The Strawberry Book. 5 1 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE QUESTION OF TASTE. 



To most persons, to a large majority, at least, of those 

 who buy their berries in the market, a strawberry is a 

 strawberry. That is to say, if it be ripe, bright colored, 

 and not absolutely sour, it is perfectly satisfactory to the 

 buyer. 



With the nice questions of taste and flavor, and the del- 

 icate distinctions drawn by les vrats amateurs gourmets 

 (as a French strawberry catalogue has it), the public has 

 little to do. Yet with amateurs, who are annually called 

 upon to test new varieties, the subtile and refined differ- 

 ences that mark the various berries are certainly important. 

 But no book can lay down exact rules in this matter. 



Speaking generally, we may say that a new berry, to be 

 approved, must be less acid than the Wilson, and must 

 possess, in some measure, the high and refined flavors that 

 distinguish some of our choicest kinds. 



There is really a much wider difference in the flavor of 

 different strawberries than many inexperienced people will 

 at first admit. Some have a distinct and delicious pine- 

 apple flavor, as Lennig's White the White Pine-apple 

 and White Albion of some foreign lists and Rivers' s 

 Eliza. The Lucas, a fine seedling from La Constante, has 

 a marked flavor of raspberries, while the Due de Mala- 

 koff has a strong apricot, or, as some say, mulberry, taste. 

 The Hautbois strawberries are musky. A French berry, 

 the Exposition de Chalons^ has a marked taste of currants. 

 Some foreign kinds ave a decided cherry flavor. Our 



