1856.] Horticultural Society Proceedings, 383 



severe storm at sea prayed first ^' good Lord," and then " good Devil/' 

 as he did not know whose hands he would fall into. 



I can, with great confidence in the truth of my testimony, bear 

 witness that the evidences presented to the committee in their visits, 

 justify this eulogy of Hovey's Seedlings. The fruit at Messrs. Bates 

 and Youtcy's was truly gigantic, and I confess I was rejoiced to see our 

 old friend A. H. Ernst, Esq., collecting mammoth specimens as we 

 passed over the grounds of these gentlemen, and calling the attention 

 of the members of the Fruit Committee in ejaculations of wonder, ad- 

 miration and praise, and I thought the old gentleman stood at least six 

 feet six, as the darkness of past years rolled from a mind now open to 

 the convictions of truth, as the light shining with such intense bril- 

 liancy poured into his soul, making the very '' stumps" and "grubs" 

 which so thickly studded the fields shout aloud for joy, until the sur- 

 rounding hills echoed and reechoed the sound, and our friend Riley 

 himself faintly uttered " Astonitrhing ! the very finest kind of Straw- 

 berries produced with less labor than we bestow upon an ordinary crop 

 of potatoes." 



But, Mr. President, as the Fruit Committee were to report upon 

 what they saw with their "eyes," and not their imaginations, I am 

 utterly at a loss to know where they found the original from whicli to 

 draw the picture they have given us of the "Superior." It is true, 

 sir, that we found the berries imperfectly impregnated, not, I think, 

 from the absence of the pregnators, for other varieties, both in the 

 grounds of A. H. Ernst and Mr. Pye, presented perfect berries with 

 equal impregnation. This is a characteristic defect of this variety, and 

 can only be remedied by excessive fertilization under other favorable 

 circumstances, hence unworthy general cultivation. I say, sir, when 

 the committee found the fruit in the two days we were visitius:, 

 which justified their saying, "There can be no doubt in the mind 

 of your committee that this variety (McAvoy's Superior) is among 

 the kinds of the very largest size at present known, is greatly produc- 

 tive, and the berries carrying out well their size from the finest and 

 largest berry on each truss; that the flavor is ricti and most agreea- 

 ble ; that it can be carried with care ordinary distances ; that it is 

 very hardy and sufficiently vigorous in growth ; that the color is 

 rich if it is not brilliant; and that, although its shape is irre- 

 gular, its bulging and swelling form conveys the idea of luscious 

 richness." 



This quotation of the majority is a picture drawn from the vivid 

 imaginations of these gentlemen, or else describes the berry in ques- 



