STRAWBERRIES 59 



This is, perhaps, the same as the alpine straw- 

 berry, which is said to grow in the mountains of 

 Greece, and thence northward. This was probably 

 the first variety cultivated, though our native species 

 would seem as unpromising a subject for the garden 

 as club-moss or wintergreens. 



Of the field strawberry there are a great many 

 varieties, — some growing in meadows, some in pas- 

 tures, and some ujDon mountain-tops. Some are 

 round, and stick close to the calyx or hull; some are 

 long and pointed, with long, tapering necks. These 

 usually grow upon tall stems. They are, indeed, 

 of the slim, linear kind. Your corpulent berry 

 keeps close to the ground; its stem and foot-stalk 

 are short, and neck it has none. Its color is deeper 

 than that of its tall brother, and of course it has 

 more juice. You are more apt to find the tall varie- 

 ties upon knolls in low, wet meadows, and again 

 upon mountain-tops, growing in tussocks of wild 

 grass about the open, summits. These latter ripen 

 in July, and give one his last taste of strawberries 

 for the season. 



But the favorite haunt of the wild strawberry is 

 an uplying meadow that has been exempt from the 

 plow for five or six years, and that has little timothy 

 and much daisy. When you go a-berrying, turn 

 your steps toward the milk-white meadows. The 

 slightly bitter odor of the daisies is very agreeable 

 to the smell, and affords a good background for the 

 perfume of the fruit. The strawberry cannot cope 

 with the rank and deep-rooted clover, and seldom 



