766 



STRAWBOARD 



STRAWBERRY 



Tuscan plaits are worked with exceeding delicacy 

 and elalxiratiou, the task so straining the eyesight 

 nf the plaiters that they can give not more tlmn 

 two hours daily to the work. 



Within recent years an enormous amount of 

 straw-plait, of a common but useful quality, has 

 lieen sent into the European market from China, 

 the port of shipment being Canton. It can be sold 

 in I'.iiii-h markets at a price \vliirli exclude- the 

 jKissiliility of competition by English plaiters, and 

 the consequence is that the Bedfordshire trade in 

 lower-class plaits is practically extinct. At the 

 -MINI- time the supply of cheap Canton plaits has 

 greatly benefited the hat and bonnet sewing 

 industry of Lnton and other Bedfordshire towns. 

 In the year 1890 there were imported into the 

 I'nited Kingdom 8,558,542 Ib. of straw-plaits, 

 valued at 659,892, of which 7,306,100 Ib., of a 

 value of 476,210, came from Canton. Of this 

 amount there was re-exported, principallv to 

 France, Germany, and the United States, 4,900,924 

 Ib., valued at 328,177. Of hats and bonnets made 

 from straw-plaits there were exported in the same 

 year 653,104 dozen, valued at 371,262, the prin- 

 cipal buyers being the Australian colonies. 



Strawboard is a kind of Millboard (Q.V.), 

 or thick cardboard, made of straw after it has been 

 boiled with lime or soda to soften it. The cheap 

 kinds of strawboards are used for making common 

 boxes of various kinds, and for protecting articles 

 sent by post or railway. Good qualities of hoard 

 suitable for binding books and other purposes are 

 niiiile of straw mixed with flax and jute waste 

 from spinning-mills. 



Strawberry. The Strawberry ( Lat. fraqum, 

 whence the name of the genus Fragaria) belongs 

 to the order Rosaceie. Probably our name is 

 descriptive of the habit of the fmiting plant, when 

 the berries are strewn or strawn upon the ground 

 Attmt nascent ia fraaa by their weight on the 

 flexible footstalk. It is hard to believe, on the 

 1" t authority, that the plant waited for its name 

 till straw was laid beneath it. The calyx is ten- 

 cleft, the petals five, and the seeds are imbedded 

 in a fleshy receptacle, which is the delicious and 

 fragrant fruit. The plant is a dwarf perennial, 

 of stocky habit, and with handsome foliage, each 

 leaf consisting of three leaflets, boldly toothed, 

 and deeply ribbed ; the stalk is generally long, 

 and more or less hirsute, according to variety. The 

 principal species are F. veiuxi, including the alpine 

 and wood varieties ; F. elatior, the hautbois ; F. 

 viridit, a rather scarce European plant ; F. viraini- 

 ana, a scarlet fruit ; /'. ifrinii/iflora, the pine straw- 

 lierry ; and F. <////< .</.<, the Chilian. The haut- 

 bois, which is now believed to be a cultivated form 

 of F. vesca, was probably our earliest garden straw- 

 berry, and the name is still used by the London 

 street-vendors ' fine hoboy, ripe lioboy ! ' for 

 Htrawlierrieft of all descriptions. The true hautbois 

 is cultivated still for its rich and musky flavour, 

 but larger and more fruitful kinds have generally 

 superseded it The magnificent fruit we now 

 possess is chiefly the result of judicious crossings 

 betwixt and among ririiiniuiut, ijntxitijtora, and 

 chilensii. The first great improvement appears to 

 have been the introduction of the scarlet kind 

 from Virginia in the lieginning of the 17th cen- 

 tury ; and the old scarlet, though too acid for 

 dessert, is still the very best for preserving. 

