The strawberry in North America; history, origin, botany, and breeding

Front matter

m\y

W.

w ii-em v<-X i

Preface

This book completes a survey of the strawberry as grown in North America. Modern cultural methods are presented in a companion volume, "Strawberry- Growing/* and all of the more than 1800 North American varieties are described in Technical Bulletin 11, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Blacksburg, Virginia, "North American Varieties of the Strawberry." The present volume deals mainly with the origin and history of the North American type — one of the most interesting chapters in our pomology.

The assistance of many pomologists and cultivators is gratefully acknowledged, more especially of Matthew Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. A number of the illustrations are borrowed, for which acknowledgment is made in the List of Illustrations.

S. W. FLETCHER.

State College, PennsTlvania, May 3, 1917.

CHAPTER I wild

Strawberries in colonial days .

Wild strawberries of Virginia .

Wild strawberries of New England .

Wild strawberries of the West .

First steps in the domestication of the strawberry ....

The beginning of garden culture

Varieties listed in early trade catalogs

Cultural directions in early books . "New England Farmer"

"American Gardener"

"American Gardeners' Calendar"

The beginning of commercial culture

Near Boston

Near New York ....

Yields and prices ....

The mystery of strawberry-growing .

Varieties increase ....

Introduction of the Hovey

Origin of the Hovey

The first novelty

Unsatisfactory results with the Hovey

A new interest in plant breeding Extension of commercial culture, 1838-1854

Near Cincinnati ....

Near New York ....

In the South

Condition of strawberry culture before the introduction of the Wilson .

Yields and prices .... vii

1-34 1-6 1-2 2-3 3-4

4^6 6-12

6-7 7-12

30-34 30-31

VUl

Varieties

Stimulating effect of the pollination discussion

Chapter II

The Rise of Commercial Strawberry-Growing The sway of the Wilson .....

Origin

Immediate popularity ....

Good points and objectionable features . Competitors — Crescent and Sharpless .

Boom days

Contrasting methods of culture Field culture at Cincinnati Market garden culture at Pittsburgh Yields and prices about 1865 .

Special cultural methods ....

Forcing in hot-beds and cold-frames .

Strawberry mounds ....

Improvement in transportation facilities .

Extension of railroads ....

Competition from the South .

Ventilator cars and fruit-growers' express Introduction of refrigerator cars

Early experiments of Parker Earle

The first pre-cooling plant ...

Beginning of the modern re-icing system Early history of certain of the older strawberry districts New Jersey ......

Delaware-Maryland peninsula .

Oswego County, New York

Michigan

Southern Illinois

Virginia .......

Charleston, South Carolina

Florida

North Carolina

Gulf States and lower Mississippi Valley . Pacific Coast ......

Canada

PAGES

31-32 32-34

IX

Chapter III

History of Strawberry Packages, Methods op Training, and Pollination Early packages

Pottle ....

Punnet ....

Tubs ....

Cincinnati stand of drawers Evolution of the box and crate package

Early types of boxes and crates

Introduction of the return crate and box Origin of the "Hallock"

The first gift packages Slow adoption of gift packages in the East History of methods of training

HiU training before the Wilson

The era of broadcast training .

Evolution of the matted row .

Early methods of renewing the bed History of the pollination discussion

Experiments of Duchesne and Keens

Early pollination troubles in North America

The secret of Abergust

The "Strawberry War" .

Influence of culture on sex

Report of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society

Final vindication of "Longworth's Theory" .

76-108

76-81

77-78

78-81

81-86

81-82

82-83

84-86

87-94

88-89

90-92

92-94

94-109

94-96

96-98

98-99

99-102

102-104

105-107

107-109

CHAPTER IV Early history in Europe

References in early writings

Origin of the English name Origin of the garden strawberry of Europe

Experience with the Wood and Hautbois

Introduction of the Scarlet

Introduction of the Chilean

PAGES

Possible origin of the Pine .... 116-123

As a pure seedling of F. chiloensis

117-118

As a hybrid of F. virginiana and F. chiloensis

118-123

Keens' Seedling

123-125

Origin of the garden strawberry of North America

125-138

Record of F. virginiana under cultivation

125-128

Historical evidence

128-132

Origin of Hovey ....

128-130

Origin of Crescent and Sharpless

130-131

Origin of Downer's Prolific .

131-132

Botanical evidence ....

