134 



^\)t iTarmer's iHontl)lij btaitor. 



will insure their libraries from this pest. A sin- 

 gle drop of the same will prevent a pint of ink 

 from uiouldiness for any length of time. Paste 

 may be kept from mould entirely by this addi- 

 tion ; and leather is also efTectiially secured Ironi 

 injury by the same agency. — .4wi. ^Ig. 



New Seedling Strawberry. 



C. M. HovEY, editor of the Magazine of Horti- 

 culture, has produced another seedling strawber- 

 ry, which he calls the Boston Pine, and describes 

 as possessing very valuable qualities. " The fruit, 

 very large, roundish or slightly conical, always 

 very regular in form : Color, deep, rich, shining 

 red : Seeds imbedded in a rather deep cavity : 

 Flesh, pale scarlet, solid, fine grained, very juicy, 

 sweet and rich, with a high and most delicious 

 flavor : Footstalks, long and spreading, elevating 

 the fruit from the ground : Flowers, large and 

 perfect, possessing both stamens and pistils : 

 Leaves, large, of a lighter and duller green than 

 deeply and sharply serrated : Vines, exceedingly 

 hardy and vigorous : Ripe nearly as Hovey's 

 Seedling, narrower, and much more early as the 

 Old Scarlet or Virginia, filling up the season be- 

 tween that kind and Hovey's Seedling, when there 

 is no other of etjual merit. 



"The sterile and fertile characterof the straw- 

 berry has been a subject of much discussion in 

 our pages, and no perfectly satisfactory result has 

 been arrived at. But enough information has 

 been elicited to show, that with some sorts there 

 is a tendency to barrenness, when growing in a 

 plantation away from other kinds. Let the caus- 

 es be whatever they rriay, it is sufficient for all 

 practical purposes to know, that the most abun- 

 dant crops can be procured by planting some sort 

 abounding with staminate flowers, in the near vi- 

 cinity of those which do not possess them : and 

 whether soil, climate, cultivation, injudicious se- 

 lection of plants, or a normal defect in the organ- 

 ization of the flowers, prevent the production of 

 pollen, a certain crop may be depended upon. — 

 Thus in a plantation of Hovey's Seedling, a sin- 

 gle row of the Old Scarlet or Boston Pine, will 

 fertilize a dozen rows of the former. W^e know 

 of one gentleman who has raised two thousand 

 (juarls of Hovey's Seedling on a single acre, set 

 out in this way, the present year. It is time and 

 labor thrown away to cultivate sterile plants, us 

 has been recommended by some individuals, when 

 varieties, unusually productive and of large size 

 can be planted out for that purpose. It is in this 

 respect, that we view our new seedling ns inval- 

 uable to every good collection of strawberries. 



" We have given great attention to the straw- 

 berry, and cultivated all the varieties introduced 

 for the last twenty years, and proved nearly twen- 

 ty sorts the present season. Of the whole num- 

 ber, however, there are only four which can be 

 recommended for general cultivation. Otlier.s 

 will do for the amateur, who minds not time nor 

 expense to ensure their growth ; but our object 

 has been to produce fruit fit for the " million ;" 

 varieties which need not the fostering care of the 

 gardener, or which heed the intense cold of om- 

 northern clime, — bm such as with ordinary care 

 may always, and in every soil, be depended upon 

 for a crop. Wo started with such a piupose In 

 view, and wo believe it has been accomplished. 

 Should an o|>portunity present, we hope to give 

 an article, showing the comparative merit of the 

 varieties we fruited the present year. 



" The four varieties are the Old Scarlet or Enr- 

 ly Virginia, the best and largest very early varie- 

 ty : the Boston Pine to succeed it, and iu small 

 gardens to take its place : Hovey's Seedling, and 

 the conunon Ked Wood. These will give a 

 continued succession of splendid fruit of un- 

 surpassed excellence, from early in Jime to the 

 end of July, a space of two months ; and when 

 desired, with some care, the Al|)inc will prolong 

 the season to October. The market aflbrds the 

 best test of the superiority of any kind for gene- 

 ral cultivation. Let a comparison bo made, of 

 the supply, and the sorts, three years ago, with 

 the past season. Keen's Seeilling, imported in 

 182tj, out of all tho foreign kimis, was the otdy 

 largo one to be seen, and that exceedingly ncarre. 

 This year nearly tho whole stock consisted of 

 Hovey's Seedling, and Early Virginia, and the 

 Wood : three cultivators alono sending to Boslcin 

 market more than four thousand five hundred 

 quarts of the former variety." 



From the N. Y. Journal of Commerce. 

 The Alpaca or Peruvian Sheep. 



