DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 163 



greatly extended, on account of the sub-tropical climate, 

 that there is no occasion for considering this point. 



Size. — When strawberries were grown only for home 

 use and near markets, the larger they were the better. As 

 soon as the development of transportation facilities made 

 it possible to grow them at great distance from markets, 

 it was found that very large berries do not carry as well 

 as those of medium size. Not only are they less firm, but 

 also they are likely to be irregular in shape and hence 

 more liable to be bruised. The greater the distance from 

 market the more desirable it is to produce berries of uni- 

 formly medium size; berries an inch in diameter are 

 large enough for long-distance shipping. This is one 

 reason why the Clark is profitable in Oregon and the 

 Klondike over a large part of the South. For near mar- 

 kets, on the other hand, the larger the berry, within reason- 

 able limits, the better. 



It is important that good size be maintained from the 

 beginning to the end of the shipping season. Many sorts 

 give large berries the first pickings, but smaller berries 

 thereafter, running down to nubbins at the close. Uni- 

 formity of size is desirable also. A variety in which prac- 

 tically all the fruit is uniformly medium in size is easier to 

 grade, and sells better than one that gives fruit of all sizes 

 at the same picking. 



Since the introduction of the Hovey there has been little 

 if any improvement in the average size of North American 

 varieties until quite recently. In 1869, Seth Boyden, a 

 prominent strawberry breeder, predicted that in a few more 

 years strawberries would be produced "as large as pine- 

 apples." ^ His prophecy is not likely to be realized. 

 When the size is increased beyond a certain point, the ber- 

 1 Jour. Hort, VI (1869), p. 29. 



