AMONG THE STRA WBERRIES. 



523 



both and of Bubach on the 3rd, and could doubtless 

 have done so on the ist, had the birds not insisted on 

 the first samples. The Pearl I still like the best ; it is 

 of such good quality, uniform shape and size, and as 

 handsome as it is good. The berries are uniformly per- 

 fect from first to last, and while the Jessie makes more 

 of a show when in blossom, the Pearl is not one whit be- 

 hind it in productiveness. 



The Jessie on my grounds has a bad habit of ripening 

 unevenly ; many berries presenting a dark crimson side 

 next to the sun will be white on the other side, necessi- 

 tating a look at both sides to insure picking only ripe 

 ones. Mr. Green 



informs me that / 

 at Rochester it 

 shows n o such 

 defect. Can this 

 be attributed to 

 soil or climate ? 



At the nur- 

 serymen's c o n- 

 vention a friend 

 asked me if I had 

 not found the 

 Jessie mixed. 

 The fear that it 

 was had prevent- 

 ed him from set- 

 ting it. Of my 

 first plants, 

 which came in 

 bad order, I 

 saved buta small 

 per cent. , and 

 among these I 

 noticed a few 

 showing such a 

 different habit of 

 growth, and as I 

 thought, differ- 

 ence in foliage, 

 that I suspected 

 they might not 

 all be true ; but 

 on calling the at- 

 tention of others 

 to them at differ- 

 ent times we con- 

 cluded that it was due to a difference in soil or location, 

 and accepted them all as genuine. As the plants mul- 

 tiplied I set a larger bed, and this season I notice oc- 

 casionally berries of a different shape, color and appear- 

 ance from others, with no tendency to uneven ripening. 

 This fact, in connection with the query of my friend, 

 excites a suspicion again that possibly there may be some 

 admixture of varieties, but in my bed I can not notice 

 enough difference in the plants, as they are cn viasse, to 

 determine positively ; and I had about concluded that 

 the difference might be due entirely to the polymorphous 

 character or nature of the variety. Many other varieties 



show quite as wide a range in the form of their berries 

 during the season. I would like to hear from others on 

 the subject, if they have noticed this variation A cocks- 

 combed berry of Jessie or Sharpless, though frequent, 

 can hardly be considered typical of the general charac- 

 ter of the variety as to form, but the largest Pearl is a 

 correct type of the smaller ones, and if we except the 

 largest and often twin berries of the Crescent, the others 

 are all of one general type. 



The Bubach No. 5 is large enough to suit all reason- 

 able demands in that line. The quality is hardly equal 

 to the Pearl or Jessie, neither is it as firm in texture ; in 



this respect it is 

 much like Jewell 

 and I think 

 nearly as suscep- 

 table to blight. 

 From the open- 

 ing of the season 

 up to the i2th 

 the weather was 

 clear and well 

 adapted to give 

 the berries firm- 

 ness and quality. 

 For the ensuing 

 six days, showers 

 were abundant, 

 and the air dur- 

 i n g the entire 

 period was very 

 humid with no 

 sunshine — excel- 

 lent conditions 

 to render the 

 fruit soft and vi- 

 tiate its flavor, 

 which it did to 

 perfection. Dur- 

 ing this time rot 

 and rust appear- 

 ed among the 

 berries, and the 

 Bubach suffered 

 badly, showing a 

 weakness in this 

 respect I was 

 "I' sorry to see. Few 



varieties can pass such an ordeal unaffected. If this 

 proves to be the weak point in this variety, as it looks 

 now, its future success will depend largely on the con- 

 dition of the weather ruling at the time of its ripening. 

 I am not quite as hopeful of it as I was last year. 



Do varieties run out ? It seems only necessary to 

 look at the present status of the varieties in popular 

 favor ten or twelve years ago to answer that question. 

 The cause or causes for this may be variable and in a 

 measure preventable. It would not seem unreasonable 

 to suppose that any variety renewed annually by young 

 plants produced after the parent plants had exhausted 