It is now four years since we invited public 

 attention to this useful and most bcautiliil ani- 

 mal, giving also, at that time, a fine wood cut of 

 the same. Until very recently, we have seldom 

 observed any notices of the animal, ami have 

 heard of no attempts to introduce and naturalize 

 it in the United Slates. Some (acts in regard to 

 it are contained iu the last report of Mr. Ells- 

 worth (late of the Patent Office,) and a late num- 

 ber of the Baltimore American stales that an in- 

 telligent agriculturalist of Alabama strongly re- 

 commends the importation of these animals, 

 and estimates, that if pmchased in South Amer- 

 ica at five dollars, they might ho bruiiglit to Mo- 

 bile and sold there for twenty dollars per head. 

 It is well known that the manufactiue of the .4/- 

 /Jaca wool into a fine and durable cloth, has in- 

 creased rapidly in Great Britain during the last 

 few years, and efforts are making to naturalize 

 the animal in that country. William Walton, 

 Esq., of London, who formerly resided for a time 

 in Lima, has published much on the subject, and 

 contributed more than any other (lerson to ex- 

 cite a desire for the introduction of the aniinal 

 into the mountainous districts of Wales and 

 Scotland. That this fine animal would thrive in 

 the mountainous regions of Tennessee, Geor- 

 gia, and Virginia, and very possibly in most parts 

 of the country, we have little doubt. And as 

 the growing and manufacture of wool are be- 

 coming interests of great value in the United 

 Slates, we hope some of our enterprising citi- 

 zens will make a fair experiment in regard to 

 the adaptation of the Alpaca to our country and 

 climate. Four years ago the animal sold iu Great 

 Britain for more than one hundred dollars a head, 

 but we jiresume it may he brought to the United 

 States and sold at a lower price. We extr.ict 

 the following statement from an article bv ftlr. 

 Walton: 



"In Peru the alpaca is only shorn every third 

 year, towards the month of April, wlieii ihe 

 wool is usually eight inches long on tho hack, 

 and nine on the sides. In each year it conse- 

 quently grows about 3 inches, so that if Ihe al- 

 paca were stripped of his fleece at the end of 

 the second year, the staple would still be six inch- 

 es long, a more suitable length, one wouki imag- 

 ine, for the purposes of manufacture. 



The Peruvian sheep are peculiar to that part 

 of South America, bordering on the Pai-ific, 

 which extends liom the equator beyond the 

 Tropic of Capricorn, that long and enormous 

 range of mountains known as the Andes Cordil- 

 luias. Along the massive pile every imaginable 

 degree of temperature may be found in successive 

 gradation. Below stretches a narrow strip of 

 land, washed by the sea, where the heat is intense 

 and it never rains, but where, owing to heavy 

 ilews and filtration from the mountains, vegeta- 

 tion is luxuriant and an eternal spring reigns. — 

 As one ascends, the aspect of the country chang- 

 es and new plants appear ; but no sooner are the 

 middle summits gained, and the sun has lost its 

 power, than those cold and icy regions rise up, 

 one above the other, called hy the natives yjUHHS, 

 which are again crowned with rocky crests, bro- 

 ken by deep ravines and rugged chasms, and 

 preseiiliug a wilderness of crags and cliffs never 

 trodden by the human footste[>, and never dark- 

 ened, except by a passing cloud, or the eagle's 

 wing. 



In tlie land ol' iniHt and »now, 

 " Mori' Willi, ami waste, and ilesidute than wirrre 

 The wliite bear, drifting on a litdd of ice, 

 Itowia m her sundered cubs witli pileouti rage 

 And savage agony," 



or rather in the hollows which surround it, feed 

 the guauaco and vicuna, at an elevation of I'i.OOO 

 or 11,000 feet above the level of the sea; while 

 iu the lower regions, stretching immediately un- 

 der the snowy bidt, and when; the Indian fixes 

 his abode, at a height Irom 8,000 to 10,000 feet, 

 may he seen pasturing iho.ie fliiekH of llamas and 

 alpacas which constitute his dtdifiht, auil at the 

 Biimo time the principal part of his piopeity.* 



Here amidst bioki-n and precipitous peaks, on 

 tho parapots and pi'ojectiug ledges, sliglilly cov- 

 ered with earth, or in the valleys formed by the 



*'i"iio town of Riobainba is estimated at 11,670 feet above 

 Ihe level of the sea. The convent of Mont St. llernard is 

 H.OlO, anil that of St. Gothard G.SIO : while Ben Nevis (Srot- 

 lanil,) the highest point in the United IvJngdom, ie only 4,^70 

 fiset abnv? tho level of Ih" «ea. 



