A FEW NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY. 



tion, when such distinguished cultivators as Downing and Longworth, Thomas and 

 Barry, have stated it otherwise; and yet, after all, some appearances in the recent con- 

 duct of Ilovey's Seedling puzzles me. If I am not mistaken, Thompson of London and 

 Hogg of New-York, incline to a contrary opinion. It is quite certain that the strawber- 

 ry is a very fickle plant, and how much allowance must be made for this habit, I cannot 

 determine. I have taken an interest in the strawberry for twelve or fifteen years past, 

 and have often observed Ilovey's refuse to bear when surrounded by staminates, while 

 on the other hand, I have certainlj'-, several times, seen them M'ith astonishing crops of 

 fruit, when I could detect no staminates in their vicinity, and was assured by the cultiva- 

 tors there Avas none. However, all this may be explained by other causes, and the settled 

 theory remain; and yet I am anxious to see still farther and more careful experiments. 

 I have often seen a new bed of strawberries bear largely the first year of fruiting, and ob- 

 stinately refuse to bear ever afterwards, and vice versa. Sometimes I could account for 

 such sterility by a dry season, but at other times I could find no such apologj- for the 

 barrenness. " I think it desirable to choose runners from healthy, productive plants," 

 says one of our most distinguished amateur florists. " I have not allowed a single or 

 semi-double aster to seed in my garden in twenty-five years; as soon as one of that cha- 

 racter blossoms, I pull it up." Acting on this plan with the strawberry, I am convinced 

 our best kinds will uniformly yield large crops. At an expense of only one dollar in pre- 

 paring the bed and keeping it clean, I have supplied my family M'ith one to two quarts per 

 day for more than three weeks, of this most delicious fruit. I have, in my travels, accu- 

 mulated some twenty-three kinds in my garden, (besides those I have discarded,) with 

 which I am experimenting, and I am to add some six or eight kinds more in the spring, 

 for the same purpose. I cannot convey to your readers how much I am interested and 

 entertained "to see this numerous family of beauties come out for the first time, as the 

 court language is," for in the language of a venerable amateur in the strawberry field, 

 whose enthusiastic devotion to it makes him, as you see, quite J'oung again, elegantly 

 says, " The plant is, itself, one of the most beautiful in Nature, beautiful in its foliage — 

 beautiful in its blossom, and, above all, in its fruit. Every variety shows us some new 

 form of beauty." There is a charm in strawberry culture, a delightful uncertainty about 

 the product, until the first season arrives; and to the lover of Nature it opens a wide, and 

 not wholly occupied field, for the study of vegetable physiology. E. G. Pardee. 



Falmyra, N. Y., Dec. 1S50. 



Eemarks. — The most popular standard strawberries, at the present moment — for ge- 

 neral cultivation — are Large Earl^^ S arlet, Ilovey's Seedling, and Burr's New Pine. 



The majority of cultivators appear to assent to the doctrine of the necessity of having 

 a few staminate sorts like the Early Scarlet, growing near a patch composed wholly of 

 pistillate blossoms, like Ilovey's Seedling and Burr's New Pine. Btit there are still, ex- 

 perienced cultivators, like Mr. Hogg of New-York — who deny the necessity, and hold 

 that pistillate sorts in good soil, and with good culture, will bear the finest crops. Prac- 

 ticallv, hoM'ever, one bed of the Large Early Scarlet appears to be sufficient to fertilize a 

 dozen beds of pistillate sorts — so that in actual culture the tiling is very simple. We may 

 add, that in England strawberry growers pay no attention to staminate or pistillate flow- 

 ers — yet the largest and finest strawberries in the world are grown there. They contend 

 that a good strawberry blossom fertilises itself, and becomes sterile only by defects of cli- 

 mate or soil. Ed 



