/ ANNUAL WINTER MEETING AT WARRENSBURG. 217 



go barefooted. They can all plead great pressure of work, which we 

 cannot well dispute, but nevertheless, where there is a strong will, the 

 way and time can always be found. I have been there, and know 

 what it is to have to go to mill and lay up the bars too, but if 1 had the 

 same pressure to go through again with my present knowledge, I could 

 grow a good supply of berries too — better than I could afford to do 

 without them. 



To arouse and stimulate the will power, cause a want of berries to 

 be felt by the farmers, who never will have them for daily use unless 

 grown by themselves, is the object of this paper. I have already 

 proved that wherever they are offered at a reasonable price, city, town 

 and country people at once learn to consider them a necessity, or a 

 most desirable substitute for other articles of diet. We may be sure 

 that these enormous quantities are not all consumed b^'' the wealthy 

 and extravagant. They monopolize only the few that come from 

 Florida in February and March at $1 to 50 cents per quart. The com- 

 mon laboring people in moderate circumstances doubtless take the 

 bulk of the main crop, and even the poor, who have to consult economy 

 as severely as any of us, make them take the place of something else. 



I would emphasize these examples as showing the drift of public 

 opinion, and the certainty of berries becoming as much a staple crop 

 as apples, at no distant day. An attempt to describe the enjoyment 

 and relish of them, would be as vain as to describe the taste of any 

 fruit we never saw or tasted. Eating a few out of hand, is no more like 

 having them regularly on the table, nor more satisfying than making 

 a meal on raw turnips. And even the first few meals may not be en- 

 joyed as much as expected, because the taste has to be somewhat 

 educated to anything. Nor is an occasional piece of berry pie, when 

 company happens in much of an educator. Homeopathic doses of 

 medicine may be well enough but when it comes to fruit, I prefer two 

 or three lifts with a table spoon, and then as much more of the same 

 or a different kind for a change and desert. It is a fact, that when 

 once accustomed to a liberal fruit diet, a man does not crave or need 

 as much meat. It is a fact, too, abundantly verified in my own ex- 

 perience, that it saves doctor bills, and enables a man to enjoy his 

 nourishment and his work. Where I used to be costive, bilious, rheu- 

 matic, etc., by spells, I feel a remarkable change, and have seemingly 

 entered on a new lease of life, after adopting fruit as a staple diet. 

 Oive a man a good dish of berries every meal from the time straw- 

 berries ripen till blackberries are gone, something over two months, 

 and I will trust him to provide a supply for the year round as soon as 

 possible. 



