458 ANNUAL REPOiJT 



the strawberry man's wagon, when it happens to pass your way 

 at long intervals; don't catch her at the grocery, soft, sticky 

 and slippery. N^o ! Catch the strawberry as it blushes in your 

 own garden or field, fresh with the morning dew, fragrant and 

 beautiful as the rose. Thus captured, you catch ruddy cheeks, 

 a good appetite, love of home, fun for the children and long 

 life. Don't catch her among weeds and grass, nor under the 

 shade of trees, but in the open sunshine, whither she holds a 

 picnic, and where she has a chance for life. While you are 

 catching, catch a jjlenty. Catch enough for the young folks, the 

 old folks, the servants, the sick neighbors. 



Having caught the strawberry do not be rash. Most people 

 are led by instinct to devour ravenously as soon as caught, but I 

 advise you to be delibei-ate and thoughtful. Look the berries 

 over. Note the form, color, texture, aroma. Take your brushes 

 and paint a strawberry on canvas, then compare it with the orig- 

 inal. The garden berry has beaten you, I daresay. Your painted 

 berry has no soul, no heart. It does not look jolly or lead you 

 oft' into reminiscences of early days; the sunshine does not ad. 

 here to it; it does not smell good; even the pigs would turn up 

 their noses at it, and yet, you pride yourself upon being an 

 artist. 



Think for a moment of a plant that produced these berries. 

 Its ancestors blossomed and made love on this continent before 

 Columbus landed; Noah plucked a few on his way to the ark be- 

 fore the flood, sorrowing over the hour of parting; Moses fed upon 

 them in the mountain of Palestine, after he last turned his face 

 from the people he had led from bondage; Adam and Eve gath. 

 ered them when they first awoke in the Garden of Eden. 



While thinking, continue to inhale the perfume, and ere you 

 stop, dash on a little sugar, and, as by accident, partially tip the 

 cream pitcher over the berries. (It would be heartless to in- 

 tentionally besmear creations so beautiful.) 



I have now reached the end of my task and the beginning of 

 yours. If from this point you do not know how to proceed, you 

 are not a son of Adam, but a stranger from some far-off planet 

 where it is too hot, frosty or wef^dy to produce strawberries." 



