250 GARDEN PLANTS. PART II. 



similar to the common English Blackberry, but vastly superior 

 in flavour. Indeed there is no fruit in the country from which 

 more delicious tarts are made. 



Though rarely met with, the plant thrives well in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Calcutta. It blossoms in February, and bears fruit 

 in March ; and by judicious attention to the cultivation might, 

 no doubt, be rendered very productive. 



The treatment it demands seems to be very similar to that 

 bestowed upon the Raspberry in England. The shoots that have 

 once borne become afterwards barren, and should be cut away 

 completely out of the plant. Otherwise, if they do not actually 

 die, as is most commonly the case, they become aged and un- 

 sightly, and draw the nutriment of the soil from the bearing 

 canes, to which it should be entirely directed. 



It requires a good rich soil, and a frequent renewal of it, or, 

 perhaps better, a complete change of ground altogether. This 

 is best effected by raising a fresh stock of plants by digging out 

 suckers during the Eains. 



Fragaria vesca. 



STKAWBEREY. 



The produce of the Strawberry in India is generally very poor 

 as to size. Occasionally some fine-flavoured handsome fruits are 

 borne, not anything however like as large as are ordinarily met 

 with in Europe. To what it is owing I am unable to say, whether 

 to climate, or difference in the character or variety of the plants 

 themselves ; but leaving the mode of cultivation out of the ques- 

 tion, it is certain that the Strawberry is grown in some parts 

 of India much more satisfactorily than in others. In Meerut 

 especially, I believe, and Saharunpore, the fruit is produced 

 most abundantly ; and Captain Hollings has stated that " the 

 Strawberries produced at Lucknow are very fine, attaining to 

 the weight of nearly a tolah each." * The neighbourhood of 

 Calcutta, on the other hand, appears far from favourable to the 

 growth of this delicious fruit. 



The Alpine Strawberry I have raised from seed, and cultivated 

 in my garden at Chinsurah. I found it exceedingly vigorous 

 in growth, and much more productive than the other kinds, to 



* ' Journal of the Agri-Hort. Society,' vol. iii. p. 72. 



