Strawberries How To Crow Them <^ 
Cardinal, P. (Female) 
LATE. Pislillale. Ever since the origination of 
the Cardinal, we have read of Its remarkable produc- 
tiveness and strong quahties with great Interest, and, we 
confess, we were somewhat of a doubting Thomas. 
We hardly believed it possible that any variety could 
be as good as the Cardinal was said to be. Before of- 
fering any of the plants for sale to our friends we de- 
cided to make a thorough test of this variety, and so 
planted them in our experimental beds, mating them 
with Stevens' Late Champion. From the time the 
plants were set we watched their development closely, 
and their beautiful large dark-green and glossy foliage 
convinced us that they possessed extraordinary power 
as foliage makers. When the plants came into bloom 
the massive foliage was almost hidden by the while 
flowers, and notwithstanding the fact that we had num- 
erous severe frosts while they were in full bloom, we 
failed to discover a blossom that had been affected by 
the frost. But when the fruit began to ripen we knew 
then that half had never been told of the virtues of the 
Cardinal. The fruit grows in clusters like cherries 
(see Page 33) ; the berries are very large, of a deep 
cardinal-red, with very dark flesh; have a delicious 
flavor and will stand shipping well. Every experiment 
station in the country where Cardinal has been tested has 
reported it as the best. It is doubtless one of the great- 
est late pislillates ever originated. We have given the 
Cardinal a thorough trial and find It an Ideal berry 
in every respect. As we have said, the foliage is ex- 
ceedingly large, has lough leaf-tissues and is not sus- 
ceptible to leaf-spot. It makes long strong runners, and 
If the plants are set three feet apart in the row they will 
easily fill in the row, for single-hedge, double-hedge 
or narrow-malted row system. In 1907 we picked 
fruit from the vines up to July 6. It has a long season 
of ripening and is exceedingly productive. 
Stevens' Late Champion, B. (Male) 
LATE. Bisexual. Last year we were much im- 
pressed with the performance of this variety, and real- 
izing that there exists such a great demand for late 
varieties that produce bumper yields of big red ber- 
ries which will stand up well under long distance ship- 
ping, we tested it in our 1907 fruiting beds with even 
greater thoroughness than Is usual. We are now very 
glad we did so, as It gave us opportunity to discover 
the real merits of this splendid variety; and we know 
our customers will find in Stevens' Late Champion a 
berry that will fill their highest ideals, both as to 
quantity and quality of fruit. With us this variety 
ripened its fruit as late as the Candy, and was easily 
twice as productive. Berries are good shippers, large 
as to size, dark red, exceedingly rich in flavor, and it Is 
sure to be one of the leading late market varieties. If 
there is any one berry on our list that will keep its 
berries clean without mulching, it is Stevens' Late 
Champion, and this Is because it has the strongest fruit 
stems we have ever seen, and holds its fruit erect and 
entirely free from the ground. It is seldom the stems 
droop sufficiently to allow the berries to He on the 
earth. However, with all this advantage we say mulch 
wherever mulching material may be obtained. The 
Champion makes long strong runners and lots of them. 
It is a powerful bisexual with great quantities of pol- 
len, just the fellow to set along with such late varieties 
as Cardinal. We have said so much about the Cham- 
pion and described Its good points thus completely in 
the hope that every one of our customers may give 
them a good trial. This is the third year we have had 
this variety in our breeding beds, so that all may de- 
pend upon the strain being pure and free from disease 
and insects. See Page 21 and note how the berries 
show up when prepared for the table. 
57 
