12 E. W. Townsend S: Co."s Great Crops of 



ft'iven to the piiblie; first — the Climax extra early: .second — the Parson's- 

 Beauty, niediiiiii: third— the Chesapeake, the best and latest berry yet seen. 

 We liave a nice lot of these Chesapeake's— ."iOd.OOO or over— and our price 

 will be $4.00 per 1,000 in thousand lots. We advise each of our customer.s 

 to order at least one thousand of them, if they have the room t<j sjtare, 

 and to order them early, as our locfU customers will jirobably need the 

 the greater part of our supply. We quote discription .niven by W. F. Allen, 

 who first off(M-ed them for sale: 



"This new berry was first offered by me in very small quantities in lOOo. 

 It was originated almost in sight of the Chesapeake Bav, from which it 

 takes its name. It is one of the results of the $100 prize offer which I have 

 been making- several years for the best dozen plants. This variety easily 

 took the premium, although there were over a hundred in competition 

 with it, many of 'which were reallj^ good. This variety is as late as the 

 Gaudy and more productive: furthermore, it will thrive and bear an ele- 

 gant crop on soil entirely too light to produce good Gaudy berries. It is 

 equal to the Gaudy in size, surperior to it in firmness and shipping quali- 

 ties, and in eating qualities the (Jandy is no comparison. In flavor it ranks 

 with William Belt, Burnettee and others of that class. Therefore, in the 

 Chesapeake we have attained to a greater degree than in any other variety 

 three of the strongest points that go to make up a valuable commercial 

 beiTy — these are firmness, quality and lateness. When these good points 

 are added to the fact that it is of uniformly large size, very attractive in 

 appearance and l)eing one the most healthy and vigorous growers, puts it 

 nearer perfection than has yet been reached by any other berry, and I can 

 conscientiously say that if it succeeds in other sections as it does here it is 

 the best strawberry in the world today. I fruited over two acres the past 

 season and the berries Avere mostly all shipped to Bosion, with the excep- 

 tion of a few sample crates to New York. In every instance thej^ brought 

 the top market price, selling one week straight at seventeen cents, which 

 was from two to three cents more than the best Gandy berries weve bring- 

 ing at the same time. Everyone who saw it, both growers and dealers in 

 the fruit, were very enthusiastic. The plant is a strong, upright grower 

 Tvith thick, leathery and very dark green foliage; leaves are almost round 

 and entirely free from rust. The stems or fruit stalks are upright and un- 

 usually strong, holding almost the entire-crop from the ground. This va- 

 riety, in a;ddition to its other good qualities, is unusuafly^asy to pick, and 

 therefore ver.y attractive to pickers, making it easier to get them handled 

 than any other variety. Two of my boys the past season, one 13 years old, 



