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



CARDINAL.. — Thp demand for this plant last 

 spring was so great that before I 

 knew it even - plant was dug up and shipped away, 

 although I intended to leave some for fruiting, and 

 therefore I cannot give you my personal description 

 of the variety, except that it is a fine growing, healthy 

 plant. I clip the following tiom my 1906 catalogue : 



In the spring of 1905 I bought 100 plants of the 

 Cardinal : 25 of them were delayed in transit and 

 practically of no value, leaving me only about 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. Anyone 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 exceptionally vigorous. These plants, being 

 propagated for plants only, were not set near any per- 

 fect flowering 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 quality, firmness and beauty. 

 My opinion is that this variety is all that has been 

 claimed for it, and I will give below the description 

 written by those who are more familiar with the berry. 

 George J. Streator, the originator, says : 



"In 1006. 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. It 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 promising seedlings the next season, it sur- 

 passed them all. It was the largest and most vigorous 

 plant. The leaves were large and healthy, making a 

 superb lung system for a plant. A great truss of beau- 

 tiful bright red berries pushed through the foliage on a 

 stem of remarkable size: the firm, solid berries were 

 of ideal shape, large and firm, with quality of pro- 

 nounced flavor. The plant matured them all. After 

 fruiting, the mother plant showed uncommon vitality 

 in the large number of strong pink runners 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 superiority. The superior 

 size of the plants, the power to produce runners, the 

 size of the fruit and its great productiveness, makes it 

 a giant among strawberries, and for a time was called 

 Gigantic, hat from its color it was afterwards called 

 Cardinal." • 



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 crowds of people halted to admire them. 

 At our Rhode Island exhibition I was awarded for the 

 Cardinal 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 been given any straw- 

 berry by the society. My plants produced berries for 

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

 inches high, fresh and green." 



The following I borrow from M. Crawford's cata- 

 logue : 



"Cardinal (Imp.l — Probably this has been more 

 prominently before the public for the last two years 

 than any other berry. It was originated, or rather 

 discovered, in 1896, by Mr. George J. Streator, a well- 

 known Ohio horticulturist, now in California, and in- 

 troduced two years ago by the Templin Company, of 

 Calla. Ohio. We have been familiar with this splen- 

 did berry for four years, and our faith in it lives and 

 grows. The plant is perfect, large and luxuriant, and 

 ?ends out many sturdy runners, which take root read- 

 ily and make strong plants. The leaves are smooth 

 and handsome, and very large and thick, furnishing 

 abundant shelter for the blooms and berries. The fruit 

 is large, thou-h not the largest, nearly round, obtusely 

 pointed, and beautifully smooth and uniform. The 

 color is a rich, brilliant red — no white or green tips — 



