130 



THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURTST. 



the Crescent fairly wilting in the even- 

 ings of a long drought, the leaves turning 

 bottom upwards as if the hoe had run 

 under them, but the next morning they 

 were briskly upright, ripening their 

 sei-ried clusters with only the dew and 

 cool night hours for refreshment. 



The berry does not seem as firm as 

 Wilson, yet it ships uncommonly well, 

 and for sandy soils referred to where it 

 is at its firmest, there will probably be 

 little difference observed by fruit dealers 

 in a season's shij)ment; and if you go to 

 the market stand to buy a quart you 

 will doubtless have them offered you as 

 Wilsons, only fresher and better than 

 other ]jeople'a Wilsons " don't you see 

 they are so much brighter and hand- 

 somer." 



The Crescent is truly a beautiful 

 berry, and if not any larger than Wilson 

 you will be abundantly satisfied with 

 the extra yield froni such light land. 

 '•Quality]" Oh, don't ask me ! We 

 are talking about market berries, and 

 what does the public know about 

 quality ? when only low quality is 

 otTered them {\) '• But the Wilson has 

 quality !" Yes, truly : when the Wilson 

 hangs on the plant till tlce seeds turn 

 ydlow, it is excellent flavour and you 

 just notice the acid without being 

 annoyed by it — it's good. But when it 

 is ripe and good like that it is too dark — 

 too blackly red— to sell well ; moreover 

 it is then too soft to ship well. 



When it is in condition to ship well, 

 that is when it is red but not ripe, it is 

 too sour for the grower to eat, or the 

 pickers. Now the Crescent may be 

 picked and marketed at both those 

 stages of ripeness or unripeness with- 

 out much difference observable in ap- 

 pearance, but when first red it is not 

 nearly so sour as Wilson, somewhat 

 flavorless perhaps, butpleases the people 

 as well or better than the severely acid 

 Wilson of the same age ; and when 

 dead ripe it is quite palatable, though 



without the Wilson's high flavour. Do 

 you ask liow it behaves on clayey 

 loams 1 An immense bearer, but more 

 insipid and less firm than on sand : well 

 enough to ti-y if Wilson fails, but where, 

 as with us, by clean culture with run- 

 ners kept off the Wilson gives nearly a 

 quart to the plant, you don't need a 

 better shipping berry. 



The Crescent blossoms are imperfect. 

 In a dry season the small quantity of 

 pollen they frequently contain often 

 proves sufficient for a good crop, but it 

 is safer to plant Wilson or some other 

 pollen bearing variety eveiy 8th or 1 0th 

 row running north or south. It is the 

 hardiest strawberry plant I know of. 

 But a market berry does not ab.solutely 

 require great firmness. With the 

 advance and spread of Horticulture each 

 city and town begins to have a supply 

 grown near at hand, and there are many 

 berries quite firm enough to keep in 

 good condition 4S hours after picking if 

 not rattled about at station or wluirt'. 



Tlie Bidwell — is one of the best of these, 

 it will even ship 100 miles at a pinch. 

 But pick it for sale next day and you 

 have a sure thing for profit, providing 

 your soil and culture suit it. Not that 

 1 think it hard to suit in soil, it takes 

 hold and grows well ; better than that, 

 it grows sublimely wherever I give it a 

 chance. But if you will have a crop I 

 think you must keep the runners off. 

 I think it is {if the editor will pardon 

 the term) the best intentioned variety 

 in the Catalogues, setting always about 

 twice as many berries as it can possibly 

 mature in the matted row. But give it 

 a chance and then see ! In the spi'ing 

 of '83 I put on a quarter of an acre of 

 land about 5,000 Bidwell setting them 

 a foot apart in rows two feet apart. 

 The runners were kept ofi", the ground 

 was mulched all over with a little over 

 an ^inch deep of well-rotted manure. 

 In the summer of '84 they shaded the 

 whole ground with foliage, the leaves 



