Vol. LXI. No. 2735. 
NEW YORK, JUNE 28, 1902. 
$1 PER YEAR 
THE PRESIDENT STRAWBERRY. 
A VERY PROMISING NEW VARIETY. 
Its Behavior at the Rural Grounds. 
In May, 1901, 12 plants of the President strawberry 
were ieceived from the originator, Thomas R. Hunt, 
Lambcrtville, N. J., for trial on the Rural Grounds, 
together with several other seedlings under number. 
The plants of President were noticeably strong and 
“stock y.” They 
were immediately 
planted with other 
trials of the season 
in light soil of very 
moderate fertility. 
They made a vig¬ 
orous growth, ex¬ 
ceeding all other 
varieties, both old 
and new. One or 
two runners to a 
plant were allowed 
to root, but other¬ 
wise clean culture 
was m a i n t a ined 
through out the 
growing season. In 
July a light dress¬ 
ing of good chemi¬ 
cal fertilizer was 
given, and the 
plants well mulched 
with old salt hay in 
December, to hold 
soil from blowing. 
The blooming sea¬ 
son this Spring was 
very cold and dry, 
but free from sharp 
frosts. Since late 
Marc h, however, 
there has been no 
rain worthy of the 
name, and all ber¬ 
ries have suffered 
severely, some va- 
r i e t i e s scarcely 
making foliage 
enough to cover the 
ripening fruit. The 
mulch well con- 
served the soil 
moisture, protect¬ 
ing it from the con¬ 
stant keen winds, 
and more fruits 
were set than most 
kinds are able to 
mature under such 
adverse conditions. 
The President led 
all kinds in devel¬ 
opment of fruits, 
every plant pro¬ 
ducing clusters 
similar to the one 
BEHAVIOR AT HOME.—At Hope Farm the Presi¬ 
dent gave a good account of itself. Our soil is heavier 
than W. V. F.’s, and we have not suffered seriously 
from drought. President, with us, made a strong, 
vigorous growth without the best of culture. There 
has been no evidence of rust, and runners are starting 
vigorously. We have plenty of berries fully as large 
as those shown in the picture. Our main crop berry 
for comparison is Marshall. President gives larger 
THE PRESIDENT STRAWBERRY, A NEW CANDIDATE FOR FAVOR. Fig. 173. 
shown in Fig. 173, and better still, seems inclined to 
perfect and bring to large size every berry. The color 
is bright and clear, the flesh firm and the seeds few 
and widely separated. It is just now (June 12) ripen¬ 
ing, and therefore comes in with Gladstone, Gandy 
and other late varieties. The quality, as grown here, 
is very fair, but not high, the acidity being quite mild. 
It is altogether the most promising strawberry we 
have yet tried from a market standpoint. Its future 
behavior under more favorable conditions will be 
watched with much interest. w. v. f. 
berries, and will greatly outyield Marshall with us. 
The color is a shade lighter, with little difference in 
firmness. We prefer the flavor of Marshall. 
Last year I visited Mr. Hunt’s farm so as to see 
President at home. This year I went again, on June 
10, at which time the fruit was at its best, though on 
one patch President gave its first ripe berries on May 
24. Of course Mr. Hunt knows how to grow straw¬ 
berries—having been in the business for 34 years— 
but he never was able to make any such showing as 
President makes this year. Most of his plants were 
set last July and August, yet they were loaded with 
just such sprays of fruit as shown in the picture. 
If a man could have painted a picture of that field 
with the size and coloring of the fruit exactly true 
to life, and printed it in colors, he would be accused 
of trying to deceive the public. We easily found 11 
strawberries that heaped up a quart basket! 
Mr. Hunt has grown and tested thousands of seed¬ 
lings. He has held President four years, in order to be 
sure of it. Now he 
believes that h e 
has a berry that 
has a clear title 
to a seat on a front 
bench. We agree 
with him—Presi¬ 
dent is one of the 
varieties that may 
safely lay claim to 
distinct and su¬ 
perior qualities. We 
do not say that it 
is sure to succeed 
everywhere — that 
would be an ab¬ 
surd statement, as 
all strawberry 
growers know. We 
feel sure that in 
localities and soils 
which suit it there 
can be no doubt as 
to its satisfactory 
behavior. It ap¬ 
pears to be one of 
the new varieties 
which all experi¬ 
menters can weil 
afford to try. We 
must remember 
that Mr. Hunt’s es¬ 
timate of the value 
of President is not 
based on the crop 
from a few petted 
plants. He has 
grown it four 
years, and this sea¬ 
son is shipping the 
fruit in crates to 
customers in Tren¬ 
ton and Philadel¬ 
phia, so that he 
knows how it ships 
and what custo¬ 
mers think of it. 
These great, fat 
berries arrive in 
fine condition, and 
there is a constant 
call for more than 
can be supplied. 
There are always 
growers who say 
that they do not 
want to produce 
large berries, but prefer the medium-sized fruit. Our 
own experience is that the large berries are most pro¬ 
fitable. Customers prefer them and in seasons when 
the market is crowded the firm big fruit will always 
command attention. While it is true that the culture 
has much to do with the production of these large 
berries the variety is also to be considered. President 
seems to excel in this perfecting of large-sized berries. 
The fact that it gave such fruit as is pictured on this 
page in a Jersey seashore drought speaks volumes 
for it. h. w. o. 
