Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-25
THE STRAWBERRY SEASON.
They will be Abundant and Promise to
BE Very Cheap.

They will be Abundant and Promise to
Be Very Cheap.
THE HIGH PRICES PAID EARLY N THE sEAsoN-THE
BERRIES BROUGHT TO wAsHINaToN-wHERK THE
BEST BERRIES GROW AND HOW THEY ARE GATH
ERED-ABoUr Gaping THE BERRIES.
The strawberry season is nearly at its height
They ought to reach their best next week and will
run pretty well through June. They have been
retailing this week at two quarts for Is cents,
and next week. if the weather is propitious for
their ripening, the ruling price will probably
be much below that. The first arrivals of the
season, from Florida and lower Georgia,
sold at fancy prices. Senator Hurst gave a
strawberry dinner early in March and paid sS
quart for some extra fine ones selected upon
special order. They were brought by rail from
Florida, at which place they cost the dealer IS
quart by Wholesale. The same grade of
berries can now be had at 20 to Is cents quart
though those were not a whit more palatable or
luscious than those selling in the market now.
The weather has not been very good for straw
berries, and the result is that the season is
somewhat backward
THE BRANCH STRAWBERRIES.
The Branch" berries, as the hucksters call
them, are the best now to be had. being
fresher, and, consequently, more delightful to
the taste. They are raised largely in the Dis
trlct, beyond the Eastern branch and the out
lying country adjoining. They are brought in by
wagons mostly for wholesale on Mondays, We'd
hesdays and Fridays, and principally for retail
on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, which
are the conceded important days for the general
marketing Of housekeepers. On the three
market days the best berries are probably to be
had at the regular market houses, on Mondays,
nTlyNno lnxy l.. Al
hucksters who sell their fruits and Der ries
upon the streets. The Branch berries are
expected to be exceptionally good this
season while the Norfolk berries are, upon the
average, somewhat below the standard, owing
to the unpropitious weather and the furious
wind and hail storms with which that section
mas been recently visited. extending over a
wide area and in many instances entirely de-
stroylng every vestige of the plants. The cool,
pleasant spell in the spring, followed by the
warm vegetatlve weather Of April and May.
gave the nearby berries an impetus which they
Will hold unless bad weather continues, and
they will clearly have the advantage as to
beauty, plumpness and juciness over all others
within marketable distance.
THE MARYLAND CROP.
The Maryland crop, by which the prices in
Washington are somewhat regulated will be
enormous, especially in the Anne Arundel sec
ton. These beds produce their finest berries
the latter part of May, and some Of the varie-
ties raised in Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St.
Mary's counties said to be equal to any in
the world. This section is not only supplying
BALTIMORE, but Is sending train loads to New
York, where they are quoted by wholesale at
less than cents quart berrio commanding
10 to IL cents quart being regarded as extra
fine.
HOW STRAWBERRIES ARE GATHERED.
When the season fairly opens pickers, almost
exclusively colored, flock from the cities and
towns to the farms of the truckers where they
are employed by the day for the week. They
generally appear on hand ready for work Mon
day morning, and disappear and return to
their homes on Saturday evening.
Arrived at the truck farm the transient en-
ployes are quartered in barns, outhouses or
sheds as the case may be, where their accom-
modations are very primitive. They have their
meals of bacon. potatoes. greens and bread
and from dawn till twilight they bend in rows
through the fields, staining their hands and
clothing with the Juice of the berries, which
are put, when gathered, into pals or small
cups, and carried to the barn or quarters, -
where they are culled and carefully placed in
boxes-tOo often with the large tempting ones
on top and the little green, hard ones at the
bottom.
The colored women wear. as a rule. calico
dresses and immense sun bonnets, and the men
clothing OF cheap material and broad brimmed
straw hats.
THE BOXES ARE ASSORTED
and packed in crates and upon reaching
destination are ready to be offered in the
markets to the housewife to be served with
pulverized sugar with good rich cream as de-
sert, though many prefer them without cream
or pressed into service, it were, between
layers of pastry and eaten in the shape of short
cake.
The great bulk of strawberries, however, are
prepared and stored away in cans or lars for
use In winter. When this is done in large pack
ing establishments the quantity and not quality
is the governing feature; but they sell as well
and are eaten with as much relish as if each
berry had been carefully selected, washed and
freed from sand and grit before sealing and
shipping away.
AFTER THE STRAWBERRIES.
Strawberries will last until July, by which
time raspberries and blackberries will have be-
come plentiful, and the other fruits will be
coming in. Some hard, knotty- looking peaches
are already at hand, but show up badly and
stick nobly to the dealers who brought them
here. In July, with the first early peaches
from the eastern shore of Virginia, come the
tart, piquant June apples, a pleasant relief
from the cOld-stOrage winter stock, the last
efforts of which are being gathered together
for a final departure. Then come the peaches
tomac rivers, followed by watermelons, canta-
loupes. cherries pears, grapes and huckleber-
ries, which cater to the palates of Washington
ians until the frosts of autumn give relish to
the succulent oyster.
ABOUT GAPING STRAWBERRIES.
1t is not always pleasant and never an easy
matter to cap Strawberries, and many would
forego the pleasure of eating them rather than
do it By a very simple method they can be
capped without MASKING the berry or getting
the hands badly stained. Get a pair of ordi-
nary pocket tweezers with broad prongs, which
can be had at any hardware or drug store for
cents, and with them the caps can be easily
extracted by simply holding the berry lightly
tweezers with the right. 1t is neat and clearly
and leaves the berry in perfect condition.
Written for THE EVENING STAR.
Stranded.