4 
The Floral Instructor. 
OUR COLORED PLATE. 
THE MANCHESTER. 
Through the liberality of Mr. John T. 
Lovett, of Little Silver, 1ST. J., we are 
able to present every reader of this 
number with a beautiful lithograph of 
the Manchester strawberry. Such emi¬ 
nent authority on horticultural matters 
as the Rural New Yorker says : “ The 
colored plate by no means does the 
berry justice as it grew at the Rural 
grounds the past season.” It is general¬ 
ly the case that when any new flower or 
fruit is introduced it is with a highly ex¬ 
aggerated description, but Mr. Lovett in 
his conscientiousness has gone to the 
other extreme. From every hand, and 
from all the eminent pomologists and 
horticulturists this berry has met with a 
hearty welcome. It is not claimed that 
the Manchester is a perfect strawberry, 
yet it is believed to be nearer so than 
any variety that has yet been dissemi¬ 
nated. The reasons on which this opin¬ 
ion is based are briefly these : 1. It re¬ 
mains firm longer than any other varie¬ 
ty ; 2. It is large and uniform through¬ 
out the season; 3. Its form is perfect; 
4. Its color is a beautiful glossy scarlet, 
and is retained longer than in any other 
berry; 5. In quality it is superb; 6. Won¬ 
derfully prolific; 7. It is a vigorous 
grower, with large, glossy foliage, and 
putting out large, pink runners; 8. It 
continues in fruit a long season, com¬ 
mencing to ripen with Charles Down¬ 
ing and continuing to very late, a very 
desirable character, but one which no 
other variety exhibits in the same de¬ 
gree ; 9. It endures the drought better 
than most Varieties ; 10. Its fruit stalks 
are tall and strong, admitting of mulch¬ 
ing, and in a great measure holding the 
fruit from the ground ; 11. The testimo¬ 
ny of E. P. Roe is that “it thrives well 
on light soils, and therefore on all soils.” 
Among the undesirable qualities that 
varieties otherwise desirable possess, (al¬ 
though in part a recapitulation of the 
preceding, yet may not be out of place 
in being mentioned here), from which 
the Manchester is exempt, are, it does 
not mat the ground with plantsdike the 
Crescent Seedling, Capt. Jack, French's 
Seedling, Downer’s Prolific, etc. It has 
never been known to scald; i. e., the 
fruit turn soft and watery during exces¬ 
sive heat, especially immediately suc¬ 
ceeding copious rains; it never buries 
itself in the earth like the Wilson, for 
example ; it never has the “green tip” 
or a white spot on one side, but colors all 
over at once. It does not dwindle rap¬ 
idly in size after the first picking, as is 
the case with most productive varieties, 
notably the Wilson and Capt. Jack, but 
continues to produce large, perfect ber¬ 
ries to the close of its long season. ‘Its 
foliage has never been known to blight 
or rust; it does not change color or lose 
its flavor quickly after picked, as do oth¬ 
er kinds,particularly the highly flavored 
choice varieties, but what might be 
termed in antiseptic qualities, being 
quite remarkable. It has never been 
known to winter kill. As what might, 
by some, be considered a disadvantage, 
it has pistillate blossoms, and requires 
to be fertilized by some other variety. 
This is in reality an advantage, as it is 
not possible for a variety to be so pro¬ 
ductive when it produces the pollen to 
fertilize its flowers, as when the same i* 
supplied it by some other variety. It 
should be remembered that the most 
prolific varieties all have pistillate blos¬ 
soms, e. g., Crescent, Champion, Green 
Prolific, etc. It may be here stated that 
the Wilson is perhaps as good as any to 
use for the purpose, although almost any 
variety with bi-sexual, or “perfect” 
blossoms, may be used, such as Sharp- 
iess, Bidwell, Miner’s Prolific, etc. The 
originator has alw r ays been successful 
with the Wilson, and finds a row of it 
every 15 feet is quite sufficient. 
The Manchester is a chance seedling, 
found growing in a neglected spot in an 
old garden at Manchester, N. J., about 
ten years ago. The originator had grow¬ 
ing on the place at the time Russell’s 
Prolific, Wilson, Jucunda, Agriculturist, 
and half a dozen or more of other kinds, 
but as it was found growing at a distance 
from any other strawberry plants, its pa¬ 
rentage can only be surmised. From 
close observation of the blossoms, plant in dif¬ 
ferent stages of growth and fruit, it is thought to 
be a cross between the Russel and Jucunda, but 
this is purely conjecture, there being no data on 
which to base such a conclusion. Since this berry 
has proved to be such a signal success, on the soil of 
sea sand at Manchester, without fertilizers, and 
almost without cultivation, and has also proved as 
much superior as the soil and culture were better 
in other places, we can conceive no reason why it 
will not do well generally. It is not, as has been 
intimated by some, of rampant growth. 
Mr. Lovett has many arrangements to accommo¬ 
date southern purchasers, whereby plants can be 
had at any time during the winter. He sends them 
by mail at $2.00 per doz., or $10.25 per 100, and un¬ 
less by special agreement not more than 200 will 
be sold to one party. His post-offlce address is 
Little Silver, Monmouth county, New Jersey, 
Money order at Telegraph office, Red Bank, N. 
J. We learn that the stock is being very rapidly 
engaged, and 1 earnestly advise those who wish 
plants to send in their orders soon. 
