June, 1909 
unless you may allow me to praise one of my 
own productions, the King Philip. Both of 
these varieties are absolutely hardy; Eldorado 
is rather more sprawling in its growth, and 
its berry is a trifle larger; but for cropping 
King Philip is decidedly ahead. With either 
of these it is hardly worth your while to plant 
Snyder, which is perfectly hardy and very pro- 
ductive, but rather easily runs to small berries. 
Most of the other sorts, notwithstanding what 
the advertisers say, are not proof against a 
severe freeze. Rathbun and some of the others 
sprawl everywhere and easily kill back. 
It is not at all easy. to make out a satisfac- 
tory list of strawberries. I keep a test bed for 
thirty or forty sorts, and do not any way keep 
up with the new claimants for attention. I 
can give you a list that has stood the test for 
several years, and leave the newest ones for 
you to add as you please. It is one of the 
pleasures of strawberry growing to test new 
sorts comparatively. For (1) select Wm. 
Belt, a large, handsome and productive berry, 
of excellent quality. The growth is fine, and 
the fruit is given without demanding more 
work than the compensation. It is a grand 
sort every way. For (2) select Sample, a 
berry of large size and excellent quality, while 
the plant is strong and healthy. For (3) you 
may take Senator Dunlap, only you must look 
cut to keep the runners within bounds. It 
is a great bearer of fine fruit, provided your 
rows do not get too matted. Now for very 
early plant Earliest, the best really early berry 
that we have. Most of the early sorts are 
sour or small. I will add, that of the new 
berries the two best that I have tested are 
Stevens and Abington, while Cardinal is un- 
questionably something great. But when you 
get into strawberry planting you will have 
some new great things every year. In the 
South I am planting Climax and Goree, with 
great satisfaction, while the old Bubach has 
renewed its youth in our sandy soil. If you 
do not intend to pay much attention to your 
strawberry bed and will confine yourself to 
cne sort, Wm. Belt is good enough for any- 
body. “There are some remarkable sorts, that 
respond with huge berries for constant atten- 
tion and high fertilization. I dislike to pass 
by a lot of noble sorts that I have cultivated, 
and still intend to cultivate. Your strawberry 
bed must be as clean as your kitchen floor; it 
must be fertilized with absolutely clean com- 
post; that is, you must not put on it manure 
that is full of seeds; you must renew it at 
least every second or third year; you must 
provide some way of irrigating it, if on a dry 
slope. The best way is to have pipes running 
through the ground with jet holes, and stop 
cock above, which can be turned to let on the 
water when needed. Never sprinkle your bed. 
It does more harm than good. 
I grow currants for market, but I grow 
them also because they are the most important 
of the small fruits for home use. The currant 
bush always went with the pioneers from 
Massachusetts and Connecticut westward. 
Every settler had a few currant bushes if 
nothing else. The bush will give you some 
returns if neglected, but to do its noblest it 
needs to be well fed. Cut out the old wood 
when it gets brittle, and keep the new suckers 
cut out, excepting a few of the best to take the 
place of the old canes. I have made careful 
test of most of the new sorts, and I have also 
started a large number of new seedlings. Of 
these the handsomest bush is London Market, 
which forms a little tree, and suckers very 
little. This currant is a very handsome bright 
red. It gives about three quarts to a well 
grown bush. Fay is a larger currant, and very 
closely resembles La Versailles. The currant 
is about the size of Cherry, but the Cherry 
bush is brittle, and seldom prolific. Fay yields 
(Continued on page xxii.) 
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