BREEDING 189 



creased in number and in value. It is probable that in 

 the future most of the improvement will be through defi- 

 nite breeding rather than through chance seedlings. 



THE FOUR STEM-VARIETIES 



The varieties that have contributed most to the im- 

 provement of the strawberry in North America through 

 their seedlings are the Hovey, Wilson, Crescent and Sharp- 

 less. Of the 1879 varieties of North American origin, 

 the parents of only 348 are known with certainty. Sixty- 

 three are descendants of Crescent, sixty-nine of Sharp- 

 less, forty-eight of Wilson and fifty-one of Hovey. Thus, 

 approximately two-thirds of the varieties of known 

 parentage have come from these four stem varieties. It 

 is natural that such noteworthy sorts should have been 

 used for breeding more than others. The Crescent and 

 Sharpless seem to have possessed more virility, or ability 

 to produce valuable seedlings, than the Hovey or the 

 Wilson. 



Descendants of the Hovey. There are fifty-one varieties 

 of the lineage of the Hovey, most of them descending 

 through Green Prolific and Cumberland Triumph. The 

 most notable of these are Aroma, Clyde, Cumberland 

 Triumph, Cyclone, Monarch and Ozark. The complete 

 list follows. Those that are starred are in cultivation 

 today. 



