When I was
a boy, Hovey's Seedling was the great strawberry of the day, and
marvellous stories were told of the productiveness of the plants
and the size of the berries. How well I remember the
disappointment and wrath of people who bought the plants at a high
price, and set them out with no staminate varieties near to
fertilize the pistillate blossoms. Expectations were raised to the
highest pitch by profuse blossoming in May, but not a berry could
be found the ensuing June. The vigorous plants were only a
mockery, and the people who sold them were berated as humbugs. To-
day the most highly praised strawberry is the Jewell. The
originator, Mr. P. M. Augur, writes me that "plants set two feet
by eighteen inches apart, August 1, 1884, in June, 1885,
completely covered the ground, touching both ways, and averaged
little over a quart to the plant for the centre patch." All
runners were kept off, in accordance with the system advocated in
this paper. "At Boston a silver medal was awarded to this variety
as the best new strawberry introduced within five years." People
reading such laudation--well deserved, I believe--might conclude
the best is good enough for us, and send for enough Jewell plants
to set out a bed. If they set no others near it, their experience
would be similar to that which I witnessed in the case of Hovey's
Seedling thirty odd years ago.
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