PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 101 



Mr. Fuller objected to the conclusion of the committee upon No. 7, 

 because it is a pistillate, and, although it is a good berry, he will not send 

 it out, because he thinks it an imposition upon the public to sell plants 

 that will not produce a fruit unless fructified by some other sort, which 

 soon overrun and spoil the bed. This is the trouble with Hovey's and 

 McAvoy's seedlings, which are excellent fruit, and that is the trouble with 

 all pistillates; and it is wrong to sell them when we have so many bi- 

 sexual sorts of such excellent quality. 



HOW SEEDLINGS ARE PRODUCED. 



Mr. Fuller then gave the Club an interesting account of his labors in 

 procuring his seedling strawberries. He said: 



In attempting to produce a new variety of strawberries from seed, it 

 should first be decided what are the qualities desired, and then, by select- 

 ing two varieties that possess these qualities as near as may be, and by 

 fertilizing one with the other, we can come nearer to the object in view 

 than we should by sowing seed collected indiscriminately from varieties 

 not properly fertilized. 



For instance, let us take the Wilson, which is very prolific, quite large 

 and firm, but is rather acid, and too dark color, with a calyx that does not 

 part readily from the berry; and the Peabody, which is not prolific, though 

 large, and is of superior color, and sweet, and has a calyx that parts 

 readily. 



Now, let us place these two varieties at some distance from other varie- 

 ties, but in close proximity to each other, so that they can be the more 

 readily operated upon. When they come into bloom we remove the sta- 

 mens from as many flowers as desired, and then with a fine camel's hair 

 pencil take the pollen from the other variety, and dust it over the pistils of 

 the flower from which the stamens have been removed. It is well to place 

 a fine netting over the plant to be operated upon, to prevent insects from 

 fertilizing it with pollen from inferior varieties. 



The flowers should have the pollen applied several times, a few hours 

 between each application, so that the fertilization shall be complete. It is 

 well to use both varieties as parents, and fertilize the Wilson with the 

 Peabody, and vice versa, as it cannot be determined which will produce 

 the best until proved by actual experiment. I do not mention the Wilson 

 and Peabody, believing them to be the best to raise seedlings from, but only 

 to illustrate the principle. From my own experiments with them I have 

 been somewhat disappointed, for nine-tenths of the seedlings from the Wil- 

 son, fertilized by the Peabody, were more acid than the parent, although I 

 succeeded in getting the color, and some of the other characteristics of the 

 Peabody; but using the Peabody as the parent, I had better success — 

 getting a better colored berry, sweeter, and some plants that were quite 

 prolific, with almost invariably the long neck, which is a peculiar charac- 

 teristic of the Peabody. 



Among two varieties of the same species, or two distinct species, (unless 

 too far removed, like the Alpine, which I believe will not hybridize with 

 any of the others) may be brought together and valuable varieties grown 

 from the mixture. 



