206 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



from foreign pollen, these should be kept on for two or 

 three days after pollination. Crosses should be labeled 

 at the time of pollination. Hand-crossing in the field 

 is done in the same way, but it is necessary to use greater 

 care to protect the blossoms from foreign pollination, 

 and the results are much more uncertain; the weather 

 may be unfavorable when pollination is done, the sacks 

 may be torn, and the crossed fruit cannot be protected 

 so readily from the depredations of birds and boys. 



Albert F. Etter, of Ettersburg, California, describes his 

 method of crossing as follows : ^ " You may need a pen- 

 knife, but not necessarily. You will need a piece of 

 tissue paper two or three inches square, which is used 

 as a hood to hold the male blossom in place over the 

 newly opened female blossom. The stem of the plucked 

 male blossom is inserted in a hole through the center of 

 the tissue paper, and the blossom is placed over the female 

 blossom. Now fold the paper back and tie with a small 

 piece of cord. As the male blossom withers the pollen 

 sacks burst and the dust is brought into contact with 

 the pistils. By using a pistillate female parent, all that 

 is necessary is to plant it side by side with the prospective 

 male parent, and insects will do the rest. This, of course, 

 is not scientific, but it is practical." 



The methods of Louis Hubach, a prominent breeder 

 of Judsonia, Arkansas, are interesting. He uses only 

 pistillate varieties as mother plants. "His experience 

 has been that when he has crossed perfect-flowered with 

 perfect-flowered varieties, the progeny lost in productive- 

 ness. In an experiment in which he tested this, he found 

 that the decrease in yield continued for several genera- 

 tions. Because of this experience he has developed sev- 

 1 Pacific Rural Press, Feb., 1916. 



