The next, however, the stamens, having less time to form, acquire perhaps their yellow color, but are powerless for their allotted office; while the pistil, the most complicated of all the latest that the flower produces, and which is to become the fruit, is a mere tuft of abortions, incapable of quickening, and shrivelling into pitch-black threads as soon as it is fully in contact with the air." How true is every word of this! I have, myself, on many occasions, seen strawberries of the most productive kinds, grown in pots, and well established, on being introduced too suddenly into heat early in spring, say from the middle of January to the end of February, become so sterile, that on a couple of hundred of pots there could not have been gathered a dozen of strawberries; the reader must bear in mind that at that period of the year in England, there is very little sun-light, and when this is added to heat, with proportionate moisture, and little air, the cultivator has a magnificent crop of sterile strawberry blooms! Let plants of the same growth and variety be put into the forcing house from the beginning to the end of March, keep them near the glass, with a low temperature to start with, and abundance of air - as the spring is now advancing, even in that dull atmosphere, there is a little more sun-light - a large crop of fine fruit will be the reward of such judicious treatment.

Again, the same variety grown in the open air in that country, will produce a splendid crop. This experience, however, only bears out the sensible and philosophic remarks of Dr. Lindley, and which, to my mind, is conclusive as to the cause of sterility in strawberries - namely, climate. Strawberries in England, we will suppose, are in the fall, strong and well established, having well formed and well ripened crowns; winter sets in, but it is mild in comparison with its American counterpart; no protection is required by the plants, their foliage is scarcely injured; they remain generally torpid until about the middle of February; the days are beginning to lengthen, and occasionally there is a little sun; the plant, obedient to the call of nature, moves a trifle, though but a trifle, up to the beginning of March; all through March the same proceeds slowly; April generally comes in warmer, with refreshing showers, and from the third week in this month, until about the end of the first week in May, may be considered their blooming season. May is generally a fine month, but not so warm as an American one, the thermometer ranging from 50° to 60° in the shade by day, and sinking at night as low as 40° to 45°; of course, I now speak generally.

I have known sharp white frosts as late as the 13th and 14th of the month, and proportionably cold by day - by the end of May the early varieties will be ripening. By taking a retrospective glance, it will be seen that in England their season of growth is long, moderately cool, though never very cold at night - moderately warm by day, the strawberries having time to form the various parts of fructification so well described by Dr. Lindley.

Turning to the American seasons, what shall we find? A long, severe winter, during which time our strawberries are reposing beneath a covering of litter and snow - so far so well; spring sets in suddenly warm, and, it may be, dry, and strawberries which were so dormant but a short time before, are quickly in foliage and flower, producing stami-nates in abundance, and caused by what? the sudden transition from cold to heat, as in the instance of the forced strawberry plants, and were it not for the bright light and sun, the crop would be as scanty as in an English forcing-house, in Dr. Lindley's words - "the oldest parts, namely the calyx and corolla, simple in their structure and already advanced in their formation, suffer no injury." "The stamens, having less time to form, acquire perhaps their yellow color, but are powerless for their allotted office; while the pistil, the most complicated of all the parts, that which demands the largest period for its perfect formation, but which is the latest that the flower produces, and which is to become the fruit, is a mere tuft of abortions, incapable of quickening, and shrivelling into pitch-black threads as soon as it is fully in contact with the air." Has not soil, locality, or season much to do with the character which a strawberry assumes? I think so, and in support of this, I may name Myatt's British Queen, Deptford Pine and others, which in England are hermaphrodites; in this climate they become stamina tea.

Again I shall suppose A, raises a good seedling which he sells out as a perfect or hermaphrodite bloomer, whichever it may be - B purchases, but, to his great disappointment, finds his plants principally to consist of staminates; he now accuses A of having deceived him as to the real character of the strawberry; when the error lays with himself in planting in too quick or warm a soil or situation, where the sudden transition from the cold of winter to the heat of spring is as sudden as it is warm, and hence the cause of the change.

If soil and situation will cause this change whether more or less, may it not to a considerable extent be counteracted - will not tan-bark, so strongly recommended by Mr. Downing as a fertilizer, mulcher, and protection against cold, prove invaluable as a mulcher in early spring - the transition time from winter to spring - keeping the ground cool under the bright beams of a burning sun, allowing the plants to progress more slowly and surely in the formation of the various parts of fructification. Many other ways equally effectual in attaining this desirable end, will suggest themselves to the practical and scientific cultivator.

With this preliminary I proceed to my practical notes on the leading European varieties:

1. Aberdeen Beehive - This variety was sent out some two or three years back by a nurseryman near Aberdeen, as an extraordinary new strawberry, for which he modestly charged about 37 1/2 cents, a plant; ten plants came into my hands direct from this worthy man, through the post. I had them planted in a well prepared piece of ground, expecting with the returning season to have my eyes dazzled and palate pleased, with the size, beauty, and flavor of this redoubtable variety. Imagine my surprise, when instead of something new and magnificent, I had the "old Grove-end Scarlet," for such it proved to be! Some may suppose there had been an error here, but there was nothing of the sort; every purchaser fared alike - all were deceived - they paid high for the "Old Grove-end Scarlet."