THE STRAWBERRY. 



975 



them over with an abrupt, farmer-like contempt of little matters, to 

 feminine hands : — 



" 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, prove excellent good." 



The Strawberry, though well known, is of comparatively little value 

 in the South of Europe. Old Roman and Greek poets have not, there- 

 fore, sung its praises ; but after that line of a northern bard, 



" A dish of ripe strawberries, smothered in cream," 



which we consider a perfect pastoral idyl (as the German school would 

 say) in itself, nothing remains to be wished for. 



Ripe, blushing Strawberries, eaten from the plant, or served with 

 sugar and cream, are certainly Arcadian dainties with a true paradisiacal 

 flavor, and, fortunately, they are so easily grown that the poorest owner 

 of a few feet of ground may have them in abundance. 



To the confectioner this fruit is also invaluable, communicating its 

 flavor to ices, and forming several delicate preserves. In Paris a cooling 

 drink, bavaroise a la grecque, is made of the juice of strawberries and 

 lemons, with the addition of sugar and water. 



The Strawberry is perhaps the most wholesome of all fruits, being 

 very easy of digestion, and never growing acid by fermentation, as most 

 other fruits do. The often quoted instance of the great Linnseus curing 

 himself of the gout by partaking freely of strawberries — a proof of its 

 great wholesomeness — is a letter of credit which this tempting fruit has 

 long enjoyed, for the consolation of those who are looking for a bitter 

 concealed under every sweet. 



Propagation and Soil. The strawberry propagates itself very ra- 

 pidly by runners,* which are always taken to form new plantations or 

 beds. These are taken off the parent plants early in spring, or in Au- 

 gust and September, and at once planted in the rows or beds where they 

 are to fruit. 



The best soil for a strawberry is a deep rich loam. Deep it must 

 be, if large berries and plentiful crops are desired ; and the wisest 

 course, therefore, where the soil is naturally thin, lies in trenching and 

 manuring the plot of ground thoroughly before putting out the plants. 

 But even if this is not necessary, it should be dug deeply, and well en- 

 riched with strong manure beforehand. 



The best exposure for strawberries is an open one, fully exposed to 

 the sun and light. 



Culture in Rows. The finest strawberries are always obtained 

 when the plants are kept in rows, at such a distance apart as to give suf- 

 ficient space for the roots, and abundance of light and air for the leaves. 



In planting a plot of strawberries in rows, the rows should be two 

 feet apart, and the plants of the large-growing kinds, two feet from 

 each other in the rows ; of the smaller growing kinds, from one foot to 

 eighteen inches is sufficient. The runners must be kept down by cut- 

 ting them off at least three times a year, and the ground must be main- 

 tained in good order by constant dressing. During the first year a row 



* Excepting the Bush Alpines, which have no runners, and are propagated by 

 division of the roots. 



