HORTICULTURAL. REPOSITORY. 



tention. Some person bought plant and pot. This 

 p;ave him the idea of selling plants ; and from begin- 

 ning with one, he was soon enabled to display a hun- 

 dred. The selling of plants, being something new un- 

 der the sun, excited the attention of both city and coun- 

 try folks. Some of the latter enquired if they could 

 obtain the seeds of such and such plants, particularly 

 of culinary vegetables and grasses. These frequent 

 inquiries induced Mr. Thorburn to think of selling 

 seeds ; but in those days, twenty-three years ago, 

 few seeds being sold in the market, and but very few 

 gardeners preserving more than sufficient for their own 

 use, it was with great difficulty that he could collect 

 seeds, to commence business with, to the amount of 

 fifteen dollars. Their sales now annually exceed twen- 

 ty thousand dollars. From such a small beginning, by 

 industry, enterprise, and perseverance, he and his son 

 have succeeded in rearing an establishment profitable 

 to themselves, creditable to our city, and which is 

 every day increasing their reputation as seedsmen and 

 florists, in this country and in Europe. 



An Observer. 



ART. 4. — Letter from the Rev. Dr. Miller, to 

 ihe Secretary of the New-York Horticultural Society, 

 din the cultivation oj the Strawberry. 



Princeton, (N. J.) January 30th, 1621. 



Dear Sir, — It is a number of months since I receiv- 

 ed official information, that the " Horticultural Society 

 of New-York" had done me the honor to elect me one 

 of its honorary members. For this unexpected and un- 

 merited honor, I beg the Society to accept of my best 

 thanks. I fear that they will find me rather a useless 

 associate ; one who has no other claim to their notice 

 than an ardent desire to learn on the subject of garden- 

 ing, and a willingness to communicate something, though 

 it be ever so litil ;, to the stock of improvement. It was 

 my intention to acknowledge the favor conferred upon 

 me, several months ago ; but I was desirous of having 

 something better to send than a mere letter of thanks. 

 Whether I now attain, in any good measure, my purpose, 

 you will be able hereafter to judge. 



I am desirous of communicating to you, and through 

 you to the Society, a supposed improvement in the cul- 

 ture of strawberries, which is new to me, and which may 

 be deemed worth an experiment by those who are fond 

 -of that delicious fruit. It was communicated to me by 

 a gentleman of great respectability, of Somerset county, 

 in the state of Maryland, who has one of the best gardens 

 I ever saw, and who, particularly, has more strawber- 

 ry vines growing in it than I ever saw in a private gar- 

 den before. 



This improvement consists in burning the vines in 

 the spring of every year. The burning is accomplish- 

 «d in the following manner : early in the spring, as 

 «©on as the frost is completely out of the ground, cover 



the bed nearly an inch thick, with dry wheat straw. 

 Put iire to it at the windward end, and it will immedi- 

 ately and rapidly consume all the dead vines, grass and 

 weeds which are not covered by the earth, without at 

 all injuring the roots of the vines ; but rather rendering 

 them more vigorous and fruitful. This ought to be 

 done, not in a very windy day, or else the flame will pass 

 over the bed too rapidly, and with too little impression ; 

 and yet not in a perfectly calm day, lest the flame should 

 proceed too slowly, and so scorch the tender roots of 

 the vines : but when a gentle breeze is blowing, suffi- 

 cient to make the combustion prompt and equal, and in 

 such a direction as not to endanger adjacent fences or 

 shrubbery. 



After the burning, the vines are to be left as the 

 flame leaves them, for some days. As soon as they 

 begin to shoot, they ought to be dressed ; superfluous 

 roots or shoots removed, and the grass and weeds 

 eradicated with a large knife, or some similar garden 

 tool of easy application. 



The gentleman to whom I referred above, informs 

 me that he generally burns one third of his vines about 

 the 20th of February ; another third from the 1st to the 

 10th of March ; and the remaining third, about the last 

 of March, or the first of April. He supposes, however, 

 considering the difference of climate, that each burning 

 ought to be from ten to twelve days later in Princeton 

 or New- York. By adopting this method, he says he 

 secures a succession of crops, and the last crop much la- 

 ter, than his neighbors. He adds, that he has burned 

 his last parcel of vines as late as when they were be- 

 ginning to blossom ; and not only without any apparent 

 injury, but to their manifest improvement in thrift and 

 productiveness. He thinks, also, that the vines man- 

 aged in this way, yield their fruit, not only in a more 

 convenient succession, but at least a third more in quan- 

 tity than others, on the same soil. 



When this process was first mentioned to me, my 

 mind revolted at it, as destructive rather than useful. 

 But the gentleman who recommended it to me, decla- 

 red that he had practised it for a number of years, and 

 always with evident advantage : and 1 have such entire 

 confidence in the correctness of his representation, that, 

 I have resolved to make the experiment, if I am spared 

 to see the ensuing spring, on at least a part of my vines. 

 If the advantages of this management are any tiling like 

 what is alleged — and I am not at all apprehensive of 

 any deception in the case — it is surely more than worth 

 the trouble. I hope, therefore, that not only you, but 

 also all the other members of your Society, who culti- 

 vate this kind of fruit, will embrace the earliest oppor- 

 tunity of putting the proposed improvement to the test. 



I had almost forgotten to mention, that the gentle- 

 man so often alluded to, informed me that he is in the 

 habit of applying this treatment to young as well as to 

 old vines. He showed me some which he had set out 



