AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
375 
Seedlings in this city, it was stated, have con¬ 
tinued in bearing this season from May till the 
middle of July, a succession of crops ; and are 
now in blossom, without offering to start a sin¬ 
gle runner, simply by planting in soil three- 
fourths coarse sand, and kept well watered 
every night and morning in dry weather. An 
opinion was confidently expressed we should 
soon have an abundance of fruit of most kinds 
of strawberries in constant bearing from June 
until September, and that every one has yet 
much to learn respecting this delicious fruit. 
Mr. D. Boll, recently returned from Paris, 
presented some very large and choice seedling 
Japan Lillies from his open garden, of the three 
varieties albrum, punctatum, rubrum ; also some 
handsome seedling Verbenas, one of which was 
very fragrant. Mr. Cranston also exhibited a 
variety of cut-flowers. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CJOXTORE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 
Under the utmost pressure of business to the 
square inch I feel myself capable of sustaining 
at the present time, I venture to say a few 
words on a subject that must always be one of 
common interest to all lovers of the luscious 
strawberry. And a reason for this is, that the 
season is just at hand for amateurs to avail 
themselves of any suggestions offered they may 
deem practicable. And this I deem the grand 
secret of usefulness in an agricultural journal, 
viz., an index of useful hints for constant refer¬ 
ence. 
No sane man would rely solely upon any 
journal for his guide, but read all its contents— 
study all—and then carry into practice, experi¬ 
mentally , that particular point of interest to 
him. Hence, owing to the great variety of soils, 
what would be proper and practicable for one 
would be out of place for another. 
The first point for consideration is the loca¬ 
tion, a This has come to be deemed a matter of 
th q first importance. Withhold “ the early and 
the latter rain” from the strawberry, when in 
its bearing season, and it withholds its fruit. 
Strawberry growers have noticed with great re¬ 
gret, that we almost always have a spell of dry 
weather in the midst "of the bearing season; 
thus cutting the supply short off, leaving much 
half matured fruit upon the vines. Hence we 
argue the absolute necessity of artificial water¬ 
ings every day at evening through the bearing 
season ;b and this watering should not be done 
with a heavy spout of water that would wash 
grit and sand upon the fruit, but with a garden 
engine with a suitable hose, that will shower the 
water on, or else by the next best method, 
where there is a head of water, viz., irrigation. 
By this I mean attaching a small hose to the 
water, and laying the other end upon the 
ground in different points, leaving other parts 
to saturate themselves by the natural laws of 
capillary attraction. The necessity of location 
is thus made apparent, viz., convenience to 
water where possible. But by no means would 
I attempt to discourage the growing of straw¬ 
berries when there is no such convenience. 
Every mechanic that has but a small garden, 
may with little attention have some strawberries. 
Keep the ground loose, free from grass and 
weeds, and thin out the plants when necessary. 
About 1st September, or as soon as strong, 
well-rooted runners can he had, is a suitable 
season for forming beds. 0 If done in autumn, 
occasional waterings may be necessary to assist 
the plants through the first few weeks. 
And now as to varieties. Having been anti¬ 
cipated by your last issue, I shall only name 
the most common varieties within reach. Ho- 
vey’s Seedling and Methven Scarlet in the same 
rows; and the prolific Hautbois and Early 
Virginia Scarlet in rows side by side. Keep 
the male plants scarce, and leave the impregna¬ 
tion to be done by bees. The practice of 
spreading tan on the walks or spaces between 
the rows to keep the vines clean and free from 
grit, has become a common practice with us— 
and is much approved. 
Now, Messrs. Editors, I hope you will not get 
tired of a good cause. I had these remarks 
mostly penned before your last issue, which con¬ 
tained an able article on the same subject. 
You are at liberty, therefore, to make whatever 
use you see fit of my observations. 1 have 
somewhat abridged them in consequence of your 
anticipating me. But I will just say I should 
be glad to see any thing new on the subject in 
every paper. It would at least “ keep it before 
the people.” 
Just allow me to tell you that a lady took my 
last paper out of the office, and brought it to 
me, and very deliberately sat down to read that 
very article on the “Strawberry Culture” be¬ 
fore she could spare me the paper. W. D. 
a Few persons can select the best location. 
The strawberry wants the sun, air and moist¬ 
ure, and yet wet land must be well drained, and 
all soils should be drained and sub-soiled for 
the strawberry. 
b Water should be given freely when needed ; 
but except in drouth, it is not essential so often 
as every night and morning “through the bear¬ 
ing season.” 
, ‘'Some suggest that the first runners thrown 
out early in August, immediately transplanted, 
are the best, and are the most certain to pro¬ 
duce a good crop of fruit the next season. We 
have usually taken the first runners, but we 
know of no reason to prefer them, except they 
are stronger plants. The usual season of trans¬ 
planting is in spring, when the plants will be¬ 
come easily well established; some, however, 
take September; but there is then danger that 
the plants will not become sufficiently rooted 
before winter, and will be thrown out by the 
frost. During July and August is a favorable 
time to transplant, if care be taken to protect 
the plants from sun and drouth. 
