96 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



for an abundant crop. I learned the necessity of mixing 

 the male plants with the others by experience in 1809." 



In 1826 James Barnet called attention to the fact that 

 in the true Chili strawberry "the stamens are usually 

 entirely abortive or very rarely produce anthers suffi- 

 ciently supplied with pollen to fecundate the stigmas; 

 hence, the plants are rarely productive." ^ He advised : 

 "A little attention, however, will remedy this defect, for 

 it is not difficult to contrive to have plants of the Rose- 

 berry (a variety of F. Virginiaiia) or some other free and 

 late-flowering variety, ready for the purpose." The 

 first importation of the Chili strawberry consisted of 

 pistillate plants, but part of the later importations were 

 hermaphrodite. 



The new varieties of the Pine soon drove the Haut- 

 bois and Chili from English gardens and with them the 

 pollination problem. Practically all English varieties 

 since then have been staminate. According to R. L. 

 Castle, the Crescent, which sometimes is weakly stami- 

 nate in America, but usually is pistillate, is strongly stam- 

 inate when grown in England.^ Most English horticul- 

 turists seem to have lost faith in the existence of a sepa- 

 ration of the sexes in the strawberry plant. As late as 

 1863 Lindley inquired : " Is it true that some plants of 

 the American strawberry are absolutely female?" and 

 expressed a doubt as to whether there really was, or could 

 be, such a thing as a pistillate variety of strawberry, 

 except as a result of very poor culture. 



Early pollination troubles in America. — It was a very 

 real and troublesome problem in America, however. 

 The Hautbois was introduced into North American gar- 



1 Trans. Roval Hort. Soc, Vol. VI (1826), p. 207. 



2 Ibid., Vol. XXIX (1904), p. 146. 



