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



CARDINAL. — (See 

 Bpring of 1905 I bought 100 plants of the Car- ,, 

 dinal; 25 of them were delayed in transit and r«\%* 

 practically of no value, leaving me only about \*jf » s 

 75 good plants with which to make a start. 

 These were given somewhat better attention 

 than the average, and they produced about 

 12,000 plants that were very large and showed 

 great vigor. Any one cannot fail to see that a large, 

 stalky plant that will make 12,000 plants from 75 

 in one season, or almost 200 to the plant, is excep- 

 tionally vigorous. These plants, being propasated 

 for plants only, were not set near any perfect flower- 

 ing variety, and consequently not much in the way 

 of fruit could be expected on the few plants that 

 were left. There were, however, quite a number of 

 clusters which showed qualitv, firmness and beaut v. 

 My opinion is that this variety is all that has besn 

 claimed for it, and I will give below the description 

 written by those who are more familiar with the 

 berry. Geo. J. Streator, the originator, says: 



"In 1906, while working in one of my gardens, which 

 was used alternately for strawberries and vegetables, 

 and in which self-sown seedlings were common, one of 

 them showed remarkable proportions. The seed and 

 second leaves were of unusual size. I* was a little giant 

 among the seedlings: it seemed a little prize then, it has 

 proved a great prize since. Fruiting with a lot of prom- 

 ising seedlings the next season, it surpassed them all. It 

 was the large-it and most vigorous plant. The leaves 

 were large and healthy, making a superb 1 ung system for 

 a plant. A great truss of beautiful bright red berries 

 pushed through the foliage on a stem of remarkable 

 siz-: th a . firm, solid berries were of ideal shape, largeand 

 firm with quality of pronounced flavor. The plant ma- 

 tured them all. After fruiting, the mother plant showed 

 uncommon vitality in the large number of strong pink 

 runner, that made a great cluster of plants. Autumn 

 set plants of these, in comparison with a score of the 

 good old kinds and best new ones, showed great superi- 

 ority. The superior size of the plant', the power to pro- 

 duce runners, the size of the fruit and its great produc- 

 tiveness, makes it a giant among strawberries, and fora 

 time was called Gigantic, but from its color it was after- 

 wards called Cardinal." 



Mr. Crawford, the noted strawberry' grower of 

 Ohio, speaks of it thus : 



"After watching the Cardinal strawberry for three 

 years, my candid opinion is that it is one of ih<* most 

 valuable varieties, and that it will become a favorite 

 when better known. It fruited here this year in a matt 



A. W. Clark, a noted grower of Providence, R. I., 

 speaks of it as follows : 



"The Cardinal produces the most beautiful clusters of 

 berries I have ever seen, during 35 years that I have 

 grown strawberries. They were shown in the window of 

 one of my customers on a principal street in the city, 

 where cr >wds of people halted to admire them. At our 

 Rhode Island Exhibition, I was awarded for the Cardi- 

 nal, first prize for best new variety , first prize for best 

 quart, and the officers of the society were so much 

 pleased with the Cardinal that they awarded me a Cer- 

 tificate of Merit for its large size, good flavor, product- 

 iveness, good color, and long bearing, it being the first 

 time such a certificate had ever bean given the straw- 

 berry by the society. My plants produced berries tor 

 three weeks and the foliage now stands up 12 to 15 inches 

 high, fresh and green." 



I could °:ive numerous more testimonials and 



ed row, aad I think that every p'.ant bloomed, and every opinions, but, as the above is from first-class author- 



mode^ery wly.7nd tSuitVoTselfes e^cr^deVir" ty and my space is limited, I think these already 



able cnaracteristic. Mr. Streatortold us he thought he given will be sufficient. 



could cover an acre with l.OQO plants, and I believe it. I might addthat I haveaverv fine stock of plants, 



It would do you good to see the plants that I planted in • . • r i ^ onnmn u: u „-n ,.li„ i» 



t h e spring: They have far surpassed ,au 5 - other variety consisting of about 200,000. which will, no doubt, 



en the place." all be required to fill my orders this spring. The 



