6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r July 3,1890. 
a garden wherever he himself might be planted, and would gather 
treasures from all climates to furnish it. That the Pine Strawberry is 
closely related to the Chili is sufficiently evident to give reasonable 
colour to Duhamel’s declaration. 
(To be continued.! 
GARDEN STRAWBERRIES. 
BY MB. J. WRianr. 
“ Doubtless God could have made a better berry than the Straw¬ 
berry, but doubtless God never did.” Thus wrote a quaint old doctor 
many years ago. He loved Strawberries when there were no such 
varieties as we have now, and it may be fairly assumed if he could be 
with us to-day he would be in the seventh heaven of delight. He has 
a large heritage of lovers of the luscious berries, and though all the 
millions of Strawberry eaters cannot be expected to agree that it is 
the best of all fruits, yet no other that grows and ripens in our gardens 
is so popular during its period of use in June and July. It is without 
a doubt the prince of hardy dessert fruits of early summer, and may 
be grown in every garden in the land, large or small, in town or country, 
that is capable of producing good crops of Peas and Potatoes. The 
Strawberry is, indeed, a better town plant than either of the familiar 
kinds just mentioned, at least the variet ies with broad, glossy, recurving 
leaves are, such as Keens’ Seedling, but those with woolly or downy 
foliage, and more or less cupped for catching the smuts, are best in the 
pure air of the country. The Strawberry, then, is a good town and 
suburban garden fruit, and might be grown in hundreds of small en¬ 
closures from which it is now absent ; and I am not aware that so 
much that is good can be obtained in an equally limited space as from 
a well grown and heavily fruited plant of the Strawberry. As I should 
like the greatest possible number of persons who have the necessary 
means to have a few Strawberries of their own growing I direct atten¬ 
tion to the adaptability of the plant to the smallest gardens in which 
fruit of any kind can be cultivated. 
The Strawberry is naturally and essentially a midsummer fruit, and in 
the great majority of gardens the crops are over all too soon. By special 
effort and adequate means Strawberries can be had during every month 
in the year, but I am not one of those who think an all-the-year-round 
supply of any kind of fruit generally desirable. The appetite does not 
grow with what it feeds upon when it feeds continually on the same 
kind of fruit. It is the periodical breaks in the supply, and the change 
consequent thereupon, that give zest and enjoyment to that which is pro¬ 
duced at the different periods of the year. Forced Strawberries can be had 
in February, March, April, and May, then comes the great natural feast 
in June and July. Alpines can be had in August and September, and in 
the last-named month second crops may be produced from early forced 
plants, duly cared for and planted out. These continue in October. 
Others of the forced plants, but later, can be made to bear second crops 
in pots in November, December, January, and I have seen them in 
February. Thus is the Strawberry chain linked round the year. But 
some of the links are very weak, and cost a great deal more than they 
are worth in producing. British gardeners, however, like to accomplish 
feats of skill, and the endeavour is most worthy. Give them the 
means, and I believe we have men in our ranks who can achieve any¬ 
thing that is possible in the art of cultivation. 
It is not my intention to dwell on the manner in which exceptional 
“ feats ” are performed under exceptional circumstances by exceptional 
men, for only a few can dance on the gardening tight rope creditably, 
and the great majority can spend their time more usefully in other 
ways. I prefer, then, to dwell on the more useful aspects of Straw¬ 
berry growing, with the object of eliciting information relative to the 
best methods of providing the best supply of fruit over the longest 
period in a natural way ; or, in other words, we will try, if you please, 
to keep in view the requirements of the many rather than the fancies 
of the few in the production of a satisfactory supply of this much 
coveted and delicious fruit. 
The great desire of the majority of gardeners and owners of gardens 
is to have a plentiful daily supply of fine well-flavoured fruit from 
the earliest possible date to the latest in the Strawberry season. In 
endeavouring to attain this object four questions arise for consideration 
—namely, 1, choice of varieties ; 2, sites for the plantations ; 3, soil and 
its preparation ; 4, methods of cultivation. 
Early Strawberries. 
