128 Strawberry-Growing 



and "male.*' Female varieties have been called "pis- 

 tillate" or ''imperfect." Since true male plants are 

 not grown now, there is no need of preserving that term 

 and no danger of confusing male and hermaphrodite 

 varieties, as there was once. In 1844, G. W. Huntsman 

 proposed the terms "pistillate" and "staminate" for 

 female and hermaphrodite varieties, respectively. These 

 terms have been used more than others and are as satis- 

 factory as any ; it would be well if other terms were dis- 

 carded. The classification of varieties as to sex cannot 

 be exact in the botanical sense. The same variety may 

 differ widely in sex, especially in pollen production, vary- 

 ing with soil, climate and culture. "Hermaphrodite" 

 and "bisexual" are correct terms, botanically, but clumsy. 

 "Perfect" and "imperfect" convey no meaning to the 

 uninitiated. "Staminate" and "pistillate" direct atten- 

 tion to the essential organs and are more easily under- 

 stood by practical growers. As these terms are now used, 

 a staminate variety is one that has a suflBcient number of 

 well-developed stamens to be able to pollinate itself; 

 a pistillate variety is one that does not produce suflBcient 

 pollen to pollinate itself, although it may have stamens 

 and produce a little pollen. The classification is arbi- 

 trary and horticultural, not exact and taxonomic. 



ARE PISTILLATE VARIETIES MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN 

 STAMINATE SORTS? 



The facts concerning the separation of sexes in the 

 strawberry blossom, and the advantage of planting pollen- 

 bearing plants with pistillate sorts, first were brought 

 prominently to the attention of North American culti- 

 vators about 1845, by Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati, 