132-138

Reversion of seedlings

132-134

Anatomical characters

134-135

Hardiness

135-136

Record of F. chiloensis under cultivation

136-138

Origin of the everbearers

138-147

The Alpines

138-141

European everbearers

141-142

Early failures in North America

142-144

The Pan-American and its descendants

144-147

Botany of the strawberry ....

147-156

Diffusion of wild strawberries .

147-148

F. virginiana .....

148-150

F. chiloensis

. 150-153

F. vesca

. 153-154

F. elatior

154-156

CHAPTER V siRABLE Characters in a Variety . . . 157-187

Desirable characters in the plant

. 157-162

Health, vigor and productiveness

. 157-158

Hardiness ....

. 158-159

Foliage

159-160

Runners

160-161

Fruit stalks and l)lossoms

161-162

Desirable characters in the fruit

162-175

Season of ripening .

. 162-163

Size

163-164

Records of "mammoth" berries

. 164-167

XI

PAGES

Shape, calyx, color

167-171

Seeds, shipping value

171-172

Flavor, quality

172-175

Describing and scoring varieties . . . .

175-181

Form for describing varieties .

176-178

Score cards

178-181

Food value .......

181-187

Chemical analyses

181-183

Are wild strawberries sweeter than cultivated sorts

183-184

Supposed medicinal value

184-187

Chapter VI Reeding

. 188-227

The four stem-varieties

. 189-192

Descendants of Hovey ....

. 189-190

Descendants of Wilson ....

Descendants of Sharpless

. 190-191

Descendants of Crescent ....

. 191-192

Breeding for a specific purpose

. 192-201

Changing ideals

. 192-193

Breeding for one thing at a time

. 193-195

Selecting the parents ....

. 195-196

Botanical relationships and morphology .

. 196-198

When fruit buds are formed

. 198-200

Abnormal structural forms

. 200-201

Breeding methods ......

. 201-210

Methods of the early breeders .

. 201-203

Hand-crossing

. 203-207

Sowing the seed

. 207-208

Fruiting the seedlings ....

. 208-210

Bud variation ......

. 210-215

Variation caused by environment

. 210-211

Reported instances of bud variation

211-212

" Pedigree " plants

212-214

Strawberry breeders

215-220

Achievements of Boyden, Downer, Durand

215-216

List of breeders, 1854-1900

21&-217

Breeders since 1900

217-218

Xll

The rewards of strawberry breeding

PAGES

. 218-219

Methods of introducing varieties

. 219-220

Naming and testing new varieties .

. 220-227

Form of name

. 220-221

Synonyms

What is a distinct variety

. 223-224

Value of variety tests

. 224-225

Why varieties run out

. 225-227

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PIGUEE PAGE

1. Crimson Cone ; grown near New York about 1820 . 16

2. C. M. Hovey, originator of the Hovey strawberry . 22

3. The Hovey strawberry, the first variety of any fruit

originated in North America by definite plant breeding. (From Mag. Hort., 1840, p. 286) . 24

4. Parker Earle, who developed the refrigerator car for

strawberry transportation 60

5. Type of punnet used for the New York City market,

1815-1850 77

6. The Cincinnati stand of drawers, used in the Missis-

sippi Valley, 1850-1890. (From The Cult, and Count. Gent., 1866, p. 222) 79

7. A ** male and female blossom of the Hudson," as drawn

by Nicholas Longworth, in 1842. (From Mag. Hort., 1842, p. 258) 100

8. Nicholas Longworth, who directed attention to the

pollination problem 107

9. Drawing of the strawberry in Parkinson's "Para-

disus Terrestris," pubHshed in 1629J . . .110

10. Old Pine, or Pineapple, the progenitor of the garden

strawberry. (From British Fruits, I, No. 47) . 116

11. Keens' Seedling, the first improved variety; intro-

duced in 1821. (From Trans. Royal Hort. Soc,

12. Large Early Scarlet, a form of F. virginiana and the

dominant variety in North America, 1830-1860. (From Rept. U. S. Dept. Agr., 1853) . . .127

13. Pan-American, the first North American everbearer.

(From L. R. Johnson, Cape Girardeau, Mo.) . 145

14. F. virginiana. (From " Evolution of Our Native

Fruits" by L. H. Bailey, p. 428) .... 149

16. The Alpine form of F. vesca 154

xiii xiv - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE PAGE

17. A "mammoth" berry ; it weighed 4| ounces. (From

catalog of A. T. Goldsborough, Washington, D.C.) 166

18. Banana, introduced in 1870 168

19. The long root stalk of a very old plant . . . 197

20. Proliferous strawberry. (From Meehan's Monthly,

21. An abnormal structural form. (From Rept. Cuba

22. A freak strawberry, with the exposed seed carpels

covered with pulp, like a blackberry. (From Meehan's Monthly, 1902, p. 12) . . . . 201

