ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF SMALL FRUITS. 



353 



doubt but tliat the most gratifying success 

 would ultimately reward the labors of the 

 cultivator. Mr. A. says his seedlings are 

 superior to any heretofore cultivated ; so 

 says Mr. B., and so says everybody else 

 who has raised seedlings. But is it so ? 

 Are all the seedling Strawberries, which 

 have been so liberally eulogized by the 

 raisers of them, better than any now grown ? 

 Are they as good ? " Is there good reason, 

 aside from their neumess, why they should 

 supplant old sorts in our gardens?" In 

 what respect do they claim admission among 

 standard Strawberries ? These queries of 

 Mr. Beecher are pertinent. We know that 

 " the fever for originating small fruits" has 

 set in, in many quarters ; and we " shall be 

 deluged with novelties," of which nine- 

 tenths will be no better, if so good, as their 

 predecessors. 



Do those gentlemen, who raise and ad- 

 vertise their seedling fruits, mean to say 

 that they are hybrids, — true crosses of esti- 

 mable varieties, with a view of securing 

 the valuable properties of both ? We have 

 said already, that impregnation is not the 

 easy process some imagine it to be. To ap- 

 ply the pollen of one flower to the stigma of 

 another, appears simple enough ; but, sim- 

 ple as it is, a few precautions are absolutely 

 necessary. Whether it be " silly twattle" 

 or not, we assert the pollen to be the male 

 parent — the stigma, the /emaZe. " The fe- 

 male flower must be deprived of her sta- 

 mens, before they burst and disperse their 

 pollen ; and as soon as the stigma is gluti- 

 nous enough to hold it fast, the pollen must 

 be applied with care. Should this care not 

 be taken, the stigma is very likely to be in- 

 oculated with the pollen of her own, or some 

 other flower, and then the pollen which it is 

 intended to use will not take ; for it is to 

 be borne in mind, that a stigma once inocu- 

 lated cannot be inoculated again. From 

 VOL. II. 45 



want of these precautions, people are con- 

 tinually fancying they have obtained hy- 

 brids, when they have only gained natxiral 

 seedlings." This is the process of hybri- 

 dizing where improved Jlowers are sought 

 after; and the principle is the same in eve- 

 ry attempt to obtain a new and valuable 

 fruit. It is making progress at a snail's 

 pace to save seeds " with one's own hands," 

 though they be " of every estimable varie- 

 ty," unless they have heen judiciously and 

 carefully impregnated, to the end that the 

 good shall become better. The improve- 

 ment must be looked for with a reasonable 

 degree of certainty, and not left to be the 

 result of the merest chance, which it must 

 necessarily be in selecting one or two natu- 

 ral seedlings from, perhaps, ten or twenty 

 thousand. 



The Hovey's Seedling \ac\i.s flavor ; how 

 shall this quality be imparted to it ? It is 

 a pistillate plant, and must be impregnated 

 by some other (staminate,) to produce its 

 fruit. Proceed thus: plant one dozen Ho- 

 vey's (fine strong plants,) in a frame — four 

 rows — three in a row. Between these set 

 out three or four equally fine plants, of 

 Alice Maude, Swainstone, or any other va- 

 riety having size and flavor to recommend 

 it. Grow these plants with due care, and 

 when the lights are off" or open, protect them 

 from any intermixture from other sorts by a 

 covering of gauze ; thus excluding bees or 

 other insects. When the fruit on the Ho- 

 vey's, is fully ripe, gather it and wash out 

 the seeds; plant them at the proper time, 

 keep them distinct from all others, grow 

 them as carefully as possible, and look for 

 the result. A proceeding like this is but 

 the index to all others, excepting that in 

 some cases, the fertilization must be artifi- 

 cially effected between different varieties; 

 otherwise they will impregnate themselves, 

 and thus defeat the object contemplated. 



