THE CRANBERRY.—­A German writer of note insists that the original name of this fruit was cram-berry, because after dinner, when one was filled with other food, such was its pleasant and seductive flavor that he could still “cram” quite a quantity thereof, in defiance of all dietetic laws.  Other writers consider the name a corruption of craneberry, so called because it is eagerly sought after by the cranes and other birds which frequent the swamps and marshes where it chiefly grows.  The fruit is extremely acid, and is highly valued for sauces and jellies.  Cranberries are among the most convenient fruits for keeping.  Freezing does not seem to hurt them, and they may be kept frozen all winter, or in water without freezing, in the cellar, or other cool places, for a long period.

THE STRAWBERRY.—­The flavor of antiquity rests upon the wild strawberry.  Its fruit was peddled by itinerant dealers about the streets of ancient Grecian and Roman cities.  Virgil sings of it in pastoral poems, and Ovid mentions it in words of praise.  The name by which the fruit was known to the Greeks indicates its size; with the Latins its name was symbolic of its perfume.  The name strawberry probably came from the old Saxon streawberige, either from some resemblance of the stems to straw, of from the fact that the berries have the appearance when growing of being strewn upon the ground.  In olden times, children strung the berries upon straws, and sold so many “straws of berries” for a penny, from which fact it is possible the name may have been derived.  The strawberry is indigenous to the temperate regions of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, but it seems to have been matured in gardens, only within the last two centuries.

THE RASPBERRY.—­This fruit grows in both a wild and a cultivated state.  It derives its name from the rough rasps or spines with which the bushes are covered.  Among the ancients it was called “the bramble of Mt.  Ida,” because it was abundant upon that mountain.  It is a hardy fruit, found in most parts of the world, and is of two special varieties, the black and the red.

THE BLACKBERRY.—­This fruit is a native of America and the greater part of Europe.  There are one hundred and fifty-one named species, although the high-blackberry and the low-blackberry, or dewberry, are said to have furnished the best cultivated varieties.

THE MULBERRY.—­Different varieties of the mulberry tree produce white, red, and black mulberries of fine aromatic flavor, and acidulous or sweet taste.  Persia is supposed to be the native home of this fruit, from whence it was carried, at an early date, to Asia Minor and to Greece.  The Hebrews were evidently well acquainted with it.  It was also cultivated by the farmers of Attica and Peloponnesus.  The ancient mulberry was considered the wisest and most prudent of trees, because it took care not to put forth the smallest bud until the cold of winter had disappeared, not to return.  Then, however, it lost no time, but budded and blossomed in a day.  Several varieties are found in the United States.