216 TKANSACnONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



I have accepted the task of presenting a few thoughts upon the 

 successes and failures of small fruit culture, including the marketing 

 of the same. 



1 believe I voice the sentiment of every member of this Society 

 when I say there has been no occupation followed by man from the 

 first gardener, Adam, down to those present here to-day, that has 

 the fascioation that horticulture has. And I place the growing of 

 small fruits at the front in this respect. None other can compare 

 with it, and I verily believe no other one has proven such an ignis- 

 fatuus, leading its votaries on! on!! with increasing headlong haste 

 into the slough of despond and quicksands of financial ruin. 



Have you any doubt of the correctness of this assertion? If you 

 have, run over the long list of names within your own personal 

 knowledge, and tell what proportion of them have grown rich in the 

 small fruit business alone. How many have even made a good liv- 

 ing and legal interest on capital invested? And should I put the 

 question to those present, I believe '' every one with one accord would 

 cry out, not I! not I!!" Who then have been successful? Those 

 who have either originated or purchased of the originators the "en- 

 tire stock" of some new variety of the small fruit, which, with ordi- 

 nary culture, has scarcely a distinguishing characteristic from many 

 of the ordinary kinds already in cultivation, but which, by being 

 given the best possible cultivation and care, even to the thinning of 

 fruit, have produced fruit of enormous size and great beauty. And 

 been heralded to the horticultural world as the i<ine qua non of its 

 class. '' Being the largest, handsomest, hardiest, firmest, self-fertil- 

 izing, and most productive of all. Supply limited. Order at once. 

 Only $2, $3 or |5 per dozen." These are the few who have made 

 money from small fruits. 



Who have lost? Nine-tenths of those whose infatuation led 

 them to purchase largely at these prices, to find too late that they 

 have bought wisdom but too dearly. The '' largest " being confined 

 to one or two to the plant, with all the rest small. The '' handsom- 

 est," to a large proportion of coxcoml) berries, if strawberries. The 

 " hardiest," to the winter-killed or burned out in summer. The 

 "firmest," to soft, juicy berries, too soft to be trusted away from 

 home. The " most productive of all," to a very moderate bearer. 

 The "self-fertilizing," to the most distinctly pistilate, worthless 

 without other varieties to fertilize. These men are out the money 

 paid for plants, the time taken to plant and cultivate the ground 

 they occupy and two years of anxious waiting. But then they have 

 the experience and don't have to pay for picking. 



These are not all the failures. Many have survived all the 

 above enumerated disasters to fail in other ways. To illustrate, let 

 us take our Illinois small-fruit-growers, the largest of which are 

 along the line of the Illinois Central Railroad. How many of 

 them have made fortunes? How much have any of them made 



