12 THE STRAWBERRY. 
‘“When we contemplate the relations which the 
strawberry plant bears to other parts of nature—to the 
sun which expands its blossom—to the winds which 
sow its seeds—to the brooks whose banks it embellish- 
es; when we contemplate how it is preserved during 
a winter’s cold capable of cleaving stones—how it 
appears verdant in the spring, without any pains em- 
ployed to preserve it from frost and snow—how, feeble 
and trailing along the ground, it should be able to 
migrate from the deepest valleys to Alpine heights— 
to traverse the globe from north to south, from moun. 
tain to mountain, forming, on its passage over prairie 
and plain, a thousand mingled patches of checker- 
work of its fair flowers and scarlet or rose-colored 
fruit, with the plants of every clime—how it has been 
able to scatter itself from the mountains of Cash- 
mere to Archangel, from Kamschatka to Spain—how, 
in a word, we find it in equal abundance on the conti- - 
nent of America, from the bleak fields of Tierra del 
Fuego to Oregon and Hudson’s Bay, though myriads 
of animals are making incessant and universal havoc 
upon it, yet no gardener is necessary to sow it again— 
we are struck with wonder and admiration at so pre- 
cious a gift.” 
