622 
THE 
AUG 40 
spoken of elsewhere, but these I have not yet 
fruited: in fact, new varieties multiply so fast 
that I cannot keep pace with the procession. 
The great trouble attending my strawberry 
culture is the prevalence of brown rust 
(b ight) and rot which run riot in such an 
excessively wet season as the past has been, 
and in future I must confine myself to those 
varieties that seem to possess constitutional 
vigor sufficient to resist most successfully the 
attacks of the fungus. That some varieties 
are more susceptible to this disease than 
others is, beyond question, a fact. "While 
age and long cultivation of a variety may 
enfeeble and impair its vitality and increase 
its liability to an attack of this fungus, it is 
also very evident that some new varieties 
fresh from the bauds of the originators, are 
extremely susceptible in this direction, thus 
rendering absolutely worthless whatever 
other good qualities they may possess, in 
regions where this malady prevails. This 
disease-resisting feature of constitutional 
vigor should be well looked after by origina¬ 
tors of new varieties. It is on account of 
this fungus that I am compelled to abandon 
Sharpless, Davis, Jewell, Downing, Gold, 
Dewey, Acme, Cohanzick and scores of seed¬ 
lings. Some of the above have little merit 
with me at their best and this fungus renders 
them worthless. I part with Downing more 
reluctantly than with all the rest. Most of 
those I retain are slightly subject to this dis¬ 
ease, but they are the least affected so far. 
If in the future this tendency increases, they 
too must go. 
Among all our new varieties there are many 
good ones, but the ideal berry has got to come 
so that there is plenty of room for originators 
yet. We want a berry as large as the Sharp- 
lsss, of even shape, good color and flavor that 
will stand at least two days without spoiling, 
and stand shipping from Florida to Chicago. 
MARY. Half-section. Fig. 197. 
It must be as productive as the Haverland 
with a perfect blossom, so we have a great 
improvement to make yet before all these 
- things are reached. With all due deference 
to the shipping qualities desired, I hope, for 
the sake of local growers, such a variety will 
never be obtained. Those long distance-ship- 
ping berries have ruined the business for thou¬ 
sands of local growers by flooding the mar¬ 
kets and sending prices down below a living 
profit and disgusting consumers with the utter 
worthlessness of much of the decayed fruit 
offered in our markets early in the season. 
The reader of these hastily-written notes 
will bear in mind that they are based on a 
home consumption view only, without any 
reference to shipping or marketing purposes. 
I believe that strawberries were never de¬ 
signed by the Creator to be consumed hun¬ 
dreds of miles from the place of their growth. 
To get the most satisfaction out of this am¬ 
brosial fruit, they should be consumed within 
36 hours, at farthest, after being picked and 
transportation should be confined to local 
markets. If it were so, growers would real¬ 
ize living prices, consumers would be better 
served and our markets would be rid of the 
decaying, unwholesome trash that constantly 
tends to force prices below a living profit. It 
is strange that berry-growers will persist year 
after year in spending their time and labor in 
producing crops in order that transportation 
companies and commission merchants may 
absorb all the proceeds. No other business 
or class of men could or would stand it; but 
I suppose as some drop out, enough inexper¬ 
ienced greenhorns stand ready to rush in and 
fill their places, which keeps the ranks full. 
Montclair, N. J. 
EXPERIENCE WITH THE NEIYER 
STRAWBERRIES. 
STATE POMOLOGIST P. M. AUGUR. 
Jessie: Very good; fairly productive. 
Bubach No. 5 : A most decided acquisi¬ 
tion. A good, medium-early market berry. 
Gold: A very choice berry for family use: 
not so vigorous or hardy as desirable for a 
market berry. It needs the best culture and 
protection. 
Haverland is too much like the Crescent to 
meet our demand, yet it has some strong 
points. 
Jewell: I have always been called upon to 
send out heavy plants, and with me the Jew¬ 
ells grow remarkably heavy; but the nearer 
fruitage a plant comes the less value for 
propagation; hence a young plant struck in 
October is of far more value for immediate 
multiplication than one struck in July and 
full of fruit germs. In other words, the 
smaller plants make more runners than ex¬ 
No. 70; neither is it as high-flavored; still it 
stood ahead of all bisexuals on our ground for 
health, size and productiveness this year. 
The Pineapple is praised as a very choice 
variety of large size and fine quality, but I 
fear it is of too light color to be attractive in 
market. 
The Yale is a Connecticut seedling in the 
hands of S. Hoyt’s Sons of New Canaan. The 
plant is vigorous and productive. Color 
dark crimson; quality very good, and in 
ripening it is quite late. I regard it as a 
promising large, late variety. We have many 
other new candidates from various sources,of 
which it is too early to speak. 
Middlefield, Coun. 
THE NEWER VARIETIES OF STRAW¬ 
BERRIES THAT ARE WORTHY 
OF COMMENDATION. 
SEC’Y M. CRAWFORD. 
There are but few such, and not one with- 
VALERIAN Fi£ 198. 
tremely heavy ones. These points are im¬ 
portant to be known, as my orders for this 
variety increase year by year. The Jewell 
needs single-row or hill culture, or else what 
we call the triple row. With us, for size, 
beauty and productiveness it surpasses the 
Jessie, Bubach and all others, as we have 
most convincing testimony. 
The Middlefield.—P. M. Augur & Sons’ 
No. 70. This is a most promising variety. 
Like the Jewell, it is pistillate. Unlike the 
Jewell, it makes runners profusely. It has a 
peculiarly corrugated heavy leaf. The plant 
is fairly hardy with abundant foliage. The 
berry is of excellent quality, medium to large, 
of a dark, glossy, crimson, with roundish, 
conical golden seeds evenly distributed. The 
fruit is very uniform in size and form, at¬ 
tractive to the eye and keeps well. 
