120 
tion, I expect to find, will be getting 
better and better, even till N.Y. him- 
self, however juvenile at present, may 
have become as “ old,” and, consequent- 
ly, as “ incorrigible,” as Mr. Macadam 
himself. 
In the mean time, permit me to assure 
your readers, that although, from a 
feeling of justice and decorum, I have 
_been called into this controversy by the 
flippancy of your alphabetic correspon- 
dent, yet I am, personally at least, no 
Macadamite, in any other respect than 
that, as my grandmother confidently as- 
sures me, I am f 
; A Son or Avan. 
Aug. 5, 1825. 
——— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sim: 
HE ordinary method of propagating 
the strawberry, or what is com- 
monly called ‘* making new beds,” is to 
detach and cut off the young plants from 
the parent roof, in the fall of the year, 
after they have taken root, and then to 
set them afresh, in beds prepared for 
that purpose: so that, by being detach- 
ed, they have the disadvantage of taking 
root a second time; and, by being cut 
off, derive no support by the string 
from the old root, which would supply 
more nourishment than the root. This 
is like weaning an animal before it can 
take care of itself: the consequence of 
which practice is, that if the season be 
unfayourable, one-half of the young 
plants, and sometimes the whole of 
them, perish, either by the dry weather 
or the frost. Under the most favour- 
able circumstances of weather and 
season, these young plants, thus trans- 
planted and severed from the parent 
stock, and thereby losing the advantage 
of the nutriment which is communicated 
by the string, se/dom produce any fruit 
the first year, or very little, if any. So 
that it may be stated, generally and cor- 
rectly, that, under the most auspicious 
circumstances, there is no crop the jirst 
year, and sometimes not the second or 
the third; and very frequently a new 
plantation is absolutely and altogether 
necessary before the bed is in a state of 
perfection ; and even such new planta- 
tion, and as many as may be made, is 
subject to the same casualties and fail- 
ures as the first. In a dry season, per- 
petual watering is necessary to keep the 
plant from being scorched up by the 
sun; and. watering is always trouble- 
some and inconvenient, and sometimes ' 
expensive. 
Cultivation of the Strawberry. 
[Sept. 1, 
- Now, instead of following the old 
way, of making fresh beds by severance: 
and transplantation, by which, under 
the most favourable. circumstances, no 
fruit is obtained the first. year, after 
such transplantation, to a certainty— 
and liable to casualties afterwards ; I 
never transplant the roots at all, and 
yet I always get the finest, largest and 
greatest quantity of fruit, in the highest 
state of perfection, the jirst year :— 
and, let the weather be what it will, as 
scorchingly hot as it can be, my new 
beds never want watering; and, unless 
the blossom is struck with a blight, 
which every one knows the strawberry 
is particularly subject to, I never fail of 
a-full crop,—the first year being always 
the most abundant. So that, putting 
all other circumstances: out of conside- 
ration, I gain one year by my practice ; 
which alone is an important desidera- 
tum (this is an unquestionable fact, 
should there be no other advantage), 
besides the superiority of fruit; and 
have nothing to fear but that blight, 
which it is impossible to prevent. 
Now, my plan is simply this: taking 
Nature as my guide, and preferring her 
wisdom to that of man; for nature evi- 
dently intended, that as the young root 
shoots out from the old, and is nourish- 
ed and supported by the string; which 
acts as a pipe to convey it food; instead 
of cutting off the young plants, and 
leaving them to perish, or to exist ac- 
cording to circumstances, by their own 
strength, I prepare the earth intended 
Sor the new beds by the side of the old 
ones, and let such young plants take 
root of their own accord. This they 
will quickly do; and, aided by the string, 
will do it firmly, and early in the season, 
branching off in all directions: thus in 
the ‘course of the autumn, I have as 
much ground as I please filled with 
strong, healthy, luxuriant roots, capable 
of standing any sun, from the shelter of 
the leaves—the severity of any frost, by 
the strength of the roots—and equal to 
the product of a full crop the next year : 
so that my new beds, instead of present- 
ing naked earth, with a few puny, ‘halt- 
starved plants, incapable of producing 
any fruit the following year, shew them- 
selves in the highest state of luxuriance, 
verdure and perfection. ‘The conse- 
quence is obvious. Instead of having no 
fruit the first year, and without- being 
subject to the casualties before-men- 
tioned, I get the largest quantity of the 
finest fruit the first year, when others get 
none-—and one moment’s consideration 
makes 
_ 
—— 
