, 1879-12-08
New and Desirable Strawberries.

New and Desirable Strawberries.
A few years ago it would hardly have
been thought possible that such an in
terest would he taken in this fruit as
there is at the present time. At our
horticultural exhibitions we see persons
in all stations of life. millionaires. mer-
chants, divines, farmers and mechanics,
alike eagerly pressing around the fruit
tables and scanning the various speci-
mems, while the fair sex seem equally
interested, and the looker-on hears
many one clad in rich laces or velvet
discussing and praising the compara-
tive merits of the President Lin
coins" "Duchesses or "Cinderel-
las" as if those fruits we're SO many
persons in society or fiction. Little as
these persons realize the fact, yet, In
seeking enjoyment aud recreation
amidst these fruits they are, perhaps
unconsciously to themselves. undergo
ing certain refining influence; as
what can be more ennobling than the
thoughts that are called forth while
looking upon the variety and handi-
work Of nature and of natures God, as
it is displayed in the fruits and flowers.
Many a one who has allowed his or her
thoughts to dwell on subjects like these,
while engaged among or examining
their fruits or flowers, has mad new
thoughts OF the sublimity or grandeur
of creative power aroused in their
minds by these speaking and compan-
ionable plants. There certainly seems
to be no end to the variety that nature
displays. Each year she greets us with
something new in some department of
her handlwork. As our thoughts at
this tine have taken the direction of
strawberries, we will recount in u few
words some of the qualities Of few of
the newer, as we'll as of the older and
finer varieties.
General Sherman.-Upon suitable
soils, and when given rich cultivation,
this variety reveals some beautiful
large specimens of fruit. It seems to
especially delight in a good, moist,
loamy soil, and when it can obtain suffi
cient moisture, either naturally or
through irrigation, proves very CRATE
full in the rich retarns of fruit that it
makes. The berries are of brilliant
scarlet color, conical, and of good
quality.
Sharpless.-This is proving ono OF
the most popular of any of the straw
berries, combining a number of quail
ties of unusual merit. l do not won
der that it proves such favorite with
the ladies, or with those who have the
care of the fruit in the house after it is
picked, as the beautiful appearance of
the berries upon the fruit-dish, and
the ease with which these large berries
can be hulled, to say nothing of their
eating qualities, render them fully de-
serving of the cordial reception that
they are receiving. This past seasons
fruiting has shown that the plants are
adapted to nearly all soils.
Wilding Seeding, Kerr's Late Pro-
life, Glendale, Great American and
Golden Defiance are among some of the
finer varieties that have the merit of
ripening late, and thus prolonging the
length of the strawberry season; while
of the sixty or seventy varieties upon
my grounds, the Duncan. Crystal City,
Matilda, Duchesse, and Black Defiance
prove about as early as any.
AS to the new method that is now
employed in setting out plants in the
summer, few words in explanation
will perhaps prove of interest. This
consists in using plants that have been
in little hower-pots. Its chief advau-
tage to those living at q distance, rests
in the fact that plants grown in this
way can be transported even during
the hottest days of summer, equally as
well as in the fall or spring. Their
value consists in their standing trans
planting without receiving a check to
their growth, SO that when given tre-
quent and rich cultivation nearly full
crop (sometimes nearly a quart of fruit
to plant) can be obtained the follow
ing summer. 1t is certainly welcome
improvement over the older method of
using the ordinary grown plants for
summer planting.-R. H. II. in Mass.
Plo'ag glman.
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