FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
57 
Strawberries. 
Prepared and submitted by H. E. Stoddard, of Nassau. Putnam 
county, Chairman Standing Committee on Strawberries. 
The strawberry occupies a large space in the recollections 
of our childhood. Memory of the wide, waving meadow is 
dear to us for thoughts of the luscious, red berry which g»*ew 
so abundantly there. The “old oaken bucket which rose 
from the well” refreshed, but the tall, green grass hid and 
sheltered a rub} T treasure which satisfied our souls. 
We have now come to maturity. Romance has gone with 
the passing of years and the strawberry is—what is was not 
in our earlier days—a commercial fact as well as an almost 
universal luxury. To consider its culture as an article of 
commerce and also as a gratification of our personal taste is 
the object of this report. 
We will first specify the qualities which make when united 
the perfected strawberry so desirable : 
It must be sw<et. 
It must be sour. 
It must be bard. 
It must be soft. 
Lastly, it mrst possess harmoniously and combine all those 
qualities of size, color, taste and aroma characteristic of and 
belonging to the strawberry alone The apparent contradic¬ 
tions seem to prove that there are really two distinct sides of 
the strawberry—the commercial berry and the berry of the 
connoisseur. I do not, however, think this entirely true, as 
most of these qualities may and do unite and blend in one 
harmonious whole. The meadow-grown berry of my child¬ 
hood was both sweet and sour—in color a brilliant crimson— 
in aroma most fragrant; yet if carried a thousand miles to 
market it would get there covered with the moss of ages. 
How to obtain these various and most desirable qualities 
to the exclusion of the undesirable is to a great extent still 
unknown, although many things have been shown by ex¬ 
perience. Location, moisture and fertilization are prominent 
factors, but most prominent in fertilization. 
We will first consider location. The natural habits of the 
strawberry seem to direct us to choose a place where it is 
readily available and yet not permanently wet (as in that case 
