54 THE STRAWBERRY CULTURIST. 



THE HAUTBOIS AND ALPINE STRAWBERRIES. 



All of the varieties of the Hautbois Strawberry (Fro* 

 garia elatior) have a rather strong musky odor, which 

 is rather disagreeable to most persons, and the fruit is 

 usually of a dull red or greenish color and not very at- 

 tractive in appearance. They are altogether inferior to 

 the varieties of other species, and for this reason are 

 rarely cultivated except in the gardens of botanists. 



The Alpine Strawberry (F. vescd), on the contrary, 

 is of a very mild flavor with a delicious perfume. There 

 are quite a large number of varieties in cultivation in 

 Europe, and, while none yield very large berries, they are 

 mostly quite prolific and will thrive in cold exposed po- 

 sitions where those of other species would perish. 



In the catalogues of European nurserymen and those 

 who make Strawberry growing a specialty, we may find 

 thirty or more varieties of the Alpine Strawberry de- 

 scribed, but the larger proportion of the names used in 

 these catalogues are mere synonyms, and it would probably 

 be difficult to find a dozen really distinct varieties of this 

 species in all Europe. There are, however, four really 

 distinct varieties, all long known in this country, and 

 now generally cultivated in European countries although 

 under various names. These are : 



Red-Bush Alpine. Fruit medium size, conical > 

 bright red ; seeds prominent, not sunken as usual in the 

 common Strawberry ; flavor mild, not highly but deli- 

 cately perfumed. Plants continue bearing from June 

 till checked by frosts in autumn. In rich soils the plants 

 will yield well throughout the entire season. As they 

 produce no runners they must be propagated by divi- 

 sions. 



