192 GARDENING WITH BRAINS ^ 



agonia, our host's latest creation. It had a 

 delicious pineapple flavor, blended with its own 

 aroma; I also tasted a white berry which made 

 me exclaim that to put sugar and cream on it 

 would be a crime. 



The importance of Burbank's new varieties lies 

 in this, that he has aimed at flavor rather than 

 at color and size. To cite his own words, "I 

 thought that a good home strawberry that is 

 tender, sweet, and of fair size, rather than of 

 exaggerated proportions, combining these quali- 

 ties with the exquisite flavor of some of the wild 

 berries, would be a distinct acquisition." 



The final stage in the perfecting of the straw- 

 berry will be, in his opinion, the elimination of 

 the seeds which dot its surface, partly because 

 they mar the texture of the berry and partly 

 because they make a needless draft on the energy 

 of the plant. But this is less important than his 

 emphasizing of the flavor. Poor, dear flavor! 

 It's the one thing the consumer really wants 

 (though he coquets foolishly with size and color) 

 and the one thing he seldom gets at its best, 

 unless he raises choice varieties in his own 

 garden and lets them ripen on the vine. 



It's an old story, this conspiracy against the 

 consumer, this substitution by wholesale and 

 retail marketmen of productiveness and good 

 shipping qualities for flavor; this triumph of 

 mediocrity over merit. For twenty years the 

 berry favored by them was the Wilson, which 



