MOO 
We hope our Chicago contemporary will, 
if it dares to, place Prof. Tihirber in the 
stable with Mr. Fuller, and call them both 
donkeys; for that kind of argument is about 
as logical and convincing as any it ever 
gets off. 
T. M., Germantown, Pa., whom we sup¬ 
pose to 1)0 Thomas Medan, editor of the 
Gardener’s Monthly, has recently visited 
Detroit, and under date of July 10, writes to 
the Germantown Telegraph concerning this 
fruit as follows:—“ I found that it is not a 
new ftpeem, as claimed for it, but, as con¬ 
tended by some, a form of the old Alpine 
class. The botanists who have been in haste 
to name it ns new, will, I think, have a hard 
road to travel in order to maintain their po¬ 
sition. As a new variety of Alpine, however, 
of value to hort iculturists, it is certainly new 
and valuable. Its tendency to hear fine 
fruit, and plenty of them, is greater than in 
any other Alpine I know. For an Alpine I 
wns astonished at their productiveness. I 
am sure I could gather easily two hundred 
bushels from an acre of them. They come 
into bearing about ten days before Wilson’s 
Albany, and continue, I was told, to bear as 
freely as I saw them until frost. In size the 
largest of them are about as small as Alhanys. 
They are rather pasty in flavor, but make up 
for this by a delicious perfume which will 
fill a whole garden with fragrance. 1 do not 
know that it will be valuable as a mailcet 
fruit, ns large size is so attractive to the gen¬ 
eral buyer, and yet I am not sure, consider¬ 
ing its other good qualities, that it will not. 
Certainly 1 think it a good t hing to have in 
every garden; as it is as much superior to 
other old Alpines as the Wilson’s Albany 
was above others of its class.” 
|J ontological 
AMONG THE RASPBERRIES. 
UV A. 8. FULLER 
I presume that every reader of the Rural 
lias heard of the Mammoth Cluster raspber¬ 
ry, and probably many of them would like 
to know if it is really a new variety. It lias 
received very high praise from those who 
have cultivated it, both for market and home 
use, and 1 feel bound to say it is worthy of a 
good name; but the question what that name 
should be seems to be unsettled in the minds 
of many of our best horticulturists. The 
trouble, however, arises from its having too 
many names, and thereon hangs a tale which 
I propose to relate for the benefit of lruit 
growers in general, and the readers 01 the 
Rural in particular. 
In Ohio and other Western Stales there 
have been for many years two distinct varie¬ 
ties of black-cap raspberries in cultivation, 
both of which were known among nursery¬ 
men at the West under the name of Miami, 
It is true that several efforts were made to 
have only one bear tills name, but the at¬ 
tempts to give each a distinct name were 
not generally successful. 
The Illinois Horticultural Society, in 1807, 
(sec Report, page 81,) decided that the largest 
variety of the two should he called McCor¬ 
mick, because Geo. M. McCormick of Stone- 
lick Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, found 
the original plant about the year 18150 or 
1832. It is quite probable that this name 
would have been adopted by all of our hor¬ 
ticulturists had they been notified of the ac¬ 
tion of the Illinois Stale Society; but. as 
ihey were not, the name remained unchanged 
except in the grounds of a very few fruit 
growers. 
When Eastern nurserymen sent their or¬ 
ders West for Miami they sometimes received 
one kind and sometimes another, conse¬ 
quently were at a loss to know which was 
the true Miami. We read in the Western 
papers, and in the reports of horticultural 
societies, about the great size and produc¬ 
tiveness of the Miami; but the one generally 
known among us was not as large ns, or at 
least, no larger than, the Doolittle, although 
a few days later, and in this respect only did 
it agree with its Western reputation. Being 
fully satisfied that there were two distinct 
varieties of the Miami, I wrote to Purdy 
& Johnson of South Bend, Tnd., for a few 
plants of the true nr large Miami. The 
plants came to hand in due time, and were 
planted. A year ago they came into hear¬ 
ing, and the fruit was certainly very large 
and excellent, and far superior to the other 
sort received under the same name years be¬ 
fore. 
Soon after the fruit was ripe, I received a 
letter from Chas. Downing, who had 
visited, a few days before, the grounds of 
Purdy & Johnson, of Palmyra, New York, 
in which he stated t hat the Miami cultivated 
by the above firm was a much larger and 
better berry than we had so oltcn received 
from the West, and seen in the grounds ol 
fruit growers in this section of the country. 
Mr. Downing also gave me a description of 
the fruit and plant, and it agreed with the 
one I had received from Purdy & Johnson 
as Miami, and I wrote Mr. Downing that I 
had this same Miami then in fruit. 