mountain ridges, like the Pyrenean chamois, the 

 llama and alpaca pick up a precarious sulisist- 

 ence from the mosses, lichens, tender shrubs, and 

 grassy plants which make their appearance as 

 the snow recedes; or, descending lower down, 

 revel iu the pajonales, or, as iu some parts of the 

 country they are called, ichuales — natural mead- 

 ows of the tVAu plant, the favorite ibod of both 

 ihe tame and wild kind. Thus the hand of man 

 never jirepares food for either species, both read- 

 ily find it on their native mountains. Bi.'sides 

 the extremes of cold, these anitnals have equally 

 to endure the severities of a damp atmosphere, 

 for while below it seldom rains, in the summer 

 months, when evaporation Irom the sea is abun- 

 dant, clouds collect, and being driven over the 

 lower valley by stiong winds IVomthe south and 

 west, and condinsed by the colli, binst on the 

 highlands, where tlie rain falls in torrents amidst 

 llie most awful thunder and lightning. 



It will be obvious thai one of these animals is 

 pieeiuinently useful, and on account of the fine- 

 ness and abundance of its fleece, deserves adop- 

 tion in an agricultural and manutacturiug coun- 

 try ; I mean the alpaca. 



This advantage, I repeat, we should gain hy 

 naturalizing the alpaca. However bleak and 

 damp the situation, little does it matter for an an- 

 imal requiiiiig neither fold nor manger, and living 

 ill wild and desolate places, where the tender is 

 olien obliged to collect the dung of his flocks to 

 serve as fuel for himself Although delicate in 

 appearance, the alpaca is, perhaps, one of the 

 hardiest animals of the creation; his abstinence 

 has already been noticed. Nature has provided 

 him with a thick skin and a warm fleece, and as 

 he never perspires, like the ordinary sheep, he is' 

 not so susceptible of cold. There is, theiidbre, 

 no necessity to smear his coat with tar and but- 

 tei-, as the larmers are obliged to do willi their 

 flocks ill Scotland, a process uhicli, besides be- 

 ing iioublesome and expensive, injures the wool, 

 as it is no longer fit to make into white sioods, 

 nor will it take light and hrif;lit colors. In the 

 severest winter the alpaca asks no extra care, 

 and his teeth being well adapted to crop the 

 rushes and coarse grass with which our rnoors 

 abound, he will be satisfied with the refuse left 

 upon them. In a word, he would live where 

 sheep must he in danger of starving. 



Besides stocking our waste lands, the alpaca is 

 likely to become a fiivorite tenant of tho park, 

 where its fine figure, graceful attitudes, placid 

 disposition, and playful gambol.--, would excite 

 interest. In 1811, when Mr. Cio.-s exhiliited his 

 liist alpaca in Loudon, the late Lady Liverpool 

 repeatedly went lo see it, and so much was she 

 delighted with its beauty, the soilness and brill- 

 iancy of its coat, and its animated and beaming 

 teatnres, that she kissed it as if it had been a 

 child, and had it tmiied loose on her own lawn, 

 iu order that she might witness its movements 

 when freed tiom resiiaint." 



This animal seems destined to compete with 

 the deer. Its flesh, which, as well as its wool, 

 would doubtless improve, is considered equal 

 to venison, and pecnii irly well adapted for hams. 

 Its skill, wlu'n prepared, might he appropriated 

 to various uses, such as tho making of accoutre- 

 ments, traces, straps, &c. The specimen of a 

 Peruvian bridle submitted to the Liver|)ool Nat- 

 ural History Society by General O'Brien, and 

 made from ilic untanned alpaca skin, will bear 

 me out in this nsserlioii. Already dues this iii- 

 teristing animal adorn the jdeasure grounds of 

 the Eiul of Derby, at Ivnowsley, iu Lancajhire; 

 the Marquess of Breadalhane, at Aberfeldy, 

 Perthshire; .1. J. Ilegan, Esq., Harrow Hull, 

 Cheshire ; Charles Tayleure, l'',sq., near Liver- 

 pool ; Mr. Stephenson of Oban, and others. 



The task of obtaining suitable breeds of the 

 alpaca is by no means a dilficnlt one, and in our 

 attempts to naturalize them we ought to feel tho 

 more encouraged when we reflect on the recent 

 changes in the growth and supplies of sheep's 

 wool, and how soon a liirming stock propagates 

 under judicious jnanagement. It must be equal- 

 ly borne in miml, that iu u.>iing alpaca wool we 

 are not competing with that of our own sheep, 

 but rather with thai of the .\iif;ora goat (mohair) 

 .'ind silk ; aiitl the manufacture, it has been us- 

 corlaiiied, does not cost half so much as that of 

 the latter. 



The importations of alpaca wool into Liver- 

 pool have steadily advanced siiu-e the articis be- 



