ORIGIN AND BOTANY 125 



distinction ; they have entered somewhat into the lineage 

 of modern European varieties, though not as much as 

 Keens' Seedling. As a result of his work with the three 

 types, Knight concluded : " I believe all to be varieties 

 only of one species, for all may be made to breed together 

 indiscriminately; and I have found that similar varieties 

 may be obtained from the seeds of any other." 



ORIGIN OF THE GARDEN STRAWBERRY OF NORTH 

 AMERICA 1 



In the evolution of the garden strawberry of North 

 America, the native species, F. virginiana, has been much 

 more prominent than it was in the evolution of the garden 

 strawberry of Europe. In recent years, however, there 

 seems to have been a tendency to consider it a rather 

 negligible factor. A recent bulletin states : "This species 

 has given but few varieties, and they have soon dropped 

 out of cultivation." This conclusion is hardly justified 

 from the historical facts now to be presented. 



The Virginian or Scarlet strawberry was the only kind 

 known in early colonial days. The Hautbois, Alpine, 

 Wood and Chilean were not introduced until about 

 1750, and the Pine about 1790. With the exception of 

 the Wood, none of these were grown here, save in the 

 gardens of a few amateurs who could afford to pet them. 

 The Red Wood was valued by market gardeners near 

 Boston between 1820 and 1850. About 1820 several 

 nurseries began to disseminate improved varieties of the 

 Scarlet, notably Early Hudson, Hudson's Bay, Methven 

 Scarlet, and Large Early Scarlet. The latter variety and 



1 First published in the Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual 

 Meeting of the Society for Horticultural Science (1915). 