Many letters passed between Mr. Down¬ 
ing, Purdy & Johnson, and myself, in re¬ 
gard to the identity of this variety. P. & J. 
said that it was new, and they had a right 
to give it a name; bui Mr. Downing ob¬ 
jected until this fact was fully established; 
but it was baptized “ Mammoth Cluster,” 
nevertheless; and now for the sequel. 
Ever since the christening of the Mam¬ 
moth Cluster, T have been gathering plants 
of small Miami, true Miami, large Miami, 
Ohio Miami, and McCormick; and all of 
them have enabled me to swing around to 
my first starting point, and arrive at the 
following conclusions: 
1. The McCormick, or large Miami, and 
Mammoth Cluster are one and the same vari¬ 
ety, It is the latest, largest, and one of the 
best of the blaek-eap raspberries. 
2. The small Miami, or Ohio, is a large 
berry, ripening a few days later than the 
Doolittle. The berry is never jet black, but 
a very dark purple. The plant is very vig¬ 
orous and productive, but is not equal in 
value to the Doolittle or McCormick. 
A few days since, in company with On as. 
Downing, 1 visited several fruit growers in 
Central Now York. We called first at Pal¬ 
myra, and while riding from the village to 
the grounds of Purdy <& Johnson we saw a 
field of raspberries which of course we visit¬ 
ed. The proprietor, Hiram Van Dusen, 
showed us a plot of plants which he had 
received several years before from Cincin¬ 
nati, Ohio, under the name of Ohio Black- 
Cap, and they were the same as the one 
known as small Miami. At Purdy A John¬ 
son’s grounds the Mammoth Cluster, or 
McCormick, Ac., were in splendid condition, 
and bearing a full crop. 
RJFCD QUICKC” KASpItl-lHUY 
got our plants of IIur.vsoN Mkai iia.m, three 
years ago next month. We (lid not know the 
name of them, nor did be, but wo cultivated 
them. Wc planted a bed of them one. year ago 
next September. The bed was twenty-live, feet 
square; the result was that we picked three 
hundred quarts from that pun h this month. 
We commenced picking' the Amt day of .lulj and 
ended our nicking ilu* 22d of July. J. Ibxnv, 
Ilichland , N. Y., Jvlu 23. 
We doubt ir our old friend has the Matilda, 
unless that variety should prove to lie Identical 
with Home ohl and half-forgotten sort. Does Mr. 
li.’a lruit resemble the Matilda in respect to 
color, flavor, as well as form, judging by the de¬ 
scription of the latter? 
know how and in what terms to convey an 
idea of its distinct characteristics, if it pos¬ 
sessed any. 
It is true that he says, “ that it will hear 
profusely under t he meanest kind of culture,” 
but is he sure Hint the old Monthly Alpine 
would not do the same, under just such cir¬ 
cumstances, tills wet season ? 1 hardly think 
that Mr. Ei. Mott would admit that an apple 
or cherry was a distinct variety simply be¬ 
cause a few trees in one soil or locality pro¬ 
duced more abundantly than in another. 
But there are men besides Mr. Elliott and 
myself who know something about straw¬ 
berries, therefore I make, the following 
proposition: 
Mr. El MOTT shall furnish plants of the 
Mexican Everbearing, and I will do the same 
of the old Monthly Red Alpine; both shall 
be planted In the same garden, and given 
the same culture, and next season a commit¬ 
tee of three horticulturists shall decide the 
question of identity. I will name Charles 
Downing hs my committeeman; Mr. Elli¬ 
ott may choose whoever he likes, and the 
two shall select a third. 
If the committee decide in Mr. Elliott’s 
favor, i. e. that the Mexican is distinct, I will 
pay all expenses of the committee, acknowl¬ 
edge my error in the columns of the Rural 
New-Yorker, and present Mr. Elliott a 
solid, eighteen carat, gold strawberry of the 
exact size of the largest specimen of the 
Mexican strawberry he can find; and if they 
decide in my favor, Mr. Elliott shall ac¬ 
knowledge his error in the Rural New- 
Yorker. A. 8 . Fuller. 
It is needless, however, to say more in re¬ 
gard to this berry, although further proof is 
not wanting to show that Purdy & John¬ 
son have given a new name to a very old 
variety. 1 do, however, think, they are de¬ 
serving of considerable credit for bringing 
out. from partial obscurity this old but ex¬ 
cellent berry; and, although I cannot, exon¬ 
erate them from blame in re-naming it, still 
it will hereafter become belter known and 
the public will be benefited thereby. 
