ORIGIN AND BOTANY 129 



All were varieties of European origin ; Methven Scarlet, 

 Southborough and Grove End Scarlet were varieties of 

 F. virginiana, while Keens' Seedling, Mulberry and Melon 

 were Pines. Hovey was so unfortunate as to lose his 

 labels, so that he never knew positively which cross pro- 

 duced the Hovey. In 1840 he asserted,^ "We can, how- 

 ever, state that the variety originated from one of the 

 first four crosses and in all probability from No. 1 or No. 

 4 ; and we have always thought from the latter." Both of 

 the parents of Cross No. 4 were Pines. It is this state- 

 ment upon which the conclusion that the Hovey was a 

 Pine has been largely based. It seems to have been over- 

 looked that five years later, perhaps after more careful 

 consideration, Hovey stated ^ : " Our seedling we have sup- 

 posed was from Methven Scarlet impregnated with Keens' 

 Seedling." We are justified, therefore, in concluding that 

 it is at least equally probable that the Hovey originated 

 from Cross No. 1, in which case one parent was a variety 

 of F. virginiana, as from Cross No. 4, in which both parents 

 were Pines. 



Seedlings of the Hovey were scattered over the land, and 

 became, in a large measure, the foundation stock of the 

 modern strawberry. The fifty-one varieties known to 

 have descended from the Hovey are listed on page 189. 

 Practically all came down through two noted varieties, 

 Green Prolific and Cumberland Triumph. A number, as 

 Clyde, Ozark and Sons, are four generations removed from 

 the Hovey ; Roosevelt (of Cathcoit) is five, as follows : 



{Hovey 

 X 

 Goliath 

 Clyde — Cyclone \ x [ Jucunda 



X [ Crescent 



Warfield 



1 Mag. HorU, 1840, p. 293. 2 jud., 1845, p. 292. 



K 



