-8- 

 It is true that they have been trying out a' nmber of varieties and the 



Robinson or Scarlet ^auty is novv ^-^^f \"!/" ^f ^'^nSgrs^vS tLT..ar^ 17. 

 is far from an ideal variety it certainly ^^^/""^^f '^"J^-f^^ °^ is that it is veiy 

 One notable characteristic of the Robinson under -^ <^°f J^^^J SbSs on produce^ 

 :i!^-.^^^'s^ IL^rLwaJ^TUfhaS^hira^d almost a complete failu.. 



.ust Why this trouble should hit -hard this year ll^^^l^^^^J^J ,^ /^T' 

 I do knov. that it was not confined to FaLnouth. 1 have ^een tnxs ^r 

 strav^berry patches in Chatham Harv^ch, ^^d Demxs . In talking ^^^ matter ^^ ^^^^ 

 with Dr. Gilgut, ^vho was dovm to observe °f ^^^uation, he maae ^ 

 Black Root was a serious problem throughout the state. He also saia m y g 

 had confused it with Red Stele. 



It is a fair statement to say that while P^f ^^^f J^^Jgf ^,lf/°"JeJ%hat this 

 Rhizoctonia organisms with a condition kno.vn as R^^^^"^*' ^^^^ f ^° ^^^^^^^'^^hen 

 trouble is usually a very minor one under ^^^^f ^,^^f °^^Jf ^'.^^^isriake ITr and 

 conditions unfavorable to strawberries growth develop, these organisms taKe ove 

 succeed in doing a serious job on the strawberry root system. 



'''' ^:^r!:^!!^ il^^.r^ir., , A recent letter ^romWalterJ Morss^^of 



West Boxford reports his experience s vdth geese this ''f^'l^J^^l^^'^^^^^^ 



no question about geese being helpful in a strawberry planting, if properly mam^ 



Not over 3 or U to an acre is best. Fences must ^^^^P^^^^f ^^^f ^J^^^ings 7iboS an 

 wing clipped when full grown. I usually went do^m to one of ^^P^^"^^"^^^^ train 

 acre) where 3 birds were enclosed, an hour or two each night before dark to train 

 the plan^r^d watch the birds at'work. They would average taking ^^^^^^^f ^^f ^, 

 the rate of 2^ per minute. I figure that if the 3 geese work ^^en an hour ^ day at 

 that rate, it wSuld be quite a help. ' This particular f ^,f , ^(.J^^f ^^f ^Jf ' ar 

 weeds that went to seed year before last. We harrowed ^J^ J^f ^^^^f 3^^^^ ^J S?e 

 knowing well the weed seeds that were there. \Se think these 3 geese saved ^^ more 

 than hall the work of weeding this year. It costs time and money to fence, but feel 

 it paid off. We have I8 geese." 



Pe digree of the^HovTard 17 Strawberry . Going back six generations, the 

 gene alogy of the Howard 17 strawberry, fr om a somewhat confused record, looks like 

 this: 



Green 



Prolifio. 



(American) 



Jucunda 

 (European) 



Cyclone- 

 Cumberland / 

 Triumph / \ Clyde 



Crescent J I 



HaverlandN Seedling \ 



d No. U 1 



Belmont J (Howard) / 



Crescent ^ 



Seedling ( 



No. 1 J 



(Howard) 



HOY^TARD 17 



The Crescent variety, prominent in the development of the Hoivard 17 and 

 to have been very important previous to I89O, contributed about 70% to the 

 characteristics of the Howard 17. 



said 



I 