-» »-•- 
PROPAGATION OF THE HOLLYHOCK. 
We know of but three modes of propagating 
the hollyhock: 1. By seed; 2. By cuttings; 
and 3. By dividing the roots. The first mode 
has been already discussed; it remains for us 
to consider the two latter. Propagation by cut¬ 
tings is the best mode of obtaining good plants, 
and the practice may be carried on from March 
to October. Most of the old plants give an 
abundance of young shoots early in spring ; and 
so soon as these become a little hard they may 
be cut off close to the stem, leaving about three 
of the best shoots for flower-spikes. Place 
three or four cuttings round a five-inch pot, in 
a rather light sandy soil. Plunge them in a 
close frame, where, in a few weeks, they will 
have formed new leaves and roots, and may be 
potted off, each in a separate four-inch pot. As 
fresh shoots form on the old plants they may be 
treated similarly, up to midsummer, after which 
period we would prefer leaving the wood to be¬ 
come hard before making the cuttings. In the 
latter case a single eye is sufficient to make a 
plant; but the wood-shoots, and not the flower- 
shoots, should be chosen. It sometimes hap¬ 
pens that the eyes developed at the base of a 
spike produce wood-shoots, but they more usu¬ 
ally produce flower-shoots. The latter take 
root and form plants, but are not of the best 
description. Cuttings made from single eyes 
may be completely buried beneath the soil, leav¬ 
ing the foot-stalk only protruding above; they 
should then be placed in a close frame, if with 
bottom-heat so much the better, and the eyes 
quickly push through the soil, and form stout 
healthy plants. These, when rooted, may also 
be transferred to single pots, there to await 
transplantation in autumn or spring, as before 
recommended. 
Propagation by division is best carried out in 
autumn, immediately that the flowering is over. 
A large, well-ordered plant may sometimes be 
divided into several, but in general three or four 
is a more advantageous number. Nothing, cer¬ 
tainly, is gained by breaking the old plants into 
too many pieces; every separate part should 
carry with it a good share of roots. Seedlings 
and others that may bloom late cannot be di¬ 
vided till the spring. March is, perhaps, the 
best time, and the fragments, if not broken too 
fine, will flower well during the first autumn. 
It is but the few who grow for exhibition, 
but they are often the most ardent cultivators; 
and we would say a few words on this subject 
ere we conclude,— Bovey’s Magazine. 
Everybody has heard of “ white blackbirds,” 
but Capt. Augur, of Woodbridge, Ct., has 
shown us a quality of vjhite whortleberries, 
picked on thefarm of Horace Candee, in Oxford, 
a day or two since. They resemble in size and 
taste, the ordinary berry of that name, but are 
white instead of black when ripe. The bushes 
on which they grow, occupy but a small space, 
and for years have not extended perceptibly.— 
New-Raven Register. 
While passing over the elevated peaks of the 
White Mountain range a year or two ago, we 
were shown by the guide specimens of a 
berry closely answering the description here 
given, which grew wild among the cliffs, in shel¬ 
tered spots. In flavor, however, they were su¬ 
perior to the common wortleberry—the juice 
seeming more like a rich, clarified syrup. 
Huckleberries. —Newport, we have good rea¬ 
son to believe, is the largest huckleberry mar¬ 
ket in the world. The captain of the sloop 
Resolution, which runs daily between Wiekford 
and that city, informed us that he carried as 
freight, during the past week, to Newport, no 
less than 400 bushels of this favorite berry. 
These, at the price they were selling at,—eight 
cents a quart—amount to the pretty little sum 
of $924! These were principally the product of 
three towns,—North Kingston, Exeter and Rich¬ 
mond.— Greenwich Pendalum. 
Saving Flower Seed. —The lovers of flowers 
should remember now, that many fine varieties 
are ripening their seeds, and it is the best time 
to secure them. Put them up in neat papers, 
mark their names legibly upon them, and put 
them away in a dry place; and next spring you 
will be glad that you have taken this slight 
trouble. 
Canary Seed. —Miss Matilda Y. Safford, of 
this city, has sent us a sample of canary seed 
of her own raising. The stalks will average 
about two feet in length, the longest being 29 
inches. The heads, which contain the seeds, 
resemble, as much as any thing, hops, and there 
is but one head to a stalk. As this kind of 
grain is very easily raised, and the price is high, 
$4.00 per bushel, it would be a good plan for 
some of our farmers to put in a small patch of 
it next spring. It looks well, while growing, is 
easily gathered, and if not wanted for their own 
use, will find a quick sale in the market.— 
Maine Farmer. 
Green Corn Pudding. —Take twelve ears of 
corn; cut the hull of each row with a sharp- 
pointed knife, then with the back of the knife, 
scrape all the milk from the corn, leaving the 
hull on the cob; to this milk add one-half tea¬ 
cup of good cream, three table-spoonsfulls of 
flour, three of sugar, one of butter, two eggs— 
stir well and bake the same as corn bread.— 
Iowa Farmer. 
One swallow does not make a Summer, but 
one grasshopper can make a Spring. 
