1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



291 



ill-shapen ; quality of fruit from good to indiffer- 

 ent, color light red, great grower, making many 

 runners, and on this account said to be a good 

 variety for nurserymen to raise ; good bearer. It 

 is a favorite with some. Should say worthy of a 

 further trial. 



The Cutter's Seedling is a variety introduced 

 to public notice by Mr. B. F. Cutter, of Pelham, 

 N. H. It is a great grower and bearer, fruit of 

 medium size, deficient in flavor, hardy. Many 

 think it worthy of extensive cultivation, but I 

 cannot understand why, unless the answer given 

 by one who grows it extensively furnishes the ex- 

 planation. I asked him why he grew the Cutter ? 

 He said, "'It is hardy, bears well, and the public 

 don't know the difference and will buy it, and that 

 is all I care for." To those who take this view of 

 the matter, no doubt the Cutter would be valuable 

 but not so for home use. I know there are those 

 who will differ with me in regard to this straw- 

 berry, but they can take my opinion for what is 

 worth. The Bunce Seedling proves to be the 

 Cutter's Seedling. 



The La Constante is a foreign variety of very 

 large size, fine form and color, shaped somewhat 

 like the Hovey, but more perfectly round, of good 

 quality, and if it will flourish in different soils 

 and localities will be a very valuable kind. I 

 think it will certainly prove so for garden culture, 

 but I fear it will never stand the rougher cultiva- 

 tion of the field. A further trial will determine 

 this. 



The following are among the many sorts that 

 are sometimes met with, none of which I can re- 

 commend for general cultivation. All of them, 

 doubtless, have their friends, but they have- not 

 stood the test ; occasionally, it is true, you will 

 find a man who has a morbid appetite for sharp 

 acids, that will eat the Wilson, and grow it, think- 

 ing he has got a good strawberry. I certainly 

 hope that all such may soon be able to overcome 

 such a depraved taste, and learn more fully to 

 appreciate the really fine kinds of strawberries 

 that may be grown so easily. With the Wilson 

 I shall class — not because too acid, butf or various 

 reasons — Scott's Seedling, Cremont's Perpetual, 

 Jenny's Seedling, Walker's Seedling, Hooker, La- 

 dy of the Lake, Great Austin Shaker Seedling, 

 Peabody, Fillmore, and a host of others that time 

 will not allow me to enumerate. 



Is it not strange, after all the efforts that have 

 been made for years to procure new and fine 

 varieties of strawberries, that the Hovey's Seed- 

 ling should still be acknowledged by most straw- 

 berry-growers in this vicinity as the very best va- 

 riety for general cultivation ? I can honestly say, 

 that after having grown most of the sorts I have 

 named above, and seen all of them on exhibition 

 at the rooms of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, or growing on the farms in the neighbor- 

 hood, i am forced to the conclusion that the opin- 

 ion above expressed is correct. 

 Newton Centre. James F. C. Hyde. 



Shed-Room for a Sheep.— An Ohio corres- 

 pondent of the Bnral New-Yorker states, as a gen- 

 eral rule, that, including room for racks, sheep re- 

 quire from eight to ten square feet of space per 

 head, according to the size of the animals. 



For the A«r England Fanner. 

 COMMENTS ON THE CHERRY. 

 The present season has been very favorable for 

 the cherry, and I am impressed with the belief 

 that it can be made more profitable in the New 

 England States than the peach. Like the latter, 

 the trees are not troubled with the borer or the 

 yellows ; they are long-lived, need but little care, 

 and will flourish well in sward land, especially af- 

 ter having attained a few years of age. With their 

 free and handsome growth, they are even desira- 

 ble for the lawn. In fact, they seem to do better 

 in grass, or a light, than in a rich arable soil, as 

 in the latter the growth is generally too rapid, 

 which renders them less likely to bear, and more 

 subject to the influence of frost, splitting, &c. 

 They ought to make only a moderate growth every 

 year. 



It is fortunate for the farmer that various trees 

 are adopted to various soils ; for by a proper 

 knowledge of them and judgment in giving them 

 position, the true economy of the soil is attained. 

 It is well known that a rich soil is not necessary 

 for the growth of all trees ; some, as the Pines, 

 the Larch, the Abele, the Oak, most of the forest 

 trees, and others, having the wonderful power of 

 drawing the elements of then- organization more 

 freely from the air (carbonic acid gas) or forcing 

 a poor and reluctant suil to yield up its mineral 

 and other food more freely to them than to other 

 trees. One tree will flourish well in a spot where 

 another could hardly be made to live. Philoso- 

 phy has yet to account for this. 



The cherry is one of the most palatable and 

 healthy of fruits, equally so with the peach, and 

 can be eaten in great quantity almost with impun- 

 ity ; and coming earliest in the season, seems to 

 be the most welcome. 



Of this fruit horticulturists have not that criti- 

 cal and discriminating knowledge which they have 

 of pears, apples, and some other fruits, perhaps 

 for a good reason, that there is not among the va- 

 rieties those distinct characteristics which mark 

 many other fruits. The most prominent points 

 in classification are color, tenderness, and season 

 of ripening. A first rate cherry should be large, 

 tender, juicy, sweet, a good bearer and a good 

 grower. A tree which spreads is more desirable 

 than one which grows erect, as its fruit is less ex- 

 posed to the birds ; besides it is far more easy to 

 enter to gather its fruit. Slender, withey branch- 

 es is another rather important matter, as they are 

 less liable to be broken in picking, and can be 

 bent in or down with less injury than those which 

 are stiff or brittle. The Elton is such, with a 

 spreading top, besides being excellent in fruit. 

 The Black Tartarean is the reverse as to habit. 

 But, of course, every variety has some fault, and 

 we must select those with the least. 



As to the best varieties for domestic use, it is 

 well to begin with some early kind, and follow 

 with the later and still later, till the fruiting peri- 

 od shall extend nearly or quite into August. The 

 Sweet Montmorency and Florence are said to be 

 excellent late varieties ; also the "Hovey," which 

 is large and promising. But among so many 

 known good sorts of English cherries, it is im- 

 possible to select what would be regarded by all 

 as the best consecutive kinds. As a general rule, 

 the tender red or dark varieties are preferable, aa 



