While we often use such expressions as the “apple of my eye”, 
“a peach”, “peachy”, no one would be complimented b) r being 
referred to as either a “plum” or a “prune”. 
Nearly all the 120 or more species of cherries are native to 
Asia, the great primitive fruit orchard of the civilized world. Of 
these, only two species are believed to have contributed our cul- 
tivated varieties, 600 or more of which are known to America and 
Europe. Of the two types, sweet and sour, the former is more 
largely grown commercially, forming the bulk of our California 
product. Black Tartarian and Napoleon are the two varieties 
largely marketed. Maraschino liqueur comes from the Marasca, 
a Dalmatian cherry. In China and Japan, many flowering forms 
are known, among which is one with yellow flowers ( Prunus 
serrulata) . 
The wild raspberries and blackberries of the world (200-1500 
species) form a common thicket vegetation all over the northern 
hemisphere with a few representatives in tropical and south tem- 
perate regions. The cultivated forms come from a few species and 
differ but slightly from these wild types— the main differences 
being in size of fruit. Many of the varieties are selected wildlings, 
while a few are the result of hybridization. The strawberry on 
the other hand is largely a hybrid product of four or more species, 
the large-fruited Chilean species predominating. The Chilean ' 
strawberry was introduced about two hundred years ago; but, 
even two centuries before its coming, the cry of “Strawberry ripe” 
was heard in the streets of London. These old-time varieties were 
derived from the native European species. White, yellow and 
pink-fruited varieties occur. The white and yellow varieties are 
solid-fleshed and good keepers, and very popular in Chile. 
After the rosaceous fruits, tropical and sub-tropical fruits such 
as the banana, pineapple, orange, lemon, grapefruits and melon 
are the most common and important fruits of our city markets. 
Fifty years ago, the banana was hardly known to Americans; 
today, it is the people’s fruit (witness the recent agitation against 
a tax on its importation). So common and so cheap has it become 
that it is hard not to think of it as a distinctly American product 
along with corn, turkey and tobacco. The fact is, however, that 
the banana is native to India and the East Indies, where to-day it 
exists in hundreds of varieties of which the white race knows very 
little. The wild varieties have large, hard seeds. In our own 
tropics between 35 and 45 varieties of plantains and bananas are 
grown, only three of w r hich commonly reach our city markets. Of 
these, the variety Jamaica, or Gros Ventre, forms the bulk of the 
importations, over 8,000,000 bunches being annually exported from 
Jamaica alone. One of the old world varieties has fruit a foot 
long, with an apple-like flavor. It has been estimated that the 
same area required to raise 33 pounds of wheat or 99 pounds of 
potatoes will produce 4400 pounds of bananas, making the banana 
a very cheap article of food from the standpoint of cost. 
4 
