1878. J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
301 
New Strawberries of Promise. 
“Crescent Seedling 1 ” and “Forest Bose.” 
BT E. p. ROE. 
Though far from being a veteran in small-fruit 
culture, I have already become convinced that Na¬ 
ture does not concentrate every excellence in any 
one variety. As with our circle of acquaintances, 
so it is with our lists of fruits, we cannot dwell on 
the character of even the best of them without re¬ 
calling faults as well as good qualities. We must 
bear with our friends’ foibles, if for no better rea¬ 
son than that we are in need of forbearance 
ourselves ; but we are under no obligation to cum¬ 
ber our gardens and fields with old acquaintances 
in the way of fruits, if new 
and better ones are to 
be had. If one might 
judge from the catalogues 
sent out, it would seem 
that the public were 
offered a dozen or more 
perfect strawberries every 
year; but in most in¬ 
stances, these new seed¬ 
lings appear to be like the 
small children that aston¬ 
ish the home circle, but 
make little or no impres¬ 
sion on the world at large. 
The two strawberries 
that head this article 
promise to be marked 
exceptions to this rule. 
Their promise in the 
localities where they first 
appeared, has been so 
far fulfilled in my own 
grounds, that the Editors 
of the American Agricul¬ 
turist feel warranted in 
asking me to “report pro¬ 
gress.! ’ Mr. T. B. Pope, of 
Newburgh, N.T., an artist 
well-known for his excel¬ 
lent delineations of fruit, 
made accurate sketches 
from clusters of these 
varieties. Each berry 
was drawn from actual 
measurement, the aim be¬ 
ing to represent the aver¬ 
age size, instead of to mis¬ 
lead by presenting a few 
unusually fine specimens. 
I hardly know what to 
make of the “ Crescent 
Seedling.” It has been 
called the “Poor man’s 
Straw b e rry. ” I th in k t h at 
it might be called more 
aptly the “Lazy man’s 
Strawberry.” As I have 
seen it growing and bearing this year, it would 
6eem that the picking of the fruit was the only 
labor worth naming involved in raising this berry ; 
but this item of picking will go far toward making 
up for what is lacking in the work of cultivation. 
The two marked features of the “ Crescent Seed¬ 
ling” as I have 6een it in several localities are: a 
tendency to take entire possession of the ground— 
crowding out the weeds as the northern tribes 
shouldered weaker races aside—and of literally 
covering the ground they grow on with fruit. It 
is claimed that it will yield at the rate of 15,000 
quarts, or about 470 bushels to the acre. This 
seems incredible, and as yet I do not believe it to 
be possible under wide and general culture. If it 
will yield 300 bushels to the acre, under good treat¬ 
ment, it will, in the estimation of many good judges, 
work a revolution in strawberry culture. The case 
has been stated to me in this form : “ Any farmer, 
or more of this hardy, prolific berry, and flood the 
market with the fruit. Therefore, the raising of 
strawberries will become unprofitable for those 
who make it a specialty.”—I do not believe this. 
Fine fruit will always bring a good price ; and no 
variety will produce fine fruit under slovenly cul¬ 
ture. The market will be “glutted” with small 
soft berries; and the “Crescent” will, I think, 
be both small and soft if allowed to mat the ground 
with plants, according to its tendency. 
Its lack of firmness—of good shipping qualities— 
will, I imagine, prove its chief fault. I would ad¬ 
vise growers—especially those near to markets—to 
plant it liberally, but on no account, as yet, to 
abandon the “Wilson” and other varieties that 
have proved profitable for many years. I know the 
American Agriculturist will endorse my warning 
against putting “ too many eggs in one basket,” 
especially a comparatively new and untried one. 
| The “Crescent ” originated with William Parmelee, 
THE CRESCENT SEEDLING. 
Esq., in New Haven, Conn., in 1870, and was sent 
out by Mr. H. H. Smith, of West Haven, Conn. Mr. 
