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Show 352 FllU.f'l\ . CIIAI'. X. . t · ting varieties. Knight indeed to such crosses most of our chmccs mas d trawbeny with the did not succeed in cr~ssing tbo Eur~pean M;o~~~liams, of Pitmaston, American Scarlet or w1th tho llautb~Is. . f' · tt 10 ilautbois though h l b 'd :flspnn,.,. :rom L ' however, succeeded; but t c lY n o 'tl tl b xcoption of a single one, fruiting well, never produced seed: Wl 1 10 cl\ .... R Trevor Clarke in-t l b ·1d form 10'1 which reproduced tho paron 1Y 1 · p·. J.aJOI · 1 s (Myatt's B. Queen d t embers of tho mo cas forms me that he crosse wo m d h tb . and that in each case . ) 'th tl wood an au ms, - and Keen's Sccdlmg , WJ . 10 f th f ·uitcd but was almost barren. he raised only a single sccdlmg; 0~0 0 _cs~l 1 . h b~ids with equally poor Mr. W. Smith, of York, has rmscd s~m~ ar : and American species succcss. 105 Wo thns soc 106 that t~o ~~~~f0i~ improbable that hybrids can with some difficulty be crosse _; t~ l ·u ever be thus produced. sufficiently fertile to be worth cultiva l~n Wl 11 arc not widely distinct, This fact is sm:prising, as these. fo~:~ ~~:~1~!~aw~ero they grow wild, as l and arc sometimes connected m e . . t d'ato f'orms G by puzzlmg m crme 1 · hear from Professor Asa ray, " . . . of recent date, and tho culti- Thc energetic cu~ture of the stra:wbcuy 18 under some one of the above vatcd varieties can m most cases sti~l be clat~sedbcrr·ies cro s so freely and . · t l As the AmeriCan s 1aw . hve native soc {8. , ·dl doubt that they will ultimately become m-spontancously, wo can ha~ ~ . d . d that horticulturists at present dis- . extricably confused. We 111 ' m 00 ' f tho varieties. and a writer in agree under '"hich class to rank some few o . ·l 't a; possible to class tho ' Bon J arclinior' of 1840 remarks that former y J _w. 't . 'll . b t tb t now tlus lS qm e 1mposs1 l o all of them lmclor some one speCies, ; r .~ varieties having completely with tho American ~\ms, th~h::vl07 ni~~ bl~nding together of two or filled up tho gaps c wc?n ·. . reason to believe has occmTed more aboriginal forms, which there JS cvmy t 11 with some of our anC.i ently cu1 h .v at ed pr.o d u ctions ' we now sec ac ua Y occurring with· our strawberries. . . . Tl Bl 1 Tho cultivated species offer some vanatwus worth ?otice. 1_o a? { Prince a seedling from Keen's Imperial (thi~ latter bcmg ~. see~l::,g of ~ ver ,;]Jito strawberry, tho white Carolina), JS r~marlmblo flo:U J s P?~u lia/ dark and polished surfa~e, a~~s from preso~tJt~g ~~~~pi~1~~~0 ~~:~~~ unljko tbat of any other kmd. Althong o . tl llcd Yariotios differs so greatly in form, si?:e, colour: a~d quabt[' m 1)0 ~~~~'t tllo d (which correRponds with tho whole frmt m the p n . ' . ~~~e Jtion of being more or less deeply embedded in th? pulp, JR, arcordmg t~ Jo Jongbo,loo absolutely tho same in all; and thJs no doubt may. be accounted for by tho seed being of no value, and consequently not havmg <b 1 · t d to selection. The strawb~m·y is properly throe-leaved, but ilcl o1n7 6s1u D)jOuCc hce sne raised a sm. glo-lcavod vau.·o t Y o r th e E n l'OIJC!tll wood- 104 ''Transact. Hort. Soc.,' vol. v., 11124, p. 294. lOo • Jonrnnl of llorticultme,' Dcr. 30th, 1 RG2, p. 771J. SPe abo Mr. Prince Lo tho snmt• ofiC:el, idem, 18G3, p. 41R 100 For ::ultlilion:d ovitlcncc see ',Journal of llorlicullmo,' Dec. IJth, 18G2, p. 721. . 107 • Le Fnti::>ior,' pnr lo Comle L. de Lnmbcrtyc, pp. 221, 2:30. ll'~ ''l'ran:s:td. llort. Roc.,' vul. vi. Jl· 200. 