BREEDING 215 



Strawberry Breeders 



The achievements of CM. Hovey and James Wilson 

 are recorded on pages 22 and 35. Between 1834 and 

 1854 a large number of strawberry growers made crosses 

 and raised seedlings, hoping to duplicate the success of 

 Hovey. One of the most fortunate of these early breeders 

 was Zera Burr, of Columbus, Ohio, who introduced nine 

 varieties. His Burr's New Pine, introduced in 1848, was 

 widely grown in home gardens for many years because of 

 its exquisite quality. The Longworth, which originated 

 in 1848 with Mr. Schneike, a tenant of Nicholas Long- 

 worth of Cincinnati, Ohio, is still grown commercially in 

 California and is the oldest North American variety in 

 cultivation. 



Achievements of Boy den, Doioner and Bur and. — Soon 

 after the introduction of the Wilson, there appeared a 

 trio of strawberry breeders who contributed largely to the 

 list of improved varieties, — Seth Boyden, of Newark, 

 New Jersey ; J. S. Downer, of Fairview, Kentucky, and 

 E. W. Durand, of Irvington, New Jersey. Seth 

 Boyden raised many thousands of seedlings, but not 

 from hand-crosses. His most notable contributions were 

 the Agriculturist, Green Prolific and the Seth Boyden, 

 which were introduced in 1863, 1864 and 1868, respectively. 

 Green Prolific was grown in New Jersey as late as 

 1897. It was a seedling of the Hovey, and from it have 

 descended a number of varieties that are prominent today 

 (page 189). 



J. S. Downer contributed three great commercial va- 

 rieties, — Downer's Prolific (1858), Charles Downing 

 (1867) and Kentucky (1869). All three, especially the 

 Charles Downing, were widely grown. Downer's Prolific, 



