 Etter became known for his insistence on the value of using unimproved parent material, often taken from wild strains, and he frequently made 'wide' crosses between widely divergent genetic types.In his work with strawberries, he showed other breeders the value of the beach strawberry ("Fragaria chiloensis") as a source of germplasm conveying vigor, productivity, flavor, and disease resistance.He also worked in a more minor way with "F. virginiana" species.