Fruits , Vegetables and General Interests. 53 



garia Chilensis ; and it is probable that the Everbearing is 

 the same, for among Oregon strawberries it is the species 

 most likely to attract the attention of a horticulturist. Fra- 

 garia Chilensis is a low-growing species, with stout and villous 

 scapes, thick and firm leaves, which are smooth and more Ever . 

 or less shining above. In our garden, ripe fruits appeared bearing 



1* ti i 'ii 11 • straw be 



this year July 5, and continued to be produced some time 

 afterwards. The fruits are of medium size, red, in shape 

 like common garden sorts of the Manchester type, with the 

 seed (or fruits) appressed, but not sunken in pits. Fr ci- 

 gar ia Chilensis has been cultivated in the eastern states 

 before, the Princes, among others, having had it many years 

 ago. Its disappearance indicates that it must have pos- 

 sessed no superlative merits for cultivation in the east. The 

 following remarks concerning the wild strawberries of Cali- 

 fornia, which are the same species as those of Oregon, are 

 from a paper by Emory E. Smith, before the California State 

 Horticultural Society : "Two species of fragaria are indige- 

 nous to California. F. Chilensis (identical with the Chilian 

 species), which i.s found close along the coast in the north- 

 ern counties, has perfect flowers and leaves which are 

 smooth and shiny on their upper ^surface. This is the spe- 

 cies which grows in such profuson at the Presidio, Cliff 

 House, Point Bonito, etc. F. Californica, which is quite 

 generally distributed throughout the interior of the state, 

 differs from the F. Chilensis in appearance, by having sparing- 

 ly villous leaves, which are not shiny on the surface, as with 

 the other species. It seems that but little attention has been 

 given the wild strawberry on the Pacific coast, and the infor- 

 mation obtainable regarding it, both from botanical and 

 horticultural standpoints, is exceedingly meagre. From ob- 

 servations made, I am led to believe that both species can be 

 greatly improved by cultivation, and that they may be the 

 most promising of our wild fruits. I have noticed in several 

 localities vines of both species which were thriftier and pro- 

 duced much larger and finer berries than the average. These 

 were doubtless undefined varieties of nature's production, and 

 clearly demonstrate that both the species are capable of great 

 improvement. The necessity of constantly irrigating the im- 

 proved varieties of strawberries which have been imported 

 into California has been a great drawback to the general pro- 



