194 GARDENING WITH BRAINS '^ 



nitely known that it takes six hundred barrels per 

 acre to mature a crop after the fruit is set." 



For most of us evidently there is little hope 

 for better berries unless we can reform the 

 marketmen. Luckily, even mediocre berries 

 have their charm — at least with cream and 

 sugar, or in shortcake. 



BURBANK'S NEW PLUM FLAVORS 



Burbank's favorite method of using seeds or 

 grafts of wild berries to impart a rich flavor to 

 his new hybrid creations is also exemplified in 

 his cherries and plums. I referred to some 

 remarkable cherry trees on my sister's place; 

 they were blends of wild and cultivated varieties, 

 and their flavor was superlatively rich and 

 entrancing. I am glad to know that Mr. Bur- 

 bank is at present engaged in work along this 

 line. I wish also he would give the sour cherry 

 a tougher skin to make it easier to transport 

 ripe to a distance. To me a sour cherry is infi- 

 nitely more luscious than the sweet sorts. The 

 best I ever ate were at the Swiss chateau of 

 Paderewski, who shared my preference. They 

 were a variety he had brought from Poland. 

 Remember that no less an epicure than Lucullus 

 introduced the sour cherry into Europe. Re- 

 member also that when thoroughly tree-ripened 

 "the so-called sour cherry is nearly sweet and 

 the mild acid is very wholesome," to cite E. P. 

 Powell, whose The Country Home is the best 



