Success with Small Fruits

by Edward Payson Roe

In the Champion, we have a late market berry that is steadily growing in favor. On rich, moist land it is almost as productive as the Crescent. The fruit averages much larger than the Wilson, while its rich crimson color makes it very attractive 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 great as in a persimmon. Under generous culture, the Champion yields superb berries, that bring the best prices. It also does better than most kinds under neglect and drought. It is too soft for long carriage, and its blossoms are pistillate.

Within a few years, a new variety named Windsor Chief has been disseminated, and the enormous yield of 17,000 quarts per acre has been claimed for it. It is 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 remarkable instance of the reproduction of the traits of one parent only, for in no respect have I been able thus far to see wherein it differs from the Champion.

The Captain Jack is another late variety, which is enormously productive of medium-sized berries. It is a great favorite in Missouri and some other regions. The berries carry well to market, but their flavor is second-rate.

The good size, firmness, and lateness of the Glendale—a variety recently introduced—will probably secure for it a future as a market berry.

In the South, Neunan's Prolific, or the "Charleston Berry," as it is usually called, is already the chief variety for shipping. It is an aromatic 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 fully matured on the vine it is grateful to those who like an acid berry. Scarcely any other kind is planted around Charleston and Savannah.

These six varieties, or others like them, will supply the first great need of all large markets—quantity. With the exception of the last, which is not productive 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 fair profit. Only a limited number of fancy berries can be sold at fancy prices, but thousands of bushels can be disposed of at eight and ten cents per quart.

Still, I would advise any one who is supplying the market, thoroughly to prepare and enrich an acre or more of moist but well drained land, and plant some of the large, showy berries, like the Sharpless, Monarch, and Seth Boyden. If he has heavy, rich soil, 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 frequently yield crops that are not so far below the Wilson in quantity. Fifty bushels of large, handsome berries may bring as much, or more, than one hundred bushels of small fruit, while the labor and expense of shipping and picking are reduced one-half.

I suppose that Mr. E. W. Durand, of Irvington, N. J., obtains more money from one acre of his highly cultivated strawberries than do many growers from ten acres. Mr. H. Jerolaman, of Hilton, N. J., has given me some accurate statistics that well illustrate my meaning. "My yield," he writes, in 1877, "from one acre, planted chiefly with the Seth Boyden, 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. Nearly all my plants were Great American and Beauty, and the yield was 121 bushels, selling for $728. The average cost per acre, for growing, picking, marketing, and manure, is $350. I am not satisfied but that I shall have to return to the old Seth Boyden in order to keep taking the first State premiums, as I have done for the past three years."

This record of experience shows what can be done with the choice varieties if an appreciative market is within reach, and one will give the high culture they demand. Last summer 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 not pay at all under poor field culture and in matted rows. We may also note, in passing, how slowly fine old standard kinds, like the Boyden, are superseded by new varieties.

I should not be at all surprised if the Charles Downing became one of the most popular market strawberries of the future. It is already taking the lead in many localities It is moderately firm—sufficiently so, with a little extra care, to reach most markets in good condition. It is more easily 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 steady demand. The Kentucky Seedling is another berry of the same class, and has the same general characteristics—with this exception, that it is a very late berry, In flavor, it is melting and delicious. It does well on almost any soil, even a light and sandy one, and is usually very productive.