284 WESTERN PRT7IT BOOK. 



Boston Pine. Flowers, staminate; form, roundish, slightly 

 conical ; size, 2; quality, 2\ color, deep, rich, shining red; 

 season, early. 



Eemarks. — American. Eequires high cultivation, in 

 hills ; vines, vigorous ; firm, juicy, sweet, with a sprightly, 

 agreeable flavor. Productive. We will here observe that 

 the strawberry is as easily raised from seed as any other 

 plant, and Avith the certainty of producing very good va- 

 rieties. Mr. Hovey states that the French cultivators 

 raise the Alj^ine Strawberry in this way, as an annual, 

 the plants bearing a fine crop the first year. To com- 

 bine the greatest number of good qualities in any fruit 

 is the great object in the growth of new kinds : the pos- 

 session of a portion of them without the others must fail 

 to give any variety a high rank for general cultivation ; 

 therefore it is a saving of both time and money to reject 

 all of those that do not come up very near to this stan- 

 dard. Hovey's great seedling was a successful hit, and 

 has at least combined a great many most precious char- 

 acteristics of what a strawberry should possess. The 

 Boston Pine has not by.an}^ means reached the elevation 

 of its great predecessor ; still, under certain circumstances 

 of climate, soil, management, etc., it may be pronounced 

 a respectably good fruit. In the first place, Mr. Hovey 

 says : " It should receive good cultivation to have the 

 fruit in fine condition. If the plants are allowed to run 

 together, the produce will not be half a crop. The soil 

 should be good, and there should be a space of at least a 

 foot between the rows. Each plant throws up from six 

 to ten stems, and if the roots do not find sufficient nour- 

 ishment, many of the berries will not fill up and attain 

 their proper size. Well grown, the plants are literally 

 covered with fruit." We have no account of its having 

 had any considerable success in our Western soils. It is 

 ripe a week before Hovey'a seedling, at the same time as 



