330 HISTORY OF FRUITS. 



and female flowers on the same plant. These are not so 

 profitable ; and I find it more advantageous to raise my 

 plants from seed than by suckers. When the fruit is 

 quite ripe, I sow them in a rich moist soil, and in one 

 year the Alpines produce fruit, but the other kinds re- 

 quire two years." From the seed, Mr. Keen has pro- 

 cured a new variety of this fruit, to which he has given 

 the name of Imperial Strawberry ; it is of a dark ruby 

 colour, and, in appearance, the most beautiful of all the 

 strawberries ; but I find the flavour of it is not superior 

 to that of other kinds. Mr. Keen recommends the month 

 of March, as the best season for making new beds. 



The strawberry is our earliest fruit, and, as the har- 

 binger of the fructus homi, its appearance is as welcome, 

 as its flavour is agreeable. 



It has also of late years formed a part of the autumnal 

 and winter desserts. The alpine variety having been ob- 

 tained from cold mountains, and the seed sown, is found 

 to produce abundance of fruit in the open air, even as 

 late in the season as December; and it is not an uncommon 

 thing now, to hear them cried through the streets of 

 London in November. Thus by the improvement in 

 horticulture, we are now enabled to enjoy these fragrant 

 berries in every month of the year, the hot-house affording 

 them from January until the arrival of the earliest varie- 

 ties in the open garden. The August and September 

 strawberries are procured, by planting well-rooted runners 

 of the Roseberry, Wilmot's late Scarlet, or the Common 

 Scarlet, in beds and in open situations, about the middle 

 of May. 



The treatment of these plants having varied so much 

 of late years, and the size and quantity, as well as the 

 quality, having been so much improved, we shall notice 

 the principal cause, for the information of those who have 

 not regular gardeners. 



