THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRAWBERRY. 545 



Canada and North America, and some of these showed some slight 

 differences, but not more than might have been met in the wild 

 state. 



We see, therefore, that F. virginiana, left merely to the stimulus 

 of cultivation, did not produce any varieties of special size or remark- 

 able in other qualities, and it was generally admitted that for flavour 

 the original type was unsurpassed. Nothing at all approaching 

 in size the Strawberry of modern times had been produced, and the 

 reason of this was, doubtless, that no character giving large fruit had 

 been introduced into the gametic constitution of existing fruits. 



The introduction of the Chilian Strawberry, F. chiloensis, brought, 

 however, the required size into combination with the flavour of the 

 Virginian, and thus laid the foundation of the fruit as we know it 

 to-day. The introduction of the Chilian Strawberry was, therefore, 

 an event of the first importance in Strawberry history and deserves 

 detailed treatment. 



Fragaria chiloensis is found wild in Chile, principally in the Chonos 

 Archipelago, in Valdivia, and the Juan Fernandez Islands. It is also 

 found on the Pacific coast region of North America and in Alaska. 

 It is the Southern form only, however, which we are now considering. 

 The general character of the plant is well shown in fig. 168, and the 

 colour of the fruit is a yellowish-rose, shading to a rather darker tint. 

 The variety ' Louis Gauthier ' is a close approximation to the wild 

 type. 



The Spanish name ' Frutillar ' was adopted by Duchesne and 

 translated into ' Fru tiller,' by which name it was long known in 

 France. 



Its introduction to Europe was due to a French officer named, 

 by a curious coincidence, Frezier, the name being a Gallicized 

 rendering of the Scotch Fraser, from which stock he was descended. 

 In his travels he found this Strawberry both wild and cultivated, 

 and its large size induced him to attempt its introduction into Europe. 

 The long journey from Chile to France and the scarcity of fresh water 

 rendered the importation of the young plants a matter of some diffi- 

 culty, but five plants survived. One of these was planted near Brest 

 and became the parent plant of the large Strawberry industry still 

 carried on in that district. The plants happened to be all females, and 

 for some years no fruit was seen, from lack of pollenizers. Duchesne, 

 of whom we shall speak in detail later, succeeded in fertilizing it with 

 the ' Hautbois,' and fruit resulted. In the district of Brest it was 

 planted among other varieties, and thus, being naturally pollenized, 

 large crops were produced. In 1857 180 hectares are said to have 

 been occupied by this variety, and it was exported even to England. 

 It was not long before seedlings were produced, the most widely 

 cultivated being the so-called * Pine ' or ' Ananas ' Strawberry. 



Much discussion arose over the origin of this fruit, which was first 

 figured and described in the seventh edition of Miller's Dictionary. 

 Among the countries to which it was referred was Surinam, and it 



VOL. XXXIX. 2 O 



