Popenoe: The Chilean Strawberry 



465 



Rio Urubamba, not far from the city 

 of Cuzco, at elevations of 9000 to 

 9500 feet. Several of the best are near 

 the village of Yucay, on large andenes 

 (artificial terraces) built in the days 

 of the Incas. Here the plants are more 

 vigorous in growth than at Guachi, but 

 the fruiting season is not nearly so 

 long; I am told by T. E. Payne of 

 Galea that the first fruits ripen about 

 October 20, and the last ones about 

 the end of January. The crop is mar- 

 keted in Guzco. I was not able to see 

 ripe fruits grown in this region, but 

 from descriptions given me I judge 

 they differ very little from those of 

 Ecuador. 



In central Ghile there are numerous 

 plantations, from which the fruit is 

 either shipped to the markets of San- 

 tiago or used for canning and preserv- 

 ing. In one field which I examined, 

 not far from Santiago, the plants were 

 exceedingly robust and vigorous in 

 appearance, both leaves and flowers 

 standing upon stems six to ten inches 

 long. The appearance of such plants 

 is quite different from those of Guachi, 

 Ecuador, where the leaves rarely stand 

 more than three or four inches above 

 the ground, and where the plants have 

 a dried-up, starved appearance, but 

 where, nevertheless, excellent fruit is 

 produced throughout the year. In 

 Ghile, as in Peru, only one crop is 

 obtained. The principal season in the 

 vicinity of Santiago and Quillota is said 

 to be December and January. 



Two varieties are commonly recog- 

 nized in Ghile,^ — the common, light 

 red one, and the friUilla blanca, whose 

 fruit is ivory white to very pale pink. 

 The red form is cultivated far more 

 extensively than he white. From 

 having examined the canned product, 

 I judge that the size and character of 

 the Ghilean-grown fruits is not marked- 

 ly different from that of the Guachi 

 berries, but I am inclined to believe 

 that the latter may be a little sweeter 

 and more delicately flavored. There 

 are several canning factories in central 

 Ghile, which turn out preserved straw- 

 berries as well as strawberry jam. 



Because of the fact that no attention 



has been given to isolating good 

 varieties of this berry, and because of 

 the general confusion which surrounds 

 horticultural matters in western South 

 America, it is impossible to state just 

 how luany distinct forms of chiloensis 

 exist in the several countries above 

 considered. Gertain it is that few 

 well defined varieties are generally 

 propagated or recognized by the in- 

 habitants. In this connection it may 

 be mentioned that a given variety of 

 strawberry may sometimes change its 

 shape and character when grown in 

 different climates. Klondike, for exam- 

 ple, is conic in Florida, globose farther 

 north, and long conic and necked in 

 Galifornia. Marshall bears but one 

 crop in New England, but fruits 

 throughout the summer in Galifornia. 

 We can not assume, therefore, that the 

 long fruiting season of the Guachi 

 strawberry really constitutes a differ- 

 ence between that variety and the one 

 grown in Ghile; it is doubtless an effect 

 of the almost total absence of well- 

 defined seasonal changes, either of 

 temperature or rainfall, which prevails 

 on the Equator. 



PROBABLY THE WORLD's OLDEST CULTI- 

 VATED STRAWBERRY 



Fragaria chiloensis of western South 

 America is certainly one of the oldest 

 cultivated strawberries in the world. I 

 have seen no reference in literature to 

 its horticultural status at the time of 

 the Gonquest: the indigenous inhabi- 

 tants may have cultivated it since time 

 immemorial, and even if they did not, 

 it can safely be assumed that it has 

 been grown in gardens since the coloni- 

 zation of Ghile by the Spaniards. In 

 all this time only two well-defined 

 varieties seem to have appeared, the 

 red-fruited and the white-fruited. The 

 first-named has been cultivated con- 

 tinuously in the highlands of Peru 

 since 1557, — nearly four centuries. 

 This offers a rather striking refutation 

 of the argument that strawberry vari- 

 eties "run out." Those which have 

 been produced by hybridization may 

 change their character or "run out" 

 in a relatively short time, — I do 



