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THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL: 



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in our woods, the stem higher, the leaves broader, the fruit 

 larger, red, and usually much pointed, sometimes white. It 

 is well-flavoured, and the plants being great bearers from 

 June till the autumn frosts put a stop to them, the Alpine 

 Strawberry is therefore very valuable. The reason of its 

 long continuance in fruit is, that the runners which it throws 

 out during the summer, shoot up into flower and fruit the 

 same year, more freely than the others. Mr. Miller, who 

 considers it as a variety of the Scarlet Strawberry, says, that 

 the Dutch gardeners call it Everlasting Strawberry. It has 

 been cultivated ever since the time of Richard the Second. 

 3. The Rough-fruited or Prickly Strawberry, is only a mere 

 accidental variety. The flower is greenish, the fruit harsh, 

 rough, and prickly, of a greenish colour, with some show of 

 redness. John Tradescant the elder, first took notice of it 

 in a woman's garden in Plymouth : her daughter had gathered 

 it in the country, and set tlie root there. Merret afterwards 

 observed it in Hyde Park and Hampstead-wood. The Haut- 

 boy Strawberry has been long cultivated in the English gar- 

 dens, and differs much from the others in leaves, flower, and 

 fruit. There is an improved variety of it, commonly called 

 the globe hautboy, the fruit of which is larger, and of a glo- 

 bular form ; which, when neglected, will degenerate into the 

 common hautboy ; but where the soil is good, and the culture 

 well managed, the plants will produce plenty of large and 

 well-flavoured fruit. Mr. Miller, we know not upon what au- 

 thority, asserts that the hautboy came originally from Ame- 

 rica ; it is certainly very liable to degenerate, and to produce 

 dry effete fruit. This degeneracy, according to Monsieur 

 Duhamel, is owing to there being two sorts of plants, one 

 bearing male, the other female, or rather imperfect herma- 

 phrodite flowers ; for they have thick short (ilamenta, with 

 very small effete antherae. The former of these being re- 

 puted useless, are carefully destroyed, and hence not only 

 the seeds become abortive, but the receptaclf, which we 

 commonly call the fruit, small and juieeless. This may be 

 remedied, either by planting a few of the male plants, or of 

 the Scarlet or Pine Strawberry, among the hautboys. M. du 

 Chesne, who has written a treatise in French on the subject 

 of Strawberries, having sown the seeds of hautboys, had 

 about an equal number of male and female plants. Parkin- 

 son's Bohemian Strawberry seems to be the hautboy; but he 

 s.iys nothing about the high musky flavour peculiar to it : and 

 Ray says, it (lifters in nothing from the Wood Strawberry, 

 but in being nearly twice its size in all the parts; and that 

 the fruit is not so pleasant, but sweeter. Parkinson, however, 

 gives a very different account; he says, "that it is the good- 

 liest and greatest, both for leaf, next to the Virginian, and for 

 beauty far surpassing all, for some of the berries have been 

 measured to be near five inches about." The Chili Straw- 

 berry has hairy oval leaves, of a much thicker substance thnn 

 any sort yet known, standing upon very strong hairy foot- 

 stalks ; the runners from the plants are very large, hairy, and 

 f-xtend to a great length, putting out plants at several dis- 

 tances. The peduncles are very strong : the leaves of the 

 oalix long and hairy. The flowers are large, and often de- 

 formed, and so is the fruit, which is very large; and, when 

 cultivated in very strong land, the plants produce plenty of 

 fruit, which is firm, and well-flavoured ; but as it is not pro- 

 ductive, it has been generally neglected. Frezier says, that 

 the fruit usually attains the size of a walnut, but is sometimes 

 as large as an eg< ; that it is of a paler red than the European 

 Strawberry, and not so quick in its flavour. The Virginia or 

 Scarlet Strawberry is the sort which is first ripe, which, if the 

 fiuit were not thought by good judges to be preferable to all 