The Cardinal.— P. M. Augur’s B. No. 411. 
This is the only variety saved out of a batch 
of 500. The plant is one of exceptional vigor 
and excellence. The berry is very large, 
somewhat irregular; color scarlet; quality 
good. It is well adapted for family use or a 
near market, but does not stand up like our 
out some weakness. The Jessie, Bubach, 
Warfield, Pearl and Haverland come nearer 
to perfection than any others that are as well 
tested. 
Jessie has no weak point here, except that 
its blossoms are easily killed by frost. A few 
years ago I never expected to see as fine a 
berry; but now I am prepared to see even a 
better one. 
Bubach is the ' largest berry that bears as 
heavy a crop. The plant is faultless. The 
blossom is pistillate, and quite hardy. Some 
of the berries are divided by a suture that de¬ 
tracts somewhat from their fine appearance. 
They j ipen evenly, and are of a good color. 
The quality is good, but not superior. The 
berry is not firm enough fora distant market, 
and its skin is too tender for continued wet 
weather. It is the berry for a near market. 
We sold bushels of this variety the past sea¬ 
son, that ran from 27 to 30 to the quart. 
Warfield will doubtless be placed at the 
head of the list by a great many, and this is 
where it belongs if one wants to ship his ber¬ 
ries. For healthy, vigorous growth and great 
productiveness, it is not surpassed. It is 
among the first to ripen, and among the last 
to yield a good picking. It is about one half 
larger than the Crescent, and maintains its 
size much better than that variety. It is also 
superior to it in form, color, quality and firm¬ 
ness. 
Pearl is a strong grower and a good bear¬ 
er. It has a perfect blossom and is one of the 
first to ripen. The berries are very beautiful 
—long and conical with a slight neck. It is 
of the best quality—good even before it is 
fully ripe. It is of large size all through the 
season. 
Haverland is a most luxuriant grower and 
immensely productive. It is quite early and 
it matures all its fruit. It is of large size 
rather long, and never mis-shapen. Its fruit- 
stalks are weak so that the berries lie on the 
ground. The quality is only moderately good, 
and hardly that in a wet time. During the 
past season I fruited a large number of new 
varieties received from different parts of the 
country and of these I find the following to be 
very fine on my place: 
Ivanhoe, from southern Ohio, has a per¬ 
fectly healthy, vigorous plant, and bears a 
very heavy crop of large, fine-looking berries. 
It has fruited twice with me, and I consider 
it a variety of great promise. 
Martha, from Minnesota, has dark-green, 
healthy foliage, and is very productive. The 
fruit resembles the Wilson, but is larger. 
Little’s No. 4, from Canada, was the fin¬ 
est berry, all things considered, that I 
fruited this season. The plant is strong and 
vigorous, has a perfect blossom, and con¬ 
tinues in bloom a very long time. The fruit 
is of great size, usually of good form, bright 
red and of good quality. I think it is the 
most productive very large berry I have 
seen, and it yields fine berries after most 
others are gone. 
Loudon’s 15 has fruited here three years. 
The plant is perfect, never having shown a 
single weakness. The blossom is hermaphro¬ 
dite. The fruit is produced on large spread¬ 
ing trusses so that each berry may be picked 
without touching any other. The fruit is 
large, round to conical, with a neck. It is 
quite firm, bright red, and of superior flavor. 
Cardinal and Augur’s No. 70, from Ct., 
are two very promising varieties, and will 
doubtless be heard from hereafter. They are 
of great size, and the plants have developed 
no weakness as yet. 
Cuyahoga Falls, O. 
STRAWBERRY NOTES. 
FROM C. L. JONES. 
I have in cultivation only four varieties, 
viz : Prince, Gypsy, Jessie and Pearl. All 
are good on my ground save Jessie. Prince 
for late, and Gypsy for early are my stand¬ 
ard sorts and are doing well. Pearl is very 
promising. 
Newark, N. J. 
FROM L. LAWRENCE. 
The past season has been most discouraging. 
The strawberry crop in this vicinity has been 
very light, owing partly to the late frost and 
partly to a lack of fruit buds; while the al¬ 
most daily rains during the picking season in¬ 
jured the quality. We have, however, 
watched with pleasure the new varieties The 
Jessies behaved nobly. They were loaded 
with fruit. The plants bore three times the 
amount of fruit borne by the Ontario. I 
never saw so high a proportion of large ber¬ 
ries before. The soil was but moderately 
good. We are highly pleased with it. 
We are charmed with the Crawford also. 
The plants and berries were grand. My opin¬ 
ion is that it is tho berry to succeed the old 
Cumberland. It has all the beauty of size 
and shape of that variety while it is of better 
color and quality. 
Barnesville, O. 
FROM JNO. F. BEAVER. 
I had one Belmont that measured 8% inches 
in circumference. I think I had the grandest 
show on about 400 plants of the Crawford, 
that has ever been seen in this county. The 
Summits were immense, but the Crawfords 
were the favorites. The largest measured 
seven inches. 
Dayton, O. 
FROM M. J. GRAHAM. 
My plants of the newer kinds were set early 
in April, in new, rich soil that would produce 
100 bushels of corn per acre. About May 10, 
myriads of chinch bugs attacked them and 
sapped the stems until the leaves dried up. 1 
applied a heavy dressing of dry unleached 
ashes, scattered 'broadcast over the ground 
and plants, which drove them away. 
Thorough cultivation, followed by copious 
rains, caused the plants to take on new life. 
