THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION. 



83 



on each sUle, a instance of nine feet. But thougrh 

 Mr. Hovey appears to admit that his old seediing 

 requires staminate plants near, on tlie same page, 

 he remarks, <' it is time and labor thrown away to 

 cultivate sterile plants, as has been recommended 

 by some individuals, when varieties ttsiiallij pro- 

 ductive anil of large size, can be planted out for 

 that purpose." He here of course refers to his own 

 seedlings. To put this question at rest, 1 make the 

 foUovving proposition : He shall send a plant of each 

 of his seedlings to Mr. Wilder of Boston, and Mr. 

 Jackson of this city ; and if, after a fair trial, they 

 report them "unusually productive," I will pre- 

 sent the Massachusetts Horticultural Society with 

 $500. I will do this, if they report them as pro- 

 ducing as large a crop as the old seedling will do, 

 where one-tenth of the ground is lost by barren 

 plants being inserted. I will go further: if they 

 report his old seedling as producing half a crop of 

 perfect fruit, I will do the same thing : if they 

 report the contrary, he must present the like sum 

 to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. 



Mr. Hovey now stales, that among all the species 

 and varieties of strawberries, there are only four 

 worthy of cultivation — the Virginia Scarlet, Alpine, 

 his old seedling, and a new seedling of his, which 

 he calls the Boston; and though raised in 1834, he 

 has never before discovered its fine qualities. This 

 he pronounces " perfect in both organs, a great 

 bearer, and a fine fruit ; ami also suitable to impreg- 

 nate his old seedling." He is here vvide of the 

 mark. The Scarlet is an old native fruit of Virgi- 

 nia, and its greatest merit is its early maturity. 

 The fruit is of good quality, but not large. The 

 Alpine was introduced into Cincinnati fifty years 

 since from the Alpine mountains, by Governor 

 Sargeant. It is deemed of little value; the flavor 

 is not good. Its size is small, and it is only culti- 

 vated in a few of our gardens as a curiosity, and 

 not a quart of them is ever found in our markets. 

 What will English cultivators, who have raised so 

 many new seedlings, say to this ? What will they 

 think of their wisdom, in having enriched some of 

 their horticulturists, by paying high for new varie- 

 ties. By the time Mr. Hovey has cultivated his 

 new seedling eleven years more, he will discover 

 that it has not one-tenth the value of his old seed- 

 ling, and its only value to impregnate it ; and for 

 that purpose, we now have as good bearers, as fine 

 flavored and larger fruited seedlings. His old 

 seedling stands unrivalled with us for size, where 

 impregnated; but we have other varieties, that 

 are as good bearers, of nearly equal size and of 

 finer flavor; but I would highly recommend his 

 old seedling to all cultivators, whether for family 

 use, or for sale. His new seedling, I have not seen. 



The new doctrine of Mr. Downing, <' that all 

 plants in their natural state, are perfect in both or- 

 gans, and staminate and pistillate ones, chance 

 monsters produced by high cultivation," surprises 

 me, for he deservedly stands high as a horticulturist. 

 In a late number of the American Agriculturist, 

 I discover Wm. R. Prince disputes his theory, and 

 contends for the true character of the plant. Mr. 

 Prince is an experienced horticulturist, and the 

 discussion will call out other experienced garden- 

 ers; and I hope in a few years, to see strawberries 



in as great abumlance, and sold as cheap, in the 

 Eastern cities, as in our own. The plant, be it 

 staminate or pistillate, never changes its character 

 in running. 



Mr. Prince supposes the pistillate strawberry I 

 obtained from England under the name of Keen's 

 Seedling, to be the Methven ScarSet, as it was cul- 

 tivated under that name in Philadelphia. The 

 Methven is a ditferent and far inferior fruit. I 

 have the Methven Scarlet, sent me from Philadel- 

 phia as the Keen. It is pistillate, and bears a 

 large fruit, but is an indifTerent bearer, and of infe- 

 rior flavor. Mr. Prince speaks of some varieties 

 o-f the Hautbois strawberries, perfect in both or- 

 gans, and producing very large fruit. I feel confi- 

 dent he is in an error. What we call the La 

 Grange, is a Hautbois ; and I have heard intelli- 

 gent cultivators contend all the blossoms were per- 

 fect in both organs, and always bore a full crop. 

 Such is not the fact. It varies greatly in different 

 seasons. A large portion of the blossoms are whol- 

 ly barren, or bear small defective fruit ; but in 

 some seasons would, to a casual observer, be sup- 

 posed to be an abunilant bearer. But I deem it un- 

 worthy of cultivation, where proper attention is 

 paid to a proper mixture of staminate and pistillate 

 plants. Where this is not done, I am not surprised 

 to find it highly lauded. I presume it is the same 

 as the Musk or Prolific Hautbois, but am not cer- 

 tain. The flavor of the Hautbois has but few ad- 

 mirers. On an average, not one blossom in twenty 

 bears with me full sized, perfect fruit. 



Mr. Downing describes the Old Hudson, as ''a 

 fruit with a neck." Our Hudson is the reverse of 

 a necked fruit, and I have never seen a single berry 

 of this kind with a neck ; and I am positive that 

 ours is the same variety that has been cultivated 

 under this name in New-Jersey, and in the vicinity 

 of Philadelphia, more extensively for market, for 

 the last fifty years, than all others united. The 

 Hudson or Hudson Bay, is described in English 

 works as a necked fruit. They obtained it from 

 New- York many years since, and do not consider it 

 a first rate fruit. I incline to the opinion, that the 

 true Hudson was not sent them, or has been lost, 

 and a new variety substituted. It has been of late 

 years imported from England, by New-York gar- 

 deners, and by them considered the true Hudson. 

 The genuine Hudson is not now to be found in 

 Boston, and probably not in New-York. It is 

 wholly defective in the male organs, and has been 

 thrown by as unproductive. It is a large and fine- 

 ly flavored fruit, and where properly impregnated, 

 a great bearer. 



Mr. Downing, in a letter to nie, suggests that our 

 Hudson has probably lost its neck by impregnation 

 with other varieties. I hold, that the character of 

 new seedlings is changed, where the mother plant 

 was impregnated by a different variety, but that the 

 shape or colour of the fruit is not, where impreg- 

 nated by a variety, diCTcring in shape and colour 

 from the plant impregnated. I wish to see the ex- 

 periment made, whether the size of the fruit of the 

 pistillate plant is increased or lessened by the 

 staminate plant used for impregnation. An expe- 

 rienced market, garilener assures me that it is in- 

 creased. 



