1874] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
303 
that the worms are eating up his cabbages." 
My neighbor on the other side says: " Well, I 
never did see anything like it. " But neither do 
the first thing to kill the pest. What good does 
it do for me to dust, and powder, and squirt all 
the remedies I can hear of — and I do kill some 
— while on each side of me there is ample pro- 
vision for next year's insects. If a State has a 
right to legislate against Canada thistles, have 
they not the same right to make laws to pre- 
vent the increase of the squash-bug, the rose- 
bug, the codling moth, or any other con- 
trollable insect, that now takes the larger share 
of our vegetables and fruits, to say nothing of 
our flowers. I did not intend to make so long 
a " preach " about insects, but I am well per- 
suaded that it is the duty of every State to look 
to this matter, as one affecting its material in- 
terests, as much as vile weeds, stray animals, 
or horse-thieves. Missouri has set a grand ex- 
ample to the older States. She has as State 
Entomologist, a competent man, to tell the 
people which insects are injurious, and how 
they may be fought. I hope that after a proper 
time for this knowledge to be disseminated, 
she will set a still better example, and make it 
a penal offence £or any one to harbor and allow 
to multiply any preventible insect. 
This spring I have had a great show of 
Flowering Shrubs, and am more than ever 
convinced that not half enough attention has 
been given to these. The most of my shrubs 
have now been out for four yeai'3, and being well 
established, they flower with wonderful pro- 
fusion. A good selection of shrubs can be had 
at 35 to 50 cents each, just about the price of 
some bedding plants, which last only a season, 
while shrubs are practically for a life time. *Sif 
asked to name twelve of the best, I should be 
puzzled, as the number is not large enough to 
comprise all the really desirable things. If my 
iist were twelve, six, or even three, I know 
three that I could not leave out: Weigela 
Dcbouiana; Dcutzia orenata, the double ; and 
Hydrangea panicttlata grandiflora. Of all the 
Weigelas, and I think I have them all, Debois' 
is by far the finest ; it is so floriferous that 
each stem is a dense mass of dark rose-purple 
flowers, and neither stem nor leaf to be seen. 
A bush which stands up well above the fence, 
was, when in flower, a bright landmark, that 
could be seen a long way off. The double 
Deutzia is not so showy, but is one of those 
charming shrubs, that one is never tired of. 
Its flower-buds are purple-tinted, and the con- 
trast of the unopened buds at the top of a clus- 
ter, with the pure white of the fully opened 
ones below, is very pleasing. As to the Great- 
flowered Panicled Hydrangea, I have praised 
that so often, that I am afraid it will be thought 
that I have plants to sell. As I have but one 
plant, and that the largest I have seen, and 
never sold a plant of any kind in my life, I 
may be allowed to say that if restricted to 
just one shrub, it would be this. It only comes 
in August when most shrub3 have got through. 
As I write we are in the midst of the 
Strawberries. — If any one wishes to know 
how many worthless strawberries there are, let 
him set out every kind he can get. I did so 
for my own instruction, but while this kind of 
planting is very edifying, it makes a poor show 
on the table. I at first thought that I would 
keep up a collection of all, good and bad, but 
needing the land for other purposes, and con- 
sidering that Dr. Hexamer was keeping up a 
standard collection — many thanks be to him — 
: ';is spring a large lot of my fancy sorts went 
under. I thought we should be nearly with- 
out strawberries this year, as a bed for fruit, 
put out in another place, could yield nothing 
until another year ; but much to my surprise, 
we have had all the berries we coidd eat. The 
main reliance had been upon four rows of 
Chas. Downing, each 35 feet long. A row of 
the Black Defiance — most excellent berry — has 
helped, but the rest, a dozen or more sorts, 
count for nothing. Two rows of Kentucky 
are coining on, to prolong the picking, and in- 
stead of scarcity, wc have had abundance. If 
there is any better berry, upon light soil, for 
family use, than Charles Downing, I am de- 
sirous of knowing what it is. It is good to 
know that a name so highly esteemed, is in 
this case properly bestowed, and the fruit is a 
precious legaiy, left us by that excellent man, 
the lamented J. S. Downer, of Kentucky. Up- 
on my soil, varieties in high favor elsewhere, 
are quite useless. In this class, I am sorry to 
be obliged to place a berry that bears so high a 
name as President Wilder, but we can console 
him by saying that Napoleon III is no better. 
Kissena, a prize-berry of a few years ago, is on 
my bed as small, sour, and worthless, as a 
fruit can he ; and so I might go on enumerating 
a long list of the kinds, that are not worth 
growing upon my light sandy soil, no matter 
how well they are fertilized. 
Some- New Varieties of Strawberries. 
