194 SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



men who are among the best known in relation to this 

 subject. 



The late Mr. Seth Boyden won world-wide celebrity by 

 his success, and the berry named after him will perpetuate 

 his memory for many years to come. When grown under 

 the proper conditions, it presents a type of excellence still 

 unsurpassed. 



Mr. Boyden's neighbor, Mr. Ogden Brown, of Hilton, 

 N. J., writes to me as follows : — 



*' My method of raising seedlings is the one practised by Mr. 

 Boyden. In August I set the plants from which I wish to se- 

 cure new combinations in a plot of ground the size of my glass 

 frame, and in early spring set the frame over them, so that the 

 plants may blossom before any others. Thus, no mixture from 

 the pollen of outside plants can take place, for none are in 

 bloom save those in the frame. The plants within the frame 

 are two or three pistillate plants, all of one good variety like the 

 Champion ; and three or four superior, perfect-flowering kinds, 

 any one of v/hich, I think, will make a good combination with 

 the pistillate variety. The seeds from the pistillate only are 

 used, and when the fruit is ripened, these seeds are slightly 

 dried and placed between two pieces of ice for about two weeks. 

 I then put them in pure sand, wrapped up in a wet rag, and 

 keep them sufficiently near the fire to preserve constant warmth 

 until the germs are ready to burst forth. I then sow the seeds 

 in a bed of finely riddled rich earth, and cover with boards 

 about six inches from the soil. This is to prevent the sun from 

 drying the ground. Plants thus raised will be sufficiently large 

 to set in the fruiting-bed in September. In the fifteen years 

 that I was acquainted with Mr. Boyden, I never knew him to 

 fail in raising fruit from these plants the following summer. I 

 do not know that Mr. Boyden's method has been improved 

 upon." 



Mr. J. M. Merrick, Jr. recommends this same isolation of 

 the pistillate plant under glass. 



