THE STRAWBERRY. 273 



mentioned, which also ripens later in the season; but 

 it is by no means productive, and is accordingly not 

 much cultivated. 



The Alpine strawberry is, in its native situation, a 

 more vigorous plant, and produces larger and more 

 highly flavoured fruit than the common one of the 

 woods. It is often much darker in the colour than 

 any of the other strawberries ; and when it is so, the 

 flavour has a sharpness bordering upon austerity. 



Still, however, it is an excellent fruit; and it has this 

 advantage, that it continues bearing from June until 

 stopped by the frost; and, in very open seasons, fruit 

 has been gathered from it at Christmas. 



The Hautbois was the first known of the larger 

 variety of strawberry. Its history has never been well 

 ascertained, though it is generally believed to be the 

 mountain strawberry of Bohemia, and to have been 

 first improved by cultivation in France. The hautbois 

 is very productive; and the fruit is highly flavoured, 

 with a peculiar kind of perfume; but some care is 

 necessary in order to prevent the plants from dege- 

 nerating. The name of this strawberry is probably 

 derived from the circumstances of the scape which 

 bears the fruit standing higher than the leaves, and, 

 consequently, being called hautbois (high wood). It 

 is not improbable, however, that its original locality 

 in the high woods of Bohemia may have suggested 

 the name. In the old gardening books it is written 

 hautboy. 



In the early part of the last century, the Alpine 

 strawberry of Chili was introduced into the Royal 

 Gardens at Paris, and from thence found its way over 

 many parts of Europe. It grew to a very large size, 

 and had a finer colour than the hautbois ; but in the 

 southern countries of Europe it was soon neglected, 

 because it ran greatly to leaves, produced compara- 

 tively little fruit, and what it did produce was defi- 



VOL u 6 



