166 



GENESEE FARMER. 



JCLY 



HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT- 



BY P. BARRY. 



Wfmorandum for the Season. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



The fruit of most kinds will now be gathered, 

 and the beds should be thoroughly cleaned of 

 weeds, and the runners cut off"; this is indispen- 

 sable, in order to have large, fine fruit. Where 

 it is intended to plant out new beds — and next 

 month (August,) will be the time for this — the 

 istrongest, best rooted runners should be selected. 

 The strawberry is now receiving much attention 

 in our section, and indeed throughout the whole 

 country, and so it should. It is»one of the most 

 delicious fruits of the earth — flourishing in our 

 coldest latitudes, and requiring only common 

 care and culture. There should not be a garden 

 in the whole length and bredth of our country 

 destitute of a.slrawherri/ bed of the finest varieties. 



Hovey's Seedling, Ross' Phoenix, Keen's Seed- 

 ling, Large Early Scarlet, and Stoddard's Im- 

 proved Alpines, make a fine assortment, and v\ e 

 can recommend them, as we have done hereto- 

 fore, from a knowledge of their merits. There 

 are, of course, numerous other varieties worthy 

 of the attention of the more extensive growers. 

 Among those above mentioned we are inclined, 

 on the whole, to give the preference to the Ross' 

 Phoenix. It is of the largest size, finest flavoi*, 

 hardy, and an uncommonly productive and cer- 

 tain bearer. Hoi^eifs Seedling, when planted 

 near other prolific varieties, generally sustains 

 its high reputation ; but even under such circum- 

 stances it sometimes produces but a sparse ci'op. 



J. J. Thomas, in his " Fruit Culturist," says 

 that "Hovey's" and "Keen's" are both tender, 

 and require covering in winter. We have nev- 

 er known a case where either suffered from the 

 winter ; both flourish without protection here and 

 in Canada West, where we have observed them — 

 but Mr. Thomas has, no doubt, some reasons for 

 saying so. W^e have been told by two of our 

 best amateur growers, that their Hovey's Seed- 

 ling, in moist heavy soil, suffered from the win- 

 ter — while Ross' Phoenix, and others, did not 

 sustain the least injury. Mr. T. is pretty severe- 

 ly rebuked in the last number of Hovey's Maga- 

 zine, for making this charge against Plovey's 

 Seedling, and for suggesting that it be not "ex- 

 clusively nor very extensively cultivated, till 

 years of trial have thoroughly proved its char- 

 acter and freedom from unfbrscon defects." We 

 cannot see that this is very culpable advice, al- 

 though we think unnecessary. Mr. Hovp^y him- 

 self would not, with all its high qualities acknowl- 

 edged, recommend the exclusive culture of his 

 Seedling; and Cew persons are likely to \)\anti'ery 

 extensively of any particular kind at once. Mr. 

 Thomas seldom errs in adopting hasty conclusions. 



Our Fruit Committee at the late exhibition of 

 the Horticultural Society awarded the premium 

 for the best dozen berries to a variety brought 

 here from Montreal, said to be a seedling raised 

 there by Mr. Corse. The berries, we presume, 

 were in a more mature state, which gave them, 

 in the opinion of the committee, a superior flavor, 

 and the decision was formed on the merits of 

 the berries alone. Since then we have carefully 

 examined this Corse's Seedling, in the only pla- 

 ces here where it is growing, and as far as we 

 are competent to judge, is is not near equal to 

 Ross' Phoenix, or Hovey's Seedling. In the 

 beds we have seen, we noticed a large proportion 

 of sterile flowers, and the best specimens of the 

 fruit are not so large, nor is the flavor equal to 

 those mentioned — though it is decidedly a good 

 strawberry. We will be glad to see it more ful- 

 ly tested. We have taken measures to ascertain 

 its true origin, &c. 



Stoddard'' s Alpine has been tested in many of 

 our gardens, and as with ourselves, it has proved 

 much larger and more productive than the com- 

 mon — yet we tliink it has no fixed superiority. — 

 We believe it is purely a seedling alpine, that 

 will retain its astonishing productiveness only so 

 long as it receives Mr. Stoddards superior msm- 

 agement — but that every grower can and should 



give. 



FRUIT TREES. 



Trees that have been grafted the past spring 

 should be examined, and all shoots below the graft 

 removed — except where the whole top has been 

 grafted, of alarge tree ; in such case? remove oriiy 

 a portion of the side shoots. This is important. 

 We have seen several orchards lately where this 

 has been neglected in the hurry of farm labor. 

 This should not be. After pains have been takbn 

 to procure good varieties, and ha, e them grafted, 

 they should not, /o»the sake of a few hours at- 

 tention, be starved and killed b}^ being over run 

 with other shoots. Attend to this at once. Trees 

 transplanted last spring should have the earth 

 around them kei)t clean and mellow. We have 

 never seen transplanted trees make such fine 

 growth as this season. The troublesome opera- 

 tion of watering has in a few cases, if any, been 

 necessary ; but weeds have grown luxuriantly, 

 and require constant subduing : being allowed to 

 grow, they dry up and impoverish the ground, 

 and injure, if tliey do not destroy, the tree. Re- 

 member that clean culture, in every department 

 of Horticulture is of absolute necessity to ensure 

 either profit or pleasure. 



Insects should be destroyed, as directcfl last 

 month. 



Budding may be performed now. See article 

 on that subject. Roses may be budded all the 

 montli. 



Grape Vines should receive attention. Young 

 shoots will require to be kept tied up, and super- 

 fluous ones removed. 



