SOME REMARKS UPON THE PRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES, FROM SEEDS. By the Editor.

It is many years since Messrs. Knight, Keen, and others, first produced new and superior varieties of strawberries to those previouslyin cultivation; but the great success of their experiments, which were pursued with great zeal, led them to continue them, and the result has been the production of an immense number of new kinds, but of which only ten or twelve can be said to be really worth growing.

We had intended to give some hints on the production of new varieties some time since, in order that amateurs might be induced to try the experiment the present year; but as we have been prevented by the quantity of other information on hand, we do so now, in order that preparations may be made for next spring. In the mean time much can be done by encouraging such plants as it is desirable to save seed from, that they may acquire strength to throw up large trusses of blossoms, and consequently larger and superior fruit.

The first thing to be considered is, what particular varieties are best suited for this purpose. If hardiness is, and it certainly should be, the first and great object of the cultivator, he should endeavour, if he is not possessed of the plants, to procure such as are suitable; if earliness is an object, that kind should be selected as a parent whose fruit is perfected the first in the season; if size and flavour are objects, and they certainly are next to hardiness, those varieties which are noted for these characters should be chosen. It should be the purpose of the raiser of new varieties to combine all these properties as much as possible; that is, to procure hardy, large, and superior flavoured fruit: earliness is not so much desired as the other qualities, for in proportion as the bearing season is advanced, the size of the fruit is lessened, as it has a shorter time to perfect its growth.

Perhaps the following intermixtures would produce excellent varieties: It to procure a hardy, large, and well-flavoured one, select the Methven scarlet for one of the parents; let this be impregnated with the Keen's seedling, and, perhaps, the Downton. We have remarked, that fertilization can be effected with at least two, and, perhaps, more kinds, and combine the characters of both; in this case the stigma may be impregnated with one variety, which may be tender, to impart its flavour or size, or both, and with another for its hardiness, &c. &c. &c.

other varieties, upon the approach of frost, will require a covering of leaves or straw to protect them from injury. This is all that need be done.

When the spring opens, the plants should be looked over and divested of all dry and decayed leaves; the soil, if quite rich, need be only hoed, to destroy the weeds and loosen the surface, that the rain can penetrate easier; if not, however, of a rich nature, let another top dressing be added. It is after this that the plants will require much attention from the hands of the cultivator; if any runners make their appearance before the trusses of fruit, they should be cut away carefully; when the flower buds appear, cut away all the trusses but one to each root; and, as soon as the buds are ready to expand, let them be taken off one by one, leaving only the first fruit, (the one at the base of the truss of flowers); the whole strength of the root will then nourish the fruit that is left, and it will acquire a good size; if the weather should prove to be dry, give good waterings occasionally, and if with liquid manure, so much the better. No other care is requisite but to keep the runners cut away until the fruit is gathered for seed.

We have come to the impregnation of the flowers. As soon as the first bud expands, which is generally the one at the base of the truss, with a very small sharp-pointed scissors cut away the anthers which are situated at and around the base of the embryo fruit; as soon as this is done, tie a piece of gauze over the whole, in order to keep the bees and the wind from bringing the farina of other flowers to the stigma; the day after this operation performed, select the stamens from the variety or varieties with which it is intended to fertilize the stigma, always taking them from a healthy and vigorous plant and well formed fruit: take the gauze from the flower to be impregnated, and, with a camel's hair pencil, apply the pollen to the stigma, being very careful to touch every part, or an ill-formed fruit might be the result; tie the gauze over again immediately, and all is finished. The cultivator should bear in mind that the embryo fruit should be well formed and not depressed, coxcomb-shaped, or unhandsomely formed in any way; otherwise the progeny might exhibit the same defect. Be careful to preserve a memorandum of the variety or varieties with which every plant is impregnated.

All the fruits for seed should be managed in the same manner; and when they are picked, wash out the seed immediately, and put it in papers, with the remarks and names attached. It may remain in the seed room until February, or it may be sown in a frame in the open garden, in July or August, which method some growers have recommended; for our own part, we prefer keeping them until February or March, and then sow them in pots or pans in the green-house, or in a cold frame. Make the soil rich and fine in which the seed is sown, and keep them tolerably moist until they vegetate, which will be in from one to four months.

When the plants which appeared first have acquired a few

rough leaves, take them out of the seed pans or boxes, and place them in small pots, one in each, and in this manner proceed until May, when the whole should be set out in a wellprepared bed, placing the plants at a good distance from each other, where they are to remain to fruit. The ground should be made tolerably fine, and quite rich. Manage the plants in the same manner as old beds, and keep nearly all the runners cut off until the first fruit has appeared, so that the merit of a seedling may be ascertained before it is propagated. The second year they will produce fruit, when all their properties should be noted down carefully, and those which are of a superior character retained for cultivation, and the others rooted up and destroyed. The second year, however, will not always thoroughly test the character of a fruit; and it would be better to let the plants bear another season, when their superior strength and vigorous constitution will enable them to produce large and fine specimens.

