STRAWBERRIES, 



are few gardens in which strawberries are not grown. They afford the first ripe 

 fruit of the year, and are esteemed by nearly everybody. Unlike other small fruit, 

 strawberries are seldom used for pies or puddings, yet if gathered before fully ripe they 

 make both these of excellent quality. The fruit, however, is mostly eaten at dessert, 

 either with or without sugar, and strawberries and cream are always held in high esteem. 

 Dr. Hogg says, in his Vegetable Kingdom, that the fruit of the strawberry is particularly 

 safe and wholesome. " It consists almost entirely of matter which is soluble in the 

 stomach, and which, neither when eaten or laid together in a heap, ever undergoes the 

 acetous fermentation; hence it is very nourishing, and may safely be eaten in quan- 

 tity. In addition to its grateful flavour, the sub-acid juice has a cooling quality, parti- 

 cularly acceptable in the summer. Eaten, either alone or with sugar and cream, there 

 are few constitutions with which strawberries, even when taken in large quantities, do 

 not agree. They dissolve the tartarous incrustations of the teeth, promote perspiration, 

 and persons afflicted with gout have found relief from using them very largely." 

 Besides its consumption in a fresh state, the strawberry is largely used for making jam. 

 A palatable wine and vinegar are also prepared from strawberries ; and they arc some- 

 times preserved entire in syrup or wine. Strawberrj ade and other agreeable and cooling 

 drinks are also made from the fruit, and strawberries are largely used in jellies. 



The varieties of strawberries, now cultivated in gardens, originated from several 

 distinct species of Fragaria: 1. Alpine varieties have been derived from the common 

 wild or wood strawberry (F. vesca). 2. Hautbois varieties came from F. elatior, 

 which sprang from F. vesca, but it is much larger and may rarely be found semi- 

 naturalised in the south of England. 3. The scarlet varieties, of which few are now 

 grown, belong to F. virginiana, a native of North America. The Old Scarlet has been 

 in cultivation over two and a half centuries and the Eosebery since 1808, Scone Scarlet 

 was raised in 1813 ; Grove End Scarlet and Keen's Seedling appeared together in 1820. 

 The last-named variety is, perhaps, the first strawberry, originated by natural or artificial 

 cross-fertilisation, that combined the scarlet with the pine race. 4. The pine varieties 



