330 Cincinnati. Ilorticullural Society — Proceedings. [July, 



On motion, the Society tendered their thanks, by vote, to Messrs. 

 HosEA and TuGH for the favors thus conferred. 



The Secretary als o acknowledged the receipt of additional copies 

 of Transactions of the American FornoJogical Sjcicty from Colonel 

 Wilder, of Massachusetts, and the Transactions of the Connecticut 

 State Agticultnral Society for 1856, presented to the Society's library 

 by Dr. Mussy, for which a vote of thanks was tendered. 



A communication from Mr. Lonoworth was read and ordered to 



be printed : 



To the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. 



This season the McAvoy's Superior has, for the first time, produc- 

 ed a small crop, and a large portion of defective berries, from a 

 want of full impregnation. This failure has been frequently named 

 in your Society, and suggested that the difficulty would be removed 

 if every other row was staminate or hermaphrodite. I could see no 

 reason why this should secure a full impregnation, as insects carry 

 the farina ten feet or more, and produce a full impregnation with 

 other pistillates. Last spring I set out fifteen alternative rows of 

 the Superior and Prolific. On the same border I had about twenty 

 rows of pistillates and twenty of hermaphrodites in succession. — 

 The Superior, in alternate rows with the Prolific, are as badly im- 

 pregnated as those, where the kinds are ten feet apart. I regret to 

 find this peculiar character in the Superior, as I deem it superior to 

 all other pistillates, if not sometimes subject to this defect. I have 

 but few pistillates yet ripe, but send you a few berries of our Extra 

 Ked, which Mr. Prince pronounces " the most worthless of all 

 strawberries." I deem it, as a market fruit, of more value than 

 other pistillates, from the uniform large size of the fruity because it 

 bears a larger crop than any other variety, and, in beauty of color, 

 has no rival ; which, as I deem would give it the largest sale in 

 market. The Iowa, now called the "Washington, is now cultivated 

 extensively, as a market fruit. This variety (hermaphrodite) I pro- 

 cured in Iowa, some twenty years since, and it then ranked high as 

 a hermaphrodite, as we had none of that character bearing as large 

 fruit and as large a crop. It varied with the seasons. Some years 

 nearly all the blossoms are perfect, in both male and female organs ; 

 some seasons the reverse, and bearing not more then half a crop, from 

 a defect in the pistils. Many of the berries were of small size, and 

 they did not average two-thirds as large a crop as the Prolific pro- 

 duces, and the average size of the Prolific much larger. I shall be 

 pleased to give plants of the Prolific and Extra Red to any of our 

 market gardeners disposed to give them a trial. I request you to 

 refer the subject to a committee of your Society, who have fully test- 

 ed the value of the Extra Red, to make a report of its character, 

 and support the opinion of Mr. Prince, if he is correct, and save 

 our market gardeners from a loss by cultivating " the most worthless 



