42. The Strawberry Book. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
ON THE PRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES. 
Tue fascination that attends the raising of seedling 
fruits is well marked in the case of the strawberry. ‘Fhe 
abundance of seeds,.the ease with which they germinate, 
the early age at which the new plants bear fruit, and the 
tolerable certainty of getting a very good variety from a 
hundred or two seedlings, all conspire to lead on the am- 
ateur, and induce him annually to increase the size of his 
seed-beds. 
At the same time it must be borne in mind that, while 
it is easy to raise a very good seedling strawberry, it is 
very difficult to raise one possessing qualities that set it 
above the best old kinds, or even on a level with them. 
In a thousand seedlings, raised from the seed of an ap- 
proved variety, it would hardly be possible not to find two 
or three worth preserving; but to get a strawberry supe- 
rior to all before it is a triumph that does not come for 
the asking. 
Extended experiments, repeated, trials, and repeated 
failures must pave the way to success. 
The seeker for new kinds may go to work in two ways, 
viz., by hybridizing and by direct planting. 
The process of hybridizing the strawberry is simple, 
and not very difficult. It consists essentially in impreg- 
nating the- blossom of one variety with pollen from those 
of another, so that seedlings resulting trom the seed thus 
crossed shall partake of the nature of both parents. In 
practice it is convenient that the plant to be fertilized 
