102 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



dent. If it be by the operation of a "fixed law," 

 that the plants are iliopcioiis. there is no need of 

 further discussion or dispnte: the question is ''at 

 rest." 



You have termed Mr. Huntsm.\n "a careful ob- 

 server," and I auree with you, but he can make 

 mistakes, with all Ids care- He may even contra- 

 dict himself, and I trust he will pardon me for 

 pointinir out wherein he has done so. In Hovey's 

 Macazinc for February, 1S44, pap;e 53, Mr. 

 Huntsman thus expressed himself: " That there 

 are some varieties of pistillate plants that will 

 bear fruit without beina in the neij^hborhood of 

 staminate plants, is, I think, well authenticated : 

 amonjr which may be reckoned the Hudson's Bay, 

 your (Hovey's) Seedlin<x, and others." When Mr. 

 Huntsman wrote the above, he had been a " close 

 observer for some time, of the habits and nature of 

 the plant." 



In July 1S46, Mr. Huntsman wrote another 

 paper, inserted in your August No. for that year, 

 and pave the results of his ''experiments^^ with 

 Hovey's Seedlin?. " These experiments," says he, 

 " prove to my mind very conclusively, that Hovey's 

 Seedling will not bear any fruit unless imprecrnaied 

 with some staminate variety. And the same may 

 be said of other varieties in which the stamens are 

 obsolete''^ Mr. Hu-\'tsman had cultivated the 

 " Hudson Bay for three years,'" yet not a berry did 

 the plants bear, because they were " in a position " 

 preehidinGf iinpreonation. He confesses himself, 

 therefore^ forced to believe that pistillate y hints, 

 both wild and cultivated, are absolutely devoid of 

 pollen, and cannot, therefore, produce any fruit ex- 

 cept when impreiinated by others." It was " well 

 authenticated" in 1S44, that some varieties of ;?is- 

 tillate plants, such as Hudson's Bay, Hovey's Seed- 

 linsT. and others, loould bear fruit without impreg- 

 nation. It was proved " conclusively.'" m lS4t), 

 that neither the Hudson's Bay or Hovey's Seedlins; 

 would bear a single berr>/ unless impregnated, yet 

 both these statements are made by a close and 

 careful observer, one who has studied the " habits 

 and nature of the (strawberry) plant," and " culti- 

 vates from two to three acres of the most approved 

 kinds." " Horticulture (says Mr. Downing,) is 

 not yet a p'rfected, but a progressive science ; and 

 we (Mr. D.) are in favor of progress." In other 

 words, facts may contradi'^t themselves accordinfr 

 to circumstances. Hovey's Seedling "was a. per- 

 fect sort in its flower:" What is it noxc ? Pistillate, 

 *by very general assent. It has, therefore, changed 

 its character. Were the changes said to have ta- 

 ken place in the o;-|Vu!a/ plants? They were. The 

 only increase had been by runntrs. Therefore, by 

 this testimony, normal or perfect blossoms can and 

 do change. " Hovey's Seedling was an imperfect 

 flowering variety, is so, and will ever remain so;" so 

 says HovEY himself. And Mr. Hunts.man's second 

 fact or law is, that hermaphrodite and pistillate 

 plants, " being increased by runners, do not vary 

 their characters." I italicise the words do not. 



This " strawberry question " has indeed assumed 

 a Protean shape. How shall it be made plain 

 enough for every man's comprehension? Is it a 

 fact that Hovey's Seedling is both staminate and 

 pistillate, according to cultivation? Is it a fact 



that the original Seedling was perfect? Is it a. fact 

 that being originally pistillate only, it must ever 

 remain so? Is there any necessity for sexual dis- 

 tinction in the cultivation of the strawberry? Is 

 impregnation at all necessary? Can fruitfulness 

 be insured by any other means? Are soil and 

 manure all sufficient to make strawberry plants 

 fruitful, be they hermaphrodite, staminate, or pis- 

 tillate? Are staminate plants generally worthless? 

 Are all or any of the so fulsomely praised (by the 

 raisers) new varieties better or as good as the few 

 sorts already of established reputation? I '' pause 

 for a reply." Respectfully. &c., W. W. Valk, 

 M. JD. Flushing, L. I., July, 1848. 



New- York Stkawberry Market. — A few par- 

 ticulars, only a slight portion, doubtless, of straw- 

 berry statistics, show that even from this compara- 

 tively small fruit much profit must often result. 

 Thus, we find it stated, that in twenty-six days 

 4E>72 bushels were sold in New- York ; 514 bushels 

 in a single day. Over 80,000 baskets, equal to 833 

 bushels, and weighing, probably, twenty-five tons, 

 were brought to that city in one day by the Erie 

 railroad alone. The whole number of baskets sent 

 to New- York by this road, in the course of the sea- 

 son, is 602,640; being an increase over the previous 

 season of 212,640, or ^4 per cent. The average 

 value is about 3 cents per basket, the uuantity 

 6247 bushels, and the weight 260 tons ; so that the 

 persons residing along the road are supposed to 

 have received $20,000 for strawberries in the last 

 season. Patent Office Report. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Strawberries. — F. W., (Newark.) Bishop's 

 Orange is a pistillate strawberry, and will not, 

 therefore, bear well unless some staminate sort, 

 such as Early Scarlet, is growing near it. If your 

 bed of this sort which " grow luxuriantly and is 

 literall}'' covered with blossoms every spring, but 

 bears no fruit," is an old bed, you had better make 

 a new plantation from the runners, immediately, 

 planting alongside a bed of some staminate sort; 

 or if you prefer it, plant a strip of staminates at 

 each end of the bed. If the bed is yet young, 

 break up a small plot at each end of it (equal to 

 one-fifth of the whole bed,) and plant it with Early 

 Scarlet, Boston PiSe, or any other good staminate 

 variety, to fertilize the others. 



C. B , (New Haven.) The Black Prince is one 

 of the finest flavored of all large strawberries. 

 There is scarcely any superior to it. Wiley is a 

 great bearer, and gives great crops with trifling 

 care, but the flavor is only second-rate. If you al- 

 low strawberry plants to run together in a mass, 

 they will soon exhaust the soil and "runout," so 

 as to bear very little. Beds grown in this way, 

 should be broken up and re-planted every two 

 years. 



Peach Trees.—])/. W. Phillips, (Miss.) The 

 rotting of the peaches in your young orchards, be- 

 fore maturity, we are inclined to attribute to their 

 grossness and over-luxuriance. Apply shell lime, 

 this autumn, as a top-dressing, in the two orchards 

 affected, at the rate of 40 bushels to the acre, and 



