NEW VARIETIES— HYBRIDIZATION. 1 97 



the majority of seedlings are to be thrown away. Those that 

 give special promise should be lifted with a large ball of 

 earth, and planted where they may be kept pure from mix- 

 ture, and given further trial. Remember that a seedling may 

 do better the first year than ever after, and that only a con- 

 tinued and varied trial can prove its worth. All runners should 

 be kept off, unless the ground is infested with grubs, and there 

 is danger of losing a promising variety of which we have but 

 one specimen. If so fortunate as to raise superior seedlings, 

 test them side by side, and under the same conditions with 

 the best kinds in existence, before calhng to them public 

 attention. Try them, also, in light and heavy soils ; and, if 

 possible, send them to trusted friends who will subject them 

 to varied climates in widely separated localities. If, how- 

 ever, you find them vigorous and productive on the light, 

 poor soils of your own place, you may hope much for them 

 elsewhere. No berry will be generally popular that requires 

 much petting. I only state this as a fact. In my opinion, 

 some varieties are so superb in size and flavor that they de- 

 serve high culture, and well repay it. 



It is a question whether, except for the purposes of propa- 

 gation, pistillate varieties should be preserved and sent out. 

 Mr. Fuller and others take ground against them, and their 

 views are entitled to great respect, but with such kinds as 

 the Golden Defiance and Champion in my garden, I am not 

 prepared to condemn them. One objection urged against 

 them is that many purchase a single variety, and, should it 

 prove a pistillate, they would have no fruit. They would 

 not deserve any, if they gave the subject so little attention. 

 Every fruit catalogue states which are pistillates, and their 

 need of a perfect- flowering kind near them. Again, it is 

 urged that this necessary proximity of two kinds leads to 

 mixtures. It nce'l not, an 1, with the plant grower, can only 



