12 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



arising from these, differing principally in the color of their 

 fruit.'' He recommended the Scarlet and the Pineapple 

 for general cultivation, and advised planting in beds four 

 feet wide, with plants fifteen to eighteen inches apart 

 each way. This, likewise, was the advice of Grant 

 Thorburn in his "Gentleman's and Gardener's Kalender," 

 showing that English methods still dominated American 

 practice. A trade catalog issued in 1810 by William 

 Booth, of Baltimore, offered, in addition to the several 

 species listed by McMahon, two named varieties of the 

 Scarlet — Large Early Scarlet and Hudson's Bay. These 

 two varieties soon became the dominant sorts, and held this 

 position for fifty years, until the introduction of the Wilson. 

 Booth also listed "a new strawberry raised from seed"; 

 this is the first record of a seedling strawberry in North 

 America. 



The Beginning of Commercial Culture 



The cultivation of strawberries for market began soon 

 after 1800. Until then, only wild or "common" fruit 

 had been marketed. Perhaps the surplus product of 

 some home gardens had been sold or bartered among 

 neighbors, but only in a very limited way. About this 

 time the nurseries began to propagate and disseminate 

 several improved varieties of F. virginiana, notably Early 

 Hudson, Hudson's Bay, and Large Early Scarlet. These 

 were so superior to the wild berries offered for sale, espe- 

 cially in size, that soon there was a demand for them that 

 could no longer be met by neighborly exchange of the 

 product of home gardens. In response to this demand, 

 commercial strawberry culture, as distinct from garden or 

 amateur culture, began. 



