548 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



extended experiments had been made, as he states that all the avail- 

 able varieties and species of Strawberries were found to breed together, 

 and that he considered them therefore to be all " varieties of the 

 same plant." Over 400 seedlings resulted from the above crosses, 

 some of which later became famous. 



The first of these was the ' Downton,' which is described and figured 

 in the Transactions (vol. iii. p. 396). The female parent of this variety 

 was raised from seed imported direct from America by a Mr. W. W. 

 Capper, of Birmingham. From what part of America they were 

 received is not specified, but the fruit was classed as a Virginian. 

 This was pollenized by the ' Old Black,' a variety of uncertain origin. 

 The result was a large oblong fruit showing many resemblances to 

 F. clriloensis. In view of the uncertainty which exists as regards the 

 origin of its parents, the ' Downton ' cannot be claimed as a definite 

 case of a virginiana X chiloensis cross. 



The second variety which was raised by Knight was the ' Elton 

 Seedling.' This fine fruit quickly established itself as a good late 

 variety, and may be found still in cultivation. Of its origin there 

 is no record. 



These two varieties of Knight's, and ' Keens' Seedling,' are of 

 the greatest importance in the history of the Strawberry. Their 

 appearance created something of a furore. In France they were 

 welcomed as the greatest advance so far achieved, and for many years 

 these large-fruited sorts were there known as ' Fraises Anglaises.' 



This great success had the result of stimulating breeders to fresh 

 efforts, and in this country many varieties of great excellence soon 

 appeared. 



Mr. John Williams, a successful raiser of many fruits, whose 

 memory is kept alive in the many varieties bearing the name of his 

 house ' Pitmaston,' was among the first in the field ; and though his 

 Strawberries are now almost out of cultivation, they took for some 

 time a leading place. 



Myatt, of Deptford, introduced in 1840 his most famous seedling 

 ' British Queen,' which is yet one of the best flavoured. ' Admiral 

 Dundas ' (1854), another seedling, was long a standard variety, and 

 ' Eleanor ' (1847) is still grown with success. His seedlings are 

 believed to have been raised from Knight's varieties. 



Another successful raiser in rather later days was Bradley, 

 gardener at Elton Manor, Nottingham. He succeeded in producing 

 two magnificent fruits, ' Sir J. Paxton ' (1862) and ' Dr. Hogg ' (1866), 

 both of which are too well known to-day to need further comment. 



The impetus given by Knight and Keens spread rapidly also 

 to the Continent and America. In France Pelevain introduced in 

 1844 ' Princesse Royale,' a variety which was for more than fifty 

 years the leading French fruit. His 1 Comte de Paris ' was raised 

 in 1846 from a seed of ' Elton,' showing thus the influence of the 

 English stock. In 1852 the firm of Jamin raised and introduced 

 the well-known 1 Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury,' and in 1865 Berger, 



