EARLY HISTORY 1 



the Chili was F. chiloensis, the wild strawberry of the 

 Pacific coast of North and South America, which had been 

 introduced into Europe about 1735; the Redwood was 

 F. vesca, the common wild strawberry of England. The 

 native Scarlet or Virginian strawberry, F. virginiana, was 

 generally considered so superior in flavor to the hautbois and 

 Chilean, as well as more prolific, that these were grown 

 only in a few gardens ; the Red Wood, and its companion 

 the White Wood, were cultivated quite commonly, espe- 

 cially in the vicinity of Boston. 



Perhaps Prince did not list any variety of F. virginiana 

 in 1771 because his stock was mostly imported from 

 Europe; but it is more likely that no variety had yet 

 appeared sufficiently superior to the wild berry to warrant 

 propagation. Large Early Scarlet, which became a 

 standard variety later, had been sent to England more 

 than a century before, but it does not seem to have 

 been grown here until after 1800. In his 1791 catalog 

 Prince added to his list "Hudson (very large, fine 

 flavor, and great bearers) ; 2 s per dozen." Later this 

 was called Early Hudspn; it was the first named 

 variety listed in North America, and was a form of the 

 Scarlet. 



Cultural directions in early books. In 1790 appeared the 

 first North American book containing much information on 

 horticulture, Samuel Dean's "New England Farmer." 

 This is a cyclopedic work, patterned somewhat after 

 Philip Miller's "Dictionary of Gardening," a standard 

 English book, much quoted in America at that time. It 

 gives an interesting picture of the status of strawberry 

 culture in North America at the close of the eighteenth 

 century. "There are four sorts," says Dean, "the wood 

 strawberry, the Virginia or Scarlet strawberry, the haut- 



