290 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept, 



in the aid of some person whose business it is to 

 cure. 



For the New England Farmer, 



HORTICUIiTTJRAIi NOTES. 



Plan Mirked Out — Early Fruits — The Strawberry — Different 

 Varieties do best on DitTerent Soils — Variety of Opinions — 

 Hovey's Seedling — Brighton Pine — Jenny Lind — Boston Pine 

 — Trioinphe de Gand — Cutter's Seedling — La Constante — Wil- 

 son — and Eleven Other Kinds — Opinion as to the best of the 

 Number. 



Mr. Editor : — With your leave I will talk oc- 

 casionally with your readers in a familiar way 

 upon familiar topics. It is possible I may not 

 succeed in advancing any new ideas, but may hope 

 at least to impress some well known facts more 

 fully upon the minds of some. The old adage of 

 "line upon line and precept upon precept," is just 

 as true to-day as ever, and needs to be still prac- 

 tised. 



As week after week passes along, I shall have 

 something to say upon a variety of subjects — 

 fruits, flowers and vegetables, old and well known 

 varieties, as well as the newer ones. The kinds 

 that are the most profitable, the manner of grow- 

 ing each to the best advantage, and many other 

 things of like nature. It is often very pleasant, 

 and profitable, too, to sit down and talk of straw- 

 berries, pears, flowers, or other things, with those 

 who have some knowledge of the subject ; so I 

 hope it may not be unpleasant or unprofitable for 

 your readers to listen to my perhaps rather free 

 and easy talks about such things ; not that I pre- 

 sume to be able to teach them what they should 

 do, but because from my connection with various 

 societies, and from the nature of my business, 

 which often takes me among the market garden- 

 ers and farmers of this vicinity, I have frequent 

 opportunities for observation. I shall take up 

 such things as may be suggested by the weekly 

 exhibitions of the Massachusstts Horticultural 

 Society and by my own experience. We are con- 

 stantly learning, and especially is this true of those 

 who till the soil, for almost every day brings some- 

 thing new ; new kinds of fruit and vegetables, 

 new varieties of flowers, and also new difficulties 

 to contend with in cultivating these things, new 

 diseases, new insects, &c., so that a whole lifetime 

 will not enable us to completely understand and 

 master all the difficulties that lie in our way. 



Among our early fruits, and one that seems to 

 demand our attention is the strawberry. I con- 

 sider the strawberry crop one of the most profita- 

 ble of all crops in the immediate vicinity of a 

 good market, and perhaps a paying croj), even 

 when the fruit must be transported some consid- 

 erable distance to market. The average price is 

 about twenty cents a box through the season, and 

 where the fruit is of very superior quality a larger 

 price is obtained. There is great drfl'erence of 

 opinion among even good strawberry growers, as 

 to the best varieties to plant for profit, the prep- 

 aration of the soil, the kind and quantity of ma- 

 nure to be used, how they shall be cultivated, 

 whether in hills or rows, and how far apart the 

 rows be set, and as to many other things to which 

 we may refer. I am aware of the difl[iculty of 

 making everjbody believe as I believe, as to the 

 best sorts to cultivate, nor is it best they should, 

 for it is a well known fact that a variety may do 

 well in one soil and location, and not be worthy 

 of cultivation in another. I shall show this to be 



the case before I leave the subject. There are 

 several varieties prominently before the public, 

 some of which have stood the test of time. The 

 Hovey's Seedhng is one of these, having been 

 brought into notice more than twenty years ago, 

 and yet it is still unsurpassed as a market fruit. It 

 is so familiar to all that I will not take time to de- 

 scribe it. All things considered, it is the most 

 profitable and valuable variety known to us. Its 

 size, productiveness and good quality, render it 

 very desirable. I am aware that objections, may 

 be brought against it. It needs and must be set 

 near some other variety, that its blooms may be 

 impregnated by the pollen of such neighboring 

 beds, or you will fail to obtain fruit, but when 

 properly cultivated it is very productive, its color 

 is good, hulls easily, is good flavored, bears trans- 

 portation well, can be picked rapidly — I have 

 known a young man to pick and "top off^' a hun- 

 dred boxes in a day of this variety, all ready for 

 market. It has all the good properties of a first- 

 rate market fruit, except the defect already de- 

 scribed. 



We sometimes hear people condemn, or speak 

 disparagingly, of the Hovey, when the fact is, 

 their beds are filled with spurious plants, either 

 chance seedlings or other poor sorts that have run 

 in and been allowed to spread and root out the 

 true plants. Few cultivators can say that they 

 have entire beds of the true "Simon pure" Hov- 

 ey's Seedling. The fruit of this variety will bring 

 from five to ten cents more per box than most 

 other kinds carried to Boston market. This sort 

 is grown quite extensively and to great perfection 

 by the enterprising farmers of Belmont. 



The Brighton Pine is another favorite variety 

 in some localities. It was raised by Mr. Scott, 

 of Brighton. It is lighter colored and smaller 

 than the Hovey, profuse bloomer, but in some lo- 

 calities many of these blooms prove false. It is 

 a fruit of good quality, good size, makes runners 

 freely and covers the ground well, is hardy, and 

 often produces very good crops. It is planted 

 considerably as a fertilizer for the Hovey's Seed- 

 ling, say one row of Brighton Pine, and than eight 

 or even ten, of Hovey's Seedling. One farmer 

 in Newton has raised more than ten thousand 

 boxes of this variety this season, and speaks well 

 of it. It has not done well with me. 



The Jenny Lind is a variety that was raised by 

 Mr. Isaac Fay, of Cambridge, and is a fine, early 

 fruit. It is nearly as early as the Early Virginia, 

 much larger, and for all purposes a better variety. 

 It is held in high esteem in some localities, while 

 in others within a mile or two, it has been dis- 

 carded. The plant is a vigorous grower, making 

 numerous runners, completely covering the ground. 

 Fruit not high flavored, but good. Its earliness 

 is its chief recommendation. Not a good bearer. 

 Well worthy of cultivation. 



The Boston Pine is a large berry of high flavor. 

 It is of the same origin as Hovey's Seedling. 

 Color red, but becomes pale, and consequently 

 not so saleable, — a vigorous grower, and valuable 

 as a fertilizer for its more fortunate sister, the 

 Hovey's Seedling. Should be grown for home 

 use. 



Triomphe de Gand. What shall I say of that ? 

 It is of foreign origin, fruit large size, coxcomb 

 shape — looking sometimes very ugly ; it is diffi- 

 cult to hull, especially when the fruit is large and 



