THE STRAWBERRY. 



163 



are not fertilized, the berry becomes deformed and mis-shapen. 

 The Hovey's Seedling is an instance of a pistillate variety, one 

 in which the stamens are wholly wanting; Russell's Prolific is 

 an instance of one in which the stamens are defective, being 

 too few or too imperfectly developed to thoroughly fertilize the 

 fruit; while the WiLson produces a perfect flower with a suffi- 

 ciency of well-developed stamens. 



The following figure is a representation of a perfect flower, 

 showing the stamens, with the 

 anthers on their extremities, ar- 

 ranged in a circle around the re- 

 ceptacle or berry, which is studded 

 all over with slender hair -like 

 pistils. Varieties which produce 

 such flowers have an abundance 

 of pollen, much more than enough 

 to supply every pistil with the 

 requisite fertilizing agent. Hence 

 such varieties always have per- 

 fectly formed fruit, and if the 

 plant produces an abundance of flowers there will be an abun- 

 dance of fruit. 



Fig. 50 represents a pistillate flower. It will be at once seeft 

 that there are no stamens, and consequently no anthers, 

 arranged around the berry, though 

 there are plenty of pistils bristling 

 over its siuface. Unless these 

 pistils receive pollen from some 

 other strawberry flower, there can 

 be no vitalizing of the seed germ, 

 and, in consequence, no swelling 

 and growth of the receptacle, or, 

 in other words, no berries. If, 

 then, the garden be planted only 

 with Hovey's Seedling, or any 

 other merely pistillate sort, there 



Fio. 50. 



