140 CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



a full crop of berries upon any staminate variety, in a suc- 

 cession of years ; and they, therefore, condemn them as un- 

 worthy of cultivation, except as impregnators, and for this 

 purpose recommend the selection of those which are remark- 

 able for the size and flavor of their fruit, time of flowering, 

 hardiness, etc. 



Since the great ''Strawberry Question^' has attracted so 

 much attention, very many persons, anxious to verify for 

 themselves the new doctrine, have tried the experiment of 

 planting pistillate kinds separate and apart from all others. 

 These effbrts have been carried on with more or less care and 

 precision ; but the results, in all cases that have come within 

 our notice, confirm the Committee in their fifth conclusion, 

 that no pistillate plant loill bear a perfect fruit, if kept entirely 

 apart frora staminate varieties.'^ And they are perfectly satis- 

 fied that where any person thinks he has met with a diff"erent 

 result, he must have been deceived by overlooking some male 

 plants in the bed, or near it. 



The Committee, having examined a great many new seed- 

 lings, which have not yet been tested sufficiently, have ob- 

 served this fact, that, admitting them to be equally divided 

 in their sexual character, the majority of the staminates will 

 prove to be entirely barren. 



All those who would enter upon the business, or try exper- 

 iments, are advised to commence by impregnating the best 

 and largest pistillates with the largest and most highly-flav- 

 ored staminates; keep each plant and its runners entirely 

 separate from all others; test them well before exhibition, 

 and lastly, if they be not decidedly superior to the kinds already 



* They take pleasure in referring to Mr. A. H. Ernst's article upon 

 the "Cultivation of the Strawberry," in Ifo. 11 of the Horticulturist, 

 wherein he mentions some of our most intelligent cultivators, who had 

 brought out this result with different kinds of pistillate plants ; and 

 also to the admirable experiment of G. "W. Huntsman, of Flushing, 

 detailed in the 2d No., p. 88, vol. i, of the same journal. 



