new variety but a new and undescribed 
tpecies. At this late day all botanists of any 
scientific reputation are very careful about 
making new species, because they have 
learned better than to make every variation 
in a plant a generic distinction. G. W. 
anywhere in the United States.” Following 
the description of the berry was a long list 
of names of gentlemen who fully indorsed 
all that was said of it, and certified to the 
reliability and veracity of the advertiser. 
Later in the summer another circular came 
]y appressed, particularly beneath, leaflets petiolate, 
the two lateral leaflets unequal towards the base, 
borne Ofl lon^cbauuellcdfooisUUks which are clothed 
with siueadina ur duflexud hairs. Klowor perfect, 
eight line? in diameter. Calyx scgnicata not longer 
than the roundish spreading petals, the exterior seg¬ 
ments or braetlets uHvnc.lof tor parted, much smaller 
than the Interior segments which are ovate lanceo¬ 
late. Fruit drooping, but ill way* raised tar above the 
gmumi on the erect stem, l,right scarlet, of tin Irreg¬ 
ular conical form, groiptulty swool, sub-ucld, singu¬ 
larly fragrant, nchonhi numerous, superficial (not 
sunk In pits.) closely covering tlio surface of the berry 
which is produced continuously from June to No¬ 
vember. Propagating very rapidly by stolons or run¬ 
ners. also by side stools or uff-shoots from the central 
crown, which are tuberous and easily separated. 
Height of plant, twelve to tlltoeu inches. 1’ereuniul. 
May—November. 
But the above, it seems, was not quite sat¬ 
isfactory to Mr Gilman ; so he tried again, 
and here is the result: 
A few days ago, the plant was placed by me, at the 
request of .1. I*. WlirriNU. Ksn.. before the tho Soci¬ 
ety of Nuturul Sciences. Buffalo, of which I have 
the Itonor of being n Corresponding Member. After 
a thorough examination, the President of the Soci¬ 
ety. lion. CJ. W. Clinton, so well known to science 
In both the old aud new worlds, in consultation with 
I). F. OAY, Kwq., the acute and critical botanist, 
pronounced it a nrw spire #, and named it —ftotnlly 
Ignoring all my remnnstrancesj - for me, ;i* having 
been **llie first to Indicate It* claims to specific 
rank " and in token of his warm regard; ehnrucler- 
liingIt thus : 
FrinjorUi Ollmanl. Caule dlchotOmo, foliig tema- 
lis foiioliH pcUalatis, florilnis boruiuphroilillH raeo- 
mois, cupelllbus suporllclalibUB. 
This is certainly un improvement on the 
former, because the Latin description makes 
it a little more spicy. But the richest and 
most entertaining epistle is yet to come, aud 
here it is: 
BUFFALO, April22.18C9. 
My DBABSm:—1 cannot sufficiently thank your 
kindness in bringing to me a living plant of the Mex¬ 
ican Kver-bearing Strawberry. The evidence of it* 
excellence und product! vime** is condnaive, and 
loaves no doubt in my mind Mint it will be eagerly 
sought by all lud I clou » borttcnlturisls.und prove tho 
chief among tint favorite strn wherries of our land. 
Almost every oi o agree# with 11 1 < * good old divine 
In his opinion: “ Doubtless Oon could buve made a 
better fruit then i be strawberry; but, doubtless. 
Coo never did."' And surely Mr. F. Mack did u 
great, good thing when bu took up this plant from 
noar Julupa, and put it in bis satchel ; and the sat¬ 
chel should be liung up us a memento. You mast 
permit me to add that tins eirirtM of .1 p, whiting 
A Co., to make known the merit# of Mils plant and 
Introduce it to cultivation enllUo llieiu to a piano 
Milling J be true lief actors of the public. 
'Clie young plant you have given me la beautiful 
exceedingly. In aspect It. differs from any und every 
Strawberry 1 ever saw. and f believe It to tie hitherto 
U!ldescribed. Certainly it is not described in any 
book to which 1 have uccess. Yon have conferred a 
great pleasure upon me, and gratitude and Justice 
sootu to concur In requiring that I should usurp 
authority to name Mils Kr.igurln, and name it for 
you. If I err In Mils, forgive mo, and believe me 
Most truly yours, G. w. Clinton. 
