THE STRAWBERRY. 187 



CHAPTER XXIIJ 

 The Strawberry. 



THE STRAWBERRY is unquestionably one of the most deli 

 cious of our hardy fruits. It exists in a wild state on 

 hedge banks, in woods, and on waste spots in this country, 

 and is still more abundant in the North of Europe, Sweden 

 especially. On the Continent, indeed, the fruits of the 

 Wild Strawberry are appreciated more than those of the 

 cultivated kinds. 



In the thirteenth century mention was made in the House- 

 hold Roll of the Countess of Leicester of Strawberries; 

 and in the time of King Henry VIII. the fruit was valued 

 at fourpence per bushel. Strawberries appear to have 

 been grown in gardens at that period, but they were evi- 

 dently the ordinary Wild or Wood Strawberry (Fragaria 

 vesca). Tusser, the farmer poet, alludes to them in his 

 quaint verse : 



" Wife, into the garden, and set me a plot 

 With Strawberry roots of the best to be got ; 

 Such growing abroad among thorns in the wood, 

 Well chosen and picked, grow excellent good." 



This reference appeared in the sixteenth century. Ger- 

 arde, later in the same century, mentions the Hautbois 

 Strawberry (Fragaria elatior) as being grown in gardens. 

 Parkinson also describes the Wood and the Hautbois, also 

 the Virginian Strawberry, in his writings early in the 

 next century. In the eighteenth century the Alpine 

 Strawberry (Fragaria alpina) was introduced into this 

 country from the Continent, and apparently grown largely 

 in gardens. 



Other kinds grown in gardens were the Scarlet or 

 Virginian Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), from North 

 America; and the Chili Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), 



