THE PARVENU STRAWBERRY.
Pearmain apples are old. Strawberries, as we know them, are singularly new. I do not think the information is as yet put together in any book, but the raw material for a history of the strawberry has been collated at Wye College. The strawberry, as we know it, is little more than a hundred years old, and is the direct product of scientific crossing. The yield was more definitely and quickly increased than the subtler virtues. Generally speaking, it is quality, not quantity, we find it easier to improve. It would not be claimed either for Cox's Orange Pippins or Yeoman wheat that they are super- eminent in bulk of produce. Incidentally, a friend tells me that the finest apple he knows in size and savour cannot bo identified ; and only one tree is in being !
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