Parker Earle, B. (Male.) 
Gandy. B. (Male.) 
LATE. Bisexual. Possesses a wonderful fruiting 
power, being recognized by the leading fruit growers as 
one of the most productive varieties under cultivation. 
The berries are of medium size, as shown in picture; 
their color is so bright a red that it gives a polished 
effect. The old saying that "beauty is only skin 
deep" will not hold good with Parker Earles, as their 
handsome color extends clear through, and as to flavor, 
we hardly dare tell the truth; they have a sort of 
"moreish" taste, that is, the more you eat the more 
you want. Their productiveness, lateness and firm- 
ness are what make them so popular with large grow- 
ers. It is especially productive on rich low land, where 
it shines ahead of all others. Late blooming, with such 
large foliage, insures it from danger of frost. Parker 
Earle can be grown with much less work than most 
varieties, as it makes so few runners. It will produce 
larger berries i.nd more of them if grown in hills or 
single hedge rows. For hills set the plants eighteen 
inches apart, but where the single hedge is preferable, 
thirty inches will be better; they stool up to such a 
mammoth size it is necessary to give each plant plenty 
of room to spread. It will be found an ideal variety 
to grow where mulching is scarce, as the berries are 
held well up from the ground; but where mulching 
can possibly be secured it will pay well to use it. The 
berries are too pretty to take any chances of getting 
sand on them. If they are to be grown on upland, 
pile on plenty of well-rotted manure, working it thor- 
oughly into the soil, and be sure that your plants come 
from the propagating bed that is kept under 
close restriction, which will insure them strength and 
potency of pollen. The thoroughbred plants of our 
strain of Parker Earle are so perfectly balanced and 
thoroughly built up m their fruit producing organism 
that we have counted as high as three hundred and nine- 
ty berries on one plant, and the greater part of them fan- 
cy. This is the seventeenth year we have had it under 
careful selection and restriction, always making our 
selections from ideal ancestors. 
LATE. Bisexual. One of the very largest and 
latest berries under cultivation. It is a beautiful bright 
red, with a smooth, shiny surface and glossy dark red 
seeds, which are quite prominent. There never was a 
berry introduced that will stand shipping better than 
Gandy. We have seen them after being shipped sev- 
eral hundred miles and they looked as fresh as if just 
picked from the vines. Their flavor also is hard to 
beat; the more one eats of them, the better they taste. 
In form and size there is little variation. The illustra- 
tion shows an exact type. Just take a long look at it, 
and see what beautiful berries can be grown on our 
strain of thoroughbred plants. There are not many 
growers who haven't tried Gandy; it has a good repu- 
tation as a money-maker, ripening so late that it always 
brings the top prices, and when grown on thorough- 
bred plants, that are free from the least hint of exhaus- 
tion, it will be found as productive as any of the late 
varieties. It makes a very tall foliage of dark green, 
with a broad leathery leaf. Its fruit stems are long and 
hold the berries up above the foliage where the sun gets 
to them to put on the finishing touches. They remain 
on the vines for several days after thoroughly ripe. 
Three times each week is often enough to pick them, 
unless the weather be extremely hot. We have discov- 
ered that the first bloom which Gandy opens is deficient 
in pollen, and it will give double as many berries and 
much smoother fruit if every fourth row is set to some 
late bisexual like Aroma, Pride of Michigan, Dornan 
or Brandywine. Any of these will open their flowers 
in time to furnish plenty of strong pollen to give the 
required result. Set the plants thirty-six inches apart 
and let them form a narrow matted row; they make long 
runners and will not mat thickly if a little attention be 
given to layering them. If soil is moderately rich do 
not use any stable manure; 200 pounds of muriate of 
potash and 400 pounds bone meal, cultivated into the 
soil before plants are set, will give big returns. For a 
handsome package, just place the big fellows with stem 
ends down, and they will swell the purse of the grower. 
This makes the twenty-first year we have had Gau- 
dy under our methods of selection. The most pro- 
ductive mother plants are the ones sought in this* 
variety. 
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