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





VIRGINIA.— (See colored plate.) 12,000 quarts 

 per acre is the record made by the Virginia straw- 

 berry at its home in Accomack county Va.,the past 

 season. In point of earliness it was only two or 

 three days later than Excelsior with the originator, 

 and with me it ripened same time as Excelsior, 

 growing si le by side. As above stated, the Virginia 

 is very productive and of a uniform! v large size for 

 an early berry. In the Philadelphia market the past 

 season the Virginia sold for twice as much as other 

 extra early varieties. It is firm enough to make a 

 good shipping berry, and, being uniformly large for 

 an early berrv and a bright g'ossy red color, it can 

 be depended upon to bring top-notch prices; indeed, 

 I believe it to be the best early berry on the market 

 todav, and were I going to plant a large or small 

 patch of early berries, I should p'ant every one 

 Virginia, evcept just enough of some perfect flower- 

 ing variety to pollenize it And right here I want to 

 make a correction. Last season, through an error, 

 the Virginia was listed as a perfect blossom, when it 

 is a pistillate or nearly so. The catalogues were 

 nearly all mailed when the error was discovered. 



This berrv won the .$100 prize contest in 1905, 



over more than a hundred competitors. The prize 



wnet to ci e The?. J. Custis, of Accomack county 



Va.; hence its name, in honor of that 

 grand and historic State. Notwithstand- 

 ing the large number of varieties that 

 were in this contest, any child could easily 

 have selected the Virginia as the best one. 

 A number of persons of more or less 

 prominence who saw this trial plot were 

 asked to give their opinionas to which one 

 was entitled to the prize, and without a 

 single exception they went to this variety. 

 The Virginia is said to be a cross be- 

 tween the great shipping berry, Hoffman, 

 and the world-renowned, large, fancy 

 berry, which is probably the oldest variety 

 on our list today, the Sharpless. This is 

 surely most excellent parentage, and the 

 Virginia in a very large degree combines 

 tbe good qualities and valuable character- 

 istics of both. The foliage, while distinct, 

 is very similar to the former, but is larger 

 and stronger. The plant makes a strong, 

 healthy growth, with plenty of runners, 

 and never shows a spot of rust. Those 

 who want an early berry that is remarka- 

 bly free from disease, good size and good 

 quality, ripening almost, if not quite, as 

 early as the earliest varieties grown, shou'.d 

 not fail to give this berry a trial, whether 

 growing for home use, nerr market or dis- 

 tant shipment. As compared with Climax 

 it is its equal in size and productiveness, 

 quality and healthful vigor of plants, with 

 the added advantage of being earlier and 

 ripening its crop in a shorter season, there- 

 by enabling the grower to get his entire 

 crop off before the glut of mid-season va- 

 rieties invades the markets. 



My contract with Mr. C ustis, 

 the originator, is to the effect 

 that no plants will be disposed 

 of to anybody except myself for 

 two years, and this season I have 

 an excellent stock of my own 

 growing. Enough that I am en- 

 abled to offer this, the best of all 

 earlv varieties, for the low price 

 of S6 per 1000, or $25 for 5,000. 

 know from personal experience that 

 this berry is all right, and you need not 

 hesitate to invest your money in it. 

 THOMPSON'S No. 2.— Has made a very vigorous 

 growth here, with healthy, dark green foliage The 

 originator, Mark T. Thomas, makes the following 

 claims for this berry : "Large size, beautiful color, 

 having the appearance of being varnished; large 

 double cap like the Gandy; immensely productive, 

 the ground being literally covered; owing to the 

 enormous crop of berries, its season is from four to 

 five weeks. Very richest and best quality, best ship- 

 per, has very tough skin, not easily broken by han- 

 dling. It retains its beautifiri dark green foliage all 

 through the season, not a spot of rust, and has a 

 perfect blossom." 



OOM PAUL.— This variety has made a wonderful 

 growth of large healthy plants. It makes enough 

 runners to bed up niclev and the fruit is long, large 

 and sometimes flattened, Color dark red both inside 

 and out; the flesh is quite firm and good quality. 

 I believe this is a variety that is going to give gene- 

 ral satisfaction. The Ohio Experiment Station 

 says : "A fine large berry that has many good quali- 

 ties and worthy of a careful trial for home or mar- 

 ket." 



| ml— *s=^t3 Every Testimonial in this Catalogue is new 

 and genuine (no fakes in them) and they 

 were all sent voluntarily, not one asked for 



