THE ROSE, POME, AND DRUPE FAMILY. 4/3 



the flesh is quite solid and juicy, so that a greater weight of 

 fruit of this variety is obtained from a given area than of any 

 other. The " Scarlets " and the Pines have given numerous 

 hybrid varieties. 



Cuth ill's Black Prince is most prolific and very early, but 

 the fruit is small. Crossed with the modern large-fruited forms, 

 such as " Sir Joseph Paxton," " Dr Hogg," " Lucas," " Presi- 

 dent," or others, which are now sent out every season, it might 

 be made to produce a race of early large-fruited forms. The 

 best of the agreeably acid Alpine varieties so common in 

 French gardens might also be made to give us a late-fruiting 

 race, if crossed with " Elton," " Frogmore Late Pine," or other 

 late kinds. What is most to be desired, however, is a race of 

 large-fruited kinds, possessing the rich, brisk, sugary flavour 

 of " Hyatt's British Queen," which is still, without exception, 

 the finest-flavoured Strawberry in cultivation, but only suitable 

 for rich warm soils : on light sandy soils it is a failure as a 

 rule. " Dr Hogg " and " Carolina superba " belong to the same 

 race, and are delicious. These also might be utilised by the 

 hybridiser. 



The Chilian Strawberry was originally introduced to France 

 (Marseilles) from Chili in 1712, but is now known to extend 

 along the western coast of North America, California, and 

 Oregon. In 1857, nearly 500 acres of this kind were culti- 

 vated near Brest alone. In its original state it was too 

 tender for our climate, but seedlings were raised by crossing 

 it with other varieties, one of the earliest and best of these 

 being "Wilmot's Superb." And that finest-flavoured of all 

 Strawberries, " British Queen," also resulted from hybrid vari- 

 eties between this and other cultivated sorts. Dr Spruce, 

 the South American traveller, observes that "the Ever- 

 bearing Andean Strawberry, from the highlands of Mexico, is 

 doubtless one of those varieties of Fragaria vesca commonly 

 cultivated throughout the Andes within the tropics, where 

 the perpetual spring of that favoured region has had the 

 effect of rendering the Strawberry perennially fruitful, and 

 many of the deciduous-leaved trees of Europe evergreen. In 

 the equatorial Andes the province of Ambato is famed for its 

 Strawberries, which equal in size and flavour some of our best 

 varieties, and are to be seen exposed for sale in the market- 

 place of Ambato every day in the year. They are cultivated 

 at an altitude of from 7000 feet to 9500 feet above the sea, 

 where the mean temperature of the year ranges between 59 

 and 67 ; but the best are grown a little way out of Ambato, as 

 you go towards Guayaquil, on the slopes of Guachi (lat. ify 



