58 SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



The strawberry of commerce is a much more difficult 

 problem. The present unsatisfactory condition of affairs 

 was admirably expressed in the following editorial in the 

 *' Evening Post" of June 12, 1876, from the pen of the 

 late William Cullen Bryant : — 



STRAWBERRIES. 



In general, an improvement has been observed of late in 

 the quality of fruit. We hax-e more and finer varieties of the 

 apple ; the pear is much better in general than it was ten years 

 since ; of the grape there are many new and excellent varieties 

 which the market knew nothing of a few years ago, and there 

 are some excellent varieties of the raspberry lately introduced. 

 But the strawberry has decidedly deteriorated, and the result 

 is owing to the general culture of Wilson's Albany for the 

 market. Wilson's Albany is a sour, crude berry, which is not 

 fully ripe when it is perfectly red, and even when perfectly ripe 

 is still too acid. When it first makes its appearance in the 

 market, it has an exceedingly harsh flavor and very little of the 

 agreeable aroma which distinguishes the finer kinds of the berry. 

 If not eaten very sparingly, it disagrees with the stomach, and 

 you wake with a colic the next morning. Before Wilson's 

 strawberry came into vogue there were many other kinds which 

 were sweeter and of a more agreeable flavor. But the Wilson 

 is a hard berry, which bears transportation well ; it is exceed- 

 ingly prolific and altogether hardy, — qualides which give it 

 great favor with the cultivator, but for which the consumer 

 suffers. The proper way of dealing in strawberries is to fix the 

 prices according to the quality of the sort. This is the way 

 they do in the markets of Paris. A poor sort, although the 

 berry may be large, is sold cheap ; the more delicate kinds — 

 the sweet, juicy, and high-flavored — are disposed of at a higher 

 price. Here the Wilson should be sold the cheapest of all, 

 while such as the Jucunda and the President Wilder should 

 bear a price corresponding to their excellence. We hope, for 

 our part, that the Wilsons will, as soon as their place can be 



