THE STRAWBERRY CTJLTURIST. 33 



A strawberry to become a general favorite in this country, must 

 possess not only richness and other good qualities, but that peculiar 

 fragrance found in perfection only in the wild strawberry of North 

 America ; and many of our new varieties have scarcely a particle 

 of this delightful perfume, and would hardly be recognized by theii 

 fragrance alone as belonging to the strawberry family. 



A strawberry of moderate size, say one to one and a half inches in 

 diameter, is certainly as good if not better than one that is much 

 larger ; but everybody wants strawberries larger than his neighbor, 

 if for no other purpose than to make people stare and excite the ad- 

 miration of the uninitiated. So long as people will admire and pay 

 an extra price for extra size fruit without regard to quality, just so 

 long will the cultivator endeavor to produce the largest possible. 

 The time was when strawberries were really too small for conveni- 

 ence, but that time is past, and now the other qualities should have 

 due care and attention. In this respect they have been sadly 

 neglected by cultivators, and many of our great strawberries are 

 existing witnesses of the fact. 



Such faults as the fruit being hollow, soft, dull color, insipid, acid, 

 calyx adhering so firmly to the berry that the latter is torn in pieces 

 or crushed in separating, and many other faults, are too common with 

 the larger varieties in cultivation. 



GROWTH OP VARIETIES. 



Although all the varieties of the strawberry have a family resem- 

 blance, yet the difference in the foliage and manner of growth is very 

 marked ; some having very dark, glossy, green foliage, with reddish 

 foot-stalks ; others are pale green, and quite rough. The leaf-stalks 

 (petiole) of some species are mostly smooth ; for instance, those of the 

 grandiflora, while others are pubescent, or almost hairy, like the Iowa, 

 and the seedlings therefrom. The lobes of the leaves vary from linear 

 to ovate, broad ovate, and sometimes nearly rhomboid. 



The edges of the leaves are all serrated, but some deeply and 

 coarsely, the serratures being sharp, others blunt or broad at the 

 point, while others are very small. All these variations assist the cul- 

 tivator in determining kinds. Those that have> small, thin foliage 



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