178 
AQUILEGIAS. 
were killed by frost l” On the other hand, the early removal of 
the runners, the application of manure, and the stirring of the 
ground enables the existing ample and healthy foliage to assimi¬ 
late a store of nutriment which is deposited in the heart of the 
plant, to be developed at a future season in the shape of a strong 
tuft of bloom; and this is done at the plant’s natural and most 
active period of growth, with time to thoroughly complete all 
accumulations, when it gradually sinks into the state of rest 
designed by nature, with ample protection against the severities 
of the coming season, afforded by the imbrications of its broad 
and now leathery leaves ; a very slight comparison in the follow¬ 
ing spring of the plants grown by the opposite methods will 
testify which is the most productive, and consequently the best; 
and to such a test I would advise all who are yet sceptical to 
subject a few of their plants, feeling certain that one fair trial 
will fully settle the merits of the question, and for ever banish 
the lazy method of mowing strawberry beds to the catalogue of 
obsolete practices. 
For an ordinary garden, the best kinds are Keen’s Seedling, 
for its early and prolific character ; the British Queen, for its 
superior flavour, as a principal crop ; and, for the latest gathering, 
the Downton Pine. 
J. Spooner. 
AQUILEGIAS. 
Allow me to call the attention of your readers to this interest¬ 
ing genus of hardy, herbaceous plants, the recent additions to 
which have so greatly enhanced its value, that no garden should 
be without a stock of some or other of its members. There are 
about two dozen species now belonging to it, besides varieties, 
and most of them are worth a place in the flower borders, where, 
from April to August, they keep up a successional display of 
their curious and, in many instances, very highly-coloured 
blossoms. Their management is of the easiest description, the 
majority merely requiring to be planted where they are to 
bloom, and without further trouble continuing in health for 
