252 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



He is further of opiaioa that the European 

 method of culture will henceforth be based on 

 those scientitic principles long practiced in his 

 country, and which were announced by his father 

 and Iiim ift various horticultural periodicals, and 

 published in their Treatise on Horticulture in 

 1828. 



"So indispensable," he says, "is the sexual com- 

 bination to the production of abundant crops in all 

 the American varieties, and in tlie pine and hautbois 

 varieties cultivated in Europe, that it may well be 

 doubted whether any person in England has yet 

 realized what constitutes a full crop of strawber- 

 ries. Attention to sexual distinctions being indis- 

 pensable in a scientific view, it is equally demanded 

 in every country and climate where strawberries 

 are grown that possess these characteristic distinc- 

 tions." 



"Although," writes Mr. Pkinoe, " it is a truism 

 that the ditierences between the humid and cool 

 climate ot England and our dry and hot atmos- 

 phere cause the best educated English gardeners 

 who migrate here to commit great absurdities; yet 

 these climate variations have no more connection 

 with the sexuality ot strawberries, nor with the 

 results of that sexuality in the productiveness of 

 the crop, than they would have on two crops grown 

 side by side — the one on dry soil, and the other 

 subjected to irrigation. Sexuality is Nature's own 

 fiict; the success and extent of the crop are the re- 

 sult of art and culture. The incontrovertible truth 

 thus stands forth that the exercisd of science .a re- 

 gard to the existing sexuality is not necessarily va- 

 rial)le by climate, but is quite as important in one 

 country as in another." 



We cannot say that we quite understand this. 

 One thing, however, is clear — that our North 

 American friend thinks far more higlily of himself 

 than of us Englishers. Before, however, we can 

 join in adopting his views or applauding his man- 

 ner of stating tliem, we should like to have some 

 evidence of their accuracy — a point which such a 

 paragraph as the following obliges us to doubt: 



"It is admitted," he says, " on all hands, that 

 the principal strawberries in England are treated 

 as tender exotics, and Mr. Wka.y asks: 'Why is 

 it 80 pampered, swathed and swaddled, and its 

 Jiardy character so completely ignored?' In Eng- 

 land, the fine varieties of strawberries are so expen 

 sively grown that they only reacli the tables of tlie 

 wealthy cla-sse.'f, whereas iu America tliey are chiefly 

 grown for the million 1 



What do our market gardeners say to this? 



Our reason tor noticing all this is not for the sake 

 of Mr. W. R. Pkinok, or his "pcientific Treatise 

 on 2Zbr(tc?//'fiirc, published in ; 828," but to elicit 

 truth. Is it true that some plants of the Ameri- 

 can strawberries are absolutely female ? is it true 

 that those females are far more productive than 

 our hermaphrodites? If so, the fact is worth 

 knowing, and we venture to ask the following 

 question; Can any of our readers on tliis side of 

 the Atlantic confirm these statements? If they 

 can, we shall be only too happy to publi.sh their 

 replies. We request, however, that their com- 

 munications may be authenticated by their 

 names." 



Whether there are any varieties of strawberries > 



that are absolutely female may well be questioned ; 

 but it is clearly established that there are many 

 varieties that need to be fertilized by the pollep of 

 other kinds. Our best strawberry growers are 

 now of the opinion, however, that such varieties 

 should be discarded — or at least that the introduc- 

 tion of new sorts of this kind should be dis- 

 couraged. Better introduce and plant varieties 

 that have perfect flowers. 



STBAWBERRIES. 



T^E Oermantown Telegraph &\\\i(!iQ9 to s. discus- 

 sion on strawberries at the last meeting of the 

 Western New York Fruit Growers' Society, and 

 fails to discover " anything new or especially inter- 

 esting": 



To the question, "What is the best method of 

 cultivating the strawberry ? "scarcely two of these 

 experienced cultivators answered alike. Some 

 went so far as to say that only a single crop should 

 be raised from a bed; or in other words, the beds 

 should be renewed every year! Now, we have 

 obtained magnificent crops of Uovey's Seedling for 

 six years, and the last year tiie berries were large and 

 fine, nearly as much so as iu the second year. The 

 Wilson ran out the second year, whereupon we ran 

 it off the i)remise3 totally, never to come back 

 again. If anybody were to surreptitously infest 

 our ground with a bed of a this so-called frnit, he 

 would be incontinently prosecuted, if discov- 

 ered ! 



As to planting and other things connected with 

 this fruit, nothing was said of any practical value. 

 [Don't get angry with us, Me.ssieurs Pomologists ! ] 

 The truth is, we have given, though a mere ama- 

 teur, about as much soimd advice as to the best 

 varietie^i of strawberries, and mode of cultivation, 

 as any of these distinguished professor-s. Indeed, 

 after one poissesses a general idea of fruit raising, 

 lie must work out his own salvation in his own 

 way. His experiments, and those of his neighbors 

 which he may observe, will be of more value to 

 him than all these public discussions. His soil, 

 exposure and temperature have much to do with 

 the question. 



On the direct question^ " What is the most pro- 

 fitable strawberry tor market?" scarcely one ans- 

 wered the question broadly, but seemed desirous 

 to evade it. Nearly all, however, thought that 

 Wilson's Seedling was the most productive, and 

 seetned to infer that as the public taste was no taste 

 at all, size and cheapness carried the d:iy in the 

 public markets. A new seedling, called Russell's, 

 wa^ said 'to be as "large a.s a potato," extremely 

 productive, and superior in quality (wliich it could 

 easily be and not be much after all,) to the Wilson. 

 Tlie Triom])he de Gand was .also put in the list of 

 recommended market varieties. 



Messrs. Perkins & Son, of Coventry, have 

 brought out a new scarlet verbena, "Lord Leigh," 

 said to be well-adapted to pot-culture or for bed- 

 ding purposes. 



