582 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Surinam; the Scarlets from Fragaria Virginiana, 

 a native of North America ; the Chiles from 

 Fragaria chilensis, from South America. The 

 last three were, however, believed by Knight to 

 be varieties of only one species, as he found them 

 to breed together indiscriminately. The Haut- 

 bois is derived from Fragaria elatior, a native 

 of woods in Britain ; the Green pine from Fra- 

 garia collina, a native of Germany. The varie- 

 ties of cultivated strawberries, up to the begin- 

 ning of the present century, were meagre in the 

 extreme to those of the present day. Langley, 

 in his " Pomona," published in 1729, enumerates 

 only three sorts, and says, " The several kinds 

 of strawberries worth our notice are the Scarlet, 

 the Hautbois, and the Wood strawberry." In 

 1842 the London Horticultural Society published 

 a list in their " Fruit Catalogue," extending to 

 thirty-one recognised sorts, of sufficient merit to 

 justify their cultivation, besides about as many 

 considered worthless, with an immense host of 

 synonyms. A supplement has recently been 

 published to that Catalogue, wherein twenty-nine 

 new sorts of merit are enumerated, making some- 

 where about sixty sorts in cultivation. The 

 strawberry, which is the most delicious and 

 wholesome of all berries, is only to be found in 

 perfection in northern climates. It appears to 

 have been unknown to the ancient Greeks and 

 Romans, although they were acquainted with 

 most of the fruits we now possess. We have no 

 recollection of its being even alluded to by either 

 their poets or historians ; it has been left to a 

 modern bard to sing its praise in true pastoral 

 style — 



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



Downing, the American pomologist, in speak- 

 ing of the excellence of this fruit, remarks, " We 

 have heard of individuals who really did not, 

 by nature, relish strawberries, but we confess 

 that we have always had the same doubts of 

 their existence as we have of that of the uni- 

 corn." The botanical name Fragaria is in al- 

 lusion to its fragrant or perfumed fruit, and not, 

 as some have it, from fragaris, to break, from a 

 supposed property in the fruit of dissolving or 

 breaking the stone in the bladder. The Scarlet, 

 or Virginian, was the earliest introduced to 

 Britain, and the Chile succeeded it in 1727, 

 either of which must have been the strawberries 

 referred to by our older writers. It is singular 

 that Langley makes no mention of this last sort, 

 seeing it was introduced two years before his 

 " Pomona " was published. The fruit, or rather 

 more properly the fleshy receptacle usually 

 called the fruit, with its seeds placed on the sur- 

 face of the pulp, and not, as in general in the 

 case of berries, within it, is held in deservedly 

 high estimation, both as a luxury, and also for its 

 medical properties. The fruit soon becomes 

 almost entirely soluble when taken into the 

 stomach, and neither there, nor when left in 

 heaps to rot, does it undergo the acetous fermen- 

 tation, which accounts for its being eaten in 

 moderate quantities in perfect safety even by 

 the most delicate persons. 



Propagation. — Strawberries are reared from 

 seed, and also more generally by young plants 



formed on the runners at almost every joint, 

 and sometimes, but rarely, by suckers taken from 

 the sides of the established plants. The advan- 

 tage of this mode of increase is not very ap- 

 parent. The two former are the most natural, 

 and unquestionably the best. 



Propagation by seed is adopted when new or 

 improved varieties are wished for, although with 

 some kinds — the Alpines and Wood strawberries, 

 for example — it should be followed in preference 

 to any other. Some excellent cultivators also 

 rear other early-bearing sorts from seed, with a 

 view to produce a late crop the autumn follow- 

 ing ; they being sown in spring, and no doubt, 

 under favourable circumstances, that result is 

 effected, although it has been asserted by the 

 late Mr Williams that such fruit is very deficient 

 in flavour, probably owing to the diminished 

 temperature and decreased sunshine. The pro- 

 cess about to be described for Alpines is appli- 

 cable to the other sorts also, the first process being 

 sowing the seed, which should be taken from 

 the finest specimens of the fruit when it has 

 attained its fullest degree of ripeness. The 

 pulp should be bruised down with the hand into 

 a vessel containing water, and as the pulpy 

 matter is reduced the seeds will separate from 

 it; and thus, by repeated washing, and the seed 

 falling to the bottom, they may be collected, 

 dried, and preserved in paper bags till spring. 

 About the middle of March a slight hotbed 

 should be prepared of leaves in a state of mode- 

 rate fermentation, over which a bed of rich soil 

 should be laid to the depth of 9 inches, rendered 

 as level and smooth as possible, upon which the 

 seeds are to be thinly sown, and covered with 

 very firm fine mould to the depth of an eighth of 

 an inch; the frames and glass-lights should then 

 be placed over the whole ; very slight waterings 

 should be administered until vegetation com- 

 mences, and the water applied in a tepid state. 

 When the young plants appear above ground, 

 ventilation must be attended to ; and if they 

 come up too thick, they should be moderately 

 thinned; for it is of great importance to obtain 

 stout stocky plants, which never can be the 

 case with any seedlings, if crowded too thickly 

 at first. In the south the hotbed is seldom em- 

 ployed, the seed being sown on a well-exposed 

 border, and in some cases even on one with a 

 northern exposure. We have found it most 

 successful in the North to sow on heat as above. 

 From the end of June to the middle of August 

 the plants will be* in a proper state for trans- 

 planting, and the situation best adapted to them 

 is a northern border, with a rich and moist soil. 

 They should be planted in rows 2 feet asunder, 

 and a foot distant in the line. The Alpines 

 come into bearing at a much earlier age than 

 most others, nor is it found that they continue 

 to be productive so long ; and hence this rear- 

 ing from seed is exceedingly well adapted to 

 them, besides continuing the season of the fruit 

 to a much later period. The Wood strawberries 

 are in character very similar to the Alpines, 

 and, like them, are best reared from seed, only 

 the process of sowing should take place as soon 

 as the fruit is ripe, choosing a bed of rich soil; 

 and when the plants are so large as to be fit to 



