Success with Small Fruits

requirements of the plant and its culture, is substantially correct, his somewhat extended list of varieties is almost wholly obsolete. With the exception of Hovey's Seedling,

x heart of every strawberry blossom will be found to consist of pistils, and usually of stamens ranged around them. When both stamens and pistils are found in the same blossom, as is the case with most varieties, it is called a perfect flower, or staminate. In rare instances, strawberry flowers are found which possess stamens without pistils, and these are called male bloss

rents, and traits, also, of its grandparents and remote ancestors. The law of heredity is the same as in cattle or the human race. Thus it may be seen that millions of new varieties can be very easily obtained. A single plant-grower often raises many thousands to which he never gives a name, by reason of the fact-noted elsewhere than in the fruit garden-that most of these new strawberries in no respect surpass or even equal their parents. The great major

inferior one among them. There is not one of them that is not superior to all the seedlings recently introduced." Not one of these thirty-five "superior seedlings," to my k

red his petted seedlings with the superb varieties already in existence. It is soon discovered by general trial th

e all their fruit, I being well content to let eight or ten bushels go to waste in order to see just what each variety could do. From such trial-beds the comparative merits of each kind can be seen at a glance. Highly praised new-comers, which are said to supersede everything, must show what they are and can do beside the old standard varieties that won their laurels years ago. I thus learn that but few can endure the test, and occasionally I find an old kind sent out with a new name. When visiting fruit farms in New Jersey last summer, I was urged to visit a small place on which was growi

il in Delaware or Virginia, and 100 varieties be planted. Many that are justly favorites in our locality would there shrivel and burn, proving valueless; but those that did thrive and produce well, exhibiting a power to endure a Southern sun, and to flourish in sand, should be the choice for all that region. To the far South and North, and in the extremes of the East and West, trial-beds would give still varying results; but such results would apply to the soils

lity tend to do well on such soils in all localities. The same principle applies to those requiring heavy

premising that I give but one man's opinion, and that all have a right to differ from me. At the close

st, and Wilson, adapt themselves to almost every condition and locality. Varieties of this class are superseded very slowly; but it would seem, with the exception of Wilson's Albany, that the standards of one generation have not been the favorites of the next. The demand of our age is for large fruit The demand has created a supply, and the o

in Downing's "Encyclopedia of Fruits and Fruit Trees of America." It contains the names, wi

general cultivation, North and South, East and West, I would recommend the Charles Downing, Monarch of the West, Seth Boyden, Kentucky Seedling, Duchess, and Golden Defiance. These varieties are all first-rate in quality, and they have shown a wonderful adaptation to varied soils and climates. They hav

e can add to the above,

nda, President Wilder,

less, Pioneer,

eedling, Monarch of the West, Duchess, Cumberland Triumph, Miner's Prolific, Golden Defiance, and Sharp

South, it should be the constant aim to find varieties whose foliage can endure the hot sun. I think that the Sharpless, which is now producing a great sensation as well as mammoth berries, will do well in most Southern localitie

ant, but alternations of freezing and thawing. The deep and unmelting snows often enable the horticulturist to raise successfully in Canada tender fruits that would "winter-kill" much further south. If abundant protection is therefore provided, either by nature or by art, the people of the North can take their choice from among the best. In the high latitudes, early kinds will be in request, since the season of growth is brief.

STRAW

he chief consideration-flavor-is scarcely taken into account. In the present unenlightened condition of the public, one of the oldest strawberries on the list-Wilson's Seedling-is more largely planted than all other kinds together. It is so enormously productive, it succeeds so well throughout the entire country, and is such an early berry, that, with the addition of its fine carrying qualities, it promises to be the great market berry for the next generation also. But this variety is not at all adapted to thin, poor land, and is very impatient o

t this capacity for growing on thin, poor soils-anywhere and under any circumstances-that gives to it its chief value. In hardiness and vitality it is almost equal to the Canada thistle. The young plants are small, and the foliage is slender and delicate; but they have the power to live and multiply beyond that of any other variety I have seen. It thrives under the suns of Georgia and Florida, and cares naught for the cold of Canada; it practically extends the domain of the strawberry over the continent, and renders the laziest man in the land, who has no strawberries, without excuse. One of my beds yield

tractive in the baskets. The berries, like the two kinds already named, turn red before they are ripe, and in this immature condition their flavor is very poor, but when fully ripe they are excellent. The transformation is almost as grea

said to be a seedling of the Champion fertilized with the Charles Downing variety. If there has been no mistake in this history of its origin, it is a rema

f medium-sized berries. It is a great favorite in Missouri and some other

lendale-a variety recently introduced-will pro

atic berry, and very attractive as it appears in our markets in March and April, but it is even harder and sourer than an unripe Wilson. When

ve in the North, and requires good treatment even in the South, they yield largely under rough field culture. The fruit can be sold very cheaply and yet give a

l, let him also try the Jucunda, President Lincoln, and, especially, the Triomphe de Gand. These varieties always have a ready sale, even when the market is glutted with common fruit, and they often command very high prices. When the soil suits them, they

oyden, was 327 bushels 15 1/2 quarts, which were sold for $1,386.21. A strict account was kept. Since that time I have been experimenting with Mr. Durand's large berries, and have not done so well. In 1878, I obtained $1,181 from one acre, one-half planted with the Seth Boyden and the other with the Great American. The year of 1879 was my poorest

mmer a neighbor of mine obtained eighteen cents per quart for his Monarch strawberries, when Wilsons brought but ten cents. At the same time, these superb rarities often do

y raised than the Wilson, and on thin, dry land is more productive. A bed will last, if kept clean, four or five years instead of two, and yield better the fifth year than the first. Although the fruit is but of medium size, it is so fine in flavor that it has only to be known to create a ste

ecided pink flush on one side. It is beautiful and delicious, and so aromatic that a single berry

t strawberries that are well worthy of a place in the garden. From a commercial point of view, they have no value. T

the best qualities of the two great strawberry species of the world, the F. Virginiana and the F. Chilensis. The only fault that I have ever discovered is that, in many localities, it is not productive. No more