23. A staminate blossom, showing the numerous yellow

anthers, which contain the pollen, surrounding

the cone of green pistils 202

24. Anthers cUpped off and exposed to the sun, to secure

pollen 204

25. Pollinating with a camel's-hair brush. (From L. H.

Bailey, Ithaca, New York) 205

26. Matthew Crawford, for nearly fifty years the foremost

North American propagator of the strawberry , 220

THE STEAWBERM IN NORTH AMERICA

CHAPTER I From the settlement at Jamestown to the introduction of the

Wilson

The strawberry is distinctly Pan-American. Both of the species from which most of the garden varieties of today have descended — Fragaria mrginiana and F. chiloensis — were secured by the Old World from the New. The largest acreage of cultivated strawberries is on . th , continent. The value of all the strawberries produced and marketed in North America each year, exclusive of the large quantity grown for home use, exceeds $20,000,000; this represents more than half of the commercial strawberry production of the world. The rise of commercial strawberry culture in the United States and Canada, which has taken place within the memory of men now living, is one of the most interesting chapters in North American horticulture.

Strawbeeries in Colonial Days

From the beginning of its Caucasian history, and probably for centuries previous, North America has

B 1 been a land of wild strawberries. The first settlers at Jamestown, in 1607, found them in abundance. Captain John Smith mentioned, among other fruits found in the new Eldorado, "strawberries which ripen in April." One of the early colonists reported to his friends in England that when he went into the woods he came upon great areas of land overgrown with these plants, and the berries were "four times larger and much more exquisitely flavored" than the wild strawberries of England.^ In fact, so abundant were the berries, another man declares, that in walking through the woods around Jamestown "it was impossible to direct the foot without dyeing it in the blood of this fruit." ^ Some may consider this statement colored by the vivid experiences of the explorer ; but certainly not the report of conservative Ralph Hamor that there were "great fields and woods abounding with strawberries, much fairer and more sweete than ours."

As fast as the Virginia settlers cut down the forests, strawberries sprang up in the clearings. When the fields had been cropped to exhaustion with corn, wheat, and tobacco, they were abandoned and new ground cleared, as was the custom in the prodigal husbandry of that period. These old fields soon abounded with wild strawberries. \For a century or more after the settlement of Virginia, wild strawberries were so plentiful that "very few persons take care to transplant them, but can find enough to fill their baskets, when they have a mind, in the deserted old fields."

The wild straivberries of New England. — Meanwhile the Pilgrims, the Massachusetts Bay colony, and other

' Force's Historical Tracts, Vol. III. '

northern settlers, were having similar delightful experiences. Young's "Chronicles of the Pilgrims'' records expeditions from Plymouth into the surrounding country, on which they found "strawberries innumerable." New England was forest clad at that time (1620) ; it was the custom of the Indians to burn over certain areas each year, in order ito secure ground in which to plant corn. Strawberries thrived in these burnt-over districts. Morton, who was at Plymouth in 1622, says, in his "New England Canaan," " Wild strawberries grew in plenty in the meadow and champaign lands."

In 1629 William Wood visited New England; he returned to England in 1633 and there published the following year his "New England's Prospect," which is a record of Jiis experiences and observations in the New World. Of the Massachusetts Plantations he says, "There is likewise Strawberries in abundance, verie large ones, some being two inches about ; one may gather halfe a bushel! in a forenoone." In 1643 Roger Williams wrote, "This berrie is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in these parts. In some parts where the natives have planted" (that is, planted corn), "I have many times seen as many as would fill a good ship within a few miles compass. The Indians bruise them in a mortar and mix them with meale and make Strawberry bread." Strawberry bread was commonly used by the Indians in other parts of the continent, as well as along the Atlantic coast.

The colonists of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Carolinas, and other parts of the Atlantic seaboard found wild strawberries no less abundant than in Virginia and New England. In 1683 William Penn mentioned with appreciation the abundance of wild strawberries in Pennsylvania. As the pioneers pushed westward, in parallel lines, occupying successively western New York, Michigan and Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and the great Mississippi Valley, the wild strawberry everywhere greeted them with an abundance of fresh fruit — a most w^elcome addition to frontier fare. It was so in lost Arcadia, and in old Quebec. The wild strawberry refreshed the "forty-niners" of California, and those who followed the Lewis and Clark trail. In our owti time, it has brought cheer to the settlers on the last frontiers, in Manitoba and Alaska. Always the wild strawberry has been intimately and gratefully associated with pioneer life. We can hardly blame those who have enjoyed its bounty under these circumstances if they refuse to admit that any cultivated variety is half as sweet.

