THE STRAWBERRY 269 



gated by division may maintain its original stand- 

 ards of quality. The familiar cases of the orchard 

 fruits sufficiently support this belief. It may 

 even be possible to improve a plant slightly by 

 selection when propagated solely in this way. 



But, on the other hand, it is obvious that the 

 plant that gives up the habit of seed production 

 renounces the possibility of benefiting by the in- 

 troduction of new strains through hybridizing 

 a process, as we have all along seen, that is the 

 principal means through which plant evolution is 

 brought about. 



So, as regards the strawberry, it will be desir- 

 able to make sure that we have developed fruits 

 to approximate perfection before we induce it to 

 give up the habit of seed production altogether. 



It can hardly be claimed that the strawberry 

 has reached this stage of development, notwith- 

 standing the verdict of the enthusiast already 

 quoted. But, on the other hand, it must be ad- 

 mitted that the best varieties of fruit approach an 

 ideal standard rather closely. And when we re- 

 call that the development of these almost perfect 

 varieties has taken place rapidly and within com- 

 paratively recent times, it seems a fair conclu- 

 sion that it will be possible to complete the 

 perfection of the fruit in other directions in less 

 time than it will take to remove the seeds. 



