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



OUR TESTIMONIALS. 

 pj. Every one of them arp genuine and unso- 



tlieited. That's why I appreciate them so much. I 

 notice that some of the plant catalogues "have 

 ^fe dropped the testimonial feature." They say 



* they get kicks, too. and as they don't want to 

 <« publish these they drop the testimonials. I will 



* speak of the "kicks" elsewhere, but as to my 

 % testimonials, or more properly speaking, my 

 2j "letters of appreciation." I enjoy reading them 

 S; so much, and consider them such good reading, 

 t£ that I want my friends to enjoy reading them 



with me. They are too good to hide, and I 

 only wish I could make room for all of them, but 

 as that would crowd everything else out of my 

 catalogue, I have to console myself with pub- ' 

 lishing a few, and I would be pleased to have I 

 everyone who sees this catalogue read them. 



and the flesh is fully as dark as the surface. It is 

 firm enough for a distant market, and at the same time 

 delicate and tempting. The flavor is sprightly and 

 sweet. The seeds are on the surface, which is so per- 

 fect in texture that the berries can be handled like 

 plums. The Cardinal is not a berry that is surpass- 

 ingly tine in some respects and deficient in others, but 

 a superior all-round variety, adapted to all purposes, 

 all soils, all modes of culture, it ripens with the me- 

 dium sorts, and makes a long season." 



I might add that I have a very line stock of planls. 

 •consisting of over 200,000, all of which will no doubt 

 disappear before the season is over. My plants are 

 ■strong and healthy, and I am confident will please all 

 those who wish to plant this variety. 



CHIPMAN. — This variety has never fruited with 

 me, and I never planted it until last 

 spring. It has made a very good growth and looks 

 ■quite promising. It has been attracting quite a good deal 

 of attention in the strawberry sections of Delaware and 

 Is described by a reliable Delaware grower as follows: 

 "It originated in Sussex county. Delaware, by a grower 

 of over 35 years' experience, and is considered by him 

 the best he ever fruited. It was first planted for field 

 culture five years ago and has always come out ahead 

 •of every other variety planted with it In all kinds of 

 seasons. The plants are strong, upright in growth, 

 large and healthy, with tall, broad, bright, glossy, 

 green foliage that has never shown any sign of rust or 

 disease. It has strong, perfect blossoms, and is a 

 good kind to plant with pistillate varieties. The fruit 

 is very large with large green caps of even size and 

 shape. It begins to ripen four or five days earlier than 

 the Bubach : the color is dark red, bright and glossy. 

 It is very firm, a good shipper, good qualities, and re- 

 tains its bright color a long lime after being picked. 

 In productiveness it is equal to any variety ever 

 fruited — succeeds equally well on light and heavy soil, 

 and it is predicted that it will soon become one of the 

 leading commercial varieties. 



of large size, j)roper shape and good qualities. The 

 plant is a very strong grower, with an abundance of 

 dark green healthy foliage. My attention was first 

 called to this variety by a Western grower, who writes 

 as follows: "Why is it that you Eastern growers do 

 not try the Fremont Williams strawberry? I shipped 

 50 crates to Indianapolis last season and they were 

 pronounced the largest and finest seen in that market. 

 They are fully as late as the Gaudy, and superior to It 

 in size, color and productiveness." The originator 

 speaks very highly of this variety, and indeed, from 

 what I have seen of it, I see no reason why he should 

 not. I consider it very promising and recommend it as 

 worthy of trial. I am so favorably impressed that I 

 am planting a large block of it in my plant beds, as I 

 believe there is going to be a demand for it. 



GOVERNOR ROLLINS. — This variety was 



originated by Ben- 

 jamin M. Smith, of Beverly, Mass., and named in honor 

 of Governor Rollins, of New Hampshire, which was Mr. 

 Smith's native State. The plant is of medium size, 

 healthy and robust, with thick leaves, but has not 

 fruited here. Mr. Smith, the originator, who is very 

 modest in his description, has this to say : "I exhibited 

 GOVERNOR ROLLINS last June at the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society Strawberry Show. It took first 

 prize. The fruit is firm and large, perfect in shape, 

 dark color and fine qualities. The last picking holds 

 out well in size, as all the fruit matures, and it is not 

 a shy bearer." 



