1867.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
VIRGINIA!? LUNGWORT. 
The seed from the perfect flowered plant pro- 
duces progeny of nearly the same variety as 
the parent, but generally inferior in quality. 
The strawberry seed, like mauy other seeds, 
remains until the following spring before they 
germinate ; but, if artificial aid is applied, the 
strawberry seed may be brought forward and 
produce bearing plants for the next season. 
This of course saves a year in arriving at results. 
Put the berries in a cloth and rub them until 
they are disengaged from the fruit, then wash 
them out and put them in ten times the quanti- 
ty of fine dry washed sand, set them in a dry 
place a week, and stir them up a few times ; now 
tie up the parcel in a cloth, and put it between 
two pieces of ice, change their position so they 
may freeze and thaw every day during a week 
or ten days. This has the effect of winter upon 
the seeds, and they are ready to germinate when 
brought into a genial temperature. Now keep 
them warm and wet for a week, and the seeds 
will be ready to plant. The bed must be pre- 
pared level, with a raised border, so that it can 
be flooded with water half an inch deep every 
day until the young plants begin to appear. 
Make the bed smooth, with a slight degree of 
firmness; distribute the seed and sand evenly 
over the bed, then sift light sandy loam on it to 
the depth of one-fourth of an inch, and com- 
mence the watering. Shade the bed from the 
midday sun, as the strawberry plant is a cool 
Weather plant, making most of its growth in 
spring and fall. The surface of the bed should 
never approach dryness. If everything has 
been carefully performed, the young plants will 
begin to appear in eight or ten days. The wa- 
tering may then be changed to sprinkling, like 
rain, "When the 
plants are two or 
three inches high, 
and of sufficient size 
to determine which 
are the most thriv- 
ing, they may be re- 
moved with a ball 
of earth to the pre- 
pared rows, top- 
dressed and water- 
ed. Allow each plant 
to make one or two 
runner plants. This 
will exhibit the char- 
acter of the plant 
more accurately. 
Probably not one- 
third of the young- 
plants will be worth 
moving to the rows. 
No inferior variety 
or sterile beds of the 
same variety should 
be near. They can 
not be too far off. 
The best variety, set 
with inferior varie- 
ties and neglected, 
will return to its 
primitive condition. 
Some specimens of 
good strawberry cul- 
tivation may be seen 
near Irvington, N. 
Y. The experiment 
of growing new va- 
rieties of strawber- 
ries is interesting 
amusement for those 
that have a little 
leisure time to fill 
up, and their cultivation produces an enjoyment 
rarely found in any other horticultural pursuit. 
Our Native Lady's Slippers, 
It is only those who ramble in the woods that 
know the beautiful things that their recesses 
contain. We never showed any of our native 
Lady's Slippers to a town dweller, that he did 
not express surprise that so curious a plant 
should grow wild. These plants belong to the 
genus Cypripedium, and are members of the 
Orchis family, remarkable alike for the beauty 
and singular structure of its flowers. In the 
Northern States we have in all six species of 
Cypripedium, some rarer than others, but all 
beautiful. Indeed, these natives of our woods 
are in Europe prized as rarities, and. while they 
are almost entirely neglected here, they are 
there cultivated w T ith the greatest care. With- 
out going into the intimate structure of these 
plants, we may say that one of their striking 
characters is to have one of the petals very 
much enlarged, and formed into a curiously in- 
flated bag or sac, much like the body of some 
huge spider. Perhaps, the commonest species 
is the Stemless Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium 
acmile, found in evergreen woods iu most of 
the Northern States. It has two broad leaves 
close to the ground, and from between them 
arises a naked stem about a foot high, bearing a 
flower nearl}' two inches long, of a pale purplish 
color and beautifully veined. Then we have 
two yellow species, C. pubesctns and 0. pari-i- 
florum, the latter fragrant and smaller than the 
former, which is without odor. " Unlike tho first ; 
SHOWT LADT S SLIPPER. 
mentioned species, these have leafy stems, and 
are found in damp woods, especially in the 
Northern States. The most beautiful of all the 
genus is the Showy Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium 
spectabile, one of the most beautiful of our 
native flowtrs, and one that need not be 
ashamed to show itself by the side of those of 
any country. Our engraving shows the general 
aspect of the plant. The stem often grows to 
the hight of two feet, and frequentl}' bears 
three flowers. The sepals and petals are white, 
and the large lip is of the purest white, more or 
less shaded with a beautiful purple. These 
plants are well worth transferring from their 
native localities to the garden, and will grow 
well if given a peaty soil iu a partially shaded 
place. The roots are generally very much mat- 
ted, and may be taken up in a mass at almost 
any season, eveu when they are in flower. 
Virginian Lungwort. — (Ifortmtia Virgmica.) 
As spring flowers are coming on, we have 
rather more than the usual number sent for 
names. One of the most frequently sent, in 
former years as well as in the present one, is 
the Virginian Lungwort, or Virginian Cowslip, 
as it is sometimes called. We present a figure 
of it, which is from an English work published 
early iu tho present century. It is much prized 
iu the European gardens, but like many others 
of our native plants, is only rarely seen in culti- 
vation iu our gardens. We have endeavored to 
cultivate a taste for our native shrubs and her- 
baceous plants, and jave to a certain extent been 
successful, at least if we may judge from tho in- 
