A host of new varieties developed by the fruit breeders of the United States is gradually replacing the older sorts.
These may become outdated as further improvements bring better fruit crops.
Certainly, the home orchardist should find sonic-worthy replacements for his older varieties by trying out a few new ones that have shown better than average merit for this latitude.
The strawberry is the fruit for the home gardener. It is the first to ripen in the garden with easy culture and delicious flavor.
Just sampling a few warm berries from the sunny strawberry bed shows why such planting is a prized possession.
Recent varieties that have been grown long enough to demonstrate real merit are Empire and Eden.
Perhaps the prettiest strawberry I have ever grown, EMPIRE yields a heavy crop of large, good-quality fruit.
EDEN is a processing berry-firm, tart, and moderately dark, though glossy and attractive.
Freezing, canning, and preserving it is one of the best.
The heavy crop is held up off the ground. ESSEX is unusually early, ripening nearly a week before Howard 17 (Premier).
This rather small berry is intended solely for the home gardener because of its earliness and high quality.
California Berry
California berry breeders have recently introduced a series of new varieties that all deserve a try.
These include:
- SHASTA
- DENVER
- TAHOE
- SIERRA
- LASSEN
And midwestern gardeners whose soils are infected with red stele disease can thank the Illinois Experiment Station for VERMILION.
It is resistant to this disease which persists in the soil to attack the root systems of strawberries and other plants.
Vermilion yields a heavy crop of fairly good quality berries. Home orchardists should also look over the new virus-free stocks (soon to be offered by nurseries) of old favorites such as:
- CATSKILL
- FAIRLAND
- TEMPLE
- SPARKLE
Success in strawberry growing is based on healthy planting stock, early planting (April, if possible. in the North), and prevention of overcrowding.
Equally important are weed control, adequate water at critical times, and early, thorough winter mulching.
Attention to these cultural requirements pays off in eating pleasure.
Red Raspberry
The red raspberry is a close second to the strawberry as a home garden fruit.
The first berries of the variety SEPTEMBER are ready before the last strawberries have been picked. and this early crop (which lasts 3 to 4 weeks) is just a sample of what is in store during September and early October.
When the high quality of these is bright and attractive, firm berries reach their peak.
Nine weeks of raspberries is a good return for the space the easily grown bushes require.
The fall crop of September starts ahead of the INDIAN SUMMER season, and the quality is higher too.
A week earlier still is the fall-bearing DURHAM, with its chief asset adaptability to a short season.
Just as the summer crop of September is over, the honey-sweet Amaral commences a three-week stand.
A hold-over of another week may be had from this variety by cutting part of the canes back to half their height at tire spring priming.
Sonic berries are sacrificed, but the season is lengthened, and tire size increases. (At the beginning of the raspberry season, a few extra early berries may be coaxed from September by not cutting back the canes in spring.)
WILLAMETTE, from Oregon, is a recent, heavy-yielding man. Rather dark red raspberry that is excellent for freezing and canning.
Among the older standard varieties that still stand up to the challenge of newcomers are:
- NEWBURGH
- TAYLOR
- MILTON
- LATHAM
It is comparatively simple to produce a good crop of raspberries.
Virus-free plants in a virus-free location, weed control, mulching, and protection against winter injury are the chief requisites.
Keeping the narrow rows means better berries and easier maintenance.
Blackberries
Blackberries have been in eclipse for many years due to the disappearance of good varieties from the nurseries and the frequent failure of the flowers to produce normal berries.
Recently, two varieties named BAILEY and HEDRICK, originating at the Geneva Experiment Station, have been introduced.
Both produce a good crop of large, jet black, fine-quality berries on vigorous plants when properly grown.
A good blackberry, dead ripe, is one of the tastiest morsels that can be popped into the mouth.
Any homeowner who sampled a handful will realize that the care needed to produce good berries is more than repaid.
The cause of imperfectly developed berries that have discouraged would-be growers has been discovered.
The villain is the tarnished plant bug that feeds on the flowers and young fruits.
Spraying two pounds of 50% percent wettable DDT powder in 100 gallons of water prevents this injury.
If rows are kept narrow, the thorns on tire bushes are much less troublesome than when plants are permitted to make a dense thicket.
