PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 307 



No. 4. IfcAvoifa Superior.—Uodereite bearer, too tender and juicy to bear 

 carriage to market, defective in ordinary fertilization. 



No. 5. Hovey.—K large and very fair berry, not of high flavor, and declared 

 to be very unproductive at Rochester and other localities. 



No. 6. Burr's Pine. — Quite small, poor bearer, weak, miserable grower, 

 plant tender. 



Here are the six varieties which Your Committee selected (three of which 

 Committee had Strawberry plants for sale), and as they had more plants of 

 the Wilson to sell than of any other variety, it was quite rational that 

 their admiration should fix upon that as No. 1. I analyzed this selection 

 and demonstrated their failure at the time, but there were few persons on 

 the Committee competent to make a judicious selection, and Prof Huntsman, 

 the best informed on the subject, told me afterwards that his opinions 

 stood no chance of adoption. 



At the present time no intelligent Fragarian would dare to recommend 

 more than one of these six Varieties for general cultivation and that one 

 has defects; and as a consequence of these injudicious selections, the 

 Market growers have lost four years' time, and have now to begin anew in 

 their labors. 



I notice that the " Fruit Growers' Club," which seems to be comprised of 

 many of the same gentlemen who assemble here, together with some who 

 know far less of Horticulture and Pomology, have recently recommended 

 " Six varieties for general cultivation." I should be glad to alwaj^s see 

 published with such Reports, the names of the Committee that recommend- 

 ed them. 



The following comprise their list: 



No. 1, Triomphe de Gand, a Pine variety that is very prolific in plants; 

 and therefore the most profitable to the Nurseryman, but one of the mean- 

 est and least productive of its class as to fruit. Being better than the sour 

 Wilson and the ordinary Scarlets, and very large, the persons whose know- 

 ledge has been confined to such only, give to it their approval, although it pos- 

 sesses neither sweetness nor perfume, and will never produce over one-third 

 the quantity per acre that the prolific varieties will yield. Why, Sir, it is 

 recorded in your Transactions for 1861, page 98, that Mr. Fuller stated here 

 that this plant would produce four hundred bushels to the acre. He also 

 said he believed that twice as many Strawberries could be raised upon an 

 acre as of Potatoes, and as we know that four hundred bushels of Potatoes 

 have been raised, this would make the product of Strawberries eight hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre. He further said that he could raise six hundred 

 bushels to the acre, and had raised at that rate ! Now, Sir, I defy the proof 

 that one hundred bushels of the Triomphe de Gand were ever grown on an 

 acre, or that three hundred bushels of any kind of Strawberry were ever 

 produced on an acre. These statements are utter delusions ! The Tri- 

 omphe de Gand like the Wilson throws out a mass of blossoms two-thirdf? 

 of which never perfect a berry. On the Triomphe the berries ripen gradu- 

 ally, very few at a time, thus enhancing the expense by numerous pick- 

 ings. It must be grown in hills, on rich soil, and with much more expense 

 than the Scarlet and Iowa varieties. Persons who are ignorant of the 

 best Pines cling to this inferior variety, but their further experience will 



