W. F. Allen’s Plant and Seed Catalogue, Salisbury, Md. 
7 
BRADLEY. —Originated at Cobden, Ill., by J. H. 
Bradley, a little over ten years ago. 
It is thought to be a seedling of the Crescent open to 
chance polenization by Tenn. Prolific, etc. As fruited 
here it lias made a good impression and I consider it a 
most excellent variety. The leaves are medium large, 
dark green; the leaf stems inclined to be long and 
slender, blossoms and ripens mid-season to late. It is 
very productive, large size and looks promising gener¬ 
ally. My opinion is that it will compare very favor¬ 
ably with any of our best standard varieties. 
BOUNTIFUL. —This is said to be a seedling of 
the Glen Mary probably crossed 
polenized with Clyde and originated in New Jersey 
with Mr. J. E. Kuhns. The plants are large, vigorous 
and numerous, with dark green foliage ; a good yielder, 
holding its size well. The fruit is large, showy and at¬ 
tractive ; roundish conical, sometimes slightly flatten¬ 
ed. The flesh is red and juicy, moderately firm and of 
good flavor; season medium early. The Bountiful has 
made an excellent growth here and looks very promis¬ 
ing. 
COMMONWEALTH. —Originated by James Mon¬ 
roe near Boston, Mass. I 
have fruited this berry and find that it bears a good 
quantity of fine, large berries, a variety, however, that 
I do not especially recommend for the South, as I think 
it more adapted to Northern sections, and for best re¬ 
sults should be given rich soil and high culture. When 
these conditions are met it is a very fancy berry. The 
following I copy from Mr. Monroe’s description : “The 
Commonwealth is the outcome of the desire and effort 
to produce a berry that would perceptibly lengthen the 
strawberry season. In the Commonwealth we have a 
berry that is as large as the largest, as productive as 
the largest, as fine flavor, as solid and as dark color as 
any. It has a smooth surface, is very rich and juicy, 
and has a strong staminate blossom. On the 17tii day 
of July, 1002, as good berries were picked as at any 
time during its season, Marshall, Glen Mary and Mc¬ 
Kinley growing side by side of it being all gone. The 
last berries were picked July 22. The plant is a strong 
grower, but not so rank as 
the Marshall, and makes a 
fair amount of plants. The 
Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, always ready to rec¬ 
ognize special merit, award¬ 
ed the Commonwealth first 
prize in competition July 5, 
1002, and July 11, 1903.” 
Mr. James II. Gregory, the 
well - known seedsman, o f 
Marblehead, Mass., was at 
the grounds of the originator 
and was impressed with the 
lateness of this variety. He 
says “fourteen berries that 
he picked filled a quart bas¬ 
ket and that they had just 
begun to ripen when he was 
there on July 2, when the bed 
was loaded with bushels of 
growing fruit, but he had to 
search very carefully to find 
a quart of ripe berries at 
that time.” 
Benj. F. Smith, a well- 
known strawberry grower of 
Beverly, Mass., says : “I have 
watched the Commonwealth 
very carefully from its ori¬ 
gin, and for vigor of plant, 
productiveness and quality 
of fruit it excels them all. It 
is very late and one of the 
best I ever saw.” 
AROMA. —An old berry 
that is more 
or less popular in some sec¬ 
tions. The berries are large, 
firm, attractive and good 
quality, but here it is a poor 
grower and not productive 
enough to be profitable. 
While there is a number of 
growers who still want this 
variety, especially in the Mid¬ 
dle West, we do not consider 
it near as good as Chesa¬ 
peake, Gandy or Brandywine. 
Here in Maryland one acre of 
Chesapeake would be worth 
three or four in Aroma. 
MASCOT.—This variety 
hails from 
Virginia and as vet has 
only fruited here iif% small 
way. The variety is well thought of by many grow¬ 
ers and some are planting large areas of it. I have 
not fruited this except in a small way myself. What 
berries I had were large, shapely and very attractive. 
It is a good grower, makes plenty of plants with large, 
healthy foliage, which bears some resemblance to 
Gandy, but is much more vigorous and is claimed to 
be a great deal more productive. It starts to ripen 
about a week earlier than Gandy and continues as 
late as that variety. It is very promising and should 
not be ignored by those who are looking for good new 
varieties. It is the general impression with growers 
in this section that it is gong to prove a valuable 
variety for them. 
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THE BEST EVER. PEDIGREES NOT 
EXCEPTED. 
Tuscarowas Co., Ohio, June 6, 1909. 
W. F. Allen, Salisbury, Md. 
Dear Sir—I want to set one acre of straw¬ 
berries next spring, and, of course, W. F. 
Allen will get the order. I have purchased 
plants of all the leading plant growers in 
the country, including the famous Pedigrees, 
but the Allen plants are the finest of any I 
ever set. and it would do you good to see the 
big, shiny berries laying around in piles. 
One of my customers remarked that he did 
not know strawberries could grow so large; 
said they looked like red apples. The crop is 
the finest I ever grew. C. E. BLACK. 
PROMPT SHIPMENT, GOOD PLANTS. 
Muskingum Co., Ohio, May 8, 1909. 
W. F. Allen, Salisbury, Md. 
Dear Sir—I write to thank you for the 
prompt shipment and good plants you sent 
me. They are doing fine; they hardly know 
they have been dug. Yours very truly, 
WESLEY EVANS. 