Smith has been very fair and open in asking all to 
come and see and judge for themselves, and the 
berry has really made its way on its own merits. I 
have seen it growing vigorously and fruiting enor¬ 
mously on light New Jersey soils, for I took pains 
to see it in four different localities. In some in¬ 
stances, other and leading varieties standing near 
it had proved utter failures. It has also done re¬ 
markably well on damp and heavy soil in my own 
grounds. The cluster, here represented, was from 
a potted plant set out last autumn. The engraving 
gives the shape and habit of growth. In color, it 
is a bright scarlet, and looks well in the baskets. 
Like the “ Wilson,” it is red before it is ripe, and 
in this immature state the flavor is poor, but greatly 
improves as the berry ripens. It has the appear¬ 
ance of being a “ pistillate,” although it is claimed 
that it will bear alone. I noticed, however, that in 
a field of four acres owned by Mr. Smith, “ Wil¬ 
son’s ” were planted at intervals, and 1 would ad¬ 
vise that some perfect flowered varieties be set out 
in the same field or garden. As far as I can judge 
from one season’s observation, the “Crescent’* 
ripens about the same time as the “ Wilson,” and 
so is one of the earliest varieties. 
The “ Forest Rose” is decidedly different from the 
“ Crescent ” in many respects, and surpasses it in 
flavor, beauty, and especially, in its shipping quali¬ 
ties. I doubt whether we have a berry better 
adapted to long carriage. But thus far it has not 
proved with me anything like so productive as the 
“Crescent.” It is but another illustration of the 
truth that all the good qualities are never found in 
one berry. I exhibited the “ Forest Rose ” at the 
Queens Co., N. Y., Fair, this summer, and it took 
one of the 1st premiums, and was greatly admired. 
It suffered less from transportation than any one 
out of 36 varieties I exhibited there. I am grow¬ 
ing it on three kinds of 
soil—the stiffest kind of 
clay, a light, moist soil, 
and a.gravelly knoll—and 
it is doing well in each 
instance. The foliage thus 
far, with me, has never 
burned or rusted. The 
most emphatic way in 
which I can make known 
my hopes in regard to it,, 
is to state that I planted 
it more largely than any 
other kind last spring. 
It is a chance seedling,, 
and was discovered by 
Mr. J. A. Fetters, of Lan¬ 
caster, O., while hoeing in 
his vineyard, about seven 
years ago. Mr. Fetters 
sold out his right in the 
seedling to ML Leo Weltz. 
So eminent an authority 
as Dr. J. A. Warder, after 
visiting the original plan¬ 
tations of the Forest 
Rose, made a report to 
his Society as follows r 
“This new Btrawberry 
promises, indeed, to be a 
great acquisition to our 
stock of varieties. For a 
long time, 1 the Wilson’s 
Albany ’ has borne pre¬ 
eminence as a market ber¬ 
ry—for which purpose it 
is indeed admirably adapt¬ 
ed—but cultivators have 
^ desired something even 
much better in quality. 
Here we have elegance of 
form, brilliancy in color r 
great size and firmness to 
bear transportation, all 
combined with table quali¬ 
ties of a higher order than 
in ‘Wilson’s Albany', 
which it surpasses even in 
field culture. When the enthusiastic proprietor in¬ 
vited some of his friends to visit the plantation to 
see the largest strawberry in the world, the expression, 
was received with a few grains of allowance, aucL 
was attributed to the warmth of an over-sanguine, 
owner of a very good strawberry; but after a 
thorough examination of the bearing plants in dif¬ 
ferent situations, the conclusion was reached that 
the Forest Rose was at least one of the veiny best straw¬ 
berries known."— Dr. Warder is excellent authority. 
The claims of these comparatively new varieties 
are presented to the readers of the American Agri¬ 
culturist that they may have a chance to work the 
mines before they are over-crowded or exhausted. 
I may seem an old fogy when I 6ay, that while I 
shall give these plausible strangers plenty of room 
in which to prove their merits, I shall still stand by 
my old and tried friends in the strawberry field. 
Layering the Strawberry in Pots. —It is 
not too late for those who would make the most of 
a rare variety, or who have a small bed and would 
make a large one to come into fruiting as soon as 