New varieties of Strawberries are not so nu- 
merous as they were a few years ago, yet each 
seasons brings out some novelties. There are 
several enthusiastic amateurs, who are quietly 
at work in the hope of producing a better ber- 
ry tbfflrwe yet have. Prominent among these 
is Mr. E. W. Durand, of Irvington, N. J., to 
whom we are indebted for Black Defiance, and 
some others. Mr. D. each year raises some 
thousands of seedlings, and also tests several 
thousands of previous years, and thus performs 
an amount of labor that few would be willing 
to undertake. Mr. Durand is very careful not 
to send out any seedlings, until they have been 
tested for several years. A few weeks ago he 
exhibited at our office a half dozen new va- 
rieties, either of which would have made a sen- 
satiou a few years ago. One of these novelties 
in particular will doubtless be heard of here- 
after. This berry, in size and quality combined, 
has probably not been equalled, and Mr. Du- 
rand gives an excellent account of the plant. 
The variety has not yet received a name, but 
fruit-growers will be glad to know that Mr. 
Durand still continues his labors, and that 
there are some fine results in store for them. 
The Duchess. — Last year Dr. Hexamer, of 
New Castle, Westchester Co., N. Y., sent us 
specimens of the fruit of this variety, which 
seemed to be of excellent quality and early. 
Our own plants being too small to allow of a 
fair judgment, we requested Dr. H. to state how 
the Duchess had done with him. He replies : 
" It has for three years ripened earlier than 
any other of over one hundred kinds. Its ber- 
ries are larger than those of other very early 
varieties, hold out well iii size, and are of uni- 
form globular shape, without neck ; color, light 
crimson ; flavor, good and sprightly, without 
being acid like the Wilson ; texture, firm. Ber- 
ries sent to Virginia, arrived there in good 
condition, three days after being picked. 
Foliage hardy and vigorous, withstanding the 
severe drouth of last year exceedingly well. 
This variety has not yet been disseminated, but 
will, if it succeeds in other localities as well as 
in the vicinity of New York, form a most valu- 
able addition to the list of early strawberries." 
As Dr. H. has a soil quite different from 
ours, we requested he would state how some 
of the newer sorts have done with him, and he 
adds the following notes: 
Monarch op the West. — A large, irregular- 
globular berry, of dark crimson color, fail- 
flavor, and moderate firmness. On our soil, a 
light clay, it is not productive enough to be 
profitable. 
Champion. — Reports from many localities 
show that this variety is not excelled in size 
and productiveness. Its quality is rather in- 
different, and it lacks the firmness necessary to 
withstand long carriage, but for local markets 
it will, no doubt, be much sought for. [Quite 
worthless on our light soil. — Ed.] 
Black Defiance. — Continues to gain many 
friends. It seems well adapted for many vary- 
ing localities and soils, and its large size, ex- 
cellent flavor, and great productiveness, make 
it one of the most valuable varieties for the 
family garden. 
Dr. Warder did not bring to the East its 
good qualities, which gained for it at the West 
the silver cup of the Cincinnati Hort. Society. 
Our experience with these two last named 
varieties is the same as that of Dr. Hexamer. 
Preserving Flowers— Winter Bouquets. 
Those flowers known as "everlasting," of 
which the Helichrysums and Rhodanthes are 
examples, have petals of a papery texture, and 
when these are cut early and dried properly, 
they form pleasing w inter bouquets. So grasses, 
both cultivated and wild, if dried in the shade 
and made up in a tasteful manner, form accept- 
able room decorations, as do dried ferns and 
skeletonized leaves. Within a few years baskets, 
bouquets, and floral designs, have been import- 
ed in considerable quantities, and though these 
are largely made up of everlasting flowers, yet 
they contain other flowers of their natural 
colors. So also large bunches and bouquets 
of grasses, dyed of all sorts of unnatural colors, 
even to black, are offered by the. dealers. There 
is no subject upon which we have had more 
frequent inquiries, than upon the preservation 
of flowers, and especially the coloring and 
crystallizing of grasses. While some of these 
winter ornaments are pretty and tasteful 
enough, to our notion there is nothing more 
unnatural than grasses colored of all the Lues 
in the rainbow, and some that are not there, or 
loaded down with alum crystals — but as many 
do like these things, we propose to tell them 
how they are done. Of coiirso those who, in 
this country or abroad, make a business of pre- 
paring dried flowers, grasses, and the like, for 
the market, are disposed to keep the processes 
as secret as possible, and but little has hereto- 
fore been published about it. Within the past 
year there have been articles in the European 
journals, especially in the Garden, giving useful 
information ; we were about to experiment 
upon the methods given in the foreign journals, 
when Mr. J. Peterson, of Chicago, 111., sent us 
a manuscript upon the subject, which he wish- 
ed us to publish in a book-form. As we did 
not think there was sufficient material to war- 
rant making a book, we purchased the manu- 
