34r6 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[September, 
or the great, coarse, sour things with no special 
flavor whatever (we could name a dozen to which 
this description applies), and try to raise straw¬ 
berries, not for size, but for quality ? As we look 
back upon the past thirty years of strawberry cul¬ 
ture, we can see no improvement in the direction 
of quality. Now and then a variety has appeared, 
like “ Brooklyn Scarlet,” “Boston Pine,” or “Burr’s 
New Pine,” of superior excellence as to flavor, but 
lack of productiveness, lack of size, or lack of 
something, has caused them to be dropped from 
cultivation. Whoever will give us a fruit equal in 
all respects to Hovey’s Seedling, without its faults, 
will be a benefactor to his race—at least that por¬ 
tion of it who remember how strawberries should 
taste. With this reminiscence—some of our friends 
will call it a “growl”—we give a few notes upon 
some of the morejreceut strawberries as they have 
appeared in our own grounds and elsewhere. 
Glendale , so-called because it w’as found as a 
chance seedling in the Glendale Cemetery, Akron, 
Ohio. Our first acquaintance with this fruit was 
through a basket of it brought by J. T. Lovett, from 
his “ Monmouth Nursery,” Little Silver, N. J., and 
we afterwards saw it growing in the grounds of E. P. 
Roe, at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, N. Y. The carry¬ 
ing qualities of this variety seemed so marked (hat 
the accompanying engraving was made from the 
specimens, which Mr. Lovett says were from plants 
in ordinary field culture. The engraving shows the 
shape and average size, and also, what seems to be 
a peculiarity, the very ample calyx or “hull.” This 
is thought to furnish protection in case a frost 
comes while the berries are setting ; a sufficient 
“ neck ” allows of its ready removal. The color is 
a rather light scarlet. The plant, with Mr. Lovett 
and Mr. Roe, is remarkably vigorous, an abundant 
bearer, with a very strong fruit stalk. As to quali¬ 
ty, that depends upon one’s standard. As straw¬ 
berries run, we should say “good,” but not “best ”; 
still quite as good as one looks for in a market 
berry. It has one qualification desirable in sIhov- 
berries—that of lateness. The “Kentucky” lias 
heretofore been regarded as our latest variety, but 
in a dry season it ripens almost as early as any. 
The “ Glendale,” according to Mr. Lovett (in some 
notes prepared at our request), in two years’ culti¬ 
vation, is fully a week to ten days later in time of 
ripening than any of the sorts usually cultivated, 
such as “ Wilson,” “ Charles Downing,” “Monarch 
of the West,” etc. Mr. Roe, in his latest catalogue, 
says of the berries : “ Their firmness and lateness, 
however, may make them valuable for market.” 
Sharpless. — No berry of late 
years has been so generally 
praised as this, and if it sub¬ 
stantiated all that has been 
claimed for it, it would indeed 
be a wonder. In our experi¬ 
mental rows, one could pick out 
the “Sharpless” at a distance, 
so much larger were the plants 
than all others. It has not been 
long enough in cultivation for all 
its faults to be learned. We can 
only say that it is of the largest, 
and the handsomest; remarkably 
good, as well as unusually firm 
for so large a berry. It has this 
past season commended itself for 
general trial. Grown in separate 
stools, it promises great results. 
Golden Defiance.—■’This, berry, 
to judge it upon Mr. Roe’s 
grounds, presents the unusual 
case of a fruit which proves bet¬ 
ter than the claims made for it. 
In his specimen bed the amount 
of fruit was wonderful, the clus¬ 
ters filled out to the last blos¬ 
som, fruit of good shape, large 
enough, handsome in Golor, ap¬ 
parently firm enough for market, 
and of unusually good flavor. It 
is one of the later kinds. Taking 
the plant as we saw it, and its 
behavior with Mr. Roe in former 
years under neglect, we regard it 
of such promise that we give an 
engraving of an average cluster. 
Ducliesse is another instance of 
Mark Tapley’s “coming out 
strong under difficulties.” But 
little has been said about it, and it persists in speak¬ 
ing for itself. On our grounds it was the earliest and 
one of the most productive of over a dozen varie¬ 
ties. In Mr. Roe’s specimen bed, from which no 
fruit had been picked, it laid in piles, a marvel of 
productiveness, second only in this respect to 
Crescent Seedling .—Probably no strawberry, new 
or old, can equal this in the quantity of fruit to the 
acre. When the fruit is grown, we prefer to let 
some oue else eat It. Mr. R. says that “ berries that 
ripen fully in the sun are very good.” Our chief 
knowledge of the fruit is derived from that grown 
on his ground, “ fully in the sun,” save that the 
berries covered up one another, and had he looked 
at the faces of those who tasted them—including 
some ladies of excellent taste and judgment—he 
certainly would have searched for some berries that 
were ripened “ fully in the sun.” Still it is so pro¬ 
ductive that it will prove profitable for a near 
market, as it looks well; but in quality, as we have 
seen it, it is even worse than the “ Shaker Seed¬ 
ling,” which has happily dropped from cultivation. 
Forest Bose .—The most beautiful of all recent 
berries, and as good as it looks. It is of large size, 
bright color, firm surface, and of excellent quality. 
It is not so productive at the East as at the West, 
but with good culture will give good results. 
Champion .—When this was first exhibited it was 
a great coarse, sour fruit, with nothing but size to 
commend it. It had been grown with an excess of 
manure. Later, with fair culture, it has proved 
itself a valuable fruit for market, if not to be carried 
a long distance, and when fully ripened, a good 
home berry, and one of the largest of strawberries. 
Among the more recent berries which, from their 
promise the past season, warrant further trial, are 
President Lincoln, Miner’s Great Prolific, Pioneer, 
Essex Beauty, Cumberland Triumph and Duncan. 
The Cup-Plant. 
Among the plants conspicuous on the western 
prairies from midsummer onwards, are the species 
of Silphium, of which there are nearly a dozen. 
The name Silphium has nq definite meaning, it be¬ 
ing the ancient name of some plant which Linnaeus 
gave to this American genus. One species, Silphium 
laciniatum, is widely known as the “Compass- 
plant.” It has long been known to explorers and 
others who have travelled over the broad prairies, 
that the large root leaves of this plant have their 
Fig. 1.— THE GLENDALE STRAWBERRY. 
