DORSETT 



FINEST 



WE'VE SEEN I 



^N 51 YEARS/ 



FAIRFAX 



These varieties have shown us more real value than any other early berries 

 we have seen in our 51 years' experience. In our 1934 Berry Book we stated 

 prominently that we believed Dorsett and Fairfax afforded the greatest oppor- 

 tunity to cash in on something new and better than we had seen in all our 

 experience. We followed our convictions and planted heavily of both varieties. 

 While we acknowledged that the 1935 fruiting season was favorable there, the 

 facts are that in 1935 we picked more berries, better berries, obtained greater 

 yields per acre, beat the market price more and made a greater net profit per 

 acre and in total than in any year of our 51 years. Furthermore, while we freely 

 admit that some reports of both Borsett or Fairfax were not favorable as to 

 productiveness, yet we can state truthfully that we have had more favorable 

 comments from either of these two varieties and Catskill than we have ever had 

 from any other variety in the first year or two of fruiting. No variety, not even 

 Premier, does well everywhere and under all conditions, but these good reports 

 of Borsett and Fairfax come from all over the country, as you will note by read- 

 ing some of the letters from enthusiastic growers. We will discuss in com- 

 parison with each other and with Premier some of the characteristics which 

 make Borsett and Fairfax so valuable. 



Origin 



Both Fairfax and Dorsett are seedlings of the 

 Premier (Howard 17) and Royal Sovereign, an 

 old English variety of high dessert quality. 

 Fairfax has been grown since 1925, Dorsett since 

 1923. They were originated by Dr. George M. 

 Darrow and his assistants in the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and were selected from 

 fields containing thousands of seedlings from 

 scientific crosses, several hundred of which had 

 the same parentage. 



Healthy Foliage 



No varieties have healthier foliage. Vigorous; 

 it is hard to find a trace of disease on them and 

 the leaves stand up strong and fresh clear 

 through the fruiting season. 



Vigor of Plant Growth 



Dorsett and Fairfax stand out in any group 

 of varieties for the vigor of growth, although 



Dorsett usually makes more plants than Fair- 

 fax. Under favorable conditions both varieties 

 make far too many plants, Dorsett especially. 

 Some attention to spacing and limiting the 

 plants formed (three to six per square foot is 

 recommended) will pay with both varieties, and 

 under good growing conditions is almost a 

 necessity with Dorsett if good results are to be 

 obtained. 



Productiveness 



Fairfax — Fine for Profit and Pride 



Dorsett and Fairfax produce tremendous crops 

 of berries when grown right. Our own records 

 show them more productive than Premier and 

 many of our reports from growers show that 

 others have found Dorsett or Fairfax or both 

 equal or superior to Premier in this respect. In 

 other reports Dorsett and Fairfax, though hardly 

 equal to Premier in productiveness, do equal or 

 surpass it in profit on account of the greater 

 value of the berries. Still others find Dorsett 

 and Fairfax, or especially Dorsett, lacking in 

 productiveness under some conditions where 

 Premier comes through with a crop. To assure 

 satisfactory production we would say the most 

 important thing is to limit the over-production 

 of runner plants. The plants that are left will 

 then build up a large leaf area per plant in the 

 fall and strong crowns from which big crops of 

 berries are produced. If this is done both varie- 

 ties can make far better use of fertilizers applied 

 in late summer or early fall when fruit bud for- 

 mation is taking place. Fairfax makes a strong 

 bloom with plenty of pollen and just as high an 

 average of perfect blossoms as Premier. Dor- 

 sett naturally has a larger percentage of false 

 blossoms than either Fairfax or Premier. Under 

 unfavorable conditions due to frosts, over-crowd- 

 ing, etc., some of these blossoms do not live at 

 all or else survive and produce nubbins. If 

 severe spacing is practiced and nitrogen fer- 

 tilizers are applied in the fall it seems likely that 

 fruit bud formation will be encouraged and 

 stronger blossoms formed which will help as- 

 sure tremendous crops the following season. An 

 occasional criticism of Fairfax has been that 

 although the first berries are extra large in size, 

 some of the later berries run down almost as 

 bad as Premier. With these also there is some 

 evidence to indicate that spacing the plants and 

 applying nitrogen fertilizers in late summer will 

 help materially in making all the berries large. 

 It is the number of leaves per plant in the fall 

 which determines the size of the crop the follow- 

 ing- year (see page 15), and plants cannot make 

 lots of leaves if they are over-crowded. 



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