blakem 



Early- Solid-Productive 

 A Great Shipping Berry 



Blakemoee is a recent introduction by the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. It is a seedling of Missionary and Premier. It is 

 primarily a long distance Southern shipping berry but has done well 

 as far north as southern New Jersey and southern Pennsylvania. 

 As a shipping berry for the South we feel that it should almost com- 

 pletely replace Missionary and Klondyke except in Florida, where 

 Missionary is the leader. 



Points of Greatest Value 



Growth. Blakemore makes a vigorous, healthy- 

 growth. In fact it will make more plants than 

 any variety on our list under a wide variety of 

 soil conditions. The foliage is healthy and 

 stands up well throughout the fruiting season. 



Productiveness. Blakemore is sufficiently pro- 

 ductive. There are a few varieties which are 

 slightly more productive, but Blakemore ranks 

 very high in this respect. Our trial plots yielded 

 at the rate of over 10,000 quarts per acre last 

 year. 



Firmness. The berries are very firm and will 

 stand shipping long distances and go into market 

 in excellent condition. This factor is very im- 

 portant when shortage of help or unusually wet 

 weather delays picking. In dry years especially, 

 Blakemore berries will hang on the vines several 

 days in good condition. Even in wet years they 

 stand up better than most of the others. 



Color and Attractiveness. Blakemore berries 

 are very light in color and rank 100 in attractive- 

 ness. They are very pretty and usually sell well. 



Size and duality. In average size, Blakemore 

 berries are somewhat smaller than Premier and 

 considerably smaller than Dorsett and Fairfax. 

 The eating quality of the fresh fruit is rather 

 tart, but it is very well liked by the cold pack 

 men and for canning and preserving. For these 

 uses the tartness seems to be no drawback. 



Cautions 



Thinning. Blakemore makes so many plants 

 that they must be kept thinned. In dry years 

 especially if this is not done the size of the 

 berries will be disappointingly small. 



In the North. Tn spite of one favorable report 

 on Blakemore from Connecticut, we want to 

 caution growers in the North not to plant Blake- 

 more heavily before trying them out in a small 

 way. We have had several very unfavorable re- 

 ports about it from New York, Massachusetts, 

 Minnesota and other Northern states. For Mary- 

 land, Virginia and sections of similar latitude or 

 further South, Blakemore is very promising. 

 Some growers in those sections like Blakemore 

 even better than Premier. Price list, page 35. 



RBLLItlAB 



A Fancy Early 

 Shipping Berry 



Like Blakemore, Bellmar was developed by the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. It is also a cross of Premier and Missionary. We 

 have grown Bellmar for several years. The results in our trial plots 

 for the past two years, as well as our observation for other years and 

 in other fields, indicate that Bellmar is a very vigorous growing vari- 

 ety, slightly more vigorous than Premier, but not quite as free from leaf 

 disease, and not quite as good in maintaining healthy, vigorous foliage 

 throughout the fruiting season, especially in a dry year. Under ample 

 moisture conditions Bellmar produces a crop almost equal to the very 

 heaviest. A particularly heavy yield was had in Connecticut in 1932. 

 In dry years with us Bellmar has been disappointing except on low. 

 wet ground. Enough berries are set for a heavy crop, but under dry conditions the foliage has not 

 stood up well enough to mature large crops properly. The berries themselves are very attractive. 

 As compared with Premier, they are somewhat darker, but generally have a shiny, glossy skin and a 

 bright green cap, which makes them equal or superior to Premier in attractiveness. The berries are 

 somewhat firmer than Premier and under moist conditions will average larger. In the Coastal Plains 

 section from North Carolina to Connecticut, they are well worth trying and perhaps in the same 

 latitude farther West, but frankly we believe that from the Maryland-Kentucky-Missouri line north, 

 none of the early varieties are going to prove as valuable as Dorsett or Fairfax. We have a large 

 stock of healthy, heavily rooted plants of Bellmar reasonably priced. Price list, page 35. 



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