Donett and Fairfax 



Never before in our forty- 

 eight years' experience in grow- 

 ing strawberries have we seen 

 any varieties look as good to us as 

 Dorsett and Fairfax. Another year's 

 results in our test plots as well as 

 actual sales of berries from our small fruiting 

 patches bear out previous results and fully 

 justify our enthusiasm for these two berries. 

 Both Dorsett and Fairfax have proved far su- 

 perior up to this time to all other early varieties, 

 including Premier. We can truthfully say that 

 we never expect to set another Premier plant for 

 fruiting purposes. We are so sure that Dorsett 

 and Fairfax will be money makers even in hard 

 times that we fully expect to plant enough to 



letting Higher 



Standards A 

 f Value 



more than double our normal 

 fruiting acreage. We hope all 

 strawberry growers will study 

 closely the two years' results in our 

 trial beds, under extremely dry and 

 extremely wet moisture conditions, pub- 

 lished on page 12 ; the actual sales of berries on 

 the New York wholesale market reported on page 

 16; the table of comparative values on pages 18 

 and 19, and the letters from growers, published 

 on page 21, which indicate that these berries will 

 be equally successful in all of the sections where 

 Premier has proved so valuable. In order to de- 

 scribe them more accurately and to emphasize 

 their points of difference as well as their like- 

 nesses, we are going to describe them together. 



ORIGIN 



Both Dorsett and Fairfax are seedlings of Premier and Royal Sovereign. Premier, as most growers know, 

 has been the most valuable all around early berry in this country for a good many years. Royal Sovereign is an 

 old English variety long known for its unusually high dessert quality. Dorsett and Fairfax have been tested 

 since 1923 (Dorsett) and 1925 (Fairfax), and were known as U. S. Department of Agriculture seedlings 

 No. 633 (Dorsett) and No. 613 (Fairfax). They were selected from fields containing thousands of seedlings 

 from scientific crosses and from several hundred seedlings with the same parentage. These two (No. 613 and 

 No. 633) were picked because they combined and emphasized the good qualities of both parents with additional 

 advantages of their own which hybrids often show. 



VIGOR AND HEALTH OF PLANT GROWTH 



In this respect both Dorsett and Fairfax equal or surpass any other varieties. Both are exceptionally 

 free from' disease, very vigorous in growth, and maintain their vigor and health of foliage throughout the 

 fruiting season. Dorsett usually makes somewhat more plants than Fairfax. These varieties have so much 

 vigor that we want to warn growers who have exceptionally rich land and those who are located in extreme 

 Northern States not to fertilize too heavily, and thus reduce yield by having too vegetative a growth. 



PRODUCTIVENESS 



As will be noted in the trial plot results, page 12, Dorsett and Fairfax rank with the best in productive- 

 ness. In the dry year they were far better than the others. In the wet year, all varieties were able to produce 

 very heavily. The figures, however, include total production. No table could show adequately the vast superiority 

 of Dorsett and Fairfax to the other high-producing varieties. The table does not show the much larger average 

 size, the greater attractiveness and the ability to stand the extremely wet moisture conditions that was displayed 



by the Dorsett and Fairfax this year. Dorsett and Fairfax do not set great 

 numbers of berries per plant. Many varieties excel them in this respect. Some 

 varieties set so many berries they cannot possibly grow them to a marketable 

 size. Dorsett and Fairfax set enough to make tremendous yields, but the 

 Vitality that some varieties, even Premier, often spend in growing the 

 poorer part of their crop is used by Dorsett and Fairfax to put 

 added size to all of the crop. Dorsett is somewhat more 

 productive than Fairfax, but both are heavy producers. 



RESISTANCE TO FROST DAMAGE 



Dorsett and Fairfax, including the years they 

 were in the seedling fields, have been fruited seven 

 years or more. During that period no appreciable 

 damage from frost has been noted to either variety. 

 Both of them, being crosses of Premier, should be able 

 to withstand severe frosts. 



SIZE OF RERRIES 



Berries of both Dorsett and Fairfax average 

 very large, considerably larger than Premier, and much 



14 



Cluster of Dorsett Berries 



(.much reduced) 



