THE STRAWBERRY. 
G65 
which we consider a perfect pastoral idyl (as the German school 
would say) in itself, -nothing remains to be wished for. Wa 
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 unicorn. 
Ripe, blushing strawberries, eaten from the plant, or served 
with sugar and cream, are certainly Arcadian dainties with a 
true paradisiacal flavour, and, fortunately, they are so easity 
grown that the poorest owner of a few feet of ground may hav -* 
them in abundance. 
To the confectioner this fruit is also invaluable, communi- 
cating its flavour 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 fer- 
mentation, as most other fruits do. The ' often-quoted instance 
of the great Linnaeus 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 rapidly by runners* which are always taken to form new 
plantations or beds. These are taken off the parent plants early 
in spring, and either planted at once where they are to grow, 
or put out in nursery beds, or rows, to get well established for 
the next spring-bearing. When the parent plants have become 
degenerated, or partially or wholly barren, we should avoid 
taking the runners from such, and choose only those which grow 
from the most fruitful ones. In order to be sure of the latter 
point, it is only necessary to mark the best- bearing plants by 
small sticks pushed into the bed by the side of each when the 
fruit is in perfection. Some varieties, as the Prolific Hautbois, 
the English Wood, and the Large Early Scarlet, are not liable 
to this deterioration, and therefore it is not necessary to select 
the runners carefully ; but others, as the Pine strawberries, and 
some of the Scarlets, are very liable to it; and if the runners are 
taken and planted promiscuously, the beds so made will be near- 
ly barren. 
The best soil for the 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, be- 
* Excepting the Bwsh Alpines, wt ich have no runners, and are propa* 
gated by division < f the roots. 
