A few words about Strawherries. 353 



far as my experience goes. — Yours respectfully, J. H. Bayne. 

 Alexandria., D. C, June 25, 1849. 



It is almost imnecessary to say that this is the same opin- 

 ion which most of our correspondents express in regard to 

 our seedhngs. Fifteen years have passed away since they 

 were produced, and among the thotisands of seedlings raised 

 in this country since 1834, not one of all that number, do we 

 believe, can equal either of them. This may seem a bold as- 

 sertion, and will undoubtedly be taken by many for what it 

 is worth. Yet we will maintain its truth. We have no de- 

 sire to overrate our productions. We are perfectly content to 

 let them stand on their own merits. But when so many at- 

 tempts have been made to laud worthless kinds above them, 

 to the great disappointment and vexation of cultivators, we 

 feel it no more than our duty to express our opinions freely, 

 whether they may be thought warped by prejudice or not. 



So far as we have any knowledge. — and if we are wrong, 

 we shall be glad to be corrected, — we believe our seedling 

 strawberries were Xhe first ever produced in this country. But 

 immediately after their introduction to notice in 1838, many 

 amateurs and cultivators began to raise seedlings, and, up to 

 the present time, an immense number has been raised in vari- 

 ous parts of the country. Dr. Brinckle, of Philadelphia, 

 raised and described upwards of seventy ; Mr. Burr, of Ohio, 

 upwards of a dozen; Mr. Buist, Mr. Prince, and others, have 

 also produced seedlings. At least six or eight of all these 

 possessed remarkable merit, and some of them were stated to 

 far excel Hovey's Seedling. 



For the sake of reference at some future time, we copy the 

 following, from the descriptions or advertisements of three of 

 these new strawberries : — 



Cushing, (Brinckle's.) — Fruit very large, round, some of 

 the berries with a short neck. This plant was exhibited at 

 one of the meetings of the Philadelphia Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, this summer, (1846.) with twenty-six fme berries on it, 

 several of them four and a quarter inches in circumference. 

 Not long since, Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, offered one 

 hundred dollars for a strawberry with perfect anthers, that 

 VOL. XV. — NO. viii. 45 



