OUR ^MPI^OYJBSS. 
Our family for igo2. About thirty of them failed to get in on time to be "shot." A more intelligent, 
painstaking set of men and women were never assembled on factory or farm. This is the present statns of 
a small beginning. We never have any bickering or strikes. They love their work, are well paid and this 
gives us the pick of the city and surrounding country. Many have been with us for years. 
to their destination and arrive at any point be- 
tween the Atlantic and Pacific ocean in perfect 
condition. 
Our men have become experts in pacl<ing; 
each department is under an experienced fore- 
man and all under an efficient superintendent of 
many years' experience, so that all orders are 
filled with the utmost precision. It is absolute- 
ly impossible to dig and pack plants in the 
field or open sheds exposed to the sun and 
wind, as is very generally done by plant grow- 
ers, and have them reach the purchaser fresh 
and vigorous. You want every plant to grow 
and leave no vacancy in the field, and there 
will be none with these plants, if you set them 
properly. 
NEW VARIETIES. 
Our experimental grounds for testing new 
varieties are carefully conducted. Parties hav- 
ing new seedlings of great promise may send 
them here and have them carefully tested, and 
secure a full rejjort of their behavior and, if 
they prove valuable, we can greatly aid you in 
introducing them. They may rest assured that 
no plants will be propagated from them ex- 
cept to improve them by our system of selec- 
tion and restriction for our new trial beds. 
None will be allowed to leave the ground 
without their consent. It requires at least 
twenty-five plants for a fair trial. We shall 
test many hundred seedlings originated 
through our thoroughbred plants and hope 
soon to offer some of great excellence, but 
they must be thorf)Ughly tested under many 
conditions before they can be oflfered to the 
•public. 
In sending plants be very sure to write your 
name on the package plain, as well as post 
office address, and send a letter giving a full 
description of the plants. Do not send any 
plants unless you have tested them and know 
they are seedlings or bud variations of great 
value. 
VARIETIES OF STRAWBERIES. 
The great diversity of soils and degrees of 
fertility, as well as peculiar methods of culti- 
vation adopted by different growers, make it 
extremely difficult to recommend particular va- 
rieties. 
Suppose you and a neighbor order twenty 
best varieties each and put them under the 
modes of cultivation recommended in this 
book. You will find one or more sorts which 
did better than all the others, and this would 
be the variety you should make your leader; 
but when you came to compare notes with your 
neiglibor, you would not be likely to reach an 
agreement as to which were the best sorts. 
There is a great difference of opinion as to 
which is the best variety, even on the same 
ground. 
You need several varieties, not only for test- 
ing to determine the ones most profitable, but 
the tastes of your customers will vary fully as 
much as your plants. You must be prepared to 
hold your jjatronage by offering them just 
what they want throughout the season. 
In making up this list of varieties, I have, 
through my extensive correspondence and pub- 
lished reports of government experiment sta- 
tions, taken special pains to discard what are 
called local varieties or those which succeed 
only in a few localities. Many of the discarded 
sorts were jjopular over wide areas, but we have 
better varieties to take their ])laces. 
We have a large number of sorts now on 
trial and we shall breed them up; and if they 
develop better qualities, we will substitute 
them for some of the kinds we now offer, and 
thus keep only the cream of all the leading va- 
rieties on our lists. 
50 
