174 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



near markets. We have few commercial varieties today 

 that compare in quality with the Pines grown by the ama- 

 teurs of that period. No modern sort has the exquisite 

 flavor of Burr's New Pine, not even Marshall or William 

 Belt, our acknowledged standards of excellence. The 

 rush of commercial planting that followed the introduction 

 of the Wilson swept aside the attributes that had hitherto 

 made a variety meritorious for amateur cultivation and 

 substituted a single standard, that of profit. Quality has 

 been sacrificed to productiveness and firmness. Modern 

 varieties are mostly of the lineage of Wilson, Crescent 

 and Sharpless. These three sorts are of very ordinary 

 quality ; this mediocrity has been impressed upon most 

 of their descendants. 



Aroma has been sacrificed as well as flavor. A handful 

 of the early Pines and Scarlets perfumed a room with 

 delightful and appetizing fragrance. Few contemporane- 

 ous sorts have more than a faint and fleeting aroma. 

 There can be no criticism of the efforts to secure produc- 

 tiveness, hardiness, firmness, size and attractiveness; 

 commercial sorts must have all these in order to be valu- 

 able. But it does seem that quality has been sacrificed 

 needlessly. Few of the leading commercial varieties of 

 today are above medium in quality even when at their 

 best, which is when ripened on the vines. When shipped 

 long distances they are necessarily picked before fully 

 mature, often while still somewhat green. These berries 

 are likely to be sour or insipid ; they bear little resemblance 

 to vine-ripened strawberries. 



Redness in strawberries is a no more reliable sign of 

 ripeness than blackness in blackberries; some varieties 

 are still sour and immature when they turn red, and are 

 not fully ripe for several days thereafter. The Black 



