Discussion on Strawberry Culture, 123 



one of those trees, and here is one sawed in two, and you see the 

 butternut inside. [Great laughter.] This is no Yankee trick. 

 The President — I suppose this is from Connecticut. 



Mr. Pierce, of Minnesota — Some years ago I went to a very suc- 

 cessful strawberry grower in this State. He always beat me. I 

 told him I was going away and would not be in opposition to him 

 and I wanted to know how he grew his fruit. He said it was by 

 planting varieties together which were adapted to each other, I 

 went to Minnesota with his suggestion. I planted a row of one va- 

 riety and then of another adapted to it, and so on. When the season 

 of ripening came they were the finest berries I ever raised. 



Pro/. Burrill — This is a subject upon which crude observation 

 and experiments may be made, and it will be hard to sift out what 

 is valuable. Some people are a good deal better to make such ob- 

 servation than others. It is so easy to infer a cause which is not 

 a cause. If we were to plant one long line of strawberries in a 

 field with fi.rst one fertilizer and then another, we might reach con- 

 clusions which would not be correct. There are so many things to 

 take into consideration. I need not name a number of delusions 

 which might come up. 



Mr. Munson, of Texas — Going in a different direction with a 

 different fruit, and one in which we would not expect to see the ef- 

 fect of this cross fertilization, I have experimented with grape seeds. 

 My theory is that natural fertilization is better than by hand. My 

 method is to plant vines side by side that I wish to hybridize. I 

 think I can tell those berries having hybrid seeds in them. Partic- 

 ularly was this the case with the Triumph and Herbemont. One 

 remarkable thing I have noticed is the effect on the new hybrid 

 plant. The Herbemont at first is slow in growth, but the hybrids 

 from it were vigorous growers. This growth shows that they are 

 hybrids. I have noticed the same facts in corn. Take a variety 

 which you know has no striped grains and put it by one which has 

 and they will cross. I think we have sufficient evidence already 

 to say that the fruit and plant are influenced by this process. 



Mr. Ohraer, of Ohio — This is a new idea with many of us, and as 

 I am connected with the Board having control of our Experiment 