'l wn • Cardcncr's l'l1r011 .. ' J858, P· 17• · C!!AT', X. STRAWBERRIES. 353 strawberry, which Linnrous doubtfully raised to tbo rank of a species. Seedlings of this variety, like those of most varieties not fixed by long-con· tinned selection, often revert to the ordinary form, or present intermediate statcs.110 A variety raised by Mr. Myatt,111 apparently belonging to one of the American forms, presents a variation of an opposite natme, for it has five loaves; God ron and Ln.mbertyc also mention a five-leaved variety of F. collina. Tho Red Bush Alpine strawberry (one of the F. vesca section) does not produce stolons or runners, and this remarkable deviation of structure is reproduced truly by seed. Another sub-variety, the White Bush Alpine, is similarly characterised, but when propagated by seed it often degenerates ancl produces plants with runners.ll2 A strawberry of tho American Pine section is also said to make but few runncrs.l 13 Much bas been written on tho sexes of strawberries; the true llautbois properly bears tho male ancl female organs on separate plants,u4 and was consequently named by Duchesne d'ioicn; but it frequently produces hermaphrodite::;; and Lindloy,ll5 by propagating such plants by runners, at the same time clcstroying the males, soon miscd a self-prolific stock. The other species often t<how a tcnclcncy towards an imperfect separation of the sexes, as I have noticed with plants forced in a hot-house. Several English varieties, which in this country arc froo from any such tendency, when cultivated in rich soils under tho climate of North .America 116 commonly produce plants with separate sexes. Thus a whole acre of Keen's Seed· lings in the United States has been observed to be almost sterile from the absence of male flowers ; but tho more general rule is, that the male plants overrun tho females. Some members of the Cincinnati Hortioultmal Society, especially appointed to investigate this subject, report that " few varieties have the flowers perfect in both sexual organs," &c. The most successful cultivators in Ohio, plant for every seven rows of" pistillata," or female plants, one row of hermaphrodites, which afford pollen for both kinds; but the hermaphrodites, owing to their expenditure in tho produc· tion of pollen, bear less fruit than tho female plants. 'I'he varieties di:fl:or in constitution. Some of our best English kinds, such as Keen's Seedlings, are too tender for certain parts of North America, whore other English and many American varieties succeed perfectly. '!'hat splendid fruit, the BrHish Queen, can be cultivated but in few places either in England or Franco; but this apparently depends more on tho natme of the soil than on the climate : a famous gardener says that "no mortal could grow tho British Queen at ShrubJaud Park tmless tho whole nature of the soil was altered." 117 La Constantina is one of the 1IO Codron 'De l'Especc,' tom. i. p. 1GI. 111 'Gardener's Chron.,' 1851, p. HO. ll2 1~. Gloede, in' Gardener's Cht·on.,' 18G2, p. 1053. JIJ Downing's 'Fruits,' p. 532. ll 4 Bamct, iu 'liort. 'l'mnsact.,' vol. vi. p. 210. 115 'Gardener's Chron.,' 1847, p. 531J. 116 For the several statement:; with VOL. I. t·cspect to the American strawberries, see Downing, 'J!'ruits,' p. 52•~ ; ' Gardener's Chronicle,' 184.3, p. 115~; 1847, p. 5SIJ; 1861,~ 71~ 111 1\Ir. D. Heaton, in 'Cottage Gardener,' 18GO, p. 86. See also ' Cottage Gardener,' 1855, p. ?8. and many otl10r anthorities. .For tho Contirwnt, see 1<'. GJoe(le, in' Gardeucr'l:l Chronicle,' 18G2, p. 1053. 2A |