877.] 



THE ^LANCASTER FARMER. 



149 



THE CONTINENTAL STRAWBERRY. 



The accompanying illustration icprescuts a 

 lingle fruit-stalk of the "Continental" and its 

 ruit, photographed from iiuture, and is one of 

 he Ceutt^nnial prizc-benies ; and for which 

 I niednl and diploma were awarded to Messrs. 

 Jibsomi Beimctt, Florists and Fruit-growers, 

 ,f Woodbury, New Jersey, wlio cultivate and 

 lave for sale nursery stock, roses, grape vines, 



fee, &c. This berry was recognized by the 



;ommittee as one of the very best market 



fierrics on*txhibition, and also one of tlu; 



t>esl })ayin(i, which is a desirable ([uality. The 



jContineiital Strawberry is especially valuable 



pn account of its 



great productive- 



jiess, large si/,e,fn-m 



texture, delicious 



.flavor, and late 



aipening; fruit very 



Jarge, obtusely coiii- 



pal; color dark red; 



flesh very firm, and 

 t might' be said lui- 

 letiualed in its mild, 

 |c.\ceedingly agiee- 

 |able and delieions 

 lliavor. Many of the 

 parries at la in, a 

 ilengthof nearly two 

 linches, a transver.se 

 |diametcr of over 

 two inches, and a 

 circumference of six 

 and a half inches. 

 ilts late ripening is 

 one of its greatest 

 merits, because it 

 continues in the 

 market when most 

 other varieties lia\e 

 become exhausted, 

 and this is a gnat 

 df.tidcniiuiii w i t h 

 llidse who grow 

 lierries for profit. 

 This exceedingly 

 line variety of llie 

 si rawberry was ori- 

 ginated by Mr. t)s- 

 car Felton, of ('am- 

 den county, New 

 .Icrscy, who is a 

 practical, enterpris- 

 ing, and successful 

 Iruit-grower, hav- 

 ing |)roduecd hun- 

 dreds of excellent 

 varieties of not only 

 strawberries, b u t 

 also raspberries and 

 other fruits, dur- 

 ing a period of 

 tweniy-five years of 

 horticultural expe- 

 rience. The Conti- 

 nental is so much 

 superior as a profit- 

 able market berry, 

 that many growers 

 are, for the lirst 

 time, ready to dis- 

 card the Albany 

 seedling altogether. 

 The importance of 

 growing the finest 

 fruit for market is 

 becoming more ap- 

 parent every year, 

 and it becomes all 

 fruit growers and 

 market men to se- 

 lect carefully, and grow and patronize the best 

 only. The advantages of this policy may be 

 readily understood when we compare the 

 prices obtained in the Philadelphia markets, 

 last .summer, for the "Albany" and the "Con- 

 tinental," the former only bringing from 6 to 

 8 cents per quart, whilst the latter readily 

 brought 2.") cents per quart. Many of the 

 fruiterers in and about Philadelphia givetheii- 

 testimony in favor of the Continental. The 

 plants arc of a very vigorous and robust 



habit, run well and multiidy rapidly ; foliage 

 very heavy, standing up from ten to fifteen 

 inches above ground ; fruit stalk very large 

 and strong, standing well up, showing the 

 blo.ssoms and green fruit al)ovo the foliage, 

 generally supporting the ripe fruit up from 

 the ground, but sometimes bending under its 

 unusual weight. 



Judging from the reception these ImmtIcs 

 have already met with thus far, and from the 

 character of their originator, and those who 

 cultivate the stock for .sale, they will most un- 

 doubtedly win favor wherever they are intro- 

 duced, and figure largely in the markets of 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



the great cities in our country, and also in 

 those not so great. 



Thrifty plants may be obtained at 13 per 

 dozen ; $1!', per himdred ; $100 jier thousand ; 

 V)y addressing orders to (iinsoN & Bennett, 

 Nurserymen, Woodbury, New Jersey. 



Unavoidable circumstances have delayed 

 this number of The Farmer beyond the 

 usual time of issue, but we hope to avoid this 

 in future. 



Saliccaceae — Willowworls. 



" O moot ni0 in the wilhnv Rleii, 

 When the 8ilver iiinou ih lieauiliif;." 



An anecdote is related of a very ira.sciblc 

 carter, who Wcas in the habit of swearing mo.st 

 inordinati'ly at every trilling adverse occur- 

 riMice, who, on nearly reaching the top of a 

 steep hill, on one occasion, when the " tail- 

 gate " of his cart fell out, and twenty busliels 

 of loos(' apples went Icajiing down a half mile 

 hill, like .a whole academy of school boys in 

 pursuit of a rabl)it — his anger was immediate- 

 ly excited to its 

 highest pitch, and 

 those about him ex- 

 pected that tilings 

 .aroinid them would 

 become "sulphur- 

 ous." I!ut there he 

 stood and stared 

 until the last apple 

 boimded out a n d 

 off, like a ctdprit 

 released from a cal- 

 .aboose, when he 

 caught again his 

 breath, which seem- 

 ed to have gone 

 after the api)les, 

 and remarked with 

 en;phasis— "Well, 

 there's no use in 

 swearing. I can't 

 do the subject ju.s- 

 tice." 



On seveial oeea- 

 siims Mr. ,T. M. >r. 

 ha.s brought us 

 liraiiches of a tree 

 during the present 

 Season in its various 

 stages of develop- 

 ment, inehidiiig 

 bud, bloom and 

 foliage, and it wa.s 

 only when the lat- 

 ter was fully matur- 

 ed that any aji- 

 proach could be 

 made towards the 

 deter/nination of its 

 species, although 

 its family we ap- 

 prehended from the 

 lieginning. In short 

 it is a si)ecies of 

 willow ; but when 

 we referred to the 

 family and saw its 

 magnitude, like the 

 disconcerted carter, 

 we felt that we 

 "could not do the 

 snbj ec t justice." 

 They have almost 

 every form of leaf, 

 from an almost per- 

 fectly circular to 

 the most delicate 

 lanceolate. The 

 family also includes 

 the poplars, and it 

 is sometimes difH- 

 cult to distinguish 

 between them. 



Louden, in h i s 

 Cyclopedia of trees 

 and shrubs, de- 

 ucribes one hundred 

 and seventy si>ecies 

 belonging to the 

 genus Salix alone, besides many varieties, 

 and give.s illustrations of tlie leaves antl 

 tlovvers of a large number of them. Johnson, 

 in his Gardener's Directory, catalogues 

 two hundred and thirty species belonging 

 to the genus, and gives the original 

 localities of all of them, and also the dates of 

 their discovery and description. Mr. M.'s 

 species is the Salix nitaujt, or "shining-leaved 

 willow," blooming about the 10th of April, 



