JUNE 109 



classed them all together, for they are the 

 fruits with which she tempts the birds. 

 The pulp is theirs, if they will but scatter 

 the imbedded seeds. It is the birds we are 

 robbing when we eat the small fruits. The 

 apple, the peach, and the plum are for us 

 and our like. But as we have taken the 

 wild strawberry under our care and taught 

 it to make fruit as big as plums, I suppose 

 we are entitled to our own share, though 

 we certainly have no right to be indignant 

 when the birds come for theirs. The cul- 

 tivated strawberry is not simply our own 

 wild plant brought into the garden and 

 tickled into fatness. Its native home is on 

 the drier plains of Chili. To this fact is 

 due the hairy coating over the stem and 

 leaves so common to higher and drier situ- 

 ations. Possibly in time our Chilian fruit 

 may grow smooth, like our own wild straw- 

 berry. 



The strawberry has a double safeguard 

 against extermination. When an old plant 

 dies, a new one may spring up either from 

 the seed of the old or from runners. 



