Mttt fmcttcs of gtrafotaics. 



Thk following varieties of Strawberries have been carefully selected 

 from the entire mass that have been brought to notice in this country and 

 in Europe; and all the others have been rejected, except three or four that 

 are under probation. We have still retained a few secondary varieties, 

 which, from being well known and popular, are usually demanded by those 

 who are not yet familiar with the superior kinds; but we would have pre- 

 ferred to discard them. As a general result, all the Hermaphrodite varie- 

 ties that have been introduced from Europe, with the single exception of 

 the Victoria (Trollope's), have proved worthless, on account of their un- 

 productiveness; and this includes all the English, French, and Belgic varie- 

 ties, as they possess no Pistillate varieties except such as they have ob- 

 tained from America. Every recommendation of these foreign Hermaphro- 

 dites as productive and valuable for market is a gross imposition, as they 

 have no value beyond that of mere " Fancy varieties." Dr John H. Bayne, 

 of Alexandria, a highly intelligent cultivator, says, "All the English varie- 

 ties have proved with me worthless trash." In fact, it may be taken as a 

 general guide, that Pistillate varieties can alone be relied on for abundant 

 and regular crops, A few exceptions exist among the American Herma- 

 phrodites where fair crops are produced ; but even these cannot be deemed 

 equally reliable, in all respects, as the Pistillates. It is mortifying to wit- 

 ness the ignorance displayed by many of our Pomological writers when 

 describing the qualities and relative productiveness of the varieties they 

 recommend to the public. To see such long discarded varieties as the 

 Swainstone's Seedling, British Queen, Alice Maud, Burr's Seedling, Duke 

 of Kent's Scarlet, Brewer's Emperor, Grove End Scarlet, Black Prince, and 

 Willey, and such trash as Prince of Wales, Cremont Perpetual, Due de 

 Brabant, Pennsylvania, Jenney's Seedling, Nicholson's Ajax and Ruby, 

 Goliah, Crescent Seedling, and others recommended by Nurserymen who are 

 authors, are the grossest wrongs which ignorance can practice on the com- 

 munity. And lately " A Complete Manual" on the Strawberry culture has 

 been published, than which a grosser humbug could not be p dmed upon 

 the public. A writer may be sometimes excused for a lack of knowledge 

 on certain points, but when he professes to give special instruction to others, 

 he is certainly inexcusable for presenting so absolute an abortion as the 

 work in question, and thus abusing the public confidence by the dissemina- 

 tion of a mass of errors and falsities. It is from such blind guidance, that 

 so many Nursery Catalogues still continue to recommend to their customers 

 miserable, unproductive Hermaphrodites, and other worthless kinds. We 

 deem it of gr eat importance to caution the public against the mass of trash 

 which is constantly offered for sale in various quarters. 



Of the following Assortment, 48 of the most splendid varieties, designated 

 by an asterisk, were originated by us, and selected from thousands of seed- 

 lings during thp past 12 years, and many are now offered for sale for the 

 first time, and the most of them are not in the possession of any other Nur- 

 sery whatever. We mention this emphatically, as we notice that a (so- 

 called j Nurseryman in Massachusetts, whose actual Nursery is comprised 

 solely in his Advertisements and Catalogues, has the temerity to state that 



