24 



W. F. ALLEN'S PLANT AND SEED CATALOGUE. 



WilSiam Belt.— This variety 

 was introduced some eight or ten 

 years ago and at the time was 

 lauded very highly and many 

 plants were sold. The berry, 

 however, is subject to rust, and 

 for a time growers seemed to 

 have lost faith in it on this 

 account, but for the last few 

 years there has been more and 

 more demand, until the past sea- 

 son it was impossible to fill the 

 orders for it. The superb qual- 

 ity, the equal of which has not 

 yet been attained in any other 

 late variety, makes it very popu- 

 lar for the home garden and 

 local market. I know of but one 

 other variety that will approach 

 it in quality, of It -3 season, and 

 that is the new Chesapeake, 

 which the growers have not an 

 yet had opportunity to test. I 

 am pleased to announce to my 

 customers that this season I ex- 

 pect to have enough Wm. Belt 

 to go around. 



In Conclusion I wish to say 

 that in reading the descriptions 

 of one hundred varieties of 

 strawberries which I have list- 

 ed this year, our readers will no 

 doubt feel that there is a good 

 deal of sameness about the de- 

 scriptions. The terms, best, 

 latest, earliest, most productive, 

 etc., will be seen in the de- 

 scription of a great many varieties. It must 

 be remembered, however, that many of these 

 descriptions are quoted, and that what is 

 best with one person may not be with 

 another. It has often happened that what 

 is earliest in one locality is not the earliest 

 somewhere else. Varieties that do their 

 best with me frequently are no favorite 

 with my neighbors, and vice versa. The de- 

 scriptions, where I have fruited the varieties 

 personally, are as I have found them here, 

 truly and honestly described; where I have not 

 -fruited the varieties, some other grower has 

 been quoted, and .when doing this, I have tried 

 always to use the best authority to be had. I 

 .-am often asked what is the best berry to plant. 

 To that question no one can give a positive 

 answer. The only thing to do is to recom- 

 mend varieties that do well generally over a 

 large area of country. All growers should test 

 several varieties which seem nearest to meet 

 their requirements from the catalogue descrip- 

 tion and see for themselves which does the best 

 with them. My stock of plants for 1906 is un- 

 questionably as fine as I have ever grown. My 



selection of varieties is fifty per cent larger 

 thau 1 have ever offered before. I wish to 

 thank the thousands of friendj who have been 

 so liberal in patronizing me with their plant 

 orders in the past and wish to say that I shall 

 use every effort to please all who shall favor 

 me in future. In addition to strawberry plants, 

 I am now offering almost a full line of veg- 

 etable and field seeds. In these, as with the 

 strawberry plants, I shall always endeavor to 

 serve those who favor me with their orders 

 with the best. The seeds that I have not grown 

 myself have been grown for me by experienced 

 growers in the locality where that special va- 

 riety seems to mature best. By supplying my 

 customers with the best is the only way that 

 I can hope to make the business a success, and 

 whatever may be my future determination, it 

 is now my intention to make the plant and seed 

 business a lifetime occupation. Trusting to re- 

 tain the patronage of all my old customers and 

 to gain the confidence and patronage of many 

 thousands of new ones, which I shall ever 

 strive to merit, I wish you all. a prosperous 

 future. 



