22 



W. F. Allen s Plant and beea catalogue, ocuiauuiy 



RED BIRD— 'Hi is ts a valual !e new early markel 

 berry which comes from Mis " isipp 



It was highlv recommend .1 lo me ;i'id 1 was il duced 

 to set a few plants aboul three years ago. and was sal 

 Isfied from the first that h was a ral table addition to 

 mv list n is one of the he rriesl plants thai I have 

 ever handled. At this writing (December li the rmea 

 are still green and show very Utile indications ol cold 

 weather." I paid no special attention to the variety 

 until it came in fruit in May, 1007. There was no 

 extra care given to the variety. bu1 simply held cul- 

 ture I had on" ions row which showed up so well 

 that one customer who saw it bought 50,000 plants on 

 the spot. The same party, by the way. has Just 

 ordered 05.000 more plants for next spring. The berry 

 is very tart and would not he considered good eating 

 without plenty of sugar, but as a first early snipping 

 berry, so far as I know of, it has no equal. I shall not 

 give" you a long detail description of the Red P.ird. hut 

 will give von the facts as I have seen them. The fruit 

 will average larger than the Excelsior, and will hear 

 just twice' as much per acre, and when I say twice as 

 much I mean two quarts where the excelsior will bear 

 one. It is one of the heartiest plants that I have ever 

 grown. It is a pistillate variety and the earliest pis- 

 tillate varietv that has ever been on the market. It 

 would have to be fruited with some varieties like Ex- 

 celsior, Texas, Early Hathaway, or some very early 

 bloomin" varietv. With me ii was just as early as 

 Excelsior, and by the second and third picking it gave 

 me twice as manv berries to the row. If I were set- 

 ting out a large patch of early berries for market and 

 wanted the earliest that I could get, I should plant all 

 Red Bird, with the exception of the staminate rows 

 planted to fruit it. 



GEEN MAKYH introduced this variety twelve 

 years ago at $10.00 per 100. 

 Throughout New England and the vVesI 11 is the lead- 

 ing berry of the list today. We 11 more plants of it 

 year in 'and year out than a — variet: that we grow. 

 I do not recommend it for this peninsula, or for the 

 South but for New England. I ind Northwest, l 



doubt if there is any variety that will equal it in every 

 respect It is only semi-staminate, bu1 ■< its blossoms 

 carry enough t>ol"l»n to fruit i f ^ own berries, it is 

 listed as a staminate variety, but I would not recom- 

 mend it to plant with pistillate varieties as a pollen- 

 lzer They are big. dark red beautn - with prominent 

 seeds of bright vellow : the meat is rich and juicy and 

 crimson in color. They are of such 1 igh flavor that 

 when once eaten more are wanted. As a goou, firm 



shiper it is very popular: for fancy local market there 

 are few, if any, better. For this reason they are pop- 

 ular with both the large and small growers, it has 

 no particular choice of soils, aim does not require 

 pettin" The roots are long and well-developed, pro- 

 viding pl"ntv of moisture during a drought. The foliage 

 is large upright in growth, dark green in color, leaves 

 nearly round with dark glossy surface, making a beau- 

 tiful appearance in (lie field. The fruit stems, although 

 large and srrone, are weighted lo the ground by the 

 laree clusters of berries; for this reason they should 

 be well mulched to keep them clean. The berries are 

 iust the rigM size to make a tine appearance in the 

 crate and von do not have to he timid about asking a 

 big price for them, as everyone will pay extra to get 



