NAT. ORDER. SENTICOSiE 7 



result rightly, it is necessary to advert to the constitutional character 

 of the strawberry plant. The plant is compound ; that is, it is com- 

 posed of a principal and central division, which yields flowers and 

 fruit the next year after it is formed. This principal is surround- 

 ed by a secondary set of branches, which also in time yield flow- 

 ers and fruit, superseding the first, which decays and disappears 

 after it has ripened its fruit. The secondary set of branches, or 

 divisions, of the system put forth, in their turn, a tertiary birth of 

 branchlets, which also in time are fruitful ; and these again a fourth 

 set of offsets, which process is continued yearly until the plants are 

 either destroyed by accident, or by each other. During this pro 

 cess, the system from this annual subdivision continues to grow 

 weaker, so that at last the flowers are so few and diminutive, that 

 the crops are unprofitable, and not worthy of a place in the garden. 



The process is so well known to cultivators, that they do not 

 consider a strawberry plantation worth its place after the third 

 year, and many take only two crops from the plants, trenching 

 them down as soon as the crop of the second year is gathered. It 

 may be asked by some, how is it that plants allowed to occupy the 

 whole surface of the ground are suffered to be usurpers ? The 

 answer is, — to save trouble, and as some of the runners are always 

 yielding fruit for the first time, these being passable as to size and 

 flavor, guarantee the preservation of the whole. 



The most esteemed sorts of strawberries are the following, 

 viz. : — 



The Alpine red and white are both of weakly growth, and 

 yield fruit from well-established plants from the end of June till No- 

 vember. A light chalky soil suits them best; and as they succeed 

 the earlier sorts, they are usually planted on north borders, in order 

 to prolong their fruiting season. 



The Virginian, or scarlet pine, is universally cultivated ; it 

 requires a strong and rather rich loam ; an early sort, and forces well. 



The Roseherry is a variety of the preceding ; very fruitful, and 



