4 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



strawberries in Pennsylvania. As the pioneers pushed 

 westward, in parallel lines, occupying successively western 

 New York, Michigan and Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and 

 the great Mississippi Valley, the wild strawberry every- 

 where greeted them with an abundance of fresh fruit — a 

 most welcome addition to frontier fare. It was so in 

 lost Arcadia, and in old Quebec. The wild strawberry 

 refreshed the *' forty-niners " of California, and those who 

 followed the Lewis and Clark trail. In our own time, it 

 has brought cheer to the settlers on the last frontiers, in 

 Manitoba and Alaska. Always the wild strawberry has 

 been intimately and gratefully associated with pioneer 

 life. We can hardly blame those who have enjoyed its 

 bounty under these circumstances if they refuse to admit 

 that any cultivated variety is half as sweet. 



First steps in the domestication of the wild strawberry. — 

 For many years after the colonies were established, there 

 was little, if any, garden culture of the strawberry. 

 Wild berries were so plentiful that this was unnecessary. 

 The abundant supply of native berries was appreciated all 

 the more because of the limited supply of most other 

 fruits. It was extremely difficult to secure improved 

 varieties of apples, pears and other tree fruits. There 

 were no nurseries here then; trees or cions had to be 

 brought from Europe. The journey was long and trying, 

 occupying fully a month, and the recourse to seedling 

 orchards gave but a small proportion of useful sorts. 



The first step in the domestication of the strawberry 

 naturally would be to transfer to the garden some of the 

 most superior plants found in the fields. Since the native 

 berry was so decidedly superior to the best European sorts 

 of that time, there was no object in importing varieties 

 from Europe, as was the case with most other fruits. It is 



