BREEDING 



201 



Cuba.i "There 

 was an extension 

 of the stem through 

 the fruit. In some 

 cases it was simply 

 extended as a leafy 

 shoot, while in 

 others a small berry 

 wasproduced about 

 an inch beyond the 

 first one "(Fig. 21). 

 Since the fruit stalk 

 is merely a meta- 

 morphosed runner 

 which has become 

 erect, it can be seen 

 why a stem may occasionally spring from the berry just 

 as it does from a layer plant. 



Fig. 22. — A freak strawberry ; the exposed 

 seed carpels are covered with pulp, like a 

 blackberry. 



Breeding Methods 



There has been much indefinite and futile effort in 

 strawberry breeding. Some enthusiastic amateurs have 

 entertained the notion that superior new varieties can 

 be produced simply by growing the seeds of exception- 

 ally large and attractive berries. There is a chance that 

 among thousands of seedlings produced in this haphazard 

 fashion one may be of merit, but usually the result is 

 wholly disappointing. 



Methods of the early breeders. — The only way to be 

 absolutely sure of the parentage of seedlings is to pollinate 

 the blossoms by hand. It is possible that berries not 



1 Estac. Cent. Agron. (Cuba), Kept. 2 (1905-9), pt. 2, p. 142. 