Being fully satisfied with what we saw of 
this berry, we asked what of the Naomi 
Raspberry, so extensively puffed by a few 
horticulturists in Ohio. Mr. Purdv said 
that it was quite distinct from the Fran¬ 
conia, and we were invited to make our own 
comparison, as both were then in fruit. The 
Naomi, of course, was readily recognized, 
but when shown the half acre or more of 
Franconia, we failed to discover any simi¬ 
larity between the raspberry grown here for 
Franconia and the genuine sort. 
And right here 1 have another story to 
tell. Home two or three, years since I re¬ 
ceived several varieties of raspberries from 
Nebraska, and among them, one labeled Red 
Queen. Of course this being a new name, I 
expected that it was a new variety ; hut, to 
my surprise, this berry was growing at Pur¬ 
dy & Johnson’s as Franconia! Here is an¬ 
other instance which, shows how synonyms 
are created and errors multiplied. At the 
West, this variety may be known as Red 
Queen, and in a few gardens at the East as 
Franconia; and probably neither name is 
the correct one; consequently we must take 
the reports that come from different sections 
of the country with considerable allowance, 
on account of the many errors in the names 
of varieties. 
Of course it. is not expected that every 
fruit grower is thoroughly posted in regard 
to all the known varieties of fruits, or any 
considerable portion of them; but by careful 
investigation we may often determine that a 
variety is not what it is said to be, when its 
identity cannot, bo fully established. 
This Red Queen, or false Franconia, is just 
one of these* sorts—too good to he discarded, 
and yet its true name is unknown to any po¬ 
litologist of my acquaintance. It lias done 
so well with me, and in other localities, that 
I have thought it worth while to give the 
accompanying illustration and description : 
Large, globular, light reddish scarlet; 
grain large, compact, firm, juicy and of ex¬ 
cellent flavor ; canes strong ; spines .scatter¬ 
ing, light brownish purple ; leaves large and 
of firm texture, but stiff; leaflets ovate, ae- 
cuminale, and quite regularly serrate, the 
ends drooping; the terminal often rolled 
under, This drooping habit, of the leaflets 
is quite a distinct characteristic; so much so 
that the plant would be readily recognised 
among other varieties. It is probably an old 
foreign sort, although one of the hardiest of 
this class. 
Leaving Palmyra, we next visited the 
grounds of 0. L. Van Dusen, near Mace- 
don, N. Y. Here we found a splendid 
plantation of the Mammoth Cluster Blaek- 
Cap. The plants, however, were purchased 
under the name of Miami. Mr. Van Dusen 
also had the Naomi ami Franconia growing 
aide by side, and their identity was unques¬ 
tionable. We saw here another lot of the 
false Franconia, which Mr. Van Dusen had 
discovered was not the true sort, consequent¬ 
ly allowed them to pass without a name. 
From Mncedon we next visited the fruit 
farm of E. J. Potter of Ivnowlesville, N. 
Y., where we found a plantation of the 
Miami Blaek-Cap, set out in 1865; but they 
were the genuine Mammoth Cluster of 
Purdy & Johnson. 
riboricnlfitrc 
NATIVE AND FOREIGN RASP 
BERRIES. 
Ln the Rural of last, week A. S. Fuller 
gives a description of three new native rasp¬ 
berries, and makes the assertion that “ it is 
useless to deny that our people have become 
dissatisfied with tender foreign sorts, and ere 
long none but hardy native varieties will lie 
acceptable to either amateurs or professional 
fruit growers.” 
Now I have cultivated the Hudson River 
Antwerp, Fastolf, Franconia, &c., for the 
past half century ; also all the foreign and 
native sorts as they have been introduced, 
and my preference is for the foreign varie¬ 
ties. Nor do I believe that any considera¬ 
ble portion of the fruitgrowing people will 
give up the cultivation of the fine foreign 
kinds while they are so productive and re¬ 
munerative us at the present time. For 
those, like Mr. Fuller, who have light soil, 
the native sorts ate most profitable ; hut on 
the heavy soils, (which is not a small por¬ 
tion of the country,) and where Hudson 
River Antwerp, Orange, Franconia and simi¬ 
lar varieties can lie grown in perfection, 1 
see no reason why they should he discarded, 
especially where they are superior in flavor, 
more productive, and as Mr. Fuller well 
knows, bring double the price in market, 
and are more profitable per acre. It is true 
they require to be covered during winter, 
but the expense of doing so is but little com¬ 
pared to the amount received for the crop 
over the native kinds. 
I believe in progress, and would like to 
see a hardy native variety equal in size, 
quality, solidity and productiveness to Hud¬ 
son River Ant werp, Franconia, &e; but I 
am too old to expect it ; neither do 1 believe 
that Mr. Fuller, who I take it is in the 
prime of life, will ever see it; and 1 will 
venture the prediction that the native sorts 
lie describes will not, be known In ten or 
twenty years, at the most, from this time. 