First steps in the domestication of the wild strawberry. — For many years after the colonies were established, there was little, if any, garden culture of the strawberry. Wild berries were so plentiful that this was unnecessary. The abundant supply of native berries was appreciated all the more because of the limited supply of most other fruits. It was extremely difficult to secure improved varieties of apples, pears and other tree fruits. There were no nurseries here then; trees or cions had to be brought from Europe. The journey was long and trying, occupying fully a month, and the recourse to seedling orchards gave but a small proportion of useful sorts.

The first step in the domestication of the strawberry naturally would be to transfer to the garden some of the most superior plants found in the fields. Since the native berry was so decidedly superior to the best European sorts of that time, there was no object in importing varieties from Europe, as was the case with most other fruits. It is possible that this ameHoration may have been begun, in a very Hmited way, by the first settlers, since it is recorded by English horticulturists that the Large Early Scarlet, a large-fruited form of F. mrginiana, was introduced into England about 1624. It is not likely, however, that garden culture began much before 1700. Any superior wilding that was found was more likely to be sent to Europe, where the possibilities of the "American Scarlet" as a garden fruit were instantly appreciated and enthusiastically exploited, than to be kept in America, where every hillside and meadow yielded an abundant harvest to all who might seek it.

Small towns soon sprang up, and the cultivated area surrounding them gradually widened. As the land became more fully subdued in tilled crops, it was no longer the habitat of the wild strawberry. It became necessary for the housewife to go farther and farther afield to gather the annual supply for preserves and jam. There came a time when this trip became long and irksome ; then wild plants were transplanted to the garden. This was the beginning of strawberry culture. It now became desirable to scrutinize the wild plants more closely, so as to find those of superior productiveness, size or flavor, in order that the garden space might be most fruitful. This was the beginning of strawberry breeding.

Until about 1750, there was no garden culture of the strawberry except of these transplanted wildings, and even these were grown only in a very few gardens. Nearly everybody, even in the larger towns, still depended upon the supply of wild berries. Long before the Revolution, wild strawberries became an article of barter and sale in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Their streets resounded then, as now, with the long drawn out and not unmusical vendor's cry, " Strawber-r-ries, ripe strawber-r-ries ! " At that time the strawberry season was limited to the period of ripening of the nearby wild berries, which was not over four weeks ; now it is extended over six months, and berries may be had the year around.

The Beginning of Garden Culture

Garden culture of the strawberry began to receive more serious attention about 1750, especially from a few well-todo amateurs who could afford to employ private gardeners. The hautbois, wood and Chilean strawberries were introduced from Europe then, together with some of the improved varieties of F. virginiana that had been developed by English horticulturists.

Varieties listed in early trade catalogs. — Much of this interest was stimulated by the establishment, about the middle of the century, of the first North American nursery, by William Prince, at Flushing, on Long Island, New York. For many years, Prince's Linnsean Garden was the chief center for the dissemination of horticultural plants. William Prince died in 1 802, leaving the business to his son, William Prince, who, in turn, handed it dowTi to his son, William Robert Prince ; so that the firm had an unbroken history of over a century. It exerted a profound influence during the formative period of North American horticulture. The first North American trade catalogs of horticultural plants were issued by Prince. In one of the earliest, sent out in 1771, three kinds of strawberries are offered for sale : " Large Hautboys, the Chili, the Redwood."

He sold these for "one shilling per dozen roots.'* The Hautboys was F. elatior, the hautbois of Europe;

the Chili was F. chiloensis, the wild strawberry of the Pacific coast of North and South America, which had been introduced into Europe about 1735; the Redwood was F. vesca, the common wild strawberry of England. The native Scarlet or Virginian strawberry, F. virginiana, was generally considered so superior in flavor to the hautbois and Chilean, as well as more prolific, that these were grown only in a few gardens ; the Red Wood, and its companion the White Wood, were cultivated quite commonly, especially in the vicinity of Boston.

