10 THE STRAWBEEBY CULTURIST. 



Strawberry, but the plants are rarely as hardy or succeed 

 as well, in our Northern States, except in sheltered situ- 

 ations. In Europe, however, the varieties of the Chilian 

 Strawberry have long been preferred to those of the Vir- 

 ginian, probably on account of their large size and mild 

 Savor, as most of our American varieties require a high 

 temperature to develop their saccharine properties. 



No improvement was made in the Strawberry by 

 European gardeners until the introduction of the 

 American species, but it was not until the beginning of 

 the present century that practical experiments were 

 made in England for improving this fruit. In 1810 

 Mr. N. Davidson raised a new variety, which was named 

 the Roseberry. T. A. Knight raised the Downton in 

 1816 ; Atkinson, the Grove End Scarlet in 1820 ; and 

 in 1824 Keen's Seedling appeared. Knight raised the 

 Elton in 1820. During the twenty years from 1810 down 

 to 1830 not more -than a half dozen improved varieties 

 were produced in England, but Myatt soon followed 

 with his British Queen, which remained the leading 

 variety of that country for almost a half century. 



The French, German, Belgian, and other continental 

 gardeners soon entered the field, and now the Strawberry 

 has become one of the most popular fruits throughout 

 Europe as well as in America. 



Although we possessed the materials from which we 

 could have readily produced new and improved varieties 

 of the Strawberry, adapted to our soil and climate, very 

 little was attempted in this direction until long after 

 the Strawberry had become popular in Europe, and even 

 when it began to attract attention in this country, our 

 fruit growers were content to import varieties from 

 abroad instead of attempting to raise new and mor* 

 valuable ones at home. 



