PREFACE TO THE STRAWBERRY. 



THE following articles from the pen of Mr. LONGWORTH, on the culti- 

 vation of this delicious fruit, will be fouiKl highly interesting and in- 

 structive. 



Cincinnati has, of late years, been famous for her fine sugar-cured hams, 

 sparkling Catawba wines, and a cheap and abundant Strawberry market. 

 The latter has mainly resulted from the discovery, that certain fine va- 

 rieties of the strawberry were more prolific in the pistillate than stami- 

 nate organs, and that when beds were planted with a due proportion of 

 male or staminate plants say one-tenth the crop was far more abun- 

 dant, and the fruit finer than that produced by the old methods. When 

 this became known to Mr. LONGWORTH. about twenty -five years ago, he at 

 once made public this secret, possessed by a few, that all might profit by 

 it. Our cultivators had the good sense to adopt it, and the result has 

 been, that from the same quantity of ground, we produce more Straw- 

 berries, in this vicinity, than in any other portion of the Union. 



For many years Mr. LONGWORTH was warmly opposed on this ques- 

 tion by Eastern Horticulturists. Some of them have lately yielded to 

 his opinions, and others are probably testing its accuracy by experi- 

 ments of their own. 



The Cincinnati Horticultural Society appointed two committees, at 

 different periods, to investigate the subject. After a careful examina- 

 tion, both reported favorable to Mr. LONGWORTH'S position, fully sus- 

 taining his views in almost every particular. These reports are here- 

 with presented the first in full, the latter only in part, for wantof room. 



Several valuable Seedling Strawberries have been produced by the 

 Horticulturists in this vicinity. Mr. GEO. GRAHAM'S and Mr. MOTHER'S 

 were favorably noticed some six years ago ; and those of Mr. D. Mc- 

 AVOY and Mr. SCHNEICKE, exhibited last spring, created quite a sensa- 

 tion in thp Horticultural Society. 



The premium of one hundred dollars was awarded to Mr. McAvoY, 

 for his "superior" the best of three fine varieties of his production; 

 it was pronounced, by the committee, better, in every respect, than any 

 other Pistillate Strawberry cultivated in this region. SCHNEICKE'S 

 Hermaphrodite Seedling, named "Longworth's prolific," from its size, 

 quality, and the perfect fruit on all its blossoms from its first bearing, 

 fcras deemed superior to any plant of that class known here, where the 

 oest English Hermaphrodites are cultivated. 