Perhaps Prince did not list any variety of F. mrginiana in 1771 because his stock was mostly imported from Europe; but it is more likely that no variety had yet appeared sufficiently superior to the wild berry to warrant propagation. Large Early Scarlet, which became a standard variety later, had been sent to England more than a century before, but it does not seem to have been grown here until after 1800. In his 1791 catalog Prince added to his list "Hudson (very large, fine flavor, and great bearers) ; 2 s per dozen. ^' Later this was called Early Hudson; it was the first named variety listed in North America, and was a form of the Scarlet.

Cultural directions in early books. — In 1790 appeared the first North American book containing much information on horticulture, Samuel Dean's "New England Farmer." This is a cyclopedic work, patterned somewhat after Philip Miller's "Dictionary of Gardening," a standard English book, much quoted in America at that time. It gives an interesting picture of the status of strawberry culture in North America at the close of the eighteenth century. "There are four sorts," says Dean, "the wood strawberry, the Virginia or Scarlet strawberry, the hautboy strawberry and the Strawberry of Chili. " He advises that the Virginian be grown : " It is most common and perhaps most worthy of cultivation." The relative importance of hay and strawberries is clearly defined by Dean : " Our grass fields often produce these strawberries in plenty, but it is better to have a spot of ground devoted to the culture of them, as they will be much larger and better flavored, and the trampling of the grass in the mowing may be thus in some measure prevented." His cultural directions, mostly quoted from Miller, are interesting not only as a record of the approved methods of that time, but also as evidence of the slavish copying of English methods which characterized the early years of North American horticulture :

"Lay the ground out into beds of four feet broad, with paths two feet or two feet and a half between them, these paths being for the convenience of gathering the strawberries and for weeding and dressing the beds. The plants should be in the quincunx order, and fifteen inches apart, so there will be but three rows in each bed. The plants should never be taken from old, neglected beds, where the plants have been suffered to run into a multitude of suckers, or from any plants w^hich are not fruitful ; and those offsets that stand nearest to the old plants should always be preferred to those w^hich are produced from the trailing stalks at a greater distance.

"During the summer the plants should be kept clear from weeds, and all the runners should be pulled off as fast as they are produced. If this is constantly practiced the plants will become very strong. Wlierever the suckers are suffered to remain they rob the fruitful plants of their nourishment in proportion to their number. I have known, where the old plants have been constantly kept clear of suckers, they have continued very fruitful three years without being transplanted."

With slight modification, these directions, written 125 years ago, might stand for the " Kevitt System, " and other so-called modern methods of culture. Probably he had the Scarlet strawberry most in mind when he advised, "But little dung should be applied to the soil, as a large quantity will cause them to run much and to be less fruitful." The English practice of growing strawberries in raised "beds" seems to have fastened that name permanently upon the planting of small areas. Not until 1850 was there a strawberry "field." One important departure from English methods is noted : " The time to remove the plants is said by the above mentioned author, (Miller), to be September or the beginning of October, but they are known to do well in this country when removed in early spring."

There is nothing in "The New England Farmer," or contemporaneous publications, which would indicate that strawberries were grown commercially at that time. The only strawberries marketed were the wild ones that were peddled about the streets. \Strawberry culture was confined to the home gardens of gentlemen of means who employed private gardener's. These gardeners were mostly from England, where they had been trained in the apprentice school of rule-of-thumb gardening. It was inevitable that they should persist in attempting to grow strawberries here exactly as they had been taught to grow them in England. The results were hardly less disastrous than was the case with grapes. For years the general public considered strawberry-growing an exceedingly difficult and uncertain matter, that only the initiated might undertake with prospect of success. Here and there wild plants were transferred to gardens, but most people depended upon the meadows and hillsides for a supply. This was the situation at the close of the eighteenth century.

In 1804 appeared the first indigenous book devoted wholly to horticulture, "The American Gardener,'' by John Gardiner and David Hepburn. The first edition gives but scant consideration to the strawberry: "Wild strawberries may be planted in shady situations, but the others do best in open situations. Pineapples, Chili, scarlet and hautboy are also very good strawberries." This is the first record of the cultivation in North America of the "Pine" strawberry, from which most of the varieties of today have sprung ; but it may have been imported some years previous, as it was quite widely disseminated in Europe by 1759.

There was added to the second edition of " The American Gardener" a valuable "Treatise on Gardening," which had been "written many years ago by a learned and eminent Virginian, who printed it for the use of his friends, " and who resided at Williamsburg. Probably it was written before 1790. This anonymous but eminent citizen of Virginia — possibly John Taylor of Caroline, author of "Arator" — gives the following clear-cut directions on strawberry culture ; it is evident that his experience had been extended and his observation keen :

"There are three sorts chiefly propagated; the wood, the scarlet or Virginia and the hautboy. There is a green sort which some call drayton and others pine apple, from its participating of the flavor of that delicious fruit, but none has ever been brought into this country, and it is but rarely to be met with, even in England.