Hen it y Gilman, Esq. 
ries during the entire season, and thereby ^ 
often furnish an agreeable surprise for the 
table. But to claim that the “ Mexican 
Everbearing ” is a new variety or species is 
asserting that which is not true. It may he 
Unit all parties concerned arc honest in tliis 
conviction, and believe what they have said ' 
of it to be the truth; if so, we must forgive 
them on the ground of ignorance. 
01U0 
THE ALPINE STRAWBERRY. 
BY A. S. FULLER 
Ye boys that gather flowers and strawberries, 
Lo ! hid within the grass a serpent lies. 
[ Virgil . 
Many centuries have passed since Virgil 
wrote these lines, yet we are quite certain 
that he referred to the Alpine strawberry; 
for at that time no other species was found 
in Southern Europe. It. is known under the 
scientific name of Frayavia rusca aud is 
probably more widely distributed than any 
other species, being found upon nearly all 
the hills and mountains of Europe; also in 
the northern portions of the United States 
and Canadas, thence westward to the Pacific 
Ocean. 
That any plant having such a wide range 
should vary somewhat in its most prominent 
characteristics is not only to he expected, but 
quite natural. These variations in Frayaria 
tesca puzzled the earlier botanists, and they 
were inclined to divide it into several species 
instead of including all the varieties in one, 
as our best authorities have done at the pres¬ 
ent day. 
In early times, the strawberry was not in¬ 
cluded among cultivated fruits, and the only 
varieties known were found growing wild. 
Even so late as 1597, (Jeraude only men¬ 
tions three varieties — the Red and White 
Wood aud the Green strawberry. The last 
two were cultivated in the gardens. Caspar 
Bauiiin, in 1023, names the llaarbeer. 
(Hautboy,) us an additional variety. About 
fifty years later Parkinson adds another, 
which he calls the Virginian. This came 
from America. In 1000, a Frenchman, by 
the name of Pierre Fkessant, is said to 
have produced a new variety of Alpine 
strawberry from seed. Whether Freshant 
really did produce a new variety is not pos¬ 
itively known ; hut he introduced a system 
of propagating this species that has been 
practiced in France until the present time. 
Every strawberry grower is probably 
aware of the fact that Alpine seedlings will 
produce much larger fruit for the first two 
or three years than the parent plant or run¬ 
ners therefrom. This peculiarity of the 
species has given rise to a great number of 
supposed to he new varieties, which were 
really no hotter than the original, nor pos¬ 
sessed any permanent or distinct characteris¬ 
tics. Wo have only to glance at the number 
of synonyms attached to any of the distinct 
varieties of the Alpine for proof of this asser¬ 
tion. Among the most distinct and well 
known varieties uro the following: 
Monthly lied Alpine— Fruit small, elongated, 
conical; rent; llosli sub-acid; not high flavored, 
but good. Tho plant boars continuously from 
spring until autumn, but only a few berries at a 
time. 
Monthly Wldte Alplm- .Similar lot lie last ex¬ 
cept in color of l ho fruit. The foliage is also Of 
a fighter green color. 
JJnsh Alpine, lied and FTJiite.—Fruit similar to 
the last two, but the plants produce low or no 
runners, and arc propagated by dividing the 
stools. 
Green Alpine . - Fruit roundish, ovate, not 
pointed; color green with brown chock ; llnflh 
pale green, sweet, but with an offensive flavor. 
In addition to the above we have the wild 
Red and While Alpine, which only bear 
fruit in early summer. These last two va¬ 
rieties are also known by several other 
names, such as Red and White Wood 
strawberries, and in some of our Northern 
Slates they are called Sheep-nose strawber¬ 
ries, etc., etc. 
All of tho Alpine strawberries reproduce 
themselves from seed with the greatest uni¬ 
formity, and this accounts for the few varie¬ 
ties in cultivation, although seedlings in 
innumerable numbers have been grown for 
the past two hundred years. 
