SEED-VESSELS WE EAT 225 



scattering seeds. Birds eat the berries, and the 

 seeds, scattered abroad, grow the next summer 

 into full-sized plants. From seedlings some of the 

 good varieties have originated. The runners are 

 like the parent plant. The seedling is likely to 

 differ, though some varieties "come true." 



One of the discouraging facts about strawberry 

 culture in the early stages, fifty years ago, was the 

 failure of a bed to produce berries, even though it 

 received the best care and blossomed profusely. 

 A study of the flowers solved that problem. 



The blossom of a strawberry plant is like a 

 white rose, with a single row of white petals 

 around a cone of pistils. The stamens, many or 

 few, are set on the petals, and form a ring around 

 the cone. 



Sometimes the stamens are so few or so weak 

 that they do not furnish pollen to fertilize the 

 pistils. This results in the withering away of the 

 cone. The cone grows into the fleshy berry, when 

 seeds are set. If the top of the cone, only, fails 

 of fertilization, that part withers, and the berry 

 fills out only in the portion next to the calyx, or 

 hull. Such a berry is called a " nubbin. " 



A variety that is unable to set fruit because its 

 flowers produce insufficient amount of pollen must 

 be planted with one that produces copious supply, 



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