"September is the best month for transplanting.

though it is often done in February. But I have myself transplanted with success when in full bloom. The soil this plant delights in ought to be a fresh loamy sort. If too rich the vines grow rampant, and do not produce the fruit so good as in ground less enriched. All strawberries should be at least a foot distant, but I recommend two feet, to have them in great perfection. They ought to be planted with alleys two feet wide, for the convenience of going between to cleanse them of weeds, very prejudicial to them. In the spring, when your vines are in flower, if it is dry, water them, otherwise their blossoms will drop off.

"In September you should pull off all the strings, or runners, and every weak plant ; dig up between the beds and strew some fine mould or wood-pile earth between the plants, observing not to cover them with it; this will greatly strengthen them and your fruit will be much larger. They do not last above three years, so that to keep constantly supplied you should make a new plantation a year before the old ones are destroyed. The Scarlet strawberry will come a fortnight sooner than any other sort. The Chili strawberry will grow to the size of a hen's egg. The best dung (if any) for strawberries is that of cows, sheep and pigeons. In order to have them later in season and to afford a succession, cut off the tops of some before they blossom, which will retard their ripening until the forward ones are gone. Many people keep them constantly strung, but I should imagine that wounds them, but in the proper season."

The "American Gardeners' Calendar," by Bernard McMahon, a nursery-man and seedsman of Philadelphia, was published in 1806. McMahon recognized six kinds : the Scarlet, Hautbois, Chilean, Monthly Alpine, Wood, and " F. Anassa, the Pineapple, together with many others arising from these, differing principally in the color of their fruit." He recommended the Scarlet and the Pineapple for general cultivation, and advised planting in beds four feet wide, with plants fifteen to eighteen inches apart each way. This, likewise, was the advice of Grant Thorburn in his " Gentleman^s and Gardener's Kalender, " showing that English methods still dominated American practice. A trade catalog issued in 1810 by William Booth, of Baltimore, offered, in addition to the several species listed by McMahon, two named varieties of the Scarlet — Large Early Scarlet and Hudson's Bay. These two varieties soon became the dominant sorts, and held this position for fifty years, until the introduction of the Wilson. Booth also listed "a new strawberry raised from seed"; this is the first record of a seedling strawberry in North America.

The Beginning of Commercial Culture

The cultivation of strawberries for market began soon after 1800. Until then, only wild or "common" fruit had been marketed. Perhaps the surplus product of some home gardens had been sold or bartered among neighbors, but only in a very limited way. About this time the nurseries began to propagate and disseminate several improved varieties of F. virginiana, notably Early Hudson, Hudson's Bay, and Large Early Scarlet. These were so superior to the wild berries offered for sale, especially in size, that soon there was a demand for them that could no longer be met by neighborly exchange of the product of home gardens. In response to this demand, commercial strawberry culture, as distinct from garden or amateur culture, began.

Near Boston. — The first commercial strawberry growing began about 1812 in the vicinity of the four largest towns of that period — Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. At that time none of these cities had a population of over 50,000, except New York. In his "Travels in New England," written before 1817 but not published until 1821, Dr. Timothy D wight notes that five kinds of strawberries were cultivated in New England : "Red Meadow, White Meadow, Field, Hudson and Hautboy." Red Meadow was the common wild strawberry; White Meadow was a white-fruited form of that species, then, as now, quite plentiful in the Berkshire hills. He considered Red Meadow the best of the five kinds, and said he had "cultivated it for more than twenty years, and during that time it has increased to twice its original size, being four and a half inches in circumference." Soon after this, certainly no later than 1820, commercial culture in New England began, and the Red Wood and "Early Virginia," which is Large Early Scarlet, emerged as the standard commercial sorts of that section. A reminiscence of this period was given by James F. C. Hyde in 1869:1

"Those of us who are now actively engaged in strawberry culture can remember when there were only two varieties of this fruit in cultivation in the best gardens of Massachusetts, and when it was grown in very limited quantities for market. We well remember when some of our neighbors picked daily fifty to one hundred boxes, and that was all that could be disposed of at fair prices. The varieties then cultivated were the Wood and Early Virginia, the former an imported variety, the latter an American sort. In time, some more foreign sorts were 1 Amer. Jour. HorL, V, p. 2 (Jan., 1869).