BRADLEY. — Not having fruited this variety, I 

 borrow the following description 

 from a New York grower : "A strong, vigorous and 

 productive variety, season late, berry large, good qual- 

 ity and attractive color ; one of the most promising of 

 the new varieties, and one that is attracting more at- 

 tention from visitors than any other." The variety 

 with me has made a splendid growth of strong, healthy 

 planls. 



GILL. — This berry is from Southeastern Ohio. It 

 has made an excellent growth here, but has 

 not fruiled with me. I will, therefore, give you the 

 following description, copied from M. Crawford : "The 

 plant is large, healthy and vigorous, with thick, 

 smooth, dark, glossy green leaves. It makes many run- 

 ners, which root promptly ; the blossom is perfect, and 

 the fruit ripens very early. The reports of the Ohio 

 Experiment Station on this berry for 1904 and 1905 

 and our own observation of it on the Station grounds, 

 convinced us that it would prove a great acquisition to 

 those whose markets demand early berries." The Ohio 

 Experiment Station, which is conservative and reliable, 

 speaks of the berry as follows : "Medium size, shape 

 conical, occasionally broad, conical, and slightly flat- 

 tened ; usually smooth and uniform ; color light red or 

 scarlet ; seeds yellow and prominent ; flesh pink, mod- 

 erately firm ; mild and pleasant quality ; plants making 

 low. compact, vigorous growth ; flowers perfect, and 

 produces in great profusion. In 1905 the GILL was 

 the earliest to ripen at the Station, and the size above 

 the average or early varieties." 



DICKY. — This is a new berry from Yankee Land, 

 being originated by Mr. J. D. Gowing, 

 who originated the Sample. The introducer says : "It 

 is a better berry than the Sample : it is as large and 

 productive and firm : colors all over ; no green tips : 

 very fancy. Sold last season by Hall & Cole, 102 

 Faneuil Hall. Boston, for 12 to 14 cents per quart, and 

 Sample out of the same field sold for 10 and 11 cents. 

 I have been growing strawberries for -10 yars, and I 

 thought I had seen strawberries before, but I have 

 never seen a finer thing in the berry line in my life. 

 The DICKY is a long-season berry, and they are the 

 ones that grow the big crops. Last year it commenced 

 to ripen in Massachusetts the middle of June, and on 

 July IS Mr. Gowing picked five crates of fine fruit." 

 The introducer as quoted above is very enthusiastic 

 over this new berry. It remains to be seen whether or 

 not it will give the satisfaction the Sample has gen- 

 erally done. I have not seen the DICKY fruited ex- 

 cept on spring-set plants; from plants set last spring, 

 however, we had some very nice berries that run from 

 medium to very large, the very large ones being some- 

 what irregular in size. The eating qualities were ex- 

 cellent. The plants are very large, stalky ana healthy. 



The entire stock of plants is very small, but I would 

 advise at least a trial of this new berry, especially for 

 those who want something fine for their home garden 

 or local market. 



FREMONT WILLIAMS.— I fruited this va- 

 riety the past sea- 

 son in a small way and was very much impressed with 

 it. The fruit is exceptionally beautiful in appearance, 



GOLDSBOROUGH.— Originated by A. T. Golds- 

 borough, Washington, D. 

 C, who began some ten or more years ago a series of 

 systematic efforts to produce from seed a variety which 

 should be ideal in both plant and fruit. After seven 

 years of endeavor he was rewarded by the berry which 

 bears his name. My stock of plants was purchased 

 from M. Crawford last spring, and I borrow the follow- 

 ing description from his catalogue : "The shape of the 

 fruit is perfect, also the color, being a waxy light 

 scarlet, with a deeper shade when fully ripe. Its red 

 pulp leaves a red juice in a saucer, like its wild parent 

 in the fields. It is rich, juicy, sweet and fragrant, re- 

 quires no sugar, and is the only early berry I know 

 which can be freely eaten out of the hand. Some of 

 the flowers are perfect, others imperfect. Its dark 

 foliage is so fresh and green, its hidden fruit so red, 

 glossy and sweet, that it is a pleasure to work among 

 the plants. It ripens a little later than the first 

 earlies." 



POPULAR EVERYWHERE. * 



Annapolis Co., N. S., April 22, 1907. 

 ;v W. P. Allen, Salisbury. Md. 



;•- Dear Sir — Plants arrived in good condition ; 

 ;•,- fine plants. If they do not live, it will not be 

 S; your fault. Yours truly, 



| J. S. GATES. 