More than thirty years ago I gathered Peas sown and grown in the 
open 150 miles north of London on the 25th of May. Since then at the 
least a dozen varieties have been introduced as a week earlier than their 
predecessors. If they had maintained their precocity we should have a 
gain of about three months in earliness. But they did not. It is a 
question if more than a week has been gained in time during that period, 
but there has been a good gain in size and quality. How stands the- 
case with Strawberries ? 1 am inclined to think it is much the same- 
Have we gained more than a week in earliness by new varieties during 
the same period of time ? If we have gained a week it is a good’ 
advance. I doubt if we have gained more, except perhaps with one 
variety. In those far past days I gathered ripe fruit of Black Prince 
on the 2nd day of June. Has anyone here gathered outdoor Straw¬ 
berries a week before that date, and if so, where, and of what variety I: 
But we have gained distinctly in both size and quality, and Black 
Prince is practically obsolete. We have made good progress therefore,, 
and now the question that the great scattered community of Strawberry 
growers want answering is this, Which are the best, most reliable, 
and distinctly early Strawberries ? Can the collective wisdom of this 
assembly answer that question ? 
If I were compelled to limit myself to one early Strawberry I should 1 
not hesitate to choose Laxton’s Noble. Some person may possibly 
object because it is not of the highest quality. It is good enough for¬ 
me to begin with, and it is good enough for a noble lord who likes 
Strawberries ; but he likes money too, and his gardener is expected to 
make as much as he can by selling the best produce, supplying the house 
with “seconds.” Several lords do this sort of thing nowadays. It 
seems fashionable. In the garden of the noble in question was a bed 
of the Noble Strawberry this yea r . The fruit was splendid, and the 
gardener thought he was going to make a little fortune by it, for he, very 
properly, has “ commission ” you know. But his lord and master showed 
that he liked fine Strawberries better than money, for he would not 
have a pound of them sold, or it would have brought him 2s. It was of 
no use telling him the fruit was only of second quality. It was the first 
and the finest, and as there was none for comparison it was the best at 
the time, and as I have said good enough to begin with, and as the 
richer sorts followed they would be enjoyed the more. I place Noble, 
then, first on my list as the most useful early Strawberry, and reliable- 
in being such a good grower and bearer, even when the plants are small 
and the soil not rich. Noble was raised from Forman’s Excelsior, and I 
saw fruits of it in 1886 that measured upwards of 7 inches in circum¬ 
ference round the shoulders. 
Totally different in character is the next to be named, indeed it is 
of a different race, and so far as I know it is the earliest Strawberry in 
cultivation in this country. It is an American introduction, and has 
been mentioned in the press as the Crescent and Crescent Seedling ; but 
Mr. Rivers, I believe, though I have not asked him, received it under 
the name of Crescent City. An award of merit was recommended for 
some berries of it from Messrs. Paul & Son, Cheshunt, by the Fruit 
Committee at the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society.. 
The fruit is small but not trashy. It is very bright and of good 
quality. It may be described as an enlarged form of the Grove End 
Scarlet, and the best descendant of the old Scarlet Virginian Straw¬ 
berry that has found its way to our gardens. It is a free grower 
at Chiswick, and produces fruit bountifully in large clusters or pan¬ 
icles. Mr. Barron mentions as a peculiarity of this Strawberry, 
which may be regarded as a merit, that the fruits hang on the plant 
after they are ripe longer than those of any other variety. It is- 
essentially a garden Strawberry, and not likely to be a profitable 
market variety. The correct name of it is, I suspect, Crescent Seed¬ 
ling. It has been grown under that name in America for some years, 
and was raised by Mr. Parmalee of New Haven, Connecticut. This- 
is what an American author and fruit grower, Mr. Roe, said about 
it in 1880—“ It is a very distinct and remarkable variety, and I think 
will fill an important place in Strawberry culture. In productiveness- 
on many soils it will exceed any variety with which 1 am acquainted. 
The young plants are small and the foliage is slender and delicate, but 
they have the power to live and multiply beyond that of any other 
variety I have seen. It thrives under the sun of Georgia, and cares 
naught for the cold of Canada ; it practically extends the domain of the 
Strawberry over the continent, and renders the laziest man in the land 
who has no Strawberries without excuse.” Please to remember that is 
what an American says, not what I say, and he figures a fruit 1J inch in 
diameter. The variety is sure to be tried in many gardens in this 
country, but how it will answer time only can tell. What we know is 
that it is the earliest of all in the Chiswick collection. 
The best in quality probably of all early Strawberries is Laxton’s 
King of the Earlies, and in soil that suits it the plants grow and bear 
well. The fruits are small to medium size, or in other words, small ia 
poor, medium-sized in good soil. It is useless for light and impoverished 
soil, as the plants will not grow. It may, perhaps, be described as one 
