ON THE IMPKOVEMENT OF SMALL FRUITS. 



351 



verthcless, marvelling that her house is so 

 infested with mould, she hardly suspects 

 that lier troubles would be more easily re- 

 moved by the axe or saw, than by all her 

 cloths and brushes. A house should never 

 be closely surrounded with shrubs. A free 

 circulation of air should be maintained all 

 about it, and shade trees so disposed as to 



leave large openings for the light and sun 

 to enter. The unusual rains of the current 

 season have produced so great a dampness 

 in our residences, that no one can fail to 

 have noticed its effect, both on the health 

 of the occupants, and upon the beauty and 

 good condition of their household substance. 

 — Western Farmer and Gardener. 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF SMALL FRUITS. 



BY DR. WM. W. VALK, FLUSHING, N. Y. 



This is the title of an interesting paper, at 

 page 506 of the LoJidon Horticultural Ma- 

 gazine for November, 1847, therein copied 

 from the Gardeners^ Journal, another Eng- 

 lish periodical of considerable merit. We 

 also have in the Horticulturist for Decem- 

 ber, page 26-5, a very promising statement, 

 in the shape of " Notes on Currants, Rasp- 

 berries, &c.," by a writer whose enthusiasm 

 is boundless ; yet our hopes are somewhat 

 checked by a very natural feeling of regret, 

 that anticipations may be less than realized, 

 inasmuch as the author's constant " oppres- 

 sion" of business, is more than likely to in- 

 terfere with that personal attention, so es- 

 sential to the process of raising better fruit 

 than we have already. 



No reflecting man at all doubts that a 

 vast field is open for improvement, in the 

 size and quality of what are termed the 

 small fruits. A great deal has already been 

 accomplished, but not enough to be satisfied 

 with ; for the present generation is as rest- 

 less of change in horticulture as in every- 

 thing else : it will have the best, if at all 

 attainable. The rage for novelties, whether 

 in fruits or flowers, is of a decidedly epi- 

 demic character ; if a thing is nnv, no mat- 

 ter what are its qualities, amateurs are de- 

 sirous of possessing it, and not unfrequently 



when they have got it, and tested its merits 

 by personal observation, every hope but 

 ends in the severest disappointment ; and 

 the discovery is made, when too late, that 

 it is one thing to grow and sell, quite ano- 

 ther to purchase, on the strength of puffs in 

 advertisements or catalogues, even though 

 the latter may have reached the 36th edi- 

 tion. 



The writer of the article in the Garde7i- 

 ers' Journal asks — "what can be done for 

 the Strawberry, the Raspberry, the Goose- 

 berry, and the Currant ? " He has yet to 

 learn what has been done, and does not 

 dream of the operations that have been go- 

 ing on in " our own country." He is not 

 aware, that on this side of the Atlantic a 

 Nursery exists, " whose accuracy is posi- 

 tive ;" so positive indeed that a fruit, de- 

 scribed in the Catalogue of 184-5, as ^"^ first in 

 flavor and quality," is, in 1847, set down as 

 ^^ loorthlessy We can tell Mr. Tomlinson 

 that he is likely to come out second best in 

 his efforts to improve the Currant ; for zoe 

 take " the climax of European attainment as 

 the starting point for American develop- 

 ment." There are Currants growing (seed- 

 lings, we presume,) in " a nursery" in this 

 village, " equal to the largest he (Mr. T.) 

 enumerates, which he does not possess, and 