An Old Fruit Grower. 
TREE AGENTS 
It is quite time that something be said in 
defense of a class of businessmen that have 
received violent abuse, the most of which is 
quite undeserved. From the loafer in the 
country tavern and the gentleman farmer 
comes the distrustful sneer or more open ill- 
treatment. That very much of this con¬ 
tempt is entirely unreasonable and unjust 
the writer thinks he can show ; and he be¬ 
lieves that he can treat the matter impar¬ 
tially, for lie neither buys nor sells trees, and 
never lias done so, but is in a position to be 
Somewhat familiar with the subject. 
The remote purchaser always cordially 
detests the “ middle man,” as he is called. 
We must admit that in many classes of 
business there are hv far too many middle 
men ; but still there must be those who keep 
themselves informed where to buy best and 
wlmt the consumer needs. They are a 
necessary result of large and varied business 
operations, and their existence in proper 
numbers is not inconsistent with a healthful 
state of the community. 
In the purchase of trees are agents espe¬ 
cially necessary. A planter cannot, of 
course, he as well informed where to obtain 
the desired assortment as a man whose 
business it is to know the contents of va¬ 
rious nurseries. As he can buy no cheaper 
at the nursery than of the agent, the expense 
of packing and freighting a small lot brings 
the cost of the articles ordered to a higher 
figure than if bought of a reliable dealer. 
That, many tree agents are dishonest, cannot 
he denied, but we claim that no greater 
number than would lie found in any other 
branch of trade, if the circumstances tend¬ 
ing to reveal the dishonesty were equal. If 
an agent misnames a tree the fraud will be 
discovered some time, but if your grocer 
adulterates your spices you rarely luiow 
of it. 
We say again that in most cases where 
the planter charges the agent with fraud, 
the trouble is caused entirely by his own 
laziness, carelessness or ignorance. The best 
oi'trees will not live and thrive profitably if 
the planter is ignorant, of the proper manner 
of setting, protecting, pruning and enriching 
them. And most frees die through want of 
proper care. Many a man, after buying 
trees, allows the roots to he bared to the sun 
and wind, puts them into a hole with no 
more care than he sets a tying post, neglects 
to cultivate them, yet expects their branches 
to extend to him such fruit as he saw in the 
plate-hook of the agent; and because they 
Tint) Mexican Everbearing Strawberry Just 
now occupies the attention of our Western ex- 
chances, some strongly advocating itsctalma, 
and others denouncing it. ns a “transparent 
humbug.” We briefly answer numerous let ters 
in regard to it. The same thing was exhibited 
at the New York Statu Fair Inst, full as the 
“Maximilian," and wns decided by the fruit 
committee to be only the old Bush Alpine. We 
saw the plants, and at the time thought that the 
committee were right. Si nee then our friend 
Judge Geo, W. Clinton of lluil'iilo, N. Y„ bus 
named this strawberry as a new species, ami calls 
It Fraaariu QiVmnL While we would give all 
deference to Judge Clinton, wc think he has 
been hasty, as we tail to see in the characters he 
has given anything that makes a very distinct 
variety of this plant, let Mug Mono the question 
of its being a distinct species. We have the plant 
In cultivation, obtained hum headquarters, and 
shall be able to determine If it is us good as, or 
better than, the Alpines we have already. From 
the manner iu which the plant was first intro¬ 
duced, and its change of name, It would take a 
very strong aflldavit to make us believe that It 
ever came from Mexico at all. — American A(iri- 
cutturixt. 
We presume that the writer of the above 
is Prof. George Thukbkr, a well known 
scientific botanist, aiul probably no one liv¬ 
ing knows more about Mexican plants. 
Prof. Thurber was the botanist in the Mex¬ 
ican Boundary Survey, and the number of 
plants discovered and described by him in 
the reports issued by the Government were 
sufficient lo establish a scientific reputation 
for any one man; hut lie did not meet the 
Mexican Everbearing Strawberry on the 
mountains near Jalapa; and, further, he 
THE MEXICAN STRAWBERRY, 
l notice in tin* last number of the Rural 
that F. R. Elliott has visited the original 
beds of the great Mexican Everbearing 
Strawberry, and is convinced that 1 have 
made u mistake in calling it the old Monthly 
Red Alpine. Of course, 1 do not claim to 
be infallible; but my investigations in this 
instance were not hurried nor superficial, and 
it will require further proof t.o convince me 
that l am in error about the identity of this 
strawberry. Mr. Elliott does not. attempt 
to describe this Mexican bantling or tell us 
wherein it differs from the old Alpine, al¬ 
though he is too good a pomologist not to 
