THE GENESEE FARMER. 



27! I 



fllffii^iIlMlM® 



WILSON'S ALBAIIY STRAWBERRY. 



No Sfcrawbeny Las been produced or introduced 

 into this country wliich has attrated so much atten- 

 tion — unless we except the IIovey''s Seedling — as 

 WiIson''s Alhany. 



Its fame has sjjread throughout the lengtli and 

 breadth of tlie land, and its good quaUties extolled 

 until the ])ublic have almost believed this berry to 

 be tlie crowning production of skill — the perfection 

 of excellence. But, alas! now come rolling up 

 mutterings, "not loud, but deep"- — the reaction of 

 Its former praise. 



Ail tJii^ was to have been expected ; and yet, 

 much more. 



Leaving out of mind our own knowledge of this 

 fruit, it would be difficult to believe that it could 

 have gained so w'ide a celebrity without many val- 

 uable (jualities to commend it. It has been before 

 the public six or seven years, and all this time been 

 gaining favor; and we are sure that many cultiva- 

 tors of it now consider it one of the most valuable 

 varieties. It has faults, but we believe not such as 

 will cause cultivators to discai-d it. We learn from 

 the July number of Ilovcy's Magazine^ that "the 

 Fruit Committee of the Mass. Horticultural Society 

 has passed a unanimous vote that ' the WiUoii's 

 Alhiimj is unwortliy of general cultivation;' " also 

 tliat at a recent meeting of the Hartford County 

 Horticultural Society, " Mr. H. Affleck received 

 the tirst prize for Iloteifi Seedling^ 'which,' the 

 Homestead says, ' was probably as fine a show of 

 one variety of Strawberries as was ever upon our 

 tables. Tlie berries were monstrous, and in perfect 

 order, and the smallest in the dish of large size; 

 and they were raised by one who ha^ discarded the 

 Wihon, with many other varieties.' Notwith- 

 standing this, it seems there was a good deal of 

 grumbling about the award of the premium, which, 

 in the opinion of some practical men, as well as a 

 majority of some of our amateur cultivators, should 

 have been given to Wilsoii's Albany^ which the 

 editor states, 'beyond question, is the favorite 

 berrj.' " 



Mr. HoTEY commends the action of this commit- 

 tee, and considers the Hartford Co. Horticultural 

 Society particularly fortunate that it has a commit- 

 tee with skill and good taste enough to render such 

 a decision, although practical men and amateur 

 cultivators grumble about it. 



This certainly looks as if Mr. Hovet thought it 

 necessary to stand up in defence of his favorite 

 berry, although only in competition with what he 

 calls " one of the sourest, most dirty colored, and 

 disagreeable flavored of all recently introduced 

 sorts." 



The truth about the fruit no doubt lies between 

 its extreme praise on the one hand and its whole- 

 sale condemnation on the other. 



It is hardy, extremely productive, and of very 

 large size — three qualities which are not to be over- 

 looked. 



It is more acid than many berries, but this is 

 not clijected to by most consumers. At the Fruit 

 Growers' Society of Western New York, held in 

 June last, the members generally spoke of its pro- 

 ductiveness in high terms. One fact about this 

 fruit seems to have been discovered at that meeting, 

 which is, that it varies in acidity in diiferent soils. 

 Members who were well qualified to judge say that 

 it is much more acid when produced at Buftalo or 

 Ticinity than at Rochester; and this may account 

 for the different opinions on this point. 



A writer in the Country Gentlemam of the issue 

 of August 9, dating his letter Lewiston, Me., says 

 of a bed of WiUorts Allany this season, that it 

 gave fruit " earlier, larger, more fair, and every 

 way more marketable than either the McAvoy''s 

 Superior ov Moyamensivg '\n the same garden, or 

 any Rovey''s Seedling I have seen during the season. 

 Some of my friends, intererested in Strawberries, 

 have seen my bed and the fruit, and all pronounce 

 it the best variety they have ever seen ; and had 

 I a thousand plants to-day, I could dispose of them 

 to parties who now have other varieties." 



The Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle, of August 1, 

 contains an interesting account of a visit to the 

 "Small Fruit" farm of Mr. J. Knox, near Pitts- 

 burgh. Mr. K. has one hundred acres under culti- 

 vation of the "Small Fruits," of which fifty acres 

 are in Strawberries; he has for testing and speci- 

 mens over one hundred different varieties. "He 

 regards the Wilsoji's Alhnny as a very valuable and 

 profitable variety, and has shown his fiiith in it by 

 planting fifteen acres of it this spring. In addition 

 to its many other excellencies, it has proved a su- 

 perior berry for canning, or preserving, and was 



