It is now twenty-five years since I wrote the first edition of the STRAWBERRY CULTURIST. At that time but little attention had been paid to the cultivation of this best of all berries, and, with the exception of an oc­casional basket or crate of the Hovey and Wilson, New York markets were mostly supplied with the little Crim­son Cone and Scotch Runner raised in New Jersey.

From time to time new varieties had been intro­duced at home and from abroad, and by copying all the names found in both European and American nursery­men's catalogues, I was enabled to make a list of nearly five hundred varieties, of which only a few survive. Among these may be named the Hovey, Wilson, Triom­phe de Gand, Lennig's White, Downer's Prolific and the Monthly Alpines, but, with one or two exceptions, these are very sparingly cultivated. The others have been dis­carded for inferiority of size or flavor, lack of produc­tiveness, want of adaptability to a wide range of climate and soils, or for other good and sufficient reasons, and their places have been filled by varieties supposed to be better, and in such numbers as to confuse seekers after the best. But which is or are the best of all the varieties known would be a difficult question to answer; for the one that gives entire satisfaction in one section often proves a failure in another, and only experiments or close observation will teach one how to choose. Much credit is certainly due to those who have aided in pro­ducing new varieties, but the perfect Strawberry, equally well adapted to all kinds of soils and climates bas not as yet appeared in cultivation.

During the last quarter of a century botanists have somewhat changed their ideas in regard to the number and distribution of the species of the Strawberry, and while this may be of no especial importance to the prac­tical cultivator of this fruit, still I have arranged the species to conform to the more recent discoveries of our botanists.

As regards the culture of the Strawberry I find little to change and less to add. In writing the STRAWBERRY CULTURIST (my first attempt at book making) I aimed to give the public the result of my practical experience in plain words. I have since that time experimented largely, but have learned nothing that induces me to change materially the directions therein given.

This little treatise has been re-written to supply a want of the present generation, and, with the hope that it will serve as did its predecessor to stimulate its readers in renewed efforts to produce the best of Berries and in the greatest abundance, I send it forth on its humble mission.