I have thus hastily glanced over the rise 
and progress of strawberry culture, so far 
as it. relates lit the Alpine, for the purpose of 
showing that new varieties arc not so readily 
produced ns some people suppose; and 
further, that nine-tenths of all the so-called 
new sorts arc only old ones, either repro¬ 
duced from seed or picked up accidentally 
in some out-of-the-way place. Every few 
years a new variety or two is announced in 
the French catalogues; and of late the 
monthly Alpines seem to he tho favorites, 
because there is something attractive in the 
very idea of having strawberries throughout 
the entire summer. Not long since the 
“ Autumnal Galuude” came to ns with high 
recommendations, but it proved to he the 
old Monthly Red Alpine, so Joug and well 
known to horticulturists. This same variety 
has lately appeared under another name, in 
fact under two names almost simultaneously, 
I as though one was not enough to give it 
5 sufficient importance. 
In the spring of 1808 I received a circular 
J headed Maximilian Prolific or Mexican Pcr- 
i ydaal Beuriny Strawberry. It was stated in 
' said circular that 11 these berries, (I copy the 
; exact words,) were brought from Mexico 
L about four years ago. The vines are for sale 
jf. by S. B. French, and cannot he obtained 
THINNING FRUIT. 
You have a failure of fruit one year, and 
you are pretty certain to have a bountiful 
crop the next Have a bountiful crop, and 
you may expect barrenness to follow. This 
is the rule, showing that there is a certain 
Capacity of a tree, and that this capacity 
cannot he much exceeded or diminished by 
the ordinary treatment. 
Now, how shall we best direct this ca-, 
pacity? Evidently by a proper distribution, 
so that fruit may he had every year, and in 
as nearly equal proportions ns possible. 
This will avoid straining, keep the tree sound 
and healthy, — for we believe it will not he 
disputed that a tree may so overbear as to 
hurt it, even kill it. 
By having the crop distributed, there will 
he the same amount of fruit,—and there will 
he more — that is, the fruit will he larger, 
measuring more; there will be more pulp, 
less seed, in the amount, and hence, less 
abstraction from the soil, and less strain on 
the tree, — we are not forcing it. We t hus, 
by thinning, make annual of alternate hear¬ 
ers—that Is, some of usdo; the majority, the 
rule, we may flay, let the tree have its own 
way; and as it starts, so it is apt to continue. 
“ But it is too much trouble to thin a 
whole orchard, especially a large one, and 
particularly an old one with high trees; and 
it won’t pay.” 
This is the great excuse, and it is enter¬ 
tained with an erroneous conclusion. If it 
really does pay to take care of one 
.a / tree, (and no one 1 x 111 dispute that,) 
/ 1 will it not pay to take care of an- 
/ // other, aud equally well ? How then 
<jjj // with the third, and the fourth, and 
M so on ? 
Vj “ But I have not the time.” 
^ So you have not the time to do the 
work of two or three men; and yet 
you hire it done; you direct what 
you cannot do yourself, und you 
know well enough if it he properly 
directed it will pay. So direct the 
work on your trees : for are they not 
part of your farm ? and the most pro¬ 
fitable part it properly conducted? 
Thin your fruit, every branch of it 1 
Take the same pain® with it that 
you would in picking, it is Just as 
\ necessary; it is more necessary; it 
gives you better fruit, and more of 
it, and that decidedly. What you 
--s then pick is so much the more worth 
^ picking. 
Let each one see to the thinning 
■ C of his fruit. Hire a man, if you ean- 
not do it yourself, and put him into 
your orchard. Let him cut down to 
u few fruits the heavy-bearing trees 
that are also alternate hearers. This 
will give him some fruit, and it will be 
good, and the next year there is a prospect 
of bearing. The thing thus persevered in 
for a few years will establish his tree as an 
annual bearer, in winch case it will not bear 
so heavily, and hence more healthfully, and 
hear a better quality. The other trees, tho 
j 7 early hearers, thin less generally. But thin 
down, where there is a large crop, to one- 
half, or even more where the set is very close 
and heavy. 
It will he found that this work is done 
more rapidly than was expected. The scis¬ 
sors make quick work, aud will soon run 
along a limb. Having the man hired, (if 
your orchard is a young one,) tell him, in 
passing from tree to tree, to stop at the non¬ 
hearing and clip out the heart, even if a 
pretty stout limb. It is a risky time of the 
year, we know, to do this; but better now 
than never, or next year. We have never 
“ shocked” a tree in tliis way, at this tender 
time, but we always shocked it into bearing, 
and generally copiously, except the Northern 
Spy. A few of these have withstood our ef¬ 
forts. Root pruning superadded might have 
brought them. But take out the heart, 
“ spoil your trees,” make a cup of them set 
on the boll of the tree, and the unfruitful 
cumberers will turn their thoughts to matu¬ 
rity, and after that will behave decently. 
