RED RICH EVERBEARING STRAWBERRY 
“Tt’s the best everbearing to come down the pike in a long 
time”, state the men of the Minnesota Experiment Station. It is 
said to be “‘the greatest development in strawberry culture in 
the past 50 years.” It seems to have become the leading ever- 
bearer in the United States. 
Red Rich is the result of a cross of Wayzata everbearing x 
Fairfax June bearing. It is a chance seedling, one in a million, 
that hit square, retaining the good qualities of both parents. 
1. As a dessert berry it has very high quality, honey-sweet 
from its parent Wayzata, large and deep red all the way through 
like its parent Fairfax. Fruit and appearance of the plants are 
very similar to Fairfax. 
2. Red Rich is not surpassed as a freezing berry as it 1s 
very firm and deep red clear through, like its parent Fairfax , 
which is at the top of the list in firmness and shipping quali- 
ties. Red Rich does not mush up when thawed, due to its firm 
meaty quality, and in addition is very sweet, requiring little 
sugar. 
3. High yield. It has produced a June crop comparing favora- 
bly with June bearing varieties, followed by a heavy everbear- 
ing crop up to frost. 
4. The Red Rich plant is said to be the largest of strawberry 
plants, the crown and root system being exceptionally large,» 
as well as the leaves. This sturdiness makes for disease resist- 
ance and capacity for its outstanding yields. 
5. Red Rich has withstood temperatures of 30 degrees below 
zero without benefit of snow cover, with no noticeable winter 
injury. 
Mr. George W. Nelson wrote on Feb. 3, 1950: 
I have examined hundreds of strawberry varieties since 1914 
in my work as a nursery inspector in Minnesota and have grown 
5 to 7 acres yearly since 1935. It is my opinion that the new 
Hagerstrom everbearing variety (now named Red Rich) is much su- 
perior to any everbearing variety from every standpoint. 
As a dessert berry it combines the high quality of the Way- 
zata (honey sweetness) and the Fairfax (which are its parents) 
with high yield. The flesh of Red Rich is firm and red clear 
thru, the core is small and the berry ripens evenly under nor- 
mal conditions. It has an attractive red glossy color. It 1s 
not surpassed as a freezing and processing berry in my opinion. 
It stands up well and ships well. During last summer's hot 
weather berries which had been picked on the ripe side were 
still salable after three days in room temperature. When kept 
in a refrigerator the berries were still good after 10 days. 
Then as an early season berry (June crop in Minnesota) it 
appears to be an excellent variety. We picked the first berries 