Almost every form, colour, and property, will be exhibited in the fruit; some will be fine flavoured, but miserable bearers; some great producers, but the fruit small; some with very large fruit, but without any flavour; some coxcomb-shaped, others long, flat, round, &c.; some smooth on the surface, others with the seeds embedded; some scarlet, others dark red, and all the intermediate shades of colour; and a great variety of foliage will be shown: the grower, when summing up the qualities of a fruit, should take each into consideration, and give them their due estimation. As a standard of excellence, a fruit should possess nearly the following properties: vines hardy, capable of living through our winters without injury; leaves large, not so numerous as to shade the fruit too much; scapes of a moderate length, so as to elevate the fruit above the ground, stout, and well branched, with numerous peduncles; flowers large, produced tolerably early, and every one succeeded by a well-shaped fruit; fruit large, round or ovate, well formed, of a good colour, and polished surface; flesh firm, juicy, scarlet, without a core, of a brisk rich grateful flavour. The principle of these properties may be thus valued: Hardiness of the vines, 3; flavour, 3; size, 2; productiveness, 2; firmness of flesh, 2; colour, 1. The chance of raising a very superior fruit may be considered as one to five hundred.

When the grower has decided which to save and which to reject, he should, at once, proceed to destroy those which are considered as not worth cultivating; for, if left in the garden, they are apt to be transplanted into a new bed, and thus confusion may arise among the varieties: because a great many of the plants produce good fruit, is no reason they should be suffered to remain. The stock of fine fruit can be increased to any extent.

We have made these remarks, at this time, in the hope of inducing amateurs as well as nurserymen to attempt the raising of new varieties of strawberries.

preferable, in which they will grow vigorously, and spread with great rapidity. We transferred only two small plants to our garden a year since, and there are now in blossom more than thirty flowers.

GARDENING IN ALGIERS.

THERE is a garden of experiment and naturalization, in Algiers, of eighty acres in extent, which contains 15,000 trees, bushes, and plants, under the care of a director and twenty men. These plants include the sugar-cane, cotton tree and bush, and, no doubt, all those species and varieties of useful plants which the botanists and horticulturists of Paris have supposed likely to suit the climate.

EFFICACY OF COTTON IN PRESERVING FRUIT.

We have been informed, by a gentleman who has had practical proof of its success, of a new mode of keeping fruits fresh for the table, as grapes, plums, &c., a long time after they have been gathered. It is simply to alternate them in layers with cotton batting, in clean stone jars, and to place them in a chamber secure from frost. A servant in the family of W. M-, about to visit her friends secured a quantity of plums in this way, to preserve them until her return. They were found to have kept in excellent condition long after the fruit had disappeared from the garden. From the hint thus afforded, Mr. M, Mr. H-, and one or two neighbours, laid down grapes in this manner last autumn, and they enjoyed the luxury of fresh fine fruit through the winter, until the early part of March.

NEW MODE OF DESTROYING ANTS.

ACCIDENT has furnished an excellent receipt for destroying ants. A Farmer, whose warehouses were infested by these destructive insects, remarked, on a sudden, that they had deserted one particular room; and observation having convinced him that the circumstance was caused by a barrel of fish oil, which had been placed there, he tried the experiment of placing some of the oil round the plants in the garden, when he found it produced the effect of driving the ants from the place in a few hours.

SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS.

THIS truly beautiful vernal bloomer should be introduced into every garden. The flowers make their appearance almost as soon as the snow-drop (Anemone), and continue in bloom for several days, during which time they are the most showy ornaments of the border, but few plants putting forth their flowers at such an early season. We were first struck with its elegance from observing several little patches of it when in its full flowering state; they might be seen from any part of the garden, so profuse were their snowy blossoms. It is much prized in the north, where it is cultivated with great care. It grows beautifully in several locations in the vicinity of London, and can be easily procured at any of the nurseries. The plants delight in a shady moist place; and, for this reason, are valuable, as they will thrive under the drip of trees, or on borders where the sun shines but a few hours during the day. A partially decomposed leaf soil or peat is

STATE OF BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

It is the opinion of competent judges, that the advances made in the agriculture of Great Britain, during the last seventy or eighty years, are scarcely exceeded by the improvement and extension of its manufactures within the same period; and that to these advances, no other old settled country furnishes any parallel. That they have been very rapid, indeed, the following figures and comparisons abundantly show. In 1760, the total growth of all kinds of grain in England and Wales was about 120,000,000 bushels. To this should be added, perhaps, 30,000,000 for Scotland making a grand total of 150,000,000. In 1835, the quantity in both kingdoms could not have been less than 310,000,000 bushels. In 1755, the population of the whole island did not much, if any, exceed 7,500,000. In 1931, it had risen to 16,525,180, being an increase of 9,000,000, or 120 per cent! Now the improvements in agriculture have more than kept pace with this prodigious increase of demand for its various productions; for it is agreed on all hands, that the 16,500,000, or rather the 17,500,000, (for more than a million have been added since 1831,) are