46 Success ivit/i Small Fruits. 



stand the rough usage which it is almost certain to receive from the hands 

 through which it passes. I do not expect to see the day when the 

 Wilson, or some berry like it, is not the staple supply of the market; 

 although I hope and think it will be improved upon. But let it be 

 understood generally that they are Wilsons the cheap vin ordinaire of 

 strawberries. Cities will ever be flooded with varieties that anybody can 

 grow under almost any kind of culture ; and no doubt it is better that 

 there should be an abundance of such fruit rather than none at all. But 

 a delicately organized man, like Mr. Bryant, cannot eat them ; and those 

 who have enjoyed the genuine strawberries of the garden will not. The 

 number of people, however, with the digestion of an ostrich, is enormous, 

 and in multitudes of homes Wilsons, even when half-ripe, musty and 

 stale, are devoured with unalloyed delight, under the illusion that they 

 are strawberries. 



If genuine strawberries are wanted, the purchaser must demand them, 

 pay for them, and refuse "sour, crude berries." The remedy is solely in 

 the hands of the consumers. If people would pay no more for Seckel 

 than for Choke pears, Choke pears would be the only ones in market, for 

 they can be furnished with the least cost and trouble. It is the lack of 

 discrimination that leaves our markets so bare of fine-flavored fruit. 

 What the grower and the grocer are seeking is a hard berry, which, if not 

 sold speedily, will " keep over." Let citizens clearly recognize the truth 

 that there are superb, delicious berries, like the Triomphe, Monarch, 

 Charles Downing, Boyden, and many others, and insist on being supplied 

 with them, just as they insist on good butter and good meats, and the 

 problem is solved. The demand will create the supply ; the fruit 

 merchant will write to his country correspondents : " You must send 

 fine-flavored berries. My trade will not take any others, and I can return 

 you more money for half the quantity of fruit if it is good." The most 

 stolid of growers would soon take such a hint. Moreover, let the patrons 

 of high-priced hotels and restaurants indignantly order away " sour, crude 

 berries," as they would any other inferior viand, and caterers would then 

 cease to palm off Wilsons for first-class strawberries. If these suggestions 

 were carried out generally, the character of the New- York strawberry 

 market would speedily be changed. It is my impression that, within a 

 few years, only those who are able to raise large, fine-flavored fruit will 

 secure very profitable returns. Moreover, we are in a transition state in 

 respect to varieties, and there are scores of new kinds just coming before 

 the public, of which wonderful things are claimed. I shall test nearly a 

 hundred of these during the coming season, but am satisfied in advance 



