Vol. LV. No. 2426. 
NEW YORK, JULY 25, 1896. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
'STRAWBERRIES ON HE A V) SOIL. 
HOW THE VARIETIES BEHAVE. 
A Poor Crop But Fine Prices. 
The strawberry season just closed in this section, 
has been one of light crops, but of fine prices ; hence, 
the money result has been much more satisfactory 
than last year’s. On the high-lying uplands, the 
drought of last summer was so terribly severe that 
no plants were made, and on such lands, of course, 
there was next to no crop, as there were no vines to 
bear. On the lower grounds, such as are found in the 
lower part of our county, there was about one-half a 
full crop; but it paid a 
great deal better than last 
year’s heavy crop, as one 
instance will show : An ex¬ 
tensive grower told me, 
last year, that he thought 
when he had paid all his 
bills, that he would have 
$15 left. This year, he will 
have over $1,500. On 
banked meadows, the crop 
was very heavy. 
□ The Gandy still main¬ 
tains its supremacy here ; 
not that it is the best or 
most productive berry, but 
its reputation in market 
will make it bring from 
three to five cents per quart 
more than any other, and 
this often means the dif¬ 
ference between a good 
profit and none at all. As 
a result of another year’s 
trial, I have discarded 
Enhance. It has all the 
desirable qualities except 
that it is so rough as ma¬ 
terially to detract from its 
appearance in the crate. I 
have filled its room with 
Marshall of which I can 
hardly say too much. It is 
simply magnificent in fruit 
and plant. It is the largest 
berry I have ever grown 
with the exception o f 
Mary ; by this I do no' 
mean that there are to be 
found here and there 
enormously large and over¬ 
grown berries, but that all 
the berries are very large, 
and they continue so dur¬ 
ing the season. The qual¬ 
ity is of the best, and it is 
among the most productive; 
while in vigor of growth it 
is excelled by none. Of the 
Mary, all that I have said 
of the Marshall can be fairly said, except that its 
quality is not so good, though it is far from being of 
the poor quality stated by some writers. I shall not 
continue planting it, as it has no points of superiority 
over the Marshall, and has the disadvantage of being 
a pistillate. 
Eight here I wish to enter my protest against the 
constant claims made by stiawberry men that pistil¬ 
late berries are the most productive. I know that, 
where all conditions of moisture and fertility are 
given, the Parker Earle will produce two quarts to 
one of any pistillate berry in existence. This berry 
still maintains with me its preeminence ; it is the 
most wonderfully productive berry I have ever seen. 
My-patch has been visited during the season by many 
old strawberry growers, and their uniform testimony 
was that they never saw anything like it. The ber¬ 
ries commence ripening with the midseason berries, 
and continue until the very last. I picked them from 
June 1 to 20, making three pickings a week, and 
the last were beautiful berries. They are berries 
that will class as large—not very large—and are 
beautiful appearing berries in the crate, looking as if 
varnished, and carry in first-class shape. I would not, 
however, advise any one to plant them where there is 
likely to be a deficiency of water or of fertility, as 
they set such an enormous quantity of berries that 
THE CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSE. From Nature. Fig. 157. See Ruralisms, Page 499. 
they simply couldn’t fill them out to any decent size, 
if any of the necessary conditions were lacking. 
I tried the Great American, but I utterly fail to find 
any point of “ greatness ” it may possess. With me, 
it is simply worthless. The Brandywine has been a 
great disappointment to me, as I anticipated great 
things from it, from the reports received. It, on my 
soil, is a complete failure as a producer of berries. 
The plants made a magnificent growth, but of fruit 
there was a woful lack. Yet I feel that I cannot 
quite give it up—thinking, perhaps, I didn’t get gen¬ 
uine plants—so I shall get a few of the introducer and 
try it again. 
Edgar Queen is a magnificent berry and productive, 
but there are others'just as good, and it is a pistil¬ 
late, so I have no use for it. Many patches of berries 
in this section were ruined by what the growers 
called a weevil—described as a very small bug that 
attacked the bud and destroyed it. I have not seen 
any of these bugs, as I did not hear of them until 
they had finished their work and disappeared. I tried 
to get some samples to send to Prof. Slingerland, but 
was too late. 
I have some 20 new varieties growing to test next 
year, and shall report on them. Among them, are 
Belle, Noble, Tennyson, Mexican, Eleanor, Glen 
Mary, Wm. Belt, Enormous, Sloan’s Seedling Giant, 
Bouncer, Ideal and Oriole. 
Ii. Iv. HOWELL. 
Cumberland Co., N. J. 
Strawberry Notes from 
Maryland. 
I give a short review of 
the behavior of the new 
varieties of strawberries 
the past season. Hale’s 
Bouncer is quite large and 
of fair quality. The shape 
is the worst of any on the 
farm, being badly ridged 
or crinkled. The plant 
makes large, healthy foli¬ 
age, but on the whole, it 
is not desirable on my land, 
which I would call a sandy 
loam. 
Eleanor was badly af¬ 
fected by the dry weather 
early in the season ; it 
bloomed profusely, but was 
very stingy in setting fruit, 
possibly owing to the dry 
weather; what fruit we 
got, was of medium size 
and very firm, but not so 
early as has been claimed 
by its introducer. 
Giant in the fruiting beds 
did very poorly ; the plant 
growth was very poor and 
weak, and the fruit was 
not properly matured, but 
we got some much finer 
fruit from our spring-set 
plants than from our fruit¬ 
ing beds. As seen in our 
fruiting beds, I would say 
that it is undesirable ; but, 
as seen on our spring-set 
plants, I feel that it would 
only be just to say that it 
is promising. 
Sunnyside, a very strong 
grower, is productive and 
very late; berries above 
medium in size. It is very 
good, but there are others better. 
Sunrise is very productive of medium sized, soft 
berries, shape the same as Bubach. but not nearly so 
large. 
Brunette is medium size, perfect form, very produc¬ 
tive, and the best quality of any that I have ever 
eaten; it is a strong, healthy grower, and the berry 
is firm enough for a good shipper. I especially recom¬ 
mend this for the family garden. 
Brandywine is all that has been claimed for it. 
Wm. Belt was exceptionally good ; I picked berries 
that weighed one ounce each from spring-set plants, 
and the fruiting beds contained an abundance of large 
berries of good quality. Some of the first to ripen 
