New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 679 
the belief that late market berries more desirable than any now 
cultivated may eventually be originated. Plate IU, from a photo- 
graph, illustrates the fruit of one of the station seedlings which 
combines with late fruiting season many other desirable features. 
It has not yet been tested sufficiently to warrant its introduction, 
It is a cross of Johnson’s Late by Sharpless and is of interest in 
this connection, because it combines in itsclf some of the most 
valuable characters of each of its parents, thus indicating the 
possibilities of improvement by systematic breeding. Sharpless, 
the male parent, is well known as a vigorous grower with large, 
dark green, coarsely serrated leaves, large, bright scarlet fruit, 
rather variable in form, sometimes with unripe tips. The flesh is 
firm, light red, and of good quality: Fruit ripens midseason to late, 
The other parent, Johnston’s Late, a variety not commonly 
known, is, in some respects, a remarkable strawberry. It is a 
chance seedling sent here in 1885 by R. Johnston, of Shortsville, 
N.Y. Its fruiting season is one of the very latest among the 
hundreds of varieties grown here during the last few years. The 
following table shows the dates at which it has ripened its first 
fruits for the past eight years, and also the dates at which Cres- 
cent, Manchester and Sharpless have ripened first fruits during 
the same period of years: 
TasLti XVII. 


First Fruit RIpPe. 





















YEAR. 
Manchester. Sharpless. Crescent. Johnston’s Late. 
PeSGroas ois 5. aut nS June 10| June 11/| June 41! June 24 
pO i Salat eh ae oe Uaneackl otal une: td |) wune o>. | June 94 
INES cree eG ek Bs June 25 , June 25 s July 2 
eS oe ee ahs June 18 | In GS ol Nest ve oaune 297 
Pe ke ee es June: 19> 4.June 17.) June. 16°}: June 28 
Se the ow kk June 11 Paine 13 | June 5 | June 20 
LS a June 18! June 19 | June 13 | July y 
In MARKETABLE CONDITION. 
WSC) 5 a ane June 20 | June 21/ June 19 | June 30 
dune 16.) June 16°" Jane “ip June 27 
Avg, for eight se 





* Date not recorded. 
By consulting this table it is seen that on the average during 
the last eight years Johnston’s Late has ripened its first fruits 
eleven days later than either. Manchester or Sharpless, and seven- 
teen days later than Crescent. Its blooming season is corre- 
spondingly late, and since its flowers are imperfect this fact 
suggests a reason for its unsatisfactory yield. Possibly, if it were 
set near some staminate variety blossoming at the same late 
season, its yield would be much increased. 
