242 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



and is in season a little after several 

 of the best are leaving us. We 

 Lave comparetl it with most of 

 the well established varieties, 

 and without hesitation put it in 

 the same class with tlie Elton, 

 Bii^arreau, Black Eagle, etc. 

 It is the handsomest growing 

 tree in my collection. 



Seeds of the China Bigar- 

 reau, and Black Heart, were 

 sown several years since, and 

 this is the product of one of 

 them. It bears a considerable 

 resemblance to the former. It 

 has borne for three years, and 

 its brilliant appearance on the 

 tree is very attractive. 



Fruit large, obtuse heart- 

 shaped ; suture line distinct. 

 Skin thin, white, pellucid in the 

 shade, beautifully spotted with 

 carmine dots, gradually deep- 

 eninjr into brilliant red on the 

 the sunny side, with marblings 

 of darker red ; and speckled 



with numerous lighter spot» 



Fig. 3C. Burr's Seerfiing. when fully ripe. Stalk slender, 

 about two inches in len^rth, in a broad and shallow 

 cavity. Flesh white, tender, and juicy, with a sweet, 

 lively and delicate flavor. Ripe this season about 

 the first of 7th mo. (July.j Growth remarkably 

 stout and vigorous. It is a Bigarreau.* W. R. 

 Smith. Macedon, Oct. 1847. 



Notes ov Strawberries. — Mr. Downing : I was 

 gratified to discover in your number for the present 

 month, an artiele on the strawberr}-, from one who 

 claims to be so experienced a horticulturist as Mr. 

 Prince. But my disappointment was great, on 

 reading his article, to find it abounding in errors. 

 They cast a shade of doubt over those parts of his 

 artiele, of which I had no knowledge. He says 

 the Eberlin strawberry is pistillate. This is a 

 new western seedling, of which he can know noth- 

 ing. This is the first season it has been distribu- 

 ted, as far as I am informed, and of its size and 

 bearing quality, we are yet unable to speak. One 

 thing is certain, it is not pistillate. At first view, 

 it would be pronounced a common staminate. But 

 on a close examination, it will be found to possess 

 the peculiar character of the JUuke of Kent — that 

 of having a few blossoms purely pistillate, and 

 wholly defective in stamens, on the same stems 

 with .Staminate, and perfect flowers. This pecu- 

 liar character, may make it a valuable variety to 

 cultivate with pistillates. The Hudson, he repre- 

 sents as staminate and pistillate, and very produc- 

 tive. Mr. BuisT, Mr. Carr, and other horticultu- 

 rists about Philadelphia, will be surprised at this. 

 They have cultivated it for more than half of a 

 century, in that vicinity, more extensively than all 

 other kinds united ; and now say, that it is entirely 



* [If the flesh is under il can not be a Bigarreau We trusl 

 Mr. bMirii w.ll send gpecirneng to tlie fruil cuimruttee of 8<»iue 

 leading .sucieiy, aiKJ ii> us. next seasou, tljut iU merits may be 

 auttieutically spoken of. — lio ] 



defective in stamens. The Iowa he represents as 

 productive. We profess to know more of this 

 plant, than any eastern horticulturist, as it is a 

 wild plant of the west. It is among the finest of 

 the staminates, but will, under the best cultivation 

 not average one-fifth of a crop of perfect fruit. — 

 The Jlice Maude, Buist Prize, and Boston Pine, 

 he represents as yieldmg a fair crop. We have 

 given them a fair trial, and do not find them to 

 equal the Iowa. The Duke of Kent, in imitation 

 of some English writer, he pronounces worthless. 

 I observe a celebrated horticulturist in New- York 

 city, gives it a different character. We agree 

 with him in opinion. It has the peculiar charac- 

 ter of bearing perfect, and staminate and pistillate 

 blossoms on the same stem. The fruit is small, 

 but of fine quality. Is a good bearer, and comes 

 in earh'. It can easily be distinguished by the stem 

 and leaf from all the valuable pistillate varieties, 

 and is on this account the most valuable to plant 

 for impregnation. 



He pronounces the Ross Pfuenix and Swainston^s 

 Seedling, barren and worthless. I cannot agree 

 with you that they are full bearers, or will even 

 average one fourth of a crop of perfect fruit; but I cer- 

 tainly deem them as good bearers as his lowa,Alic€ 

 Mawle, Primate, Prince Albert, and Unique ; the 

 three latter of which he particularly represents as 

 perfect bloomers, producing abundant crops oi 

 large perfect fruit. I shall believe he Las spoken 

 hastily, until he claims, and proves himself entitled 

 to the [iremium of $500, which I saw offered for 

 such a plant. If entitled to the character Le gives 

 them, they would be an object of great interest, and 

 you cannot do your subscribers a greater favor, 

 than by favoring them with your experience. We 

 have found no English staminate, that will average 

 one-fourth of a crop of large and perfect fruit ; not 

 even excepting their celebrated Keen's Seedling 

 and British Queen ; and are not without hope that 

 English horticulturists will give light^on the sub- 

 ject. A Subscriber. Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 15, 

 1847. 



HouGHTo.v's Gooseberry. — Dear Sir — I have 

 been expecting a private opportunity to forward 

 you, ere this, a box of Goo.seberries, of the best 

 variety I have ever seen. It is so desirable a sort, 

 that I could not well refrain from forwarding a 

 sample, as I now do, by express. I regret that 

 the specimens are only the gleanings of four bush- 

 es, my whole stock of this kind. This Gooseberry 

 is a seedling, called here Houghton's. It, I have 

 no doubt, was raised from seed from our native 

 Gooseberry. Its leaf, as you will perceive by the 

 enclosed shoot, bears evidence of this origin. This 

 is the only Gooseberry cultivated, that does not 

 mildew under any circumstances. The cultivators 

 in Lynn, Mass., where this fruit originated, have 

 grown it for three or four years, and their testimony 

 accords with my assertion. The growth is exceed- 

 ingly thrifty, making long pendant shoots, similar 

 to an English variety called " Crown Bob." I 

 have nineteen table varieties, received four years 

 since from Cunningham & Sons, Liverpool, and for 

 my taste, Houghton's Seedling surpasses them all, 

 notwithstanding the fruit is not so large as the Eu- 

 ropean varieties. Most of the fruit I now send 



