6 THE 8TKAWBEKRY CULTTTKIST. 



It belongs to Class 12, Icosandria Polyandria of the Linnsean or arti- 

 ficial system of botany, or in Rosacece or Rose family of the natural 

 arrangement. 



Stamens, more than ten on calyx, surrounding the pistils mostly 

 low, creeping plants, with perennial roots many species and sub- 

 species found growing wild in the temperate and cold climates of both 

 hemispheres. 



HISTORY OP THE STRAWBERRY. 



How the name of Strawberry came to be applied to this fruit is un- 

 known, as the old authors do not agree ; some asserting that it was 

 given it because children used to string them upon straws to sell, while 

 others say that it took its name from the fact of straw being placed 

 around the plants in order to keep the fruit clean. Its name may not 

 have been derived from either of these, but from the appearance of 

 the plant ; for when the ground is covered with its runners, they cer- 

 tainly have much of the appearance of straw being spread over the 

 ground. We have found nothing conclusive on this point. 



The strawberry does not appear to have been cultivated by the 

 ancients, or even by the Romans, for it is scarcely mentioned by any 

 of their writers, and then not in connection with the cultivated fruits 

 or vegetables. Virgil mentions it only when warning the shepherds 

 against the concealed adder when seeking flowers and strawberries. 



Ovid mentions the Alpine and wood strawberries, and Pliny speaks 

 of it as one of the few native fruits of Italy. 



From what we learn from these and other ancient writers, we con- 

 clude that the cultivation of the strawbeny belongs wholly to modern 

 tunes, or about 400 years since. Yet there does not appear to have 

 been any highly-improved varieties in cultivation one hundred years 

 ago, although the strawberry was much cultivated in gardens in the 

 beginning of the fifteenth century. 



Casper Bauhin, in his "Pinax," published in 1623, mentions but 

 five varieties. Gerarde, in 1597, enumerates but three the white, 

 red, and green fruited. 



Parkinson, in 1656, describes the Virginian and Bohemian, besides 

 those mentioned by Gerarde. Quintinie, in his "French Gardener," 



