36 



rUF. STRAWBERRY QUESTION. 



inainingtwo-lhiiJs, many bore perfect blos- 

 soms, as they bad done previously, while 

 a few also bore imperfect staminate blos- 

 soms. They produced only a fair crop of 

 good fruit. 



Next year we predict that this bed will 

 have changed almost entirely to pistillate 

 plants. 



The same result that we have here stated, 

 occurred in another part of our garden with 

 a bed of Ross's Phoenix plants. We called 

 the attention of several persons in our gar- 

 den, at the time of their blooming, to the 

 perfect state of some blossoms, and the pis- 

 tillate form of others — to their entire satis- 

 faction. In another part of our garden a 

 bed of Hovey's Seedling, that has borne 

 three years, has become entirely pistillate. 

 This is not a hasty conclusion that we 

 have arrived at. We are forced to believe 

 that most of the Pine strawberries, however 

 perfect in their blossoms at first, if allowed 

 to bear twice or more on the same roots, 

 will degenerate into the pistillate or stami- 

 nate form — Hovey's Seedling, and probably 

 the other best sorts, Jnto the former. 



When they have once reached this state, 

 they require the aid of other plants to ferti- 

 lize them.* With the aid of such other 

 plants, they bear large and fine fruit — in 

 some varieties finer and more abundant crops 

 than they did in the natural state; because 

 the whole blossom of the pistillate plant is 

 devoted to the fruit itself, which, therefore, 

 ivhen fertilized by a separate staminate blos- 

 som, must of course be larger and finer than 

 when part of its secretions go totvards the 

 develapme7it of stamens. In this, we confess 

 frankly, lies the great value of the mode 



* The staminate or pistillate form once reached, we are 

 inclined to think, from experiments we have made, that it 

 is permameut. That is to say, a pistillate plant always re- 

 mains so. Hovey's Seedling strawberry, at first, was a per- 

 fect sort in its flower, but at this moment more than half the 

 plants in this country have become pistillate. 



which Mr. Longwoutii has so warmly and 

 zealously urged upon the public attention. 



The result of our investigations we there- 

 fore ofll-r to our readers, as follows: 



1. There are certain classes of strawber- 

 ries which always bear perfect blossoms and 

 produce good crops of fruit under all ordi- 

 nary circumstances. These are the Alpine, 

 and the European Wood strawberries, and 

 (we may add, after a trial of fifteen years,) 

 the variety known as the Large Early 

 Scarlet. 



2. There are certain classes of strawber- 

 ries, especially the Pines and the Scarlets, 

 the blossoms of which, even if perfect at 

 first, have a tendency, through overbear- 

 ing, to run into the pistillate or staminate 

 form, chiefly the former ; when this takes 

 place, little or no fruit is produced, unless 

 the blossoms are fertilized by other stami- 

 nate plants. 



3. In the latter case, a crop of large and 

 fine fruit is more certain than under any 

 other circumstances — partly, because the 

 condition of the plants is fixed and not 

 likely to vary into a barren form ; and 

 partly, because the whole secretions of the 

 blossom are directed towards perfecting the 

 pistillate portion, which therefore swells 

 into a larger fruit. 



4. To ensure a large crop, pistillate vari- 

 eties should be chosen. 



5. The proportion of staminates neces- 

 sary, so far as at present ascertained, is not 

 more than one plant to ten pistillates. The 

 Virginia Scarlet, or Duke of Kent, are usu- 

 ally preferred for this purpose. 



We have only one or two remarks to add 

 in conclusion. We are now very well 

 aware that some varieties of the Pine and 

 Scarlet strawberries are pistillate from their 

 first origin as seedlings. Staminate plants 

 are also produced in abundance by sowing 

 seeds of the strawberry, but these, when 



