288 Some Remarks on the growth of the Straxcberry. 



Art. III. Some Remarks on the cultivation of the Strawber- 

 ry, loith reference to the dioecious character of the large va- 

 rieties. By J. C. G. 



[The following interesting communication we have receiv- 

 ed from an amateur cultivator of fruits. Being desirous of 

 ascertaining the correctness, as far as possible, of the diascious 

 character of some varieties of strawberries, he was induced to 

 look into several English and French works, by authors of 

 eminence, who have written upon the cultivation of the straw- 

 berry. The results of these investigations, which were for 

 the writer's own use, and not intended originally for publica- 

 tion, are detailed below; and we are indebted to him for his 

 kindness, in enabling us to lay them before our readers. — Ed.] 



I was much gratified by the letter from our respected 

 friend, Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, published in your pres- 

 ent number, as well as by your comments thereon. I had 

 the pleasure of conversing with that gentleman on the same 

 subject a few weeks since, and have since ascertained some 

 facts which confirm the opinions expressed by him and you. 



I have a strawberry bed of about three hundred square 

 yards, which I have carefully examined this year, while in 

 flower. It is filled with four kinds of strawberries — 1st, the 

 round red and white, called by you, I believe, the Wood 

 strawberries; I examined several plants of this description, 

 and found not a single flower which was not perfect, i. e. 

 bearing both stamens and pistils. Both these, however, were 

 smaller and shorter than in my other kinds. These other 

 kinds are the Downton, the Scarlet, and the Pine-apple; at 

 least these are the names under which they came to me a few 

 years since; for every one knows that there is much confu- 

 sion in the naming of strawberries. Among these I examin- 

 ed three rows in different parts of the bed. In the northern 

 row were nineteen plants; of these, fourteen had pistils or 

 stiles only, without a vestige of a stamen. The reniaining 

 five flowers were perfect. In the southern row I examined 

 thirty-two plants, of which only five were perfect, the remain- 

 ing twenty-seven being entirely female, that is, bearing stiles 

 only. In the next row to this, last summer, I found thirteen 

 plants in succession, all of which bore perfect flowers. 



