CRITIQUE ON THE AUGUST HORTICULTURIST. 



railing. In this hallowed spot would the Blue-bird carol his first song to the returning 

 spring, and the Redbreast chaunt his last sad wail over the departing autumn — simple, 

 touching, beautiful. Such should be the burial place of the most accomplished Horticul- 

 tural writer of his time! 



The Curcalio IVarfare — a Successful B(ittli\{?) — " Don't shout till you are out of 

 the woods," my friend. Try it another year or two, and see if you remain successful. 

 We have already been told in these columns, by those who have tried it, that whitewash 

 amounts to but little in preventing the ravages o( this pest, and I am more than half of 

 that opinion. Still, we are inclined to heed j'our experience with all due respect, and hope 

 that it ma}' [)rove successful h.ereafter. 



Kutas oil. Forfij-foLir Varieties of Strawberries. — Enough, in all conscience. Yet it is 

 well to " try all things, and hold fast unto that which is good." For a venture, I will select 

 out from this foity-four, the following four kind.s — leaving out the forty — and those who 

 choose may further experiment with the others; Burr's New Pine, Hovey's Seedling, Large 

 Early Scarlet, and Rival Hudson. These comprise the earliest, largest, highest flavored, 

 and latest kinds we have, for ordinary cultivation, and are enough for anyone family sup- 

 ply, or for any one man to grow for the markets. Yet a substitution of others for some 

 of theese may be better for some localities. 



Mr. Pardee is entitled to our thanks for his zeal and perseverance in thus testing so 

 many varieties, and f\ivoring us with his opinions of their value. Some of them ma}', for 

 certain soils, excel those 1 have selected; others may better please the taste of amateurs; 

 and no doubt, others yet, which Mr. Pardee mentions in favorable terms, may be equal, 

 possibly excel in excellence, the four varieties which are our choice. Enough has been 

 discovered to sliow that an almost infinite variety of good strawberries can be produced 

 from the seeds of the best we now have in cultivation. 



Strawberries and their Nutrition. — The thanks of every strawberry grower are due to 

 Doctor Hull for this very scientific, practical, and able article. It speaks for itself; and, 

 together with the editorial remarks, will be read with marked attention by every one in- 

 terested in the subject. There are some positions in it which may be doubted in some 

 parts of our country; but even there, sound instruction may be received from the particu- 

 larity of cultivation, and the method of applying the special manures which have been 

 used. Every one cannot afford to grow strawberries as Dr. Hull has grown them, even 

 without his application of special stimulants; yet all who grow them for their own tables 

 can afford to cultivate them well, and to provide that aliment which will develope their 

 best qualities. 



Fifteen or twenty years ago, good table strawberries, with most people, were scarcely 

 known, and among those who did know them, the Chillis, Alpines, and a few poor things, 

 both in bearing and fiavor, were all that could be found. Now the country housekeeper, 

 with a garden of his own, who cannot, for three months in the summer, furnish his table 

 three times a day, if necessary, with any quantity of the best of strawberries, is consid- 

 ered far behind the times, in any intelligent neighborhood. They are, in fact, as easily 

 produced as tomatoes. 



There is one thing, however, against which I must protest, in the zeal to produce large 

 strawberries. These overgrown, highly stimulated fruits of any kind, are, and must be, 

 from the very nature of things, deficient in flavor. There is no fruit we cultivate which 

 produces so much weight of flesh in proportion to its stem and root as the strawberry. It 

 nish but a given amount of its own specific flavor, according to the size of the plant, 

 fruit it may bear. All beyond that given amount of flavor must, of course, be 