 h\ rfrnntlijliirii, I he old pine, has larger fruit of 

 higher flavour, and darker and more substantial 

 leaves. It is believed to have come from Carolina, 

 and under that name was regarded for some years 

 as the best and finest of strawberries. Even now 

 there is none to surpass it in flavour, or equal it 

 perhaps in texture ; but larger and more productive 



kinds have ousted it from popularity. The garden 

 strawlierries of the present time have been obtaincil 

 by repeated crossings, and it is impossible now to 

 give their pedigree; but many of them show by 

 hispid -i. -ilk and foliage a trace of Chilian lineage, 

 for the Chilian is a very hairy plant an. I of vigorous 

 growth, luit tender. Our Jiritith Queen, perhaps 

 the licst known of all strawberries, is clearly of 

 Chilian descent, and so are Dr Hogg, Sir CVi- 

 \tifiirr, and others of fine character. Many 

 favourite fruits show larger pro]Htrtions of the 

 ymmliflora strain, such as Keens' Seed/in//, ,s'/r 

 Joseph. Paxton, Sir Harry, and other dart vari- 

 eties. Every year adds to our choice of sorts ami 

 helps to extend the season; and verv early kinds. 

 are much in vogue, such as Lftxtoni .\ /,/,/, and 

 Captain, which like all precocious fruit are of little 

 other virtue. Besides the above, the following 

 kinds are largely grown around London Vicom- 

 tesse Hi Heart (or Garibaldi), President, James 

 Veitch, La Grosxe Sucrie, Princess of Wales, Lucas, 

 Elton Pine, Eleanor, &c. Also from France, in 

 the ' berry -season,' come tons and tons of coarser 

 fruit which even uncrushed would be unknown to 

 any good pomologist 



Planting strawberries for ourselves, we may 

 rely upon a fine sweet crop if we show a little 

 sense and take due care. First of all seek out 

 the proper kinds for soil and climate, dividing 

 (as may be fairly done, at least for prac- 

 tical purposes) all strawberries into three classes 

 ( 1 ) those of Chilian interbreed, which must have 

 heavy soil even if poor, and weather not too bar- 

 barous, such as British Queen and congeners; (2) 

 those of more glabrous and substantial leaf, lieing 

 closely allied to the pine race, which care more for 

 the quality than the substance of the soil, such as 

 Keens' Seedlimj, \-e. ; (:i) those of a strain so mixed 

 that they must be studied individuallv, and some- 

 times flourish most upon a mixcn. But liowever 

 widely strawlwrries vary, almost all rejoice in 

 having the earth well hardened around them, and 

 the grower will marvel after all his labours to find 

 the most vigorous and buxom of his plants estab- 

 lished in the gravel-walk outside his higher 

 culture. The strawberry is propagated in three 

 manners by seed, by side-shoots from the stool, 

 and by runners. The last is the general course ; 

 and the runners or filiform stems (which issue gen- 

 erally at or soon after the fruiting season) should 

 lie pegged or fixed till the young plant is rooted. 

 As early in the autumn as the young plants are 

 strong enough, they are set out in the new lieds in 

 rows from 2 to 3 feet asunder, according to the 

 vigour of the sort, and at intervals in the row 

 of 15 or 18 inches. If the soil is light it should 

 be rolled or heavily trodden before the planting 

 time, and every young plant should have t lie earth 

 rammed round it. ^ henever a scarcity of runners 

 or the weather has forbidden early planting it is 

 better to wait till the spring than attempt to over- 

 take the lateness lamely ; and many kinds do Ivcst 

 after wintering with their parents. The duration 

 of a strawberry-bed depends very much upon the 

 variety. Some of the small and early kinds are 

 worn out by the second year of fruiting ; while 

 others of more robust haliit do well for five or six 

 years, or even more, if frequently cleared and kept 

 in order anil good heart. But none of these things 

 has a hard and fast law. The forcing of straw- 

 berries is a sjiecial subject upon which we cannot 

 enter. Brief as its season is of appearance in the 

 market from the first week of June to the last 

 of July may be taken as the period of outdoor fruit 

 in the neighbourhood of London the strawl>erry 

 has Jong won the affection of the people (at least 

 for immediate despatch) more entirely than any or 

 all other fruit, whatsoever. At the height of the 



