54 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE ART OF ORIGINATING VARIETIES OF STRAW- 

 BERRIES. 



CHARLES F, GARDNER, OSAGE, IOWA. 



Mr. J. M. Merrick, a noted eastern horticulturist, says: "The 

 seeker for new kinds may ^o to work in two ways, viz.: by hybridizing 

 and by direct planting." 



The process of hybridizing the strawberry is simple and not very 

 difficult. It consists essentially in impregnating- the blossom of 

 one variety with pollen from that of another, so that seedlings 

 resulting from the seed thus crossed shall partake of the nature of 

 both parents. 



In practice, it is convenient that the plant to be fertilized should 

 be a pistillate variety, for in this case we can make absolutely certain 

 that it is not self-fertilized, and shall not be plagued by lingering 

 doubts as to whether we succeeded in removing every anther before 

 its pollen ripened or had a chance to do its work. 



The pistillate plants selected for experiment should be isolated 

 from all other kinds and from one another ; and this is best effected 

 by covering them w^ith a box or frame. The staminate, or male, 

 plant having been fixed upon, its blossoms should be watched, and 

 when they are fully expanded, and the anthers shed abundant pollen 

 on being snapped or jarred, the whole flower may be cut off, and its 

 anthers shaken over the stigma of the pistillate flower, or the 

 anthers may be very gently rubbed upon the stigma itself. 



It sometimes happens that we desire to experiment with a new 

 variety whose flowers are too valuable to be totally sacrificed. In 

 that case, a few of the anthers may be cut off with a fine pointed 

 pair of scissors and conveyed to the pistillate plant on a dry slip of 

 smooth paper. 



If both varieties on which we work have perfect flowers, the task 

 is more difficult. Every anther must be removed with the utmost 

 caution and delicacy from the blossom of the plant we desire to 

 fertilize before the pollen has ripened or has had a chance to reach 

 the pistil. 



It is best to watch the flowers with patient care, and as they show 

 signs of expanding to unfold the petals prematurely and imme- 

 diately remove the anthers. This operation is best carried on in the 

 middle of a warm, sunny day, when every part of the flower is dry. 



If unhybridized seed is to be planted, the vines that produce it 

 should be the strongest and most vigorous of their kind, and should 

 be limited to one berry each, generally the central one produced by 

 the first blossom, all others having been cut off. 



The berries that are to furnish seed, whether crossed or not, should 

 be allowed to get fully ripe before they are gathered. As soon as 

 picked, they should be crushed and mixed thoroughly with a 

 hundred times their volume of clean, dry eand, to absorb the juice 

 and divide the seeds evenly among the mass. A bed of deep, very 

 rich and dry soil having been prepared, the sand and seeds mixed 

 should be sprinkled over the surface, very lightly raked in, the soil 

 thoroughly watered and a frame and sashes put on over the whole. 



