T. B. Terry and A. I. Root, 

 "How to Grow Strawberries, 

 Medina, Ohio, 1890; L. J. Farmer, 

 "Farmer on the Strawberry," 

 Pulaski, N. Y., 1891; A. F. Wil- 

 kinson, "Modern Strawberry- 

 Growing," 1913. Aside from these 

 writings, the strawberry is well 

 treated in various books devoted 

 to small-fruits and to fruit in 

 general, and in the horticultural 

 periodicals, g. w. FLETCHER.! 



Strawberry-growing in 

 the South. 



The strawberry is by far the 

 most important small-fruit grown 



in the South, being raised commercially in every state. 

 The industry is more concentrated in the South than 

 in the North. This concentration is probably due to 

 the fact that nearly all of the strawberries are shipped 

 by freight to distant markets. The strawberry industry 

 in the South has developed as an independent unit, or 

 as an adjunct to truck-growing rather than in connec- 

 tion with other fruit-growing enterprises. 



An important consideration in growing strawberries 

 for northern markets is the selection of a location where 

 the soil and climatic conditions are conducive to early 

 ripening of the fruit, so that there will be little compe- 

 tition from regions farther north. In many southern 

 sections where strawberries are grown on a commercial 

 scale, shipments practically cease as soon as berries 

 from a more northern location begin to move in car 

 lots. This is due to the fact that toward the end of the 

 picking-season the berries are small and cannot compete 

 successfully with the larger fruit from a region nearer 

 the market that is just beginning to harvest its crop. 



While strawberries are grown on nearly all types of 



