who do not highly appreciate it. Medicinally, Strawberries are supposed 

 to be beneficial in cases of gout, rheumatism, stone, gravel, and consumption. 

 The juice is also considered to be serviceable in dissolving tartareous 

 incrustations that collect upon the teeth. In addition to the grateful 

 flavour of the fruit to the palate, the pleasant sub-acid juice is very 

 refreshing, and more especially in hot weather. In France and other 

 parts of Europe a favourite cooling drink is made from the juice when 

 mixed with water, with lemon and sugar added. Strawberries make an 

 excellent preserve, and in the form of either jam or jelly are very popular. 

 The juice by fermentation makes a strong, rich, and palatable wine, and 

 from this an excellent spirit can l>e obtained by distillation. 



IMPERFECT FLOWERS. 



The flowers of the Strawberry are usually bi-sexual, or furnished with 

 stamors and pistils, the essential organs for the production of fruit. 

 Sometimes, however, varieties are produced whose flowers are without 

 stamens, or male organs, and contain pistils, or female parts only. As a 

 matter of course, plants in this condition cannot produce fruit unless 

 fertilised by the pollen of others that are furnished with stamens. With 

 some varieties the lack of stamens is a characteristic, and these are known 

 as pistillate sorts, but it is not uncommon for kinds that usually have 

 perfect flowers to occasionally become unfruitful owing to the suppression 

 of the male organs. A good idea of the difference between perfect and 



Perfect Flower Enlarged 



pistillate flowers may be obtained from the illustration*. Figure A 

 represents a bi-sexual, or perfect, flower showing the pistils in the centre, 

 with the stamens arranged in a circle around them. Tho stamens are 



