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



13 



COMMONWEALTH. — Commonwealth fruited 

 with me the past sea- 

 son and proved to be a very good sort. We picked a 

 good quantity of fine large berries. I do not especially 

 recommend this variety for the South, as I think it is 

 more adapted to the Northern sections, and for best 

 results should be given high culture. When these con- 

 ditions are met it is a very fancy berry. I quote from 

 Mr. Monroe, the originator, as follows : 



"The Commonwealth is the outcome of the desire 

 and an effort to produce a berry that would percep- 

 tibly lengthen the strawberry season. In the Common- 

 wealth we have a berry that is as large as the largest, 

 as productive as any of the largest, as fine flavor, as 

 solid and as dark color as any. It has a smooth sur- 

 face, is very rich and juicy, and has strong staminate 

 blossoms. On the 17th day of July, 1902. as good ber- 

 ries were picked as at any nme during its season. Mar- 

 shall, Glen Mary and McKinley, side by side with it, 

 being gone. The last berries were picked July 22. The 

 plant is a strong grower, not so rank as the Marshall. 

 and a fair plant-maker. The Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society, always ready to recognize special merit, 

 awarded the Commouwealth first prize in competition 

 July 5, 1902. and July 11. 1903." 



James J. H. Gregory, the weil-known seedsman, of 

 Marblehead. Mass.. has this to say 



"I saw the Commonwealth on the grounds of the 

 originator, and a grand sisht it was. The berry is tre- 

 mendously large (14 of those I picked rilled a quart 

 basket), the berri»s are symmetrical in shape, and have 

 a rich, glossy color: the fiesh is red, nearly as dark as 

 the Marshall. It is a great cropper and appears to be 

 hard flesh enough to ship well. One of its most valu- 

 able characteristics is its lateness in maturing, for 

 when I was there. July 2. the large bed, which had 

 bushels of growing fruit, bad to i" 1 searched over very 

 carefully to find a quart of ripe berries." 



C. S. Pratt says: "It is a week later than Sample 

 and a better berry : it will be sold as the Marshall and 

 nine-tenths of the people will nor know the difference." 

 Benj. M. Smith, of Beverly. Mass., well known as a 

 grower of fine Strawberries, and the introducer of the 

 Beverly strawberry, says that he has "watched the 

 Commonwealth carefully on the originator's grounds 

 by the side of all the leading varieties, and for vigc ;■ 

 and plant productiveness and quality of fruit it excels 

 them all." He says it is very late and one of the best 

 he ever saw. 



CLiYlit. — M ins is a very popular berry in some sec- 

 ti"!is. especially in the middle West. We 

 have sold a great many thousand plants of Clyde In 

 Kentucky, v here it seems to lie one of the leading ones 

 for main ern;». Th» Clyde is immensely productive, 

 with fruil nearly as large as the Bubach, and would 

 lie one of the most popular varieties, but for the fact 

 that its foliage sometimes gives way about fruiting 

 time, and there is not sufficient to protect its immense 

 crop of fruit. This deficiency can to a very great ex- 

 tent be overcome by an application of nitrate of soda 

 just before they come in blossom, being careful to put 

 it on when the plants are dry. When this method is 

 followed it is a very desirable variety. 



