SWAINSTONE'S SEEDLING STRAWBERRY. 



31 



vators, and my own observations accord 

 therewith. Last autumn I visited several 

 orchards where this variety was raised, and 

 among these, that of Timothy Buell, Jr., 

 East-Bloomfield. Here were trees, which 

 had been grafted about twenty years, were 

 well pruned, healthy, and in good soil, 

 though under grass. The apples were 

 about one-fourth the size usually described. 

 Under the same circumstances, were young 

 trees, showing many superb specimens; but 

 even here were intermixed too large a pro- 

 portion of small ones. 



I think I have examined the subject suffi- 



ciently to say, that this fault is characteris- 

 tic of the variety. 



Now, it is possible, that like the Yellow 

 Bellflower, it may not succeed as well in 

 the stiff loams of East-Bloomfield, as upon 

 a lighter soil ; or that like the Newtown Pip- 

 pin, generous cultivation may in some 

 measure remedy its deficiencies ; but, un- 

 less this can be done, however valuable for 

 the garden, or small orchard, it is worthless 

 as a market fruit, when compared with the 

 Baldwin, Newtown Pippin, or Roxbury 

 Russet. 



Macedon Nursery, 5 mo., 1846. 



SWAINSTONE'S SEEDLING STRAWBERRY. 



Among all the new varieties of strawber- 

 ries that have come to us from England, 

 within the last {ew years, none that we have 

 seen are superior to Svvainstone's Seed- 

 ling. 



A year ago we were in Boston, at one of 

 those interesting and beautiful weekly ex- 

 hibitions of fruits and flowers, made by the 

 most zealous of all our horticultural socie- 

 ties, that of Massachusetts. Strawberries 

 were then in perfection, and a great variety 

 of sorts were contributed. In addition to 

 all the leading kinds, both native and in- 

 troduced, some new seedlings were shown 

 for the first time. We had the honor of 

 the very 'piquant and agreeable invitation to 

 sit on the committee of taste, to decide 

 which were really the best sorts in point of 

 flavor. We do not at this time mean to 

 say what celebrated kinds were tasted and 

 passed over in silence, as far below the 

 standard of high flavor ; but some fine 

 dishes of Swainstone's Seedling, from the 

 President of the Society, seemed to pass 

 round the committee's table so much more 

 rapidly than those of any other sort, and to 



be tasted again and again with so much 

 more relish and gusto, that there was soon 

 no doubt which sort had the popular vote ; 

 and the matured and grave sense of the 

 meeting, if we remember correctly, was 

 that nothing there seen or tasted, surpassed 

 or even equalled Swainstone's Seedling in 

 point of high flavor. 



After this, we may say, that Swainstone's 

 Seedling is now in full bearing with us this 

 season. It is certainly a strawberry of the 

 very highest flavor, of great beauty of ap- 

 pearance, and an excellent bearer. It is 

 said in England to bear for a long time in 

 succession ; of this point we are not yet able 

 fully to speak, though it< crop i- certainly 

 maturing gradually, and not all at once as 

 does that of many sorts. 



The fruit of this strawberry, with us, is of 

 average large size : from three to four 

 inches in circumference are the ordinary 

 dimensions. The foliage is very large and 

 rich in appearance, and the foot-stalks of the 

 leaves are long. The fruit is borne in large 

 clusters on high and pretty strong foot- 

 stalks. The berries are very regular in 



