W. F. Allen*s Plant and Seed Catalogue, Salisbury, Md. 





ST. LOUIS. — Oi-iginated in Arkansas by Mr. .r. A. 

 Bauer. There is another St. Louis 

 on the marlvct originated by A. T. Goldsborougli, near 

 Washington, D. C but the variety that I am offering 

 is the Southern variety originated by .1. A. Bauer. This 

 variety as grown here malies a very strong, healthy 

 plant,' with plenty of runners, very productive of large 

 berries, considering the early season at which they 

 ripen. They ripened with me the past season fully as 

 early as Excelsior or any of the other very early varie- 

 ties The berries are about the same shape, fully as 

 lar°-e. and almost, if not qnite. as prodiK'tive as the 

 I'averiiiud. But for one weakness. I would prefer this 

 berry to anv of the early ones I have ever seen. It is 

 more productive of laige berries than any of the e.xtra 

 early sorts I have ever grown^ and I ha\e had about 

 all there has been introduced of any importance for the 

 last iwvnty-tive vear>;. The one thing that keeps it 

 from taking first place as an early berry is the fact 

 that it is soft, which practically takes it out of the 

 market as a shipi)iug variety, but for the home table 

 or tor local market, in my .ludgmeut, it leads all the 

 rest In fact, I vi'as so w-ell impressed with it after 

 friiiting it the past spring that, in spite of its sott tex- 

 ture i couid hardly resist planting a field of it tor 

 fruit Mr. Bauer sp»oks of it thus : "There is no berry 

 more' even in size, and one of their strong points is 

 they ripen all of their crop in a ri.ish. not lasting oyer 

 a long season, as many oth"!- 



early berries do. which 



'i"cs'the grower top prices for all the crop, while the 

 irrries that run so long -alv, ays get cheap the latter 

 part of the season. I have grown it with Climax, 

 Klondvke Excelsior. Lady Thomson, and Mitchell s 

 Earlv, and find that the St. Louis is larcer and more 

 productive, vielding more quarts at a picking than any 

 of them The berries haA'e long stems, making them 

 ea4 to 'pick. Season same as Climax and about six 



days later than Excelsior." Now you will notice that 

 Mr. Bauer says the St. Louis is about six days later 

 than Excelsior. As I have often said, there is a great 

 \ ariation in strawberries in different sections, and with 

 me the past season in the same field it Was fully as 

 early as Excelsior or any other variety. To those of 

 mj' customers who want berries for their home garden 

 or want to grow for local market, I can conscientiously 

 recommend this variety, believing that it will give theiD 

 tlie best of satisfaction. You can think of all the good 

 qia.ities desirable in an early berry and you have it in 

 the St. Louis, with the one exception, as stated above 

 — it is soft and will not stand long shipment. 



f 



t 



UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS 

 AND WHY WE PKINT THEM. 



We try very hard to please every customer, 

 and it is a great satisfaction to ns tbat we 

 have come so near reaching the high standard 

 that we have set. During 1000, I ha e had 

 fully loo testimonials to every compUi nt re- 

 ceived. Some of our competitors say they do 

 not intend to publish their "kicks." so will not 

 brag about their testimonials. This is vpry 

 frank, 1 admit, but we work hard to merit the 

 good words of our friends, and we appr elate 

 them, we like to read them, and we like for 

 everybody who gets this catalogue to read 

 tlieju. because thry express in thcr o\.u lan- 

 guage what they thittk of our plants and we 

 want our prospective customers to know what 

 those who have used our plants think of them. 

 Every testimonial in this catalogue s a new 

 one, a live one: and we will gladly furnish the 

 I'. O. address of any of them to any one who 

 wishes to write them about my plants, etc. We 

 believe in our customers and try to tn'at them 

 so well that they accept us as their friends, 

 knowing that it is ray policy to give tliem full 

 value for their money. We know that they 

 aiiprrciate our efforts because "we get hundreds 

 of orders stating that "your plants were rec- 

 ommended to me by Mr. — "So and So," or 

 "my friend. Mr. — told me I could get good 

 plants of W. E. Allen." We want the p.ublic 

 to know what our customers think of us. and 

 whatever others may do, I shall continue to 

 print as many testimonials as I can make 

 room for. so long as they come without solici- 

 tation and express themselves ns being so well 

 pleased with our manner of dealing with them. 



^'i IP YOU ARE IN DOTiBT WHERE TO ♦ 



•J* ORDER, READ THIS AND THEN * 



',i DECIDE. ♦ 



♦ * 



^ Miami Co., Ind., April 21, 1000. ± 



^', W. F. Allen. Salisbury, Md. ^ 



y Dear Sir — ^riants received today in fine con- ^ 



*** dition ; are fine plants. I have ordered thou- ¥ 



';^ sands of plants of you. and they are always t 



t*C fine, and you have pleased me again with fine ^ 



T plants. Thanks for good count. X, 



% Respectfully, X 



^ CHAS. NATION. j^ 



^ DID NOT LOSE 1 IN 1,000. ^ 



X Marion Co., Ind., .June 4, 1000. % 



;i; W. F. Allun, Salisbury. Md. »|» 



£ Dear Sir — I want to thank you for the (lual- ;^ 



& ity of strawberry p'ants you sc^nt. It affords ♦♦♦ 



♦*♦ me pleasure to be able to state that th»y hnve ^ 



f}i made good. I think I am safe in saying that >Jt 



^ not one-tenth of one per cent, liave died at tbi^ ^t 



fk writing; they are forming runners. In fact. I ♦!♦ 



♦J* have never had plants do better, even when a; 



?(i merely taken up from one part of the farm <J» 



^^ and transplanted to another. ^ 



Hi Respectfully, ■►J* 



^ .T. D. MYSEWANDRR. * 



3000 MILES 



AW^.*Y IT 



STORY. 



IS THE SAME 



; Fresno Co., Cal.. Jan. 20, 1000. ^ 



. W. F. .\LLE\'. Salisbury, Md. ♦ 



't Dear Sir — Jly order for plants recei'-ed. and y 



i I bavr ni'i'tu- «!•( n finer p'.ints. They were in v 



► excellent condition. Respectfully. * 



SARAH E. EVANS. * 



