French Strawberries and Their Culture 



By Edward Connor, England. 



The fraise or strawberry ranks amongst the nmst 

 highly prized fruits in France. It has attained its present 

 preeminence by the ease with which varieties can be 

 crossed by intelligent gardeners ; although the varieties 

 grown to-day are legion, they are only "modifications" 

 of half a dozen specific types. The greater care devoted 

 to the cultivation of the fruit of late years has not only 

 brought about a prolonged period of flowering, but it has 

 largely contributed in increasing the size and improving 

 the popular fruit. Strawberries in France are divided 

 into two well recognized classes — the small familiarly 

 known as fraiscs dc qiiatre-saisons, and the large or 

 grosses f raises. These differ not only in appearance and 

 quality, but in the way in which tliey are grown. \\'here- 

 as the small variety is produced from seed, the large 

 variety is cultivated from the ^tolllns or runners of varie- 

 ties raised from F. I'iri^inia and from F. chilocnsis. 

 Strange to say, although the w iM \ariety originated from 

 Greece, classical authors make no allusion to the fact. 

 The aim of growers of strawberries known as Fraises de 

 Ouatre-Saisons is to produce a fruit simultaneously large, 

 of a tapering shape, and of a deep red color. In order 

 to oljtain the seed from which this kind of strawberry is 

 cultivated, fruits are selected when perfectly ripe and 

 excellent in every other respect ; these are crushed with 

 great care and the seeds separated from the pulp, the 

 seeds are next washed and the pulp strained through a 

 clotli. The seed is then collected and left to dry in an 

 airy and shadv spot. This seed can be sown in the open 

 air in ]\Iay and June on a specially prepared plot of 

 ground, but the plants from such seeds are not considered 

 as good as those resulting from seed sown at the end of 

 the month of March or at the beginning of .A.pril on a 

 hot-bed. The seed is lightl}- covered over with leaf- 

 mould, and air admitted gradually as soon as the plants 

 make their appearance. When the plants begin to throw- 

 out a few leaves they are dibbled out in September in tufts 

 of two together, 6 inches apart, and from 12 to 20 inches 

 asunder, on the permanent bed, the soil of which ought 

 to be sandy and fresh, and the spaces between the plants 

 covered with a mulch of short manure. Some growers 

 make a new bed in another place, but do not apply fresh 

 soil. Following the period of planting, the strawberry 

 plants will commence bearing fruit in the second spring 

 or autumn. It is considered well 1" (lil)ble out the plants 

 from the main stools at a distance of 2 feet apart every 

 two or three years, otherwise it will be found that the 

 ])lants w ill f|uickly degenerate. French growers are care- 

 ful to avoid employing mould from old mushroom beds, 

 as this tends to redden the leaves, and kills the plants in 

 the end. The subsequent culture is very light and easy, 

 consisting in water being frequently and moderately ap- 

 plied during the period of fruiting and all beds freed 

 frcm weeds, useless runners and decayed leaves. 



Strawberries are procuralile so early in the spring that 

 forcing the plants- is regarded in France as rather an 

 ornamental than a commercial matter. Plants for forc- 

 ing are those belonging to the large-fruited varieties, and 

 these are grown in pots filled with good loam. A rich, 

 friable soil, consisting of silicious sand, clay, oxide of 

 iron, and carbonate of lime is thai most suitable for 

 strawberry culture and that resorted to in France. The 

 pots are brought indoors or under cover in October and 

 December: forcing commences at a temjDerature of 55 

 degrees Fahr.. gradually rising to 75 degrees. Gardeners 

 can grow as manv varieties of strawberries as they like. 



giving each kind a fancy name by way of adding attrac- 

 tion. X'arieties having no runners, such as the Gailloii, 

 are naturally good and very suitable for out-door culture. 

 White strawberries are not prized in l'"rance, at least, as 

 a rule. The iuiglisji types have exercised a great influ- 

 ence upon those of !•' ranee; this remark particularly ap- 

 plies to what are known as the "British Queen," "Keen's 

 Seedling," and "De])tford Pine" varieties. For forcing 

 purposes, the kind of strawberry called "Le Docteur 

 Morere" is in great demand in France; its fruit is large, 

 rose-cdUired, scented and sugary. The "May Queen" is 

 precocious and prolific, its color is a deep red, and its 

 quality good, ilie "Margaret Lebreton" suits all lands, 

 is fertile and of remarkable precocity. The "Victoria" 

 is further described l]y French growers as being a good 

 variety, suitable for poor soil, scented, juicy, yiekling well 

 and e.xacting no special care. All the large-fruited vari- 

 eties are descendants from the F. Virginia, a native of the 

 United States, and the F. Chilocnsis. from the Chilian 

 .\rchipelago. 



The earliest open-air crop of French strawberries 

 comes from Carpentras. in the Department of the \'au- 

 cluse, aliout the last week in .Xijril, the su])ply continuing 

 till the middle of June. 



In the same Department (the \ aucluse) mineral man- 

 ures were tried a few years ago on strawberries by way 

 of experiment, on the proposition of the then Minister of 

 .Agriculture. The result did not come up to expectations. 

 It was found that nitrate of potash, applied in small doses, 

 stinudated the plant too nnich while destroying the 

 lieauty of the fruit. 



The finest strawberries for the Paris markets are 

 grown in the N'alley of the Durance — once a waste and 

 arid region. 



Strawberries are rich in malic acid and sugar, accord- 

 ing to eminent chemists. 



In France, strawberries — which are said to prolong 

 life — are eaten with red wine, sugar, or sprinkled over 

 with liqueurs, rum, Kirsch, orange-juice or even sugared 

 water. Strange to say, strawberries and cream are not 

 very popular with the French, because this mixture is 

 considered verv indigestible. The same objection stands 

 good for white strawberries, \vhich are only fit to eat, 

 according to the French, when freely mixed with the 

 small, deep-red and sugar}- \ariety known as "Ouatre- 

 Saisons." 



Hot water as a substitute for hot houses in forcing" 

 early fruit is the latest discovery announced by the Na- 

 tional Horticultural Society of France. Results have 

 been published of the experiments of i\I. Bultel, a promi- 

 nent horticidturist. He treated 100 strawberry plants for 

 six hours a day with hot water during January and Feb- 

 ruarv, and thev yielded 722 strawberries up to March 25, 

 while a similar number of plants kept in a hot house 

 yielded only 477 strawberries. 



This new method of forcing can be ajjplied to other 

 kinds of fruit, it is very much cheaper, and gives a 

 greater yield than iiot-hou.se forcing. 



Miss Gardener: "Can }ou name this remarkable flower 

 for me?'" 



i'.otanist : "It appears to me to be one of llie species of 



the wild flower known as ." 



Miss Gardener (interrupting) : "Oh! It is not wild, it 

 has been growing tame in my garden for several years." 



