Bobby Phillips, Age 7.1, Of  Newport News, Va., for his question:

Where did strawberries originate?

The markets and fruit stands of 150 years ago had no baskets of juicy red strawberries for sale. But little wild strawberries were growing in many parts of the world. There were wild strawberries in Europe and fax away Russia. Others grew in Chile and many places through the Andes of South America. Still more wild strawberries grew in North America. All these wild berries were smaller than hickory nuts.

In the 19th century, wild strawberry plants from Chile were taken to England. These plants developed a new strain, bearing big red berries. In America, a strain of big strawberries was developed in the 1830s, and soon many more bigger and better strains were developed. Today we have 1000 different strains, and we can always find strawberries in season somewhere in the United States.