FAIRFAX, DORSETT, AND THE \^ FATHER 



With one exception Fairfax and Dorsett stood 

 up better than Premier under all conditions of 

 unfavorable weather. If it is too hot, too ■wet, 

 or too dry during either growing or fruiting 

 season, or very low winter temperatures Fair- 

 fax and Dorsett hold up better than Premier. 

 Where there is heavy frost or a succession of 

 heavy frosts and freezing weather in blooming 

 time Premier can certainly withstand more than 

 Fairfax and Dorsett. Mr. C. J. "^etmiller of Steu- 

 ben Co., New York, told us that he had seven con- 

 secutive hard frosts on his strawberry rows. , 

 t'nder such conditions Premier produced a fair 

 crop; Fairfax somewhat less total yield, and 

 Dorsett a quite disappointing yield. All of them 

 had many frost nubbins injured but not entirely 

 killed by the frost. However, except where late 

 frosts and freezes at blooming time are a regular 

 thing Fairfax and Dorsett should be planted. 

 They are enough better than Premier under 

 normal conditions even to justify occasional 

 danger from hard frosts and freezes. Drought 

 was a factor over quite a wide area in 1934, but 

 except where coupled with frost or freeze dam- 

 age. Fairfax and Dorsett stood up as i,vell as any 

 and better than most other varieties. 



PERFECT BLOSSOMS 



Both Fairfax and Dorsett have perfect blos- 

 soms, so do not require other varieties for cross- 

 pollenation. Fairfax and Premier both have 

 somewhat more fertile pollen than Dorsett. This 

 fact makes it especially important to keep Dor- 

 sett plants fairly thin on the row as a very thick 

 bed makes conditions unfavorable for complete 

 setting of fruit. 



SEASON OF RIPENING 



Experience for several years previous to 1934 

 showed Dorsett, Fairfax and Premier ripening 

 almost exactly the same day. For some reason, 

 however, in 1934 in many places Dorsett was two 

 or more days later than Premier, and Fairfax 

 two days or more later than Dorsett. Unless 

 more frost damage to early blossoms of Fairfax 

 and Dorsett than to Premier provided the an- 

 swer, we have no explanation. We expect to 

 watch this carefully again this season and report. 

 It hardly seems likely that the habit of six or 

 seven years will be completely changed. We 

 believe a normal season will find Dorsett ripen- 

 ing with Premier and Fairfax not over a day 

 or two later. 



SIZE OF BERRIES 



Under favorable conditions Dorsett and Fair- 

 fax average very large, considerably larger than 

 Premier and Blakemore. They are fully as large 

 as that Aristocrat of all late varieties, the Chesa- 

 peake. In fact, Fairfax resembles Chesapeake 

 very much in size and appearance. 



Cluster of Dorsett Berries 



(.much reduced) 



COLOR OF FRUIT 



Dorsett berries at the proper picking stage are 

 medium light in color and retain their lightness 

 to a very high degree even after they begin to 

 get quite ripe. Fairfax at the proper picking 

 stage is not dark, but becomes quite dark after 

 they get riper, and almost purple for several 

 days before they decay. 1934 experiences in 

 many places showed Fairfax outselling Dorsett. 

 Buyers soon learned that the dark color does not 

 mean decay. At the stage ■svhen Premier and 

 varieties of similar firmness start to decay, Fair- 

 fax merely turns darker for several more days. 



APPEARANCE 



Both Fairfax and Dorsett are beautiful, showy 

 berries. Dorsett will attract some more on ac- 

 count of its lighter color, but Fairfax has prom- 

 inent yellow seeds and a shiny, almost polished 

 skin •ix-hich makes it very rich looking. Both 

 Fairfax and Dorsett look ^-ell in the package 

 and should bring top prices on the markets on 

 showiness alone. 



QUALITY 



Fairfax and Dorsett set new standards of qual- 

 ity. Most people who have eaten both place 

 Fairfax slightly ahead. Practically all, however, 

 state that either of them is superior in quality 

 to any other variety ever introduced. Mr. Orville 

 Ray of Lake County, Ohio, says, "Mrs. Ray and 

 I have both lost our taste for Premier since eat- 

 ing Fairfax and Dorsett." That is the way we 

 all feel here. We predict that there will be a 

 larger consumption of berries after Fairfax and 

 Dorsett replace lower quality kinds. We pre- 

 dict also that on the same market Fairfax and 

 Dorsett will bring a better price than Premier 

 and other early varieties on account of the much 

 better quality. 



FIRMNESS OF BERRIES 



Fairfax and Dorsett berries are both very firm, 

 Fairfax being somewhat the firmer of the two. 

 Blakemore is considered very valuable as a long 

 distance southern shipping berry largely because 

 of its unusual firmness. As compared with 

 Blakemore, Fairfax is slightly more firm and 

 Dorsett slightly less firm. Both of them are 

 much firmer than Premier and are suitable for 

 shipping berries as well as for local market and 

 home use. Furthermore, they are firm enough to 

 stand up better than other varieties where lack 

 of sufficient labor makes it impossible to keep 

 the berries picked closely, and ^'here they are 

 subjected to very wet conditions due to frequent 

 rains. 



FAIRFAX OR DORSETT— WHICH? 



Our answer is, try them both and grow the 

 one that succeeds best for you. Experience this 

 year indicates that in some places Fairfax is 

 best; in others Dorsett is best. Either of them 

 at their best is better than any other early va- 

 riety we have ever grown. We do not believe 

 the darker color of Fairfax is going to be much 

 of a handicap commercially. You will be de- 

 lighted with the quality of either Fairfax or 

 Dorsett. Generally speaking our reports indi- 

 cate that Fairfax may be better when grown in 

 the extreme northern sections and Dorsett some- 

 what better when grown farther South than 

 Virginia or Kentucky. Try them both! They 

 are worth it! Price list, page 33. 



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