86 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
arms or their equivalents in substance, and the 
separator when the same is made and operated 
as set forth.— Scientific American. 
jfflrtinrltol §Uprimeitt 
To Horticulturists. — Our weekly issue of 
so large a journal, gives us ample room to devote 
to the different departments of cultivation, and 
we have commenced with this volume, to allot a 
separate space to Horticulture. Wc have secured 
additional efficient aid in its conduction, and we 
invite horticulturists generally, to send in their 
contributions on all subjects interesting and in¬ 
structive to those engaged in similar pursuits 
with themselves. "Wcare receiving the leading 
foreign and domestic horticultural journals, and 
shall be abundantly able to bring promptly be¬ 
fore our readers all that transpires, which may 
be new and useful. 
NEW-YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
MAY EXHIBITION. 
Tnis Society is making spirited preparations 
for their Spring Exhibition, to be held at the 
American Museum, from the 1st of May to the 
6th inclusive. 
The premium lists, amounting to more than 
$300, are out, and embrace with great liberality, 
almost every article desirable for exhibition. 
They will extensively attract the attention of 
both professional and amateur florists, who, we 
trust, will be induced to bring forward their 
choicest plants. 
We judge from present appearances that the 
influences combined in this exhibition, and espe¬ 
cially the activity displayed by the members of 
the Society, will make it a highly creditable one, 
even for the metropolitan city. 
STRAWBERREES—MR. HOVEY vs. McAVOY’S 
SUPERIOR. 
In the April number of IIovey's Magazine , in 
a notice of the new prize Seedling Strawberry 
from Ohio—McAvoy’s Superior—it is said, “Mr. 
Pardee, of New-York, after reading our descrip¬ 
tion, stated that we could not have the true 
kind, as numerous spurious sorts had been sent 
out for it, and ours was probably one of the 
errors.” And again a little farther on in the 
article, he says, in speaking directly of Mc¬ 
Avoy’s Superior, “ but recollecting that, accord¬ 
ing to Mr. Pardee, nineteen-twentieths of all sent 
out were errors, &c.” In answer, I beg leave to 
state in regard to the last assertion, he is mista¬ 
ken. I have never said or written any such thing 
in regard to this strawberry. I made a similar 
statement in regard to another strawberry, and 
I gave Mr. Hovey a part of my authority in an 
extract from a letter I received from Mr. Mc- 
Avoy himself, fully justifying the position I 
took. Mr. Hovey, in reply, wrote me a courte¬ 
ous answer, but never did me the justice to 
publish a notice of it, or in any way correct his 
previous article. 
Neither did I make the positive assertion as 
Mr. IIovey states, “ that he could not have the 
true kind.” Mr. IIovey should be more accu¬ 
rate. I was endeavoring to help Mr. IIovey out 
of what appeared to be a very unpleasant di¬ 
lemma he had fallen into, and put the most 
charitable construction on his course I could, 
by saying, “ It seems to me we are driven to the 
conclusion that Mr. IIovey has obtained only 
the spurious kinds, &c.” Instead of a positive 
assertion, I simply stated it so appeared to me, 
rather than to have it inferred that Mr. IIovey 
wrote under the influence of prejudice or error. 
In order that all I did say may be fairly un¬ 
derstood, I will here insert the article entire, 
from the Country Gentleman , to whose editors 
I addressed it, saying: 
You have obliged your readers by giving in 
one article, the comments of our strawberry 
friends in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Boston, 
on the New Ohio Strawberryies. That all reason¬ 
able allowance is to be made for difference and 
change in soil and climate cannot be denied; 
but this, I opine, can in no wise account for the 
radical difference between the men learned in 
strawberry lore, in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, 
and Mr. Hovey of Boston. 
It seems to me, we are driven to the conclu¬ 
sion that Mr. IIovey has obtained only spurious 
kinds, inasmuch as it is well known some of the 
most respectable nurserymen of Cincinnati 
have sent out only the spurious kinds, much to 
the chagrin of their friends at the East. One 
house at the East, obtained only one gen¬ 
uine [plant in a dozen; another, five; but a 
much greater number received none but spuri¬ 
ous ones. Even a worthless pistillate has been 
freely sent out by respectable nurserymen at 
Cincinnati, (unwittingly, I hope, but not excu¬ 
sably,) for the celebrated staminate Longworth’s 
Prolific, to the great disappointment of many. 
Under these circumstances, it seems to me 
only fair to conclude, that Mr. IIovey, in com¬ 
mon with others, has been imposed upon, other¬ 
wise he could not describe McAvoy’s Superior, 
even in Boston, as “ only of fair size, dark 
dingy color, like the Hautbois, &c.” I have 
seen McAvoy’s Superior 200 to 350 miles east 
of my residence, and in a dozen places in West¬ 
ern New-York, and in every place the genuine 
has induced the expectation that it will prove an 
acquisition, while in several places I saw straw¬ 
berries on plants direct from Cincinnati, for that 
variety, of worthless kinds, and one, particu¬ 
larly, had the Hautbois appearance described 
by Air. IIovey. I will engage that the Mc¬ 
Avoy’s Superior, which I have in my garden, 
and which well agrees with the Cincinnati and 
Philadelphia descriptions, cannot in any fair 
manner be made in Boston to bear fruit in any 
wise corresponding with Mr. Hovey’s account. 
