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



23 



IN CONCLUSION, *.•£?£ 



people realize the difficulty in describing a hundred 

 varieties of strawberries without having a great deal 

 of sameness about it. I know there are a great 

 many who criticise the descriptions given of the 

 different varieties of strawberries; I have often 

 heard it, and have often wondered if those who are 

 so free to criticise, cou'd themselves do half as good 

 a job. It must be remembered that while one va- 

 riety is described by the introducer in one stnte 

 as being the best he has ever grown, brin 

 four or five cents more per quart than any other 

 variety, then turning to the next one, will fiud that 

 SDnis other introducer from some otner state has 

 male the same claim for some other variety dcn't 

 forget that it is seldom that any variety makes the 

 same record on different soils. Have you piant" 1 a 

 variety that was perhaps your favorite, and that 

 you considered the best of all varieties, and th°n 

 noticed how much difference there would be in this 

 same berry on your neighbor's farm? Of course 

 every variety cannot be the best with any one per- 

 son, but it can be the best, and more than likely 

 has been the best, with some one. We will take 

 the New Home for instance, which has made me 

 more money as a fruiting berry than any other va- 

 riety, yet I have heard numerous complaints of its 

 not doing well in other places, while others say it is 

 entirely satisfactory, and is as good or better than 

 anything thev have had. I wish to say that in 

 writing mv descriptions, they have been given ex- 

 actly as I have found them on such varieties as I 

 f ru'ted; on those that I have not fruited, I have 

 endeavored to give the best authority obtainable. 

 Tne intention is to help the grower to select what is 

 best suited for his requirements as nearly as we can. 

 The descriptions are just as the berry has been 

 proven to me or to some one else, but this is no 

 guarantee of what it will do for you. 



I earnestly advise that every grower should plant 

 a test plot of a few varieties every year for himself, 

 and in this way he can pick out what is best suited 

 for his soil. At the price most varieties are sold at, 

 it would be very inexpensive, also very interesting 

 and profitable, if every grower, large or small, would 

 test ten or a dozen varieties every year by planting 

 a dozen plants of each in one row of his patch, 

 carefully staking the varieties and noticing results 

 at fruiting season. 



Speaking personally, I am in the strawberry plant 

 business to supply the thousands of growers in this 



"PREMO" DEWBERRY. 

 (Sec Description on page 26J 



country with what they want, and not to boom any 

 one variety, though I am introducing one or two 

 new ones even 7 year. There is not as much profit 

 in this as most growers would imagin--, judging from 

 the extra prices asked for th im, 

 to introduce n berries : i' you are going to 



make them go; and it would be eq la lyas profitable 

 to grow large quantities of stai \ . s if 



everybody knew just what they want. My object 

 in introducing these ne to find some- 



thing bett: r tha i we already have, and it is in the 

 hope th it some of them will ; ;h, that I am 



c i istant'y on the lookout for new ones, and only 

 those that I believe to be verv valuable are ever 

 offered as new vari ie by me. While I have intro- 

 duced six or seven varieties, I have tested several 

 hundred, out of which these were - Among 



my older introductions, which ha v>_ dally 



valuable, are Gien Mar} and New he Glen 



Mary toiav is, no doubt, the mosl a variety 



grown in all sections north of Mason and Dixon's 

 line and in th' West. A ler standard varie- 



yhich Idid not introduce, but in which I played 

 a prominent part in the dissemination and distribu-. 

 tion, are the Bubach, Brandy wine, Haverland, 

 Sample, Senator Dunlap and Wm. Belt; and there 

 are but few growers but what know the value of 

 these varieties. 



In making up our list, it is necessary to include a 

 good many varieties that would beconsidered worth- 

 less in Xew England, but we grow them because we 

 have a trade f )r it in far-away California or in the 

 Bermudas, where that particular variety is consid- 

 ered among the best. We list numbers of varieties! 

 that bv our Southern customers would not be con- 

 sidered wort!, planting; they are the ones that our 

 Xew England growers. Western and Northwestern 

 growers consider the cream of the list. Our list is a 

 long one, not because each person grows so many 

 varieties, but because I wish 1 1 have something 

 from which every grower all over the country may 

 select. My land is light sandy loam and all varie- 

 ties, or that is nearly all, make a splendid growth 

 here with a root system that cannot be surpassed. 

 My stock of plants for 1907 is one of the largest 

 and best that I have ever grown, and to every tiller 

 of the soil that reads this catalogue, I earnestly so- 

 licit your orders; if you:have dealt with me before, 

 you know what my plants are, if you have been 

 dealing elsewhere, and are not satisfied with the 

 stock you have been getting, give me a portion of 

 your order and see ifjmine will not fill the bill. If 



thev do not com- 

 pare favorably 

 with those you have 

 been receiving, I do not 

 ask you to continue hiring 

 from me. I have scattered! 

 a few testimonials along 

 through this catalogue, to 

 which I would especially 

 call your attention ; many 

 ggflall more could be given if space 

 ^3J53B^ permitted; and last but not 

 _ least, I wish to thank the 

 ^flHp*3 thousands of people who 

 |||^3|p8| dealt with me last \ i ar and 

 made it in man}- respects 

 one of the best seasons I 

 have ever experienced. 

 Again thanking you all for 

 your most liberal patronage, 

 I am, Very truly yours, 

 W. F. ALLEN. 



