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EARLIDAWN Eatliest of aii 



Five Days earlier than Blakemore and Premier 



Originated at Beltsville, Md. in 1947 by the U.S.D.A. Earlidawn is a cross of 

 Midland and Tennessee Shipper. First selected in 1948, it was tested for several 

 years as U.S. 3939 and released for introduction in the fall of 1956. Since that time 

 Earlidawn has been quite widely tested. It has made excellent yields in Indiana, 

 Ohio, Missouri, Maryland, Long Island, N. Y., and other states. 



From Kentucky W. W. Magill writes, "In 1960 

 one of our growers had 1,000 plants each of 

 several varieties on yield tests. In 195S, the 

 planting year, weather was good and all 



year the Lord only knows what kind of yield 

 we would have had. Here is what we did get: 



varieties made a fine growth. In 1960, just as 

 berries started to ripen, the ground was so dry 

 that you could put the palm of your hand in the 

 cracks of the soil in many places. Irrigation was 

 impossible. No water. If. we had had a rainy 



Earlidawn 



Dixieland 



Tennessee Beauty 



Pocahontas 



Surecrop 



Blakemore 



10,112 qts. per acre 

 8,736 qts. per acre 

 7,104 qts. per acre 

 5,648 qts. per acre 

 4,848 qts. per acre 

 4,624 qts. per acre 



The official U.S.D.A. release tells the Earlidawn story: 



"The ripening season of Earlidawn is about 5 days before Blakemore and Howard 

 17 (Premier). Earlidawn is the earliest of all to ripen. Its flower stems are short and 

 the flowers are well covered by leaves to protect them from frost. It has escaped frost 

 even better than Premier. The berries average large in size and maintain large 

 average size throughout the picking season. The color of the berries is strong to vivid 

 red, a little deeper than the Blakemore color. They are glossy, have a moderately 

 tough skin, and are firmer than Premier, Catskill and Sparkle, about as firm as 

 Pocahontas and less firm than Blakemore. The seeds are slightly sunken. The 

 berries are fairly uniform in shape and their flavor is tart and good." 



Compared with Premier, Earlidawn berries are equally as large, brighter in color, 

 firmer, equal in quality (although more tart), much better shippers, better for process- 

 ing and apparently just as hardy as frost proof Premier. With us in real dry seasons 

 Earlidawn has been the heaviest producer on our list, although under those condi- 

 tions average berry size is not large. Earlidawn ha been rated very high for freezing 

 quality. 



Usually rather shy in plant making, our Earlidawn beds this year have made a 

 very fine growth. We have lots of good plants and feel that every grower in the 

 middle and northern states interested in real early berries should plant Earlidawn. 

 Price List page 32. -^ 

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