The same may he truly said of Longicorth's 
Prolific , only grosser errors have been committed 
with this variety. I am assured from the high¬ 
est authority in Cincinnati and elsewhere , that 
the greater proportion—I should think at least 
nineteen-twentieths—sent out for this kind are 
spurious , and I myself was victimized with this 
variety, but speedily corrected my error, and on 
examining the genuine wherever bearing this 
year, it seems to afford full assurance of its high 
character. 
These discrepancies and disappointments call 
loudly upon nurserymen not only, but us who 
are amateurs, to investigate thoroughly, and be 
sure we have only the genuine kinds, and then 
give them a wide berth, and keep every kind 
distinct by itself, and on no account when we 
are busy in the fall, allow them to intermix. 
I think I have received conclusive proof this 
season, that staminate plants, 30 or 50 feet, or 
even a greater distance from the pistillates, are 
just as useful to fructify them, as when in the 
same bed. Staminatcs in a row around the 
border of an ordinary garden, is all that is 
necessary. R. G. P. 
Geneva , July 28, 1853. 
I have a letter from Mr. McAvoy, and my 
friends in other places have letters from other 
nurserymen in Cincinnati, which I have read, 
that fully justify the “ nineteen-twentieths” 
which Mr. Hovey quotes so repeatedly in his 
several articles. 
In regard to the color of McAvoy’s Superior, 
I saw it on the tables of a number of horticul¬ 
tural exhibitions last June, in company with 50 
to 60 of the most improved varieties, and its 
bright color compared favorably with the other 
varieties on exhibition. Perhaps, however, Mr. 
Hovey wishes its color brought critically to his 
standard Hovey’s Seedling, which we all know 
is a remarkably bright berry. 
R. G. Pardee. 
New-York , April 12,1854. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
WINTER GARDENING-No. 1. 
[The following article was written several 
weeks since, but was quite accidentally over¬ 
looked till now.—E d.] 
Ever since I had a garden, I have noticed in 
the early spring, that some plants looked fresh 
and green—and these were cabbages, onions, 
parsneps, spinach, &c. Now, I said, if these 
vegetables will stand the winter as accidents 
without cultivation, why not plant them in the 
autumn with good manure ? 
As the spring advanced, I saw some leaves of 
potatoes peeping above the ground, and then 
there were scattering peas, tomatoes, and here 
and there some other vegetables, as for exam¬ 
ple, the asparagus from the seed. The experi¬ 
ment would not cost much, and so I determined 
to make one, thinking it might do some good. 
If it failed, it would be my loss, and of course I 
would not communicate the failure; although I 
think that a failure is sometimes more important 
than success. I knew a physician who pub¬ 
lished all his unfortunate cases, and he lost 
his practice ; the quacks publish all their cures 
—hence their success. There is the same dif¬ 
ficulty in gardening and farming as there is in 
the treatment of the human body in health and 
disease, and I may say in all parts of creation. 
Every part of creation is in a state of disinte¬ 
gration ; and it is the design of the scientific man 
to arrest this process as far as he can. It is a 
very remarkable fact that every thing has a life. 
You will hear an engineer speak of the life of 
a cannon, and every conductor on a railroad 
knows that the axle also has a life—it has its 
average term of years. 
Now this law extends to animal, vegetable, 
and mineral life. Take, for example, a potato; 
it flowers and produces seed; perhaps not one 
of the seeds will produce a potato like its parent 
one. These potatoes may preserve themselves 
under cold and heat, may be waxy or mealy, 
may be sweet or bitter. How are we to account 
for this ? We know the fact, but we do not know 
the mode. We must be content with results. If 
you take a potato and plant it in winter, it will 
not rot so fast as one planted in the spring; or 
if you manure it with fish, it will not rot as 
soon as either. We cannot reason upon these 
subjects. We must watch and look for changes, 
and these are what are called improvements. 
Now an improvement is a mere necessity. If 
you could plow as well with a wooden plow, as 
they did in years past, who would use an iron 
one ? A man would be thought a fool who would 
recommend planting in winter what he could do 
in spring; and yet when he is told that cabbages 
planted in November, will produce heads for one 
year, he thinks it an absurdity. . But this is the 
law of progress, and we must follow in its track. 
The necessities of mankind produce inventions, 
and when we reflect that machinery takes the 
place of human hands, it is only another work 
of necessity. The stimulus of necessity is the 
great impelling power to improvement. Take 
for example : if you can raise a new potato by 
the first of April by ordinary means, you would 
anticipate a southern crop, and consequently 
save very much; that ig, you would gain all the 
difference between potatoes raised in April and 
July. Many farmers do not plant their potatoes 