 others, would probably recommend it. The leaves are of a 



dark green, and of a more even surface than the others; the 

 flowering-stems are shorter; and the fruit is frequently con- 

 cealed among the leaves. It was brought from Virginia, 

 where it grows naturally in the woods. The Pine Strawberry 

 has lately been introduced into the English gardens. The 

 leaves have a great resemblance to those of the Scarlet Straw- 

 berry, but are larger, of a thicker substance, and the inden- 

 tures of their edges are blunter; the runners are much larger, 

 and hairy; the peduncles are stronger; the flowers much 

 larger ; and the fruit approaches in size, shape, and colour, 

 to the Chili Strawberry. As this produces a great quantity 

 of fruit, when the plants are kept clear from runners, and 

 the fruit is very large, it is worthy of cultivation. Duhamel 

 says, it is raised from the seed of" the Chili Strawberry. The 

 flower is very large, and the fruit has something of the smell 

 and taste of the pine-apple. It varies in the form, some 

 being ovoid, others oblate-spheroid, others again irregular: 

 they are much smaller than the Chili Strawberry. They are 

 smooth and shining; the shaded side yellowish-white, with 

 a tincture of red, and the seeds red ; the side towards the 

 sun pale red, composed of a mixture of reddish-brown and 

 yellow; the seeds red-brown. The flesh is less firm than 

 that of the Chili Strawberry, but it is juicy, and has a plea- 

 sant perfumed taste. The Carolina Strawberry greatly re- 

 sembles the preceding, but is much smaller and less hairy; 

 the flower-stems are shorter ; the flower-buds more length- 

 ened out, and less swollen; the divisions of the calix larger, 

 and the little ones seldom divided ; the petals rather smaller, 

 and seldom more than five in number; the fruit smaller, more 

 regular in the form, of a higher colour, and the perfume not 

 so pleasant. The Pine varies but little when raised from the 

 seed, whereas this varies much in the flower, fruit, &c. 

 Strawberries, either eaten alone, or with sugar, or with milk, 

 are usually esteemed a most delicious fruit: they are grate- 

 ful, cooling, subacid, juicy, and have a delightful smell. 

 Taken even in large quantities, they seldom disagree with the 

 stomach. They promote perspiration, impart a violet scent 

 to the urine, and dissolve the tartarous incrustations upon the 

 teeih. Persons afflicted with the gout or stone, have found 

 great relief by usine: them profusely, l.innens informs us, 

 that by eating" plentifully of them every day, he kept himself 

 almost free from the gout. Hoffman affirms, that he has 

 known consumptive people cured by them. The bark of the 

 root, like that of the Tormentil, and the rest of its congeners, 

 is astringent. The leaves, says Meyrick, are cooling and 

 diuretic: an infusion of them is good in the strangury; and, 

 when made strong, in the jaundice: when dried and reduced 

 to powder, they are astringent, and useful in fluxes of the 

 bowels : and a strong decoction of them sweetened with 

 honey, is a good gargle for sore throats. It would be un- 

 pardonable not to inform onr fair readers, that they have 

 likewise the credit of being a cosmetic, or beautifier of the 

 skin. Propagation and Culture. Strawberries in general love 

 a gentle hazelly loam, in which they will thrive, and bear 

 greater plenty of fruit than in a light rich soil. The ground 

 should also be moist; for if it be very dry, all the wateiing 

 which is given to the plants in warm dry seasons, will not be 

 sufficient to procure plenty of fruit ; nor should the ground 

 be much dunged, for that will cause the plants to run int 

 suckers, and grow luxuriant, and render them less fruitful. 

 The best time to remove these plants is in October, that they 

 may get new roots before the hard frost sets in, which 

 loosens the ground ; so that if the roots of the plants be not 

 well established in the ground, the first thaw will often turn 

 them out of it; therefore the sooner they are planted, when 

 the autumnal rains begin, the less danger will there be of 



