96 APPENDIX. 
staminate varieties, or rather the hermaphrodite, open 
from two to ten blossoms, which must shed their pollen 
on the ends of the unopened calyx of the young buds 
below, or fall on the ends of the unopened pistillate 
buds, and immediately cause impregnation. 
The pollen of flowers is one of the most volatile 
substances in nature. That of the strawberry, viewed 
through a microscope, is a hairy substance, which, 
upon ripening, bursts and floats off on the least 
breath of air. The point of the unopened calyx 
contains a glutinous matter, which catches and holds 
this hairy pollen, and the work of impregnation is 
done; and when the calyx opens, and the petals ex- 
pand, the young strawberry may be seen perfectly 
formed. From this will be seen the importance of the 
pistillate and staminate varieties blooming together. I 
would always prefer the pistillate plant for a large fruit 
crop; for, if properly impregnated, nearly every bud 
will be a berry. Thousands of blossoms will be 
found in the beds to correspond with figures 2 and 38. 
Fig. 2, let it be recollected, is a staminate or male 
flower, and fig. 8 an impregnated pistillate or female 
flower, neither of which, by itself, can ever make fruit. 
Having now explamed the sexual character of the 
plant, and the time of impregnation, I will proceed to 
the culture. As I have before stated, were I to culti- 
vate for vines alone, I would stimulate the plants by 
the most active fertilizers; but if fruit be the object, 
the luxuriance of the vine must be curtailed, and that 
food only, known as the special food of the fruit, given. 
Now, as to soils. There are as many opinions as cul- 
tivators, from the fact that the strawberry adapts itself 
