Evening star., 1925-02-01

mosphere to get her a
peach. she provided him
with nearly as difficult a task as the
princess who desired a head or two
of some disaEreeable dragon. For,
not so long ago, peaches were hardly
more accessible in January than was
any Of Mr.. Grimm's monsters.
In fact, any of the Washington
fruit dealers who were in the business
when an alligator pear would have
been supposed TO reside in the Zoo
will tell you that a score of years
back a Washingtonian had as much
ado to moisten his throat in August
or September as he has today-if he
wanted a fresh orange with which
to do il.
Today he may sprinkle his throat
In January or June-with a fresh
orange. He may crunch on a morsel
of delicious strawberry shortcake
while worrying about the coal bill.
Fruits or vegetables are no longer
out of season. That is, they may be
out of season, but they are on 3
street in the market district. Here ..
Henry,s obliging lover might have
found, not only peaches from South
America, but also straw berries from
Florida, grapes from Belgium and
cherries from Argentina
In past years a Washington lady
whose palate yearned for the juice of
strawberry at Christmas had to
wait until May, when the States of
Virginia and North Carolina were
prepared to yield to her desire. But
now milady may tickle her palate
whenever 1t pIeases her. That sshe
is so doing is indicated by figures
at the Department of Agriculture.
Whereas Florida back in 1916 did
not ship her first strawberry until
March, the records show that in 1922
il cars of the coveted berries left the
State to all parts of the country in
January, and 105 followed in Feb
ruary, while the following year 125
cars were shipped in January and
434 in February.
When we consider that every car is
made up Of 96 pony refrigerators,
each of which contains "a or, more
commonly, so quarts of Strawberries,
it Is evident that fur coats and icy
lawns are not clogging the digestion
of the luscious berry.
Nor are they interfering with any
of our edibles. While dieticians laud
the benefits of fruits and vegetables,
trains from California rumble east
ward into snow and blast with cauli-
flower, lettuce and grapes.
The advent of vegetables as an all
year commodity may also be seen by
agricultural figures. In comparison
to 40 cars of celery received by Wash
ington in November and December of
1918, sc cars arrived here in the last
two months of the past year More
over, &c of these came from Califor-
MIA, whereas the majority of the 1918
product consisted of old stock from
New York.
rlS
Twelve cars in the two months of
1918 to compare with 20 for Novem-
Der and December Of 1924. If the
dieticians are correct, we are indeed
becoming healthy.
JOUR simple ancestors would un-
~ doubtedly widen their eyelids at
our lettuce and tomato salads in jan
uary. Folks who dispense with their
flannel underwear and grind their
teeth on celery, when they should be
chattering, must be queer. How much
more surprised would they be to
learn of our botanical discoveries,
What would they who regarded our
succulent mushrooms, ooZing their
flavor into our soups and steaks, as
them awful poison things"-what
would they say after an introduction
to our honeydeW, our artichokeS, our
endive and our alligator pears?
And when they heard that to in
dulge our tastes we ring Mexico for
all-year-round honeydew, Belgium for
endive, Costa Rica and Cuba for pine
apples in Winter, and Panama and
Colombia for alligator pears If Flor
ida slackens up on her supply-they
would proba bly, be speechless.
Homely, unromantic turnips and
carrots may have satisfied the race of
the three RS" but the people of
| 'ologies" and 'isms" want the new,
the different and the scarce. Thus, even
! the California grape, known a s the Red
Emperor, must often make way for its
more distant and elaborate cousin