THE SMALL FRUITS. 55 



great advantage to the grower. It is estimated that nearly 

 one-half of the small-fruits consumed in New England are 

 raised in the South and West. This is much to our discredit. 

 We have a soil and climate suited to their growth ; they are 

 profitable crops to grow ; and there is no good reason why 

 we should not raise them in quantities sufficient for our own 

 consumption. 



The currant, for instance, requires, or flourishes best in, 

 a cold, clayey soil, acres of which may be found lying idle 

 in any town in this State ; and yet Long Island is allowed 

 to furnish Boston market with about one-half of the fruit 

 of this kind that is sold there. The same may be said of 

 grapes and cherries. Let us inquire, for a moment, into the 

 details of growing, say a half-acre of currants, and note what 

 the result is likely to be. 



A piece of land fitted to produce a good crop of potatoes 

 is in good condition to set to currants. Setting four feet by 

 five, it will require about twelve hundred bushes, and they 

 should cost at the nursery, say five dollars per hundred, or 

 sixty dollars. During the first season, potatoes may be 

 planted between the rows and between the bushes, without 

 materially injuring their growth, or the yield of the potatoes. 

 During the second year, beans may be planted between the 

 rows, which, with what first grows, should nearly pay the 

 original outlay. The third year they should produce a 

 pound and a half to the bush, which, at six cents per pound, 

 would amount to a hundred and eight dollars. After 

 the bush has attained its growth, with good culture, a fair 

 average yield would be about three pounds to the bush, 

 which, at the above price, would amount to two hundred and 

 sixteen dollars. The annual expense for labor and manure 

 would not vary materially from that required on a half-acre 

 of potatoes after they were planted. Now, do not understand 

 me as recommending the growing of currants, or any other 

 special crops ; but the point I wish to make is simply this, 

 raise such crops as will net the most money, whether they 

 be currants, pop-corn, or pumpkins. Finally, gentlemen, my 

 experience has convinced me that farming, with all its 

 drawbacks, is about the best business that a young man can 

 engage in ; and he should not regard it as a great misfor- 

 tune, if it fell to his lot to redeem and restore a worn-out 



