his vines, and his success with some varieties usually difficult to produce in 

 perfection. In presenting this statement, it is the intention of your Com- 

 mittee simply to present the views of Mr. Simpson, without being under- 

 stood as either controverting or endorsing them ; but they feel that they 

 ought to say that it appeared to them that the situation of the grapehouse 

 of Mr. S. was a most particularly favorable one, for being on the declivity, 

 yet near the top of a high hill, thorough drainage and an abundance of pure 

 air was thereby secured ; and it occurred to your Committee that the 

 marked success that has attended Mr. S., in the cultivation of the grape, 

 might perhaps more properly be imputed to his skill and his selection of a 

 site for his house, than to his method of heating. 



On June 24 the Committee visited the gardens of Mr. B. V. French, at 

 Braintree. Mr. French is among our most thorough and skilful cultivators 

 of every variety of agricultural and horticultural product. He has more re- 

 cently been directing his attention to the strawberry, with a view of ascer- 

 taining both the best mode of cultivating that fruit, as well as what are its 

 best varieties; and to his experiments in relation to these objects, the atten- 

 tion of your Committee, at this visit, was particularly called. Mr. French 

 cultivates a very large farm, but the Committee felt themselves, by the 

 Rules of the Society, bound to confine their examination to that part of it 

 which might strictly be considered as a garden, comprising in its various 

 compartments, devoted to fruits, vegetables, and flowers, about 4^ acres of 

 ground. The Committee found the gardens and grounds of Mr. French in 

 admirable order. The soil appears to have been originally stiff and hard, 

 but has been rendered, by under-ground draining and other processes, well 

 suited to the uses to which it is now applied. The gardens were stocked 

 with all the better varieties of the different species of fruit, vegetables, and 

 flowers ; all of which seemed to be cultivated — judging from their apparent 

 health and vigor — on some well considered and successful method. Mr. 

 French has a greenhouse of 56 feet in length, appropriated to grapes and 

 flowers. He has recently been making experiments with the strawberry, in 

 reference to the best mode of its cultivation, as well as to the quality of the 

 different varieties. The ground appropriated to this purpose, after being 

 thoroughly drained, was trenched to the depth of three feet, and then en- 

 riched by the application of various manures. The strawberries were 

 planted in beds, each bed containing one variety ; upon one half of each 

 bed the plants were kept in hills ; upon the other half the vines were per- 

 mitted to cover the ground. To ensure the fertilization of tlie pistillate va- 

 rieties, a bed three feet in width, and extending the whole length of the plot 

 of ground occupied by the beds, running crosswise, was set with the Early 

 Virginia, the vines of which were permitted to cover the ground. As the 

 different varieties of the fruit were all treated alike, and no one had any ad- 

 vantage of soil or situation, the mode adopted was a fair one to afford an 

 opportunity of testing their comparative merits. 



The Committee found in every instance and with all the varieties, as was 

 naturally to be expected, that the vines kept in hills produced the greatest 

 crop of fruit. As the members of the Society are familiar with many of 



