306 
have its clusters of fruit tied up. The fruit is 
large, and of a scarlet colour, and various in 
shape,—sometimes conical and sometimes globu- 
lar; and the pulp is coloured and juicy, and has 
a fine vinous flavour. 
The red alpine strawberry is said to have been 
brought to Britain from the north of Italy; and 
is easily and frequently raised from seed. It is 
capable of bearing fruit through a long succes- 
sion; but it cannot compare in quality with any 
of the most esteemed summer-bearing varieties ; 
and it is employed principally for producing in 
autumn after all these varieties have ceased to 
bear. It is commonly planted ina north border, 
or other comparatively cool and shaded situation, 
and allowed to overrun the ground. Seed for it 
should be taken from the ripest and strongest 
autumn fruit, washed free from pulp, dried, and 
kept dry till about the middle of March, and 
then sown; and as soon as the young plants can 
be handled, they should be transplanted into 
beds.—-The white alpine strawberry is a sub- 
variety of the preceding, but has rather larger 
and less acidulous fruit, and does not produce so 
late in autumn, and is propagated, not from seeds, 
but from runners. 
Many other kinds of strawberries might be 
named, either species, varieties, or subvarieties ; 
but some are interesting more as curiosities than 
as useful plants, and few are comparable in value 
or excellence with the greater part of those we 
have described. Among the more remarkable 
are the one-leaved, introduced to Britain about 
75 years ago, and blooming in May and June; 
the Canadian, a tall kind from North America, 
blooming in April and May; the hill green pine, 
introduced about 80 years ago from Germany, 
and blooming from April till the end of autumn ; 
the plane-like, a red-flowered kind from North 
America, blooming from April till June; the 
Bresling, from France, blooming from April till 
June; the great-flowered pine, introduced about 
90 years ago from Surinam, and blooming in 
April and May; the Indian, a yellow-flowered, 
peculiarly creeping kind, introduced about 45 
years ago from India, and blooming from May 
till toward the end of autumn; the Buenos- 
Ayrean, an apetalous and very tall kind, bloom- 
ing from April till June; Myatt’s pine, producing 
a very beautiful and very richly flavoured fruit 
of a glowing vermilion colour, but so surpassingly 
intractable as almost to defy cultivation; Knight’s 
Elton, bearing late in the season, and producing 
a large fruit, beautiful to the eye, and, when per- 
fectly ripe, of very full, peculiarly grateful fla- 
vour, tending to acid; the Bostock,—Bishop’s 
orange,— Wilmot’s cockscomb,—and a great num- 
ber of recent seedlings and hybrids. 
Instructions for the cultivation of the straw-_ 
berry might be spun out to a vast length, and 
rendered exceedingly diversified by incorporating 
with them the theories and rules of the most 
eminent horticulturists, and by adapting them | 
STRAWBERRY. 
to differences in the tastes and habits of the 
plants, in the soil and exposure of situations, 
and in the seasons and objects of respectively 
out-of-door and in-door cultivation. But we 
j must necessarily content ourselves with showing 
only the salient points; and these may refer to 
the selection and management of runners, —to 
the preparing and planting of annual beds,—to 
the making and managing of triennial planta- 
tions,—to the general culture of all sorts of open- 
ground crops,—and to the best method of forcing. 
In September, when the weather is mild, the 
ground is usually moist, the sunshine continues 
to be sufficiently genial, and all things conspire 
to render the preparation of strawberry-beds 
more facile and efficient than in any other month 
in the year, a stock of young plants will gen- 
erally be found ready matured by the natural 
processes of growth, in the strawberry planta- 
tions of the preceding year or two years, for the 
immediate uses of the planter. Each young 
plant, in the case of by far the greater number 
of the good varieties, may be seen occupying a 
space equal to that of a full-sized sancer, with 
from four to six healthy leaves, around a bold, 
prominent, firm, central bud, and generally at the 
end of the stolon or runner which proceeds from 
the parent stock; and every such plant—pro- 
vided that a certainty exists that the parent 
stock is fruitful—may be removed direct to a 
final destination in a new bed. ‘The caution, 
however, requires to be borne in mind, that many 
of the largest and most beautiful parent plants 
are quite barren of fruit and eminently produc- 
tive of runners, and that most parent plants 
which furnish the best fruit, and are in the most 
prolific state for bearing it, produce compara- 
tively few runners.—But careful and economical 
cultivators, in addition to making sure work of 
the prolificity of their young plants, adopt mea- 
sures to promote their vigour and to get them 
early ready. “The strongest are chosen after 
they have formed their own roots, which they 
readily do if lying close to the ground. And as 
it is an advantage to get them off the stools as 
soon and as well rooted as possible, some culti- 
vators make small pits, or plunge small pots filled 
with fresh cucumber compost, on which the best 
runners are laid and pegged down, having their 
points pinched off. Here they soon make strong 
roots, and ready to be taken off to be planted in 
the open ground; or if required for forcing, those 
rooted in small pots may be shifted into larger, 
and put away in a proper shady place till they 
are wanted to go into the forcing house, straw- 
berry pit, or hotbed.” 
The general rules for making prime annual 
beds of most of the good and the first-rate varie- 
ties of strawberry, is to prepare the ground three 
weeks before it is wanted,—to trench two feet 
deep, without bringing any of the lower soil to 
the surface, or with simply digging the lower 
spit, and turning and effectually pulverizing the 
