47-i THE STRAWBERRY. 



ties, it is sometimes difficult to select the distinct class, and writers 

 are often not a little confused in endeavoring to place them. 



Authors have classed the Strawberry as Scarlets, the original type 

 being our wild Strawberry ; Pines, originating from Pine or Surinam 

 Strawberry; Woods and Alpines, from the common wood Straw- 

 berry of Europe ; Hautbois, or High wood, from Bohemia ; Chili, 

 from South America. 



The Scarlets are designated in their character by small flowers ; 

 long, thin, light green, sharply serrate leaves ; acid or sub-acid fruit, 

 of bright scarlet color, with seeds deeply imbedded. 



The Pines are designated by large flowers ; broad, dark green 

 leaves ; fruit of pine-apple flavor, and generally soft in texture ; seeds 

 slightly imbedded. 



The Alpines and Woods have small flowers, perfect in their organs ; 

 small, thin, light green leaves ; fruit, small, sweet, and separating 

 freely from the calyx. 



The Hautbois have large, pale green leaves, on tall foot-stalks, 

 the fruit-stalk tall and erect, the fruit of a dull red or purplish color. 



The Chili, designated by hairy, thick, obtusely serrate leaves, fruit 

 pale red and insipid. 



The Green Strawberries have light green foliage, plaited fruit, 

 solid flesh, so unworthy cultivation as rarely to be found in this 

 country. 



We have dropped the arrangement into classes, as many of the 

 new varieties combine two of the above classes, and it is therefore im- 

 possible to classify distinctly. 



Soil and Situation. Rich, deep, loamy, inclining to clayey soils, 

 are generally found to produce the largest berries, as well as most in 

 quantity ; but a sharp sandy soil, well manured with compost of ani- 

 mal manure, bones, decayed weeds, old mortar, brick-dust or rubbish, 

 has, to our knowledge, produced some crops equal to any recorded 

 in the public journals. Deep, the soil must be, say twenty inches, to 

 insure the perfection of an entire crop. If only a moderately deep 

 soil of six to eight inches, the first berries will fill and perfect, while 

 the heat and drought, so usual throughout the West and South-west 

 in Strawberry season, will cause too rapid exhaustion, and prevent 

 the filling and perfecting of the remainder. 



Trenches, three feet wide and two feet deep, with one foot of straw 

 or leaves laid in the bottom, then filled up with good soil, well repay 

 the labor, in the extra crop produced. 



Where beds have been long established and rendered rich by dig- 

 ging in, liberally, of barn-yard manure, it frequently happens that too 

 much growth of foliage ensues, to the destruction of flowers or fruit- 

 stems. Where such is the case, application of one quart of gypsum 

 (plaster of Paris), to every four feet square of ground, with two 

 inches over the surface of leaf or vegetable mould from the woods 



