THE STRAWBERRY. 239 



late varieties, and as there are many as good, or better, 

 with perfect flowers, the former should be discarded. 



VARIETIES AND YIELD. 



A variety may be adapted to a certain soil and climate, 

 and be totally unsuited under different conditions not 

 very distant. Of the many varieties that are fine and 

 popular at the North, few succeed under the continued 

 heat and dry ness of a part of our summer season. 



The principal requirements of a market variety for 

 shipment to distant points are: 



First, Its adaptability to our climate. Second, Pro- 

 ductiveness. Third, Fair size. Fourth, Sufficient firm- 

 ness to enable it to endure the rough handling and delay 

 of transportation without injury, so that it may arrive in 

 market in good presentable appearance and condition. 



The old "Wilson's Albany," or "Wilson," and the 

 "Neunan" or ' 'Charleston" meet these conditions better 

 than any others. The latter is a more attractive and better 

 flavored berry, is more productive of runners, and is 

 rapidly superseding the "Wilson" as the Southern 

 market variety. 



Where all the conditions for its successful culture are 

 favorable, the strawberry has long been, in the vicinity of 

 large cities, the gardener's most valuable crop. 



As long ago as 1850, the average net profit of a Scotch 

 acre * of strawberries in the vicinity of Edinburgh was 

 from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred dol- 

 lars, the land renting at from twenty-five to seventy-five 

 dollars per acre. 



The heaviest shipments to our Northern markets are 

 made from Norfolk, Virginia, where probably the largest 

 strawberry farm in the world is located, one cultivator 

 having two hundred and fifty acres in this fruit. Large 



* The Scotch acre contains six thousand and eighty-four square yards, 

 and is about one and a quarter acre English. 



