BREEDING STRAWBERRIES, ETC. 



227 



must first be permitted to grow a sufficient number of plants with which to 

 continue the selection. Does the yield from a single hill represent the actual 

 value of a variety, as commonly grown, or would a better representation be 

 obtained by giving the plant when first set plenty of room and allowing it to 

 make plants at will, forming an individual colony made up of the mother plant 

 and its offspring, then using the yield from this colony as a basis of estimate? 

 This comes nearer what the plant must do in actual practice, since nearly all 

 strawberries are grown commercially in matted rows. In future this is to be 

 our plan of selection. 



The difficulty of securing uniformity of conditions, as already suggested, 

 is an ever present one, and demands the utmost care at every turn. Not 

 only do conditions of soil and surroundings differ, but conditions of care. 

 Probably no two men would set a plant in the same way, and perhaps no two 

 would hoe it in the same manner. We are still a long way from absolute 

 accuracy in such matters. 



Some work has been under way in crossing. Among bush-fruits my first 

 experience was at Cornell University, where a number of crosses were made 

 between different varieties and species of raspberries and blackberries. The 

 general results showed nothing of value as a result of violent crosses ; in fact, 

 nothing worth perpetuating resulted from any of the work, but the most 

 promising offspring came from crosses between parents most closely related. 

 Perhaps a few brief notes from these taken from "Bush-Fruits" may have a 

 bearing upon recent discussions. Of five plants of Gregg X Shaffer in fruit, 

 four resembled Gregg in character of plant and one resembled Shaffer. In 

 character of cluster three approached Shaffer and two resembled Gregg. 

 The fruit in one case closely approached Shaffer, while in others it was inter- 

 mediate or nearer the Gregg. Of five plants of Fontenay X Cuthbert, three 

 resembled the female parent in character of growth, one the male, and one 

 was intermediate. Thirty-one plants of Shaffer X Cuthbert were grown. The 

 majority resembled the male plant in character of plant and the method of 

 propagation. Some produced typical red raspberry fruits, while the fruit of 

 others was dark, resembling Shaffer. Three plants of Ada X Cuthbert all 

 resembled the male parent in character of cane. In Rhode Island not enough 

 plants have as yet fruited from which to draw conclusions. 



A number of strawberry seedlings have been fruiting during 1901 and 

 1902. In general it has been noticed that there is a great similarity between 

 the seedlings of the same cross, though there are marked exceptions to this 

 rule. In some cases seedlings are so similar that they would readily be con- 

 sidered a single variety. A few observations were made upon the sex of 

 offspring from perfect and imperfect parents. Although not observed fully, 

 the following results will show something of the tendencies: 



Bubach (I) X Wilson (P). Seedlings, perfect 5, imperfect 8. 



Bubach (I) X Wm. Belt (P). Seedlings, perfect 8, imperfect 6. 



Crescent (I) X Glen Mary (P). Seedlings, perfect 22, imperfect 28, 

 weakly perfect 4. In this case the perfect plants did not as a rule bear very 

 many stamens. 



Glen Mary (P) X Wm. Belt (P), perfect 47, imperfect I. Some were 

 weak pollen bearers, being nearly imperfect. 



