A celebrated wit, (Sidney Smith, I think it was,) who evidently knew what was good, once facetiously remarked, that "God might have made a better fruit than a strawberry, but for some reason, did not." Be that as it may, few however, will attempt to gainsay the assertion who understand how very useful a fruit it has become in" the hands of the skilful horticulturist, especially through the winter and spring months, under glass.

Our honored ancestors, poor simple souls, who may possibly have imagined they were highly favored with most of the good things of this world, in their day, patiently groped about where nettles grew, and among thorns in the wood, for the few small strawberries they perchance discovered there; or assiduously hunted for them among the unproductive kinds, which for convenience sake, had been transferred from thence into the garden.

We learn from honest old "Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," written in the time of " Our Good Queen Bess," that the wild and inferior kind was then considered *' excellent good." This indefatigable cultivator, who, from the inferences we draw from his famous maxims, appears never to have eaten the bread of idleness, but was always " up and doing," knowing that "the hand of the diligent maketh rich," seems to have found a suitable job for good Dame Tusser, too, and whom we may fancy was an industrious and frugal woman, and thus gives directions how his hopeful helpmeet should do it:

"Wife, into the garden, and set me a plot Of strawberry roots, the best to he got;

Such growing abroad, among thorns in the wood, Well chosen and picked, prove excellent good".

Although so many eventful years have rolled over the strawberry-producing world since then, we sincerely hope our right worthy predecessor' honest old Master Tusser, and his well-beloved wife - who seem to have sensibly pulled together - both in field and garden, derived as much real satisfaction in their day, when feasting upon the meagre, wild wood strawberries, as their successors are doing with the many improved varieties they regale themselves with now.

That Shakespeare, who also refers to them, during the reign of the "Virgin Queen," must undoubtedly have often picked them in their umbrageous habitats, in the woodlands of Warwickshire and adjacent counties, we may naturally infer, from thus alluding to them:

"The strawberry grows underneath the nettle; And wholesome hemes thrive and ripen best, Neighbour'd by fruits of lesser quality".

And to prove how uncommon a sight it was to see strawberries under cultivation in a garden at that period, Shakespeare remarks :

"My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there; I do beseech you send for some of them".

This poor and small fruit, about the size of ordinary cranberries, we may suppose, had a slight strawberry taste about them, and some of the odor; and but little more, when compared with the deliciously flavored, large, handsome and productive varieties under cultivation now. And under the most favorable conditions possible, the fruiting season of which must have been a brief one.

The most skilful herbalist of those days, John Gerard, who had charge of the botanical garden of the College of Physicians in 1587, for the cultivation of rare plants of medicinal value, and was maintained at the cost of "forty marks English money" a year, alludes to only three kinds under cultivation in 1597; and which appear to have been newly introduced from a wild state to the gardens, such as they were at that period, and thus speaks of them in the quaint phraseology of the time : "Strawberries do grow upon hills and vallys, likewise in woods, and other such places as be something shadowie. They prosper well in gardens; the red strawberry every where; and the other two, white and green, more rare, and are not to be found save only in gardens".

If the mind's eye will only glance back to the rudimentary strawberry beds of our forefathers, and think of what poor miserable sorts they had to make shift with, and then look at the thousands of broad acres of them in various parts of the country, of such splendid varieties as were never dreamt of, even fifty years ago, they will be amazed at the wonderful progress on every side.

Such a gradual state of development, or transition, from a lower to a higher type of plant life, as has been slowly going on from the time Virgil, Ovid, and Pliny first mentioned the fragaria, or strawberry, until it has finally evolved into the modern Keen's Seedling, Sharpless or Parry, ought to convince the most skeptical, that the doctrine of evolution is not the myth or chimera they would fain make us believe.