I wax fully iicrHuailqd, uftor a oluue invoBUguiiou of 
all thi! uutnorltloH ucceMMUiie to me, and m careful 
comparison wltli dried npuclnu-nis ol the Fruyurta in 
my Herhiirlum, tliut tUH plant lmd Seen hitherto uu- 
Cesoribort. 
Its remarkable characteristics, in a horticultural 
point of view have already been made known during 
the oust few weeks. Its prolate fruiting habit, COD- 
linuioe to lieur from .lane Mil frosts cut the vines in 
the fall item Tally about November—-Its rapidity In 
propagating Its delicious fruit, with Mlnguliirly uro- 
liiiitlc fruglii BCC. hllVW all been the subject of remark 
among fi nit growers. But many persons are desirous 
of knowing more-In tuct, ruquctit a botanical analy¬ 
sis of it. For such I furnish lira following detailed 
description: 
Htcm erect, longer than the leaves, dleliolcmous, 
racemose, many-flowered, hearing a perfect trifoliate 
leaf variously situated from below the middle to the 
humnill of the peduncle, which Is clothed with .1 
spreading or deflpxcd liubesuc.nco, more ullky and as¬ 
cending or oppressed on the pedicles and calyx. 
Loaves eorluoeouH, coarsely serrate, tho sorraturcs 
ovute-mucrouute, rugeso, Bilky-vlllos, the hairs cIobg- 
Fig. 3. — Roots of Alpine. 
Let us analyze a portion of this descrip¬ 
tion of the Mexican Strawberry and see if 
we can determine in what respect it fillers 
from that of the old Alpine. “ Stem erect, 
longer than the leaves.” Now, every gar¬ 
dener, to say nothing of botanists, is well 
aware that this is one of the distinct charac¬ 
teristics of all the Alpines. The next word, 
however, “dichotomous,” (which means 
forked or regularly divided and sub-divided 
into two equal branches,) is not so easily got 
over, for the simple reason that this pecu¬ 
liarity is not constant in any of the Alpines 
nor other species, although found occasion¬ 
ally in all. If the Alpines arc planted in very 
rich soil and given high culture, it will de¬ 
velop this tendency to produce a regularly 
divided and long racemose stem; but in its 
wild state or In poor soils, it is not so appa¬ 
rent or constant. In other words our botan¬ 
ist, in this instance, has taken characteris¬ 
tics developed by cultivation as a generic 
distinction. 
It is unnecessary to follow the description 
further, because there is nothing in it that 
does not apply to the Monthly Red Alpine 
of our gardens. 
In Figure 1 a plant of the old monthly 
Alpine is shown, about half the natural size; 
and in Figure 3 one of the Mexican Ever¬ 
lasting. The former is much the stronger 
plant of the two, having been taken from a 
well-established bed; while the latter was 
from a bed planted tliis spring. The fruit 
and dowel's are both of natural size; the 
former, however, will occasionally he a little 
larger under high culture. 
Figure 3 shows a section of the plant 
with leaves removed, and it gives a good 
representation of a stoloniferous plant, or 
what Is called, in familiar language, a stool. 
The Bush Alpines arc propagated almost ex¬ 
clusively by dividing these stools. 
I do not wish to be understood as wholly 
condemning the monthly Alpines; for under 
high culture they will bear a few strawber- 
Cranlierry Culture.—' An Erie Co., Pa., cor¬ 
respondent asks for the practical experience of 
some cranberry cultivator—what kind, and 
when, and in what kind of soil, to plant; what 
can be produced per acre under favorable cir¬ 
cumstances. Who will reply? 
Blackberry Culture.— The beat market cult! va¬ 
lors cut back, the last of June and first of July, 
their now blackberry canes to from three aud a 
half to four feet, and clip off the longest lateral 
branches. They get the more fruit for it. 
Mulch for Strawberries.— A correspondent re¬ 
commends forest leaves, cut hay or straw, or 
lawn-eut hay, to keep the fruit from the soil. 
Fig. 2 . — Mexican Ever-Bearing Strawberry. 
I 
