572 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



V.\RIATI0N9 IN SrnAWBF.RRYULOS.SOMS. — III the 



•second number ol' the Horticulturist, there were 

 some editorial remarks on the liability to variation 

 of the or^Miis of rruutiliention of the strawberry, 

 ^yllieh forcibly arrested my attention. From lliat 

 time to the present I have borne them in mind, with 

 the view of testing; their aeeuraey when the straw- 

 berry came fully into flower. Tiiat period has ar- 

 rived, but I see nothing which tends in the slightest 

 degree to support them. The (lowers of Hovey's 

 seedling, for instance, have precisely ti.c satne cha- 

 racteristics now which they had wlien it (irst came 

 into my possession five years ago. I have it under 

 every variety of circumstance— in old beds, exhaust- 

 ed by heavy and repeated crops, and 3'nung jjjanta- 

 tions which have not yet borne ; and I can safely 

 say, that I have never yet seen a flower which was 

 not pistillate in its character. It is quite probable 

 it may have become " permanently" pistillate be- 

 fore I received it, if such a thing be possible : but 

 in contending for so strange a metamorphosis as 

 that which the article in question was designed to 

 establish, the facts should be numerous and well 

 authenticated, and uniform. Venders of Hovey's 

 seedling have, even within the past year, adver- 

 tised plants both with pistillate and perfect flowers ; 

 [yes, and rightly, Ed. J and it might reasonably be 

 supposed [why .so?] that some, amongst the large 

 number I have in cultivation, would show the varia- 

 tion. But all cultivators of the strawberry know 

 how easy it is for spurious varieties to gain admis- 

 sion into beds from which the utmost visiiance has 

 been used to exclude them. [We think it next to 

 impossible where strawberries are carefully grown.] 

 Such being the fact, I cannot but suspect that it 

 was the operation of this cause which led to the ex- 

 traordinary deductions which distinguish the article 

 referred to. To admit the truth of them without 

 further investigation would, it appears to me, tend 

 in a great measure to unsettle everything regarding 

 the supposed unchangeable characteristics of plants. 

 If they may undergo change in one thing, they are 

 equally liable to it in others, until finally they may 

 lose their specific features. Propagated as the 

 strawberr)' usually is. every plant may be regarded 

 a- nothing more than an extension of the first indi- 

 vidual of the family, and, as it were, identical with 

 it. I would respectfully suggest that this matter 

 be carefully reviewed during the present season, 

 and placed on its proper basis. 



And as the time is now appropriate, I would also 

 take the liberty of suggesting the propriety of pre- 

 paring accurate descriptions of the best varieties of 

 the strawberry, in which the characters of the flow- 

 ers should be particularly stated. Sometimes — not 

 unfrequently— this might furnish the only means by 

 which one could determine whether he was cultiva- 

 ting the genuine or a spurious sort. It is not un- 

 common to see very distinct plants, received from 

 different sources, bearing the same name. I have, 

 for example, the British Queen, from different es- 

 tablishments of great respectability, one of which 



is staminate and the other pistillate. Full and au- 

 thentic descriptions of all the celebrated strawber- 

 ries would undoubtedly be of great value to the hor- 

 ticultural conmiunity. — Fragrakia. Petersburg, 

 Va., ..Ipril 29th. 



[Remarks. — Our corrcspondentjudges, like many 

 others, solely from the plants in his own garden, and 

 then asks it it might not reasonably be expecterl 

 that some among the plants in his bed should show 

 a variation ? Our own remarks were based on ob- 

 servations of the strawberry for years in various 

 parts of the country. While we write, strawber- 

 ries are again in full bloom, and we are obliged to 

 say that our views advanced last year, are eon- 

 firmed. We have a new bed of Hovey's seedling, 

 now in full bloom, which is full of perfect flowers, 

 and which, aside from accidents, vvc will warrant to 

 produce a large crop of the finest fruit. We have 

 also an old bed of the same variety in which pis- 

 tillate plants are to be found. 



Our correspondent talks of the " unchangable cha- 

 racteristics of plants," &.C. We presume, since he 

 is so skeptical as to our humble views, he will not 

 object to listen to an extract from an article bear- 

 ing on this subject, from the pen of Professor Lind- 

 i.EY, acknowledged to be the highest authority at 

 the present moment in England. The article is in 

 the CAronicZe of April 10th, and is in reply to a cor- 

 respondent who complains that his strawberries are 

 all blind — the old complaint of imperfect blossoms. 

 Dr. LiNDLEY says, in order to imderstand this mat- 

 ter, and how a variation may be produced, it is ne- 

 cessary " to examine the }'oung flower buds as they 

 exist in the plant, as it makes its first move towards 

 growth. At that time, they are collections of tiny 

 scales, placed over a small, spongy centre. By de- 

 grees they take on the forms of calyx, corolla, sta- 

 mens, and pistil. The calyx and corolla are the most 

 simple, grow the quickest, and most easily bear to 

 be hastened; stamens retpiire most time for growth, 

 the pistil most of all. When high temperature, 

 night and day, with alnindance of moisture, and as 

 much light as Februarj' yields, are suddenly ap- 

 plied to the strawbcrrj', it is compelled to grow j 

 the pre-determincd parts advance, and. obedient to 

 influences which their nature cannot disregard, they 

 by degrees unfold ; but how ? The oldest parts, 

 namely, the calyx and corolla, simple in structure, 

 and already advanced in their formation, suffer no 

 injuiy, but appear in their usual state, arraying the 

 blossoms in gay apparel of white and green. The 

 next, however, the stamens, having less time to 

 form, acquire, perhaps, their yellow colour, but are 

 powerless for their allotted oflice, while the pistil, 

 the most complicated of all the parts, that which 

 demands the longest period for its perfect forma- 

 tion, but which is the latest that the flower pro- 

 duces, and which is to become the fruit, is a mere 

 tuft of abortion, incapable of quickening, and shriv- 

 elling into pitch-black threads as soon as it is fully 

 in contact with the air. 



" All this was long ago proved by Mr. Andrew 



