File:Allen's book of berries for 1936 (1936) (17764934119).jpg

Title: Allen's book of berries for 1936
Identifier: allensbookofberr19alle_20 (find matches)
Year: 1936 (1930s)
Authors: Allen Co. (Salisbury, Md. ); Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection
Subjects: Nurseries (Horticulture) Maryland Salisbury Catalogs; Nursery stock Maryland Salisbury Catalogs; Strawberries Maryland Salisbury Catalogs
Publisher: Salisbury, Md. : Allen Co.
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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Premier—Has Not Missed a Crop in Over 20 Years remier Premier was introduced in 1915. It has so many good qualities that it spread in popular favor very rapidly, soon replacing most other early berries except in the far West and far South. Premier is still recognized as the one early berry which any new variety has to surpass in order to become established. For sheer hardiness and persistence in producing a crop every year regardless of conditions no variety, early or late, ranks with Premier. It is a sure cropper, widely adapted and tremendously productive. At their best Dorsett and Fairfax will equal Premier in productive- ness and surpass it in quality, size and appearance of the berries. However, Premier will produce satisfactory crops under severe conditions that have cut the production of both Dorsett and Fairfax. We think growers who raise strawberries regularly should try out Dorsett and Fairfax with cultural practices suited to those varieties. The possibilities of them are too great to overlook. However, we think growers who have made money consistently with Premier should continue to grow it for their main crop until others prove superior by actual test. Premier is a grand old variety, well worth the high place given it. Vigor and Health of Plant Growth The foliage growth of Premier is very healthy, (n most localities it makes an ample growth for i good fruiting bed. In fact in some places it ^ets entirely too thick; in others it does not make ;nough plants. It has been suggested that the .vide adaptability of Premier is apparently re- ated to its rather limited production of runner nants, and those produced early in the season, improvement in yield and grade of Premier )erries from proper spacing of plants (see page .4) will probably not be as marked as with freer growing- varieties like Dorsett, Fairfax and 31akemore, although we believe some attention o spacing the plants will pay even with Premier. Size and Productiveness Year after year under all conditions Premier s probably the most productive variety ever in- roduced. Under favorable conditions Dorsett md Fairfax, as well as Catskill and Aberdeen, vill equal or surpass Premier in total quarts per tcre. "With Premier, so many berries are set that n a dry season, especially where hard frosts lave not reduced the set, the average size toward ne last end of the crop run down much faster nan Fairfax or Dorsett. Color and Appearance , Premier berries are a medium red in color, get- ing quite dark as they get riper. They have a leaium size green cap which generally stays reen throughout the season. They are very handsome in appearance, and show up well in the package. Firmness Premier berries are moderately firm. They will hold up for local market and snipping consider- able distances by truck. They go down very quickly when shipped under ice. They are not as firm as Blakemore, Bellmar, Missionary, or Klon- dyke. Fairfax and Dorsett are both much firmer and in home garden or commercial planting will stand up in a fruiting season that is very wet or very hot much better than Premier. Quality Premier berries are of good quality. They rank up well with most of the old standard varieties, but are not quite as good as Wm. Belt or Chesa- peake. They are far inferior in this respect to Dorsett and Fairfax, but for markets where quality is not considered they sure do produce the quarts. Resistance to Frost Injury Here is where Premier stands supreme. Not since 1915, when it was first introduced, has Premier failed to give at least a fair crop regard- less of frosts or freezes. Premier seems to be practically frostproof and on this account alone it will continue to be grown in many sections for a long time. Probably not in fifty years has there been a year like 1934, which would give Premier a chance to prove that in resisting late frosts and freezes, if in no other way, Premier is superior to Fairfax and Dorsett. Price list, page 33. 21

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