HARRISON'S NURSERIES, BERLIN, MD. 



GLADSTONE— In offering this new variety we submit the following authorities: 



From the Rural New- 

 Yorker. 



The Gladstone; A 

 Strawberry of Great 

 Promise. At the 

 Home of the Old 

 Sharpless. 



(Editorial Correspond- 

 ence.) 

 On June 8, the Rural 

 New-Yorker received of 

 F. F. Merceron, Cata- 

 wissa. Pa., a package of 

 the new Gladstone straw- 

 berries. They were 

 shipped June 6, and 

 reached New York in ex- 

 cellent condition. Mr. 

 Mei ceron wrote that the 

 beriies ripened with 

 Miehers Early. They 

 were remarkably large, 

 some of them measuring 

 2>^ inches in diameter. 

 The color was medium 

 red with red flesh, and 

 they were of a high and 

 spicy quality. i\s socu 

 aswe saw these berrieswe 

 were cert<iin that there 

 was a variety of great 

 value, as judged by the 

 thousands of varieties 

 tested at the Rural 

 grounds. As early as 

 Michers Early, as large 

 as liubach, and of high 

 quality. What moro 

 could a strawberry grow- 

 er ask? In order to see 

 the G ladstone growing at 

 home, I visited Cata- 

 wissa, June 17, and saw 

 the berry growing on Mr. 

 nr A-Tkcrrr^ATT:' Merceron's grounds. As 



GijAUb±urM b,. ig ^yQi[ known. Catawissa 



is the home of the famous Sharpless strawberry; in fact, Mr. Merceron at one time owned the 

 ground on which the Sharpless was originated. It is not often that the lightning strikes twice 

 in the same place, and thousands of new varieties of strawberries have past-ed out of view, 

 while the old Sharpless is still earning money for its owner. I believe, however, that the Glad- 

 stone is to make almost as good a reputation as the Sharpless; in other words, it wili crowd the 

 Sharpless out, if any variety succeeds in doing so. Mr. Merceron began picking the Gladstone 

 June 1. Sharpless gave its first picking June 8. At the time of my visit, there was more fruit 

 on the Gladstone than on good plants of the Sharpless in a near-by field. Mr. Merceron contin- 

 ued to pick Gladstone June 24. This gives an idea of the remarkable season of fruiting of this 

 berry. As fruited at Catawissa I found the Gladstone of darker color than the Sharpless, and, 

 to my taste, much better in flavor. Some idea of its vigor may be learned from the fact that 

 the original vine which was found in Mr. Merceron's garden produced the first year 110 plants, 

 which have formed the basis for his stock. 



Through that part of Pennsylvania, Sharpless has been 1 he ideal berry for market. Of 

 late years, however, it has not produced as v/ell as formerly, and growers have begun to hunt 

 for a successor. Local growers who have seen the Gladstone are practically unanimous in say- 

 ing that this berry is destined to fill the shoes so long and usefully worn by the Sharpless. I 

 found the plant growing on ordinary hillside soil. They had not, apparently, been forced ex- 

 cessively. Mr. Merceron said that they had dug up gooseberry bushes, and worked in chicken 

 manure, and that was all. The Gladstone is only a chance seedling, as are many of our im- 

 proved varieties of fruit. For about 40 years Mr. Merceron has been interested in fruits and 

 horticulture. During that time he has tried repeatedly to secure a new variety of strawberry, 

 but never found anything worth giving to the public until the Gladstone made its appearance. 

 He is now an old man, but as young in spirit as ever. The Gladstones are growing in the gar- 

 den where he can look through the window upon them. ''You do not know," he said, "how I 

 have enjoyed sitting here watching these plants. They have grown and developed far beyond 

 my expectations, and now I believe that we have a variety with the good qualities of the old 

 Shari)less and many better ones in addition." He says that he named the Gladsone after one 

 of the greatest men of the century— one who made the world better, and whose life kept up its 

 vigor and strength from young manhood to old age. Of course, one can not tell just how the 

 (rladstone will behave away from its native place; but as it grows and fruits there, it is cer- 

 tainly one of the great varieties that appear twice in a lifetime, head and shoulders above the 

 crowd, and ^ble to raaiutain its position. The Gladstone is a color-bearer, or all the signs fail. 



H.W.C, 



