DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 167 



Society, J. Hawes exhibited two quarts of berries, one 

 containing five berries, the other six. The variety was 

 Clyde." 1 



Mammoth berries are interesting, but not profitable. 

 Nobody wants a strawberry that must be carried in cotton 

 batting and has to be sliced before it can be eaten. 

 Berries from one to two inches in diameter and w^eighing 

 about an ounce are as large as it is practicable to grow them 

 under present conditions. 



Shape. — As long as strawberries were grown only for 

 home use or near markets, the shape was of little conse- 

 quence. A large proportion of the berries introduced be- 

 fore 1870 were very irregular. Coxcomb varieties were 

 quite common then ; now they are seldom seen. Since 

 the strawberry has been grown at great distances from 

 market there has been a tendency to standardize the shape. 

 Irregular berries do not ship well ; the projecting points 

 are likely to be bruised. The more nearly a berry ap- 

 proaches a spherical shape, the less likely it is to be 

 bruised. 



The standard shape today is round-conic, or heart- 

 shaped, although there are many conic or long-conic vari- 

 eties. Practically all modern varieties are roundish, 

 ovate, conic, oblate or flattened, long conic, oblong, or slight 

 modifications of these t\T)es. Obovate berries now are 

 rarely seen. Pointed tips are objectionable, as they are 

 easily bruised. It is likely that future varieties will be 

 more nearly roundish than round-conic. 



Uniformity of shape is desirable. Most sorts are quite 



variable in shape, even on the same plant. Although every 



variety shows marked differences in shape as grown in 



different localities, each variety has a dominant type. 



* American Gardening, 1899, p. 509. 



