Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

or coarse; but these adjectives do not quite cover the whole idea of texture. In certain cases there may be peculiarities of texture for which the describer can find some adequate term, but often he must feel that he has left his observation only half recorded.

The external color of a strawberry is peculiarly hard to describe. Color descriptions are always unsatisfactory, and in this case they are doubly so from the fact that different varieties differ only by very slight shades. It is hard to say whether a berry is red, scarlet, or crimson, but usually we may safely say that it is light, dark, or medium colored.

The flesh color is frequently, or nearly always, different from the external color, but is described in the same way, subject to the same limitations.

The seeds, which are dotted all over the surface of a strawberry, sometimes offer very characteristic marks of varieties. They may be large or small, prominent or inconspicuous, protruding or depressed, and they may vary in color.

Flavor and quality are to be described in the same manner as in the case of other fruits. For a full discussion of this matter,

[blocks in formation]

see the chapter on describing pome fruits, page 34.

The season may be specified exactly by giving the actual date at which the variety is ready for the table, or it may be given in relative terms, as early, medium, or late. In general the former method is to be preferred. In determining the date of ripening, one should have regard to the time when the variety is actually ready for use, not to the time when it may be picked for shipment. In order to indicate whether a variety covers a long or a short season, it is desirable to give not only the date when the first picking can be made, but also the date of the last picking.

the

Shipping quality constitutes one of the most important commercial qualities of any strawberry, yet it is hard to determine it without actual experience in shipping fruit to market. The texture of the berry furnishes some clue, but is by no means an infallible guide. Whenever the shipping quality of a variety is actually known, however, it ought to be entered with especial solicitude in the description.

The blossoms of different varieties differ

with respect to size and general appearance, in the size of the petals, etc. The chief point of difference, however, relates to the number of stamens present and the amount of pollen borne. This quality is usually, though somewhat incorrectly, spoken of as sex. Flow

[graphic][graphic][merged small]

ers which have only pistils and no stamens are said to be female, and those which have both pistils and stamens are said to be bisexual or hermaphrodite. It is doubtless

better to call the former imperfect and the latter perfect (Fig. 24). These terms, also, are in common use. Flowers bearing pistils only are also often called pistillate.

The plant should be described, as suggested in the accompanying description blank, as to

vigor, the number and strength of runners which they make, the size, form, and color of the foliage, and the amount of rust which they show. Other matters can best be mentioned with the general notes.

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »