DESIRABLE CHARACTERS IN A VARIETY 175 



Defiance was severely condemned as poor in quality when 

 it was first introduced, because it was very sour when red 

 and apparently ripe ; but when the berries were left on 

 the vines until almost maroon in color they were of excel- 

 lent quality. The grower who has a near market should 

 pick late, and thus secure for his customers the higher 

 quality and larger size that come only with full maturity. 

 The foregoing are some of the points that make a variety 

 worthy of recognition, according to present standards. 

 No variety approaches perfection ; every one is deficient 

 in some important respects. The "ideal strawberry'' 

 never will be discovered or originated. As varieties are 

 produced that are close to the ideal that we have ourselves 

 created, the standard of perfection is advanced still farther. 

 It may be approximated but is never quite reached. 

 There always will be incentive for the plant breeder. " We 

 shall always have to make a choice among varieties,'' said 

 E. P. Roe, "as we do in friends. There is, however, one 

 perfect strawberry in existence, the strawberry of memory 

 — the little wildings that we gathered, perhaps with those 

 over whom the wild strawberry is now growing. We will 

 admit no fault in it, and although we may no longer seek 

 for this favorite fruit of our childhood, with the finest 

 specimens of the garden before us, we sigh for the berries 

 that grew on some far off hillside in years still farther 

 away." 



Describing and Scoring Varieties 



The varietal characters of the strawberry are so pro- 

 foundly modified by climate, soil, altitude, cultural 

 methods and other environmental factors that no one set 

 of terms can describe a variety so as to fairly represent 

 its appearance and behavior in all sections. Size, form, 



