GOOD THINGS TO EAT 



151 



just failed to connect at all. A strawberry-grower 

 sent me samples of berries one autumn, but they 

 tasted more of the cotton they were packed in 

 than like the red fruit I knew. Early this spring 

 I visited a strawberry-grower in Maryland, my 

 friend Allen, who has actually millions of plants 

 in his level fields. He showed me his Progressive 

 variety, which, he asserted, was a real strawberry 

 that would bear fruit in the fall, and was worth 

 while. I know he knows, and I took his word 

 against my skepti-cism. The one hundred try- 

 out plants came and were set on April twenty- 

 seventh, quite late for my location. They were 

 well cared for, and as per instructions, the earlier 

 blossoms — and some plants were in bloom by May 

 twentieth! — were picked off. About the first of 

 August, on a trip home, I found a new setting of 

 blossoms; and these were not disturbed; but the 

 plants were carefully mulched, and several times 

 watered during the bitter drought that followed. 

 The lovely, sweet and high-flavored fruit I am now 

 enjoying is the result; and as blossoms and green 

 fruits are crowding the ripening berries, I expect 

 there will be strawberries for some weeks. 



The difference between these September Pro- 

 gressives and the usual crop in June is that all of 

 these are sweet and high-flavored, while some of 



