FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
401 
ginning of the nineteenth century, when 
by crossing and selection hundreds of new 
varieties were obtained and the berries 
greatly improved in size and flavor. In 
eastern North America there are only two 
well-defined wild species, Fragaria virgini- 
cina, the common field strawberry, and the 
wood strawberry, F. vesca. On the western 
coast of both North and South America F. 
chiliensis is common. All the American spe¬ 
cies intercross easily. 
Owing to their greater productiveness 
preference in field culture is often given to 
the pistillate varieties, which are marked 
“P” in the catalogs of nurserymen. Pistil¬ 
late varieties which have been extensively 
planted in the past are Crescent, Manches¬ 
ter, and Bubach; while the Sharpless is 
perhaps the best known of the older per¬ 
fect varieties. Where pistillate plants are 
used in order to provide for their pollina¬ 
tion, every fourth row must be planted 
with perfect or hermaphrodite plants; 
otherwise the pistillate plants will be bar¬ 
ren. It is not at all rare, according to 
Fuller, to find perfect plants which are 
largely sterile to their own pollen, altho 
the pollen is perfectly potent to fertilize 
other varieties. A variety may have both 
stamens and pistils, and yet, owing to self- 
sterility, 90 per cent of the plants be bar¬ 
ren. It is of the greatest importance, 
therefore, to ascertain by growing indi¬ 
vidual plants under glass whether perfect 
flowers are self-sterile or not, or, where 
this is not known, to plant more than one 
variety. The best-flavored strawberry ever 
produced by Fuller was discarded because, 
altho hardy, freely blooming, and perfect, 
it was largely sterile both to its own pollen 
and that of other varieties. 
The pistillate plants are entirely depend¬ 
ent on insects for pollination; no insects, 
no berries, except in instances where a few 
stamens may be present. The nectar is se¬ 
creted by a fleshy ring at the base of the 
receptacle between the stamens and pistils. 
It is not abundant, and there is no record 
of a surplus of strawberry honey. The 
stigmas mature before the anthers. The 
flowers are visited by honeybees and many 
wild bees, which gather both pollen and 
nectar. It is evident that all the flowers 
are benefited by cross-pollination and that 
an abundance of bees is most desirable in 
strawberry-growing. 
Raspberry and Blackberry.— The rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries, which belong to 
the genus Bubus, are widely distributed 
thruout the north temperate zone of both 
hemispheres. The nectar is secreted by a 
narrow ring at the base of the receptacle. 
In the raspberry it is very abundant, and a 
large surplus of white honey with a delicate 
comb and exquisite flavor is obtained annu¬ 
ally. (See Raspberry.) The petals, which 
drop off on the second day, stand erect 
when the flower opens and hold the sta- 
men§ closely against the convex mass of 
pistils, ensuring self-fertilization in the 
absence of insects. When insects visit the 
flowers, especially bees, they regularly ef¬ 
fect cross-pollination by rubbing the pol¬ 
len adhering to their bodies on the numer¬ 
ous stigmas. Since the flowers are visited 
by innumerable honeybees besides a great 
company of wild bees, cross-pollination 
largely prevails. A large amount of fine- 
flavored light honey is gathered from wild 
raspberry in northern Michigan. 
The flowers of the blackberry are larger 
than those of the raspberry, and the petals 
spread out, affording a convenient landing- 
place for insects. The stamens bend away 
from the center; and, as the outer anthers 
dehisce first, the flowers are usually cross- 
pollinated before the inner anthers, whicli 
may effect self-pollination, have opened. 
In the raspberry and blackberry the an¬ 
thers and stigmas mature at about the same 
time. The flowers of the blackberry are 
visited by many honeybees, wild bees, flies, 
and beetles. On a small piece of cultivated 
blackberries growing near the apiary of the 
writer, the insect-visitors were collected 
during a succession of days, and the wild 
bees were found greatly to outnumber the 
honeybees. The latter manifested a pref¬ 
erence for collecting the pollen rather than 
the scanty supply of nectar. In the east¬ 
ern States, and even in Michigan, where it 
covers large areas from which the forest 
has recently been cleared, the blackberry is 
a poor honey plant; but in the southeastern 
States a wild blackberry yields a dark, 
smoky-colored honey of poor flavor. 
Currant and Gooseberry. —The cur¬ 
rants and gooseberries, which belong to the 
