Premier — Has Not Missed a Crop in Over 20 Years 



remier 



Premier was introduced in 1915. It has so many good qualities that it spread in popular favor 

 very rapidly, soon replacing most other early berries except in the far West and far South. 

 Premier is still recognized as the one early berry which any new variety has to surpass in order 

 to become established. For sheer hardiness and persistence in producing a crop every year regardless 

 of conditions no variety, early or late, ranks with Premier. It is a sure cropper, widely adapted 

 and tremendously productive. At their best Dorsett and Fairfax will equal Premier in productive- 

 ness and surpass it in quality, size and appearance of the berries. However, Premier will produce 

 satisfactory crops under severe conditions that have cut the production of both Dorsett and Fairfax. 

 We think growers who raise strawberries regularly should try out Dorsett and Fairfax with 

 cultural practices suited to those varieties. The possibilities of them are too great to overlook. 

 However, we think growers who have made money consistently with Premier should continue to 

 grow it for their main crop until others prove superior by actual test. Premier is a grand old 

 variety, well worth the high place given it. 



Vigor and Health of Plant Growth 



The foliage growth of Premier is very healthy, 

 [n most localities it makes an ample growth for 

 i good fruiting bed. In fact in some places it 

 ^ets entirely too thick; in others it does not make 

 ;nough plants. It has been suggested that the 

 .vide adaptability of Premier is apparently re- 

 ated to its rather limited production of runner 

 nants, and those produced early in the season, 

 improvement in yield and grade of Premier 

 )erries from proper spacing of plants (see page 

 .4) will probably not be as marked as with freer 

 growing- varieties like Dorsett, Fairfax and 

 31akemore, although we believe some attention 

 o spacing the plants will pay even with Premier. 



Size and Productiveness 



Year after year under all conditions Premier 

 s probably the most productive variety ever in- 

 roduced. Under favorable conditions Dorsett 

 md Fairfax, as well as Catskill and Aberdeen, 

 vill equal or surpass Premier in total quarts per 

 tcre. "With Premier, so many berries are set that 

 n a dry season, especially where hard frosts 

 lave not reduced the set, the average size toward 

 ne last end of the crop run down much faster 

 nan Fairfax or Dorsett. 



Color and Appearance 



, Premier berries are a medium red in color, get- 

 ing quite dark as they get riper. They have a 

 leaium size green cap which generally stays 

 reen throughout the season. They are very 



handsome in appearance, and show up well in the 

 package. 



Firmness 



Premier berries are moderately firm. They will 

 hold up for local market and snipping consider- 

 able distances by truck. They go down very 

 quickly when shipped under ice. They are not as 

 firm as Blakemore, Bellmar, Missionary, or Klon- 

 dyke. Fairfax and Dorsett are both much firmer 

 and in home garden or commercial planting will 

 stand up in a fruiting season that is very wet or 

 very hot much better than Premier. 



Quality 



Premier berries are of good quality. They rank 

 up well with most of the old standard varieties, 

 but are not quite as good as Wm. Belt or Chesa- 

 peake. They are far inferior in this respect to 

 Dorsett and Fairfax, but for markets where 

 quality is not considered they sure do produce 

 the quarts. 



Resistance to Frost Injury 



Here is where Premier stands supreme. Not 

 since 1915, when it was first introduced, has 

 Premier failed to give at least a fair crop regard- 

 less of frosts or freezes. Premier seems to be 

 practically frostproof and on this account alone 

 it will continue to be grown in many sections for 

 a long time. Probably not in fifty years has there 

 been a year like 1934, which would give Premier 

 a chance to prove that in resisting late frosts and 

 freezes, if in no other way, Premier is superior to 

 Fairfax and Dorsett. Price list, page 33. 



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