520 



THE WILSON STRAWBERRY. 



fertilized with it. The offspring of such crosses should 

 in some degree show some of the old time characteris- 

 tics of this once valuable variety, unless it is so far gone 

 now as to be unable to transmit any of its value *"o its 

 offspring. " 



From F. S. Ea>-L\ CobJcn, ini>iois. — "We discontinued 

 planting the Wilson strawberry on our Southern Illinois 

 fruit farm some ten years ago, as it ceased to be profit- 

 able, and at this time very few fields of it can be found 

 in this region. We usually grew it in narrow matted 

 rows. It did no better, perhaps hardly so well, under 

 hill culture. I have always considered it an open ques- 

 tion whether the Wilson was really ' running out,' that 

 is, becoming constitutionally weaker, or whether its 

 failure was not rather to be attributed to the greatly 

 increased ravages of insects and fungi. In our experi- 

 ence, it was found particularly subject to injury from 

 the tarnished plant bug, the various root worms and the 

 leaf blight and rust (^Ramiilnria Tulasnei, Sacc), and we 

 were forced to discard it for more vigorous or better 

 resisting varieties. It seems probable that its wide 

 spread failure is to be attributed in part to each of these 

 causes. '' 



From T. V. Aliiiison, Denison, Texas. — "Some ten or 

 twelve years ago, E. Perry, one of the foremost fruit- 

 growers of this region at that time, and several other 

 persons, grew the Wilson strawberry quite extensively 

 on a deep sandy soil, having a moist substratum of clay. 

 The variety did well with them then in comparison with 

 Downing and some others, except when a season of 

 drouth came, and then the berries would not develop to 

 large size, nor ripen well. The plants made excellent 

 stools and set fruit heavily. They were, grown in 

 matted rows. In a few years the Capt. Jack and Cres- 

 cent proved so much more certain bearers, and more 

 prolific on these grounds, as well as on others of sirnilar 

 character, that now they have entirely superseded the 

 Wilson. 



"On my own place (at that time a rich, dark limestone 

 soil), the Wilson made immense stools and bloomed 

 profusely, setting many berries, some perfect and some 

 ' buttons, ' but invariably failed to mature well, making 

 a very indifferent crop in matted rows and hills ; while 

 Capt. Jack and Crescent, planted alternately in matted 

 rows, have been our leading market varieties for some 

 fourteen years in both sandy and clay lands, and are yet 

 doing well, though the Parker Earle now bids fair to 

 supersede them, being perfect in flower, and finer than 

 either Crescent or Capt. Jack in berry and plant, as 

 well as more productive. I have tried nearly all 



kinds. I cannot say that the Wilson is 'running out,' 

 but surely it has been run out of cultivatio7i here by 

 more profitable varieties. Probably it comes nearer the 

 mark to say that more profitable varieties (owing to 

 greater productivenes) have superseded the Wilson, 

 though the latter may be as good as ever, and is, so far 

 as my knowledge goes. I do not believe in the theory 

 of 'running out,' in varieties which propagate them- 

 selves naturally, as do strawberries." 



[Remarks by the Editor. — The above replies indi- 

 cate that the Wilson is going out of general cultivation. 

 The reasons for this disfavor fall into two categories : 

 depreciation of the merits of the variety, and failure in 

 the variety itself. ' ' Competition with improved varieties, 

 low prices which necessitate the growing of large berries, 

 the efforts of plant dealers to magnify its faults in 

 order to show the virtues of their pets," as Mr. Green 

 pungently writes, are prime causes in the growing dis- 

 favor. Our standard of strawberry ideals is growing 

 away from the old Wilson, and we predict that when 

 another quarter century shall have come it will live only 

 in history, as does the Hovey to-day. 



But is the Wilson running out ? This is what every- 

 one wants to know. Our own experience, and the testi- 

 mony of growers in general, indicate that the berry is 

 not so good as it was in its younger days. We presume 

 that even Mr. Smith will agree with us that this is the 

 general truth regarding the Wilson. It is only an occa- 

 sional grower who puts energy enough into the variety 

 to make it hold up its head among its fellows. In short, 

 the Wilson is gradually failing, running out, and the ex- 

 periences of those who still maintain its virtiies by dint of 

 forceful culture are the clearest proofs of the fact. 

 In ordinary treatment it is no longer profitable, and it 

 is to be expected that failure will be longest delayed 

 where conditions are the most perfect. 



But we suspect that under these intensive cultures 

 and close selections the old Wilson is disappearing and 

 a new Wilson is coming in. In fact, Mr. Smith says 

 that even now he considers his "stock stronger and 

 better in every way than when we obtained it in 1861." 

 It is the inevitable tendency of such practice to breed a 

 superior strain, a new variety. This reminds us of a 

 statement which we recently made that the Trophy 

 tomato is running out ; whereupon one objected to the 

 statement with the observation that a certain gardener 

 had grown only the Trophy since its introduction in 

 1868, under high culture, and so far from deteriorating, 

 it had actually improved — thus furnishing undeniable 

 proof of the truth of our proposition."] 



<I-a0tc 10 puv<?ucf» at a fc<?« orpon^o \^<x\\ fai?f)ion.— Shenstone. 



I 



