There  is,  however,  one  perfect  strawberry  in  existence,  —
the  strawberry  of  memory, —  the  little  wildlings  that  we  gath-
ered perhaps,  with  those  over  whom  the  wild  strawberry  is  now
growing.  We  will  admit  no  fault  in  it,  and  although  we
may  no  longer  seek  for  this  favorite  fruit  of  our  childhood,
with  the  finest  specimens  of  the  garden  before  us  we  sigh
for  those  berries  that  grew  on  some  far-off  hillside  in  years
still  farther  away.
CHAPTER  VI.
CHOICE   OF   SOIL   AND   LOCATION.
TTHE  choice  that  Tobias  Hobson  imposed  on  his  patrons
•*•  when  he  compelled  them  to  take  "the  horse  nearest
to  the  stable-door  "  or  none  at  all,  is  one  that,  in  principle,
we  often  have  to  make  in  selecting  our  strawberry-ground.
We  must  use  such  as  we  have,  or  raise  no  berries.  And  yet
it  has  been  said  that  "  with  no  other  fruit  do  soil  and  local-
ity make  so  great  differences."  While  I  am  inclined  to
think  that  this  is  truer  of  the  raspberry,  it  is  also  thoroughly
established  that  location  and  the  native  qualities  of  the  soil
are  among  the  first  and  chief  considerations  in  working  out
the  problem  of  success  with  strawberries.
