14 THE STRAWBERRY CULTUEIST. 



These abnormal or pistillate varieties are likely to oc- 

 cur among the seedlings of any of the improved or cul- 

 tivated varieties, and they are occasionally preserved and 

 multiplied, although in no instance that has come under 

 my observation have they proved to be superior to other 

 varieties with perfect flowers. That they are often pre- 

 served and propagated must be considered more as a 

 matter of personal pride or opinion on the part of the 

 originator, than a necessity or advantage to fruit growers 

 in general. But so long as such imperfect varieties are 

 disseminated, they must be recognized, if for no other 

 purpose than to place the inexperienced propagator on 

 his guard against planting them alone, expecting to ob- 

 tain a crop of fruit. At one time it was supposed or 

 claimed that these pistillate varieties were, and would 

 ever remain, totally barren unless fertilized by pollen 

 from some perfect flowered sort, but as the stamens in 

 the pistillate varieties are merely suppressed organs, it is 

 not at all rare to find an occasional one fully developed 

 and producing pollen. Where this occurs, and it is 

 frequent in such varieties as the Manchester, a moder- 

 ate crop of fruit will be produced where no pollen can 

 reach the flowers from any other source. But these 

 partly undeveloped stamens cannot be depended upon 

 for supplying the necessary amount of pollen, and where 

 varieties designated as pistillates are cultivated, a perfect 

 flowered one should be grown near by, or even the plants 

 intermingled in the same bed or row. In cultivating a 

 pistillate variety a person must set out a perfect flower- 

 ed one near by, in order to obtain a crop of fruit from 

 the imperfect ; or, in other words, he must plant two 

 varieties to be certain of obtaining fruit from the one. 

 There might be some excuse for this doubling up if the 

 pistillates were in any way superior to the best of the bi- 



