THE CANADIAN H0ETI0ULTUEI8T. 



105 



time as Bid well, lasts nearly as long, 

 and tastes about as good. It does not 

 bear quite so wefl as Bidwell with me, 

 but I find that it does better than Bid- 

 well with some of my friends. In 

 truth it seems to be adapted to a wider 

 range of soils than Bidwell ; so that if 

 a person had rich, moist soil, about half 

 sand and half clay, I would recommend 

 Bidwell first, but if his soil happened 

 to be very light sand, or stiff clay, or 

 very loose and gravelly, I would say 

 Seneca Queen. In appearance, both of 

 plant and berry, these varieties are 

 very unlike, the Bid well's leaves 

 spreading out wide, especially the first 

 year, and the fruit being long and 

 pointed, while the leaves of the Seneca 

 Queen stand very erect, and the large, 

 flattened fruit ripens all over at once, 

 with nothing of the white tip so often 

 seen in the Bidwell. On equally good 

 soil I think the berries of Seneca Queen 

 average rather larger than Bidwell or 

 even Sharpless, and the colour is pecu- 

 liarly attractive. 



Towards the end of the strawberry 

 season we find in its prime the royal 



Sharpless. — It cannot compare in 

 productiveness with any of the others 

 just described ; but it is so large and 

 delicious and late, that no collection 

 would seem complete without it. I 

 have not seen any other variety yet 

 which will give so large specimens. I 

 weighed one from my grounds that 

 went an ounce and a half, and I have 

 no doubt that larger berries could easily 

 be raised. The plant is very large and 

 healthy, and with plenty of manure and 

 runners cut off, it will give fine crops. 

 Manchester ripens about with Sharp- 

 less. Some specimens are nearly as 

 large as the largest Sharpless, and the 

 average was larger with me last sum- 

 mer. The berry is remarkably smooth, 

 uniform and handsome, the crop fully 

 as large, I think, as Bidwell — larger 

 than that of any other I have men- 



tioned — and the quality about as good 

 as Bidwell or Sharpless. This fine 

 variety should never be left out ; but 

 as the blossoms are imperfect it should 

 have every fifth row planted with 

 Sharpless or some other late flowering 

 and perfect-blossomed kind, or many of 

 the blossoms will fail to produce fruit. 



Most of these varieties are excellent 

 for market — especially for a near mar- 

 ket — but as I have aimed to speak of 

 varieties for home use, I have passed 

 by the market value in describing each. 



There are other varieties, such as 

 Parry, Early Canada, Atlantic, etc., 

 that are coming rapidly to the front in 

 value for home use. 



But with these four varieties — say 

 100 plants of each — a family of five 

 could be supplied with delicious straw- 

 berries through the tii-st four weeks of 

 the time when fruit is most needed, 

 with some to preserve for winter. 



Any good nurseryman should supply 

 the plants for three or four dollars — a 

 moderate cost for such a luxury — for 

 an equal amount of fruit from the gro- 

 cer's would cost $10 at least, and not 

 taste half as good. 



THE DOUBLE POPPY. 

 The best plant at present known for 

 consolidating, by the interlacing of its 

 roots, the loose soil of a newly made 

 embankment is, according to M. Cam- 

 bier, of the French Railway Service, 

 the Double Poppy. While the usual 

 grasses and clovers need several months 

 for the development of their compara- 

 tively feeble roots, the Double Poppy 

 germinates in a few days, and in two 

 weeks grows enough to give protection 

 to the slope, while at the end of three 

 or four months, the roots, which are 

 ten or twelve inches long, are found to 

 have interlaced so as to retain the 

 earth far more firmly than those of any 

 grass or gmin. Though the plant is an 

 annual, it sows itself after the first 



