DESCRIBING STRAWBERRIES 69 



The fruit itself may properly be described 

 first, beginning with the form. The form 

 may be regular or irregular. At the same 

 time it may be conical, oval, spherical, pyri- 

 form, or may have some more unusual shape 

 for which some special descriptive term may 

 be found (see Fig. 22). 



The size of the berry should next be given, 

 either relatively, as large, medium, or small, 

 or absolutely, in inches or millimeters. 



The calyx may be large or small, and it 

 may separate easily or with difficulty from 

 the fruit. Its segments may be long or short, 

 broad or narrow, or may possibly have other 

 distinctive characters which should be men- 

 tioned whenever, in the judgment of the 

 describer, their importance warrants it. 



The core of the berry may be hollow, or it 

 may be hard or soft, or it may be character- 

 ized simply by being of a color somewhat 

 different from the surrounding flesh. 



The texture of a strawberry is a matter of 

 considerable consequence, affecting, as it does, 

 the dessert quality of the fruit, and also the 

 shipping quality. It is hard, however, to 

 describe texture in precise terms. The flesh 

 may be hard or soft, it may be fine-grained 



