THE STRAWBERRY AND OTHER BERRIES. 83 



more critical in its demand for quality in all fruits, and it is 

 the height of folly for berry growers, when the season is cool 

 and there is no danger of the fruit spoiling, to try to force 

 half-ripe, pale and sandy berries on the market. I kept close 

 watch on the reports from the large cities this season, and 

 saw repeated complaints on this subject. The Florida 

 growers do not do it, and their fruit has steadily maintained 

 a good price in New York, and has been invariably quoted in 

 St. Louis and Chicago, the present season, at more than 

 double the price of Texas berries. The strawberry in the 

 South is subject to but one disease the "rust," already al- 

 luded to a bacterial one, due to conditions of extreme and 

 sudden variations of temperature and moisture. While the 

 Michel has been most seriously affected by this disease every- 

 where the present season, the old reliable Nunan has not 

 shown a sign of it, though grown amongst and alongside, and 

 its plants have averaged double the size of the Michel. As 

 to varieties, the latter should be entirely discarded for out- 

 side planting, though, as shown farther on, it can be grown 

 with great profit under cover. A very careful examination of 

 many strawberry fields by Mr. E. W. Kirkpatrick, an old 

 berry grower of North Texas, during the season of '96, con- 

 vinced him that the Nunan and Cloud Seedling are by far 

 the best varieties for South Texas. The latter is a pistillate, 

 and requires every third row to be planted with Nunan 

 which has a perfect flower. The Smeltzer is also an excel- 

 lent shipping variety, but the fruit is inferior to the Nunan 

 in quality and color. 



And now, I would urge all growers to make an experiment 

 with the Michel, on a small scale, at least, under plank and 

 oiled cloth covering. While this is an extra-large, early, and 

 really good eating berry, when the weather becomes warm 

 and dry it is not a long-distance shipper, and has the very 

 serious fault, for open air culture, of beginning to fruit in the 

 fall and early winter. Ordinarily those crops are ruined by a 

 freeze, and the plants have had their work for nothing, be- 

 sides being damaged by the checking of their sap when in 

 motion, which is probably the prime cause for the general 



