8 STRAWBERRIES 
was the fortunate raiser of Sir Joseph Paxton, still 
widely grown for market. And then there came that 
greatest of all strawberry-raisers, the late Mr Thomas 
Laxton of Bedford,whose three greatest achievements were 
the very early Noble, the omnipresent Royal Sovereign 
—the strawberry of the present day—and Latest of All. 
He has been followed by his sons, whose output includes 
Trafalgar and Mentmore, but these will be surpassed by 
their new variety, The Laxton, a splendid strawberry, 
the result of crossing Royal Sovereign with Sir Joseph 
Paxton. It has firmer, deeper coloured, and finer 
flavoured fruits than the former, while it possesses all 
the robustness and freedom of that popular sort. It 
ought here to be stated that Mr Thomas Laxton early 
formed an opinion that good would result from inter- 
crossing the best American with selected British varieties, 
and this he tested by first acclimatising some good 
American sorts. The first result was Noble, but it was 
from a natural, and not from an artifical, cross between 
Forman’s Excelsior and Sharpless seedling. Through 
Noble quite a number of varieties have been in a small 
degree Americanised for it is one parent of Mentmore, 
Scarlet Queen, Leader, Laxton’s No. I, and Latest of 
ALL | 
Mr Wm. Allan, the able gardener to Lord Sufheld, 
at Gunton Park, Norwich, has raised several strawberries 
that combine fine appearance with excellent flavour and 
abundant crops; their names are Lord Sufheld, Empress 
of India, Gunton Park, and Lady Suffield, and they are 
of such excellence that wherever the soil and climate 
suits them they are extremely difficult to beat as high- 
class dessert varieties. 
The well-known firm of Messrs James Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea, has raised and distributed some delicious 
strawberries during recent years; notably, Veitch’s 
Prolific, a white-fleshed variety derived from British 
