THE HOVEY'S SEEDLING STRAWBERRY. 



Hovey's Seedling. Magazine of Horticulture, vol. vi. p. 284. 



The first, really great improvement in the strawberry was made by 

 Mr. Keens, of Islewortli, near London, about the year 1820, in the 

 production of the vaiiety so well known as Keens' Seedling. The late 

 Mr. Knight and Mr. Keens pursued their experiments in raising new 

 varieties about the same period ; but Mr. Knight was not so successful 

 as Mr. Keens : he raised several varieties, among them the Downton 

 and Elton, once very good sorts, but long since neglected in consequence 

 of the superior quahty of Keens' Seedling. Very recently, Mr. Myatt, 

 of Deptford, near London, has succeeded in raising some varieties which 

 have proved valuable in England, but, in our climate, they are inferior to 

 our American seedlings. 



Soon after tlie introduction of Keens' Seedling into this country, about 

 the year 1829, we added it to our collection, which, at that time, contained 

 all the fine sorts which were to be obtained. A fondness for the culti- 

 vation of the strawberry had induced us to collect every variety, which 

 came to our knowledge, as soon as offered for sale. Keens' Seedhng 

 and Wilmot's Superb were the most noted, and they were added with 

 the expectation that they would so far excel all others, as to discard the 

 larger proportion of them from cultivation. But after the experience of 

 three or four years, to our great disappointment, we found that it was 

 quite impossible to secure a crop : the vines were either bmnt up by 

 the summer heat, or destroyed by the winter cold. This was in 1832, 

 and our collection then contained the Downton, Methven Scarlet, Melon, 

 Bostock, Grove End Scarlet, Southborough, Knevet's Pine, Mulberry, 

 &c. &c. Yet, out of the whole of these, we never could calculate upon 

 a full crop ; and we came to the conclusion that none of them possessed 

 sufficient good quahties to render them profitable or desirable for ordi- 

 naiy cultivation. With this view, we thought it an object to try experi- 

 ments in the gTowth of new varieties from seed, in order to procure such 

 as should possess the great merits of hardiness, productiveness, size, 

 flavor, and beauty combined ; and, though we made but a single trial, 

 our expectations were fully realized in the production of the Seedhng and 

 the Boston Pine. 



In the summer of 1832, we began to prepare the plants from which 

 we intended to select the seed ; this was done by cutting off the runners 

 during the season, in order to have them as strong as possible. When 

 these plants came into flower, in 1833, the several sorts were properly 



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