28 Discrepancies of Strawberry-Culture. 



DISCREPANCIES OF STRAWBERRY- CULTURE. 



The first settlers on this continent, no matter on what portion of it they 

 made a landing, invariably discovered the strawberry growing in the woods 

 and clearings. The range of country in which it flourished is wider than 

 that of any other edible fruit. It perfects its luscious berries as far north 

 as I^apland, and spreads all through South America. Its faculty of adap- 

 tation to all climates and all varieties of soil is therefore really marvellous. 

 It has, no doubt, been thus extensively provided by Providence because of 

 its exceeding healthfulness as food for man. Of the eleven species of the 

 strawberry, six originated in this country ; and here, in quantity and quali- 

 ty, the production far exceeds all other countries. To the masses of Euro- 

 pean poverty it is a forbidden fruit ; for their ill-paid labor barely supplies 

 them with bread. But with us, notwithstanding a uniform level of high 

 prices and a paper-currency, it is a feast at which the boot-black and the 

 newsboy sit down with the sturdy relish of a vagrant independence. Noth- 

 ing lass than a chronic scarcity there, and a steady annual abundance here, 

 could produce so striking a contrast as this. 



As our women have been dependent on European invention for the 

 contour and diameter of their skirts and the invisibility of their bonnets, 

 so did the American horticulturist look across the ocean during many 

 years for new varieties of the strawberry. They came to us in numbers 

 from Belgium, France, and England. Some of these were rare to look 

 upon, and luscious to the palate 3 but not being native, nor to the man- 

 ner of our climate born, they were found to possess no commercial value, 

 and now flourish only in the garden of the amateur. Such, no doubt, will 

 be the fate of the new foreign varieties which continue to be imported. 

 They cannot compete in hardiness and productiveness with our native 

 seedlings. This important fact being ascertained, our horticulturists have 

 been encouraged to abandon all from abroad, and to originate reliable ones 

 for themselves. Some of the pioneer originators accomplished really great 

 results. Hovey's Seedling was an uncontested triumph. Wilson's Albany, 

 as a market-fruit, has never been exceeded for profitableness. The former, 

 while yielding great results on particular soils, did not continuously succeed 



