MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 395 



ductive varieties now under cnltivation — more so if possible. The 

 berry should be large — not monstrous in size — and it must be sym- 

 metrical in shape — not like Sharpless, Bubach and other lobe shaped 

 fruits. Color is not so important — it should be of solid color, either 

 scarlet or crimson, and colored throughout the berry. It must be 

 solid and firm enough to bear shipment a reasonable distance, and 

 last, but not least, it must be of high quality, say somewhat better than 

 the Gaudy, which is a very good berry. We have no such berry yet^ 

 but it is not unreasonable to believe that we will achieve it. Whether 

 we are to get it as a chance seedling or whether it will come as a re- 

 sult of careful and scientific crossiug, none cau say. 



J. J., of Milwaukee, writes: " What proportion of staminates of 

 strawberries should there be to pistillates in the field ? " 



There is a great diversity of opinion on this subject. Some use 

 one-half each, others one-third staminates to two-thirds pistillates, and 

 still many growers use only one-fourth staminates and three-fourths 

 pistillates. We have used all three methods and find very good results 

 with one-third staminates. Much depends on the variety of the fer- 

 tilizer used. If a heavy fertilizer like the Van Deman, Michel's Early^ 

 Sparta, Beder Wood or Parker Earle is used not so many will be neces- 

 sary. In our fields we use but one-fourth of the above fertilizers to 

 three-fourths of the Warfield's and derive the best results. 



J. L. Herbst. 



Some Large Staminate strawberries. 



After the advent of the old Wilson, now run out, the earnest efforts 

 of propagators to produce a variety which was a staminate or perfect 

 bloomer, and at the same time highly productive of large berries long 

 met with only partial success. The reason is evident. 



The staminate bloom having a double function to perform, that of 

 producing both stamens and pistils (both pollen or impregnating dust 

 and fructifying organs), its fruit-producing powers is almost sure to be 

 much less than that of the pistillate or female bloom. When a stam- 

 inate (or double-sexed variety) turns out to possess the productiveness 

 of the pistillate, it is the exception that proves the rule. And in this 

 case a very rare exception. 



But it was imperative to find a pollenizer for the largest pistillates, 

 like Greenville & Co., a variety rich in pollen, which bloomed just with 