Blueberry
The high-bush blueberry, the most recent of our cultivated fruits to be improved, has come a long way since plant breeders first sought out the best wild bushes from the hillsides of New England and the pine barrens of New Jersey.
Several generations of breeding during the last 45 years have culminated in the recent varieties described here.
After extra early WEYMOUTH, a variety tolerated only for its early crop, EARLIBLUE, superior in size, flavor, color, and plant vigor, is the first to ripen.
Next in order comes IVANHOE. Willa is much better than the older RANCOCAS, which are produced at the same time.
Large berries of good quality borne on a vigorous bush make Ivanhoe a sort of deserving trial.
BLUE CROP, a few days later, is very light blue and of fine flavor. In addition to being a reliably heavy yielder.
Ranking with the best in flavor and other characteristics, HERBERT ripens late.
Two others, still in the trial stage, are BERKELEY and COVILLE. Both produce large crops of large berries.
Berkeley ripens just before Jersey, while Coville is the last of all. These blueberries will undoubtedly replace older sorts as their merits become more widely known.
Blueberry Bushes
Blueberry bushes respond especially well to sawdust mulch, but peat, leaves, and marsh hay are satisfactory substitutes.
Sulfate of ammonia at the rate of one ounce for each year of age of the bush is the best fertilizer.
Pruning is necessary to prevent overbearing, and it consists of thinning out the weaker wood throughout the bush.
The season of late varieties may be extended by light pruning, which permits overbearing and consequently delays tile ripening of the fruit.
Blueberries keep well on and off the bush and may be held a week or two in the refrigerator.
In fact, in late July and August, the blueberry is a fine home garden fruit wherever acid, sandy soil is available.
The home gardener whose knowledge of grapes is limited to CONCORD, NIAGARA, and DELAWARE should sample some modern varieties.
The great diversity of flavors, textures, colors and ripening seasons is amazing.
Many of the best have been developed by tire fruit breeders. at the Experiment Station in Geneva, N. Y., grape breeding has been an important activity for 50 years.
Of the recent introductions, STEUBEN merits special mention. Ripening while CONCORD or slightly later, it is a high-quality blue-black grape with long, compact, tapering clusters.
The vine is vigorous, productive, and hardier than the average, and the fruit keeps well in storage—all traits that single it out for home or market vineyards.
Seedless Grapes
The thought of seedless grapes brings to mind California and its THOMPSON SEEDLESS.
Dr. A. B. Stout of the New York Botanical Garden, however, worked for many years at Geneva, crossing the Thompson Seedless with hardy eastern grapes.
Out of his work have come three fine new golden yellow seedless grapes of good quality that ripen at different times; HIMROD is first.
Next (about September 1 at Geneva and a full month ahead of Concord) comes INTERLAKEN SEEDLESS, while ROMULUS is not ready until mid-September.
This trio makes it possible for the home orchardist to grow the Thompson Seedless type grapes here in the Eastern States.
About all these seedless grapes will stand 15° degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
Like all other varieties, these should be sprayed to control mildew, black rot, berry moth, and leafhoppers.
Peaches
Many new peaches have been introduced in recent years, and nearly all are improvements over older sorts.
EARLY VEE, another of the famous V peaches from the Station at Vineland, Ontario, is distinguished by its unusual earliness.
It ripens a week before MIKADO, is yellow-fleshed, freestone when fully ripe, and good in quality for an early peach.
JERSEYLAND ripens before GOLDEN JUBILEE and is of good quality. firm, dark red. yellow-fleshed peach.
PRAIRIE DAWN is harder than the average and ripens with the early varieties; two qualities make it worth sampling.
Apple
The apple is the king of our hardy fruits, but a king that does not reign unless an intelligent spray program is carried out each year.
It is impossible to grow good apples without spraying.
Of the many varieties introduced recently, one of the best is MONROE. The roundish conic fruits are large, an attractive red, and of good quality.
Moreover, they keep well, and the trees yield a heavy crop annually.
Another newcomer is WEBSTER, a large. red-streaked culinary apple that has possibilities for processing.
From Idaho, a solid red, high-quality, late-keeping apple is attracting considerable attention as a commercial and dessert apple.
SPARTAN, from British Columbia, is a late-keeping McIntosh type that devotees of that famous high-quality apple should sample.
BEACON is a recent, early-ripening variety whose handsome red fruits get the apple season off to a good start.
44659 by George L. Slate