ffl]c fcttiian llortiailtarist 



VOL. IV.] AUGUST, 1881. [No. 8. 



STEAWBERRIES. 



The experience of another season with some of tlio more recently 

 ititrodiiced varieties will not be without interest to all cultivators of 

 the strawberry, and may prove useful to those who contemplate 

 planting, especially those who intend to plant for market. The season 

 just closed has on the whole been favorable to this fruit, especially in 

 those sections of the country that escaped late frosts. The month of 

 June was cool, with frequent showers and much cloudy weather, so 

 that the fruit ripened up gradually and swelled to its full size. Reports 

 from the City of New York any that never has there been such an 

 abundance of strawberries, that the business has been enormous, and 

 the supply fully equal to the demand for consumption in that largo 

 city and for shipping to other i)laces> some having been sent in 

 retVigerators to the West Indies. It is thought by some that the time 

 is near at hand when they will be sent in this way across the Atlantic 

 As a matter of course prices ruled low during the height of the season, 

 and growers did not always get well paid for the labor of production. 



It would seem that the Wilson yet maintains its position as the 

 great market strawberry of this country. With all its imperfections, 

 its dark color, acidity, and the like, it seems as yet to be the mainstay 

 of all who grow for market ; and so extensively has it been planted, 

 that when the crop of Wilsons is being harvested the markets are 

 literally deluged ^vith its berries, and prices rule low. In Toronto they 

 were retailing at seven cents per basket during part of the season, and 

 were sold in the St. Catharines market as low as four cents. From 

 this, one would infer that those who grow for market might profitably 

 turn their attention to those varieties which ripen either before or 

 after the Wilson, and so secure a better price by avoiding the period 

 when the great rush of the Wilson comes in. Besides this, the public 

 iue fond uf variety, and those who are able to gratify their titste will 



