AUGUST iUTHEB. 
EXTRA EARLY. Bl-aexual. This variety Is 
very popular not only wllh berry growers but also In 
the family garden. It has a hcst of friends and 
succeeds everywhere. The berry has a good brlKht 
color; with dark red ilesh; form roundish, tapering 
a little to a point which malves it very attractive- 
for an early berry In the family garden we don't 
know of anything to beat it as It has such a rich deli- 
cate flavor The berries are good size, firm, and lots 
or them. The plants arc a beautiful green, upright 
growers and make runners freely. This Is the $th 
year of selection and restriction, and It Is showing up 
better every year. The calls for these plants arc in- 
creasing so fast that our supply wns exhausted last 
year long before the close of our shipping season 
live organs of their own and merely appro- 
priate dead matter in mould. 
DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 
Before reading the descriptions of the dif- 
ferent varieties, we wish it understood that 
everyone of them has been thoroughly tested 
m our experimental beds, keeping acurate 
records of every point in fruit and foliage, 
watching every little detail closely and neglect- 
ing nothing. We do not guess at anything, 
but depend entirely upon figures and dates. In 
the description of each variety the number of 
years is given that we have been breeding it 
up by selection from ideal mother plants of 
known fruiting vigor. When stating that a 
certain v&riety does well everywhere, we g^t 
our authority from reports furnished us by 
growers using our plants, from all over the 
country. But remember that these results 
which we and our customers are getting can- 
not be obtained with plants that have become 
weakened by pollen exhaustion or careless 
propagating from run out beds. Plants that 
are bred up from a long line of ideal ancestors 
and grown under our methods will fill every 
statement made on each individual variety. 
PEDIGREE. 
Every plant we send out is eligible to a pea- 
igree record, because it comes from a long 
line of ideal mother plants of known fruitage 
vigor. Like begets like in plants just the 
same as in animals ; there are variations in 
either, but no more in one than the other, and 
the only scientific method that can be used 
in improving either plants or animals is to 
MICHEIiS EARLY. 
EXTRA EARLY. Bl-sexual. One of the verv 
earliest on the list, nearly every grower in the coun- 
try has tested It; does well on sandy or clay loam, 
an extra good polienlzer. Berries arc deep red, firm 
and good quality; can be shipped long distances. It 
makes a vigorous growth, long leaf stems that are a 
great protection against frosts. This Is the 14th year 
of selection and restriction. 
breed by selecting from the most perfect 
specimens, showing the most points of ex- 
cellence, bringing each generation nearer the 
perfection mark. The most scientific horticul- 
tural and stock breeders know and admit this 
to be a fact, and the results of past years sub- 
stantiate the correctness of their methods. 
Not only plant and stock breeders are work- 
ing along these lines of improvement, but corn 
and wheat breeders as well. The manufactur- 
ers employ skilled experts to work out im- 
provements in their particular lines, and the 
air is full of improvement. The world is 
bound to advance; there has never been and 
never will be enough old fogies to hold it back, 
and the last twenty years show more ad- 
vancement along all lines than any other fifty 
years of its history. The coming twenty years 
will show double results of the twenty just 
passed. The American people are getting 
wakened and becoming enthusiastic on plant, 
animal and grain breeding. 
ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTS. 
There are five ways of growing strawber- 
ries, viz: Hill culture, single hedge row, 
double hedge row, narrow matted row and full 
matted row. 
Hill or stool culture does not mean grow- 
ing them on a little mound of earth as many of 
our correspondents seem to think, but on level 
ground. It means that the runners are all to 
be picked off as fast as they appear so it will 
be confined to one single plant. It might be 
called a consolidated plant. If the fruit or- 
gans and disposition of the plant to make fruit 
buds is strong, as in the case of a thorough- 
bred plant, when a runner is cut, it will not 
throw out any more runners until it builds up 
on the side of the plant a new crown and fruit 
bud. Then it will send out another runner; 
cut this and you will get a new fruit crown.. 
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