46 SUCCESS WITH small fruits. 



on the convex receptacle, which, as the seeds ripen, greatly 

 enlarges, and becomes the pulpy and delicious mass that 

 is popularly regarded as the fruit. So far from being the 



fruit, it is only " the much al- 

 tered end of the stem " that 

 sustains the fruit or seeds ; and 

 so it becomes a beautiful illus- 

 tration of a kindly, genuine 

 courtesy, which renders an or- 

 dinary service with so much 

 grace and graciousness that 

 we dwell on the manner with 

 far more pleasure than on the 



Seeds and Pulp of the Strawberry. 



service itself. 



The innumerable varieties of strawberries that are now in 

 existence appear, either in their character or origin, to be- 

 long to five great and quite distinct species. The first, and 

 for a long time the only one of which we have any record, 

 is the Fragaria vesca, or the Alpine strawberry. It is one 

 of the most widely spread fruits of the world, for it grows, 

 and for centuries has grown, wild throughout Northern and 

 Central Europe and Asia, following the mountains far to the 

 south ; and on this continent, from time immemorial, the 

 Indian children have gathered it, from the Northern Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific. In England this species exhibits some 

 variation from the Alpine type, and was called by our ances- 

 tors the Wood strawberry. The chief difference between 

 the tv/o is in the form of the fruit, the Wood varieties being 

 round and the Alpine conical. They are also subdivided 

 into white and red, annual and monthly varieties, and those 

 that produce no runners, which are known to-day as Bush 

 Alpines. 



The Alpine, as we find it growing wild, was the strawberry 