But oh, good reader, what a distance I seem to have been wandering away from the noted gardens of P. Lorillard, Esq., Jobstown, New Jersey; where I ought to have begun, and ended all I had to say about strawberries, when I commenced to essay the subject. So, without further premising, I will say it was my good fortune to call there, about the middle of March, when, to my great gratification, I saw one of the finest displays of forced strawberries I ever previously looked upon in these United States. Certainly, Mr. John Gardener, who so successfully manages this immense establishment, has much to be proud of, (modest man, as he is,) when able to demonstrate his horticultural skill, in the effective manner he does. For forced strawberries, without exaggeration I will candidly say, I never saw larger, more evenly formed, or finer colored fruit before. They were exceedingly heavy fruited, too; while their rich aroma, which was so agreeably diffused not only in the forcing houses, but even outside, for some distance from the sashes, plainly indicated how perfectly ripened and deliciously flavored they were.

Mr. G. informed me he began the forcing season with twelve thousand pots of strawberry plants, which had, of course, been prepared for that purpose during the previous summer. The first to ripen was Keen's Seedling, an English favorite, from which fruit was gathered for Christmas day. At the time of my visit, he was picking large quantities of Sharpless, whose superior qualities make it one of the most reliable kinds to depend upon for a sure crop.

My attention was called to a number of pots of thrifty looking Parry strawberries, which from their general appearance, gave promise of being the strawberry par excellence, either under glass, or on the borders outside. It seems to possess a most desirable character, peculiar to that kind: namely, the habit of throwing up a succession of fruit trusses, which of course, will considerably prolong the time of fructification. That it will prove a valuable acquisition to the cultivator, no one doubts, who knows anything about it. As a first early kind, Mr. G. pronounces the Keen's Seedling the best; and with which he invariably begins the season, as it sets its fruit well. It appears to take to the Jersey sand better, when planted out, than the Champion, an excellent early variety; and never fails to form good runners, in time to pot for the next season's forcing.

Seeing so much to admire under the sashes, besides strawberry growing, I can hardly conclude my remarks without briefly alluding to a few specialties, equally worthy of notice.

Grapes of the Black Hamburg type, looked well, both in pots and on the rafters. The bunches were of good size, and abundant. Of nectarines and peaches, it would be impossible to speak too highly of them, as such wonderful sights are seldom seen. More vigorous or fruitful trees, I venture to assert, would indeed be difficult to find. While some were lovely in their gay profusion of blossoms, others, again, were densely covered with young fruit, in various stages of development, from the size of peas up to that of nutmegs, some thousands of which had already been removed in the necessary operation of thinning. Later on, a similar process will be again required, so as to reduce the number to as many as the trees can properly ripen.

That the reader may form an idea of Mr. G.'s success in forcing, I will offer, as fair instances, the produce of two trees from among a number of similar ones under glass. From a Lord Napier nectarine, six hundred beautiful, full-sized, perfectly ripened, and most exquisitely flavored fruit, were gathered last year. While an Early Gross Mignonne peach ripened seven hundred as superb fruit, the finest flavor possible to produce. The same tree has now about a thousand as promising fruit evenly spread over it, as one would wish to see. Both peach and nectarine are imported from England, budded upon healthy plum stock.

Cucumbers, snap, or French beans, asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc., showed as good examples of culture as is usually seen growing in the vegetable garden, during the summer months. The beautiful " Queen of Flowers " was in all her rosy splendor, and looked equally as charming in every hue, or shade of color, in which she appeared. Her brilliant robes are always becoming, whatever the fashion may be. While to her own true lover, her peerless attractions seem to have no equal under the sun.

When I see everything so well done around me, I feel as if I ought to say so; but I entertain too great a respect for the very efficient manager of this first-rate place, to attempt to flatter him, if peradventure, his eye should ever fall upon these observations; yet, cannot refrain from saying he is unquestionably the best grower of Gardenias, I ever enjoyed acquaintance with. These exquisite flowers were perfection indeed, while the atmosphere surrounding them, was laden with the most subtle perfume imaginable. The English wallflowers, too - and who ever thinks of them with out fancying they smell them? - were delightfully permeating one of the many glass structures in which they were blooming. The modest lily of the valley another sweet flower, with the unassuming Boronia megastigma of odorous fame, were delightful to inhale. And what with the blending of other sweet posies, I cannot believe the famed "Gardens of Gul" in the Orient, could possibly excel the smell of the roses, as we breathed the perfume in the extensive and gay greenhouses of Jobstown.

Mount Holly, N. F.t March 29th, 1886.