BLACKBERRIES AND OTHER FRUITS IN THE SUBURBAN GARDEN. I49 



It is no trouble to cover them. Two men or a man and a boy 

 can cover them in an hour, and they can be uncovered in the spring 

 in less time. By mulching around them it' keeps down all the 

 grass and weeds that come up, and I have not had a hoe in that 

 patch for several years. Some weeds come up in the border, but 

 it is not much trouble t'o pull out the weeds that grow too rank. 

 Outside of the picking I did not put in over half a day altogether 

 of actual time in that blackberry patch, and as a money proposi- 

 tion it is a good investment, but above all the man who is confined 

 to the office during the daytime gets a far better return in the way 

 of recreation than he could get out of anything else, because to the 

 man in the suburbs who spends his time doing something like 

 that it is not labor, it is recreation. 



I would like to say something about the apple orchard. I have 

 an apple and plum orchard out there, and I get something out of 

 that every year and considerable some years. Of course, there 

 are the boys from the city that have to be taken into considera- 

 tion in raising apples, and for that reason the orchard ought to 

 be near the house. It ought to be in sight of the living part of the 

 house, and I have arranged my orchard somewhat with reference 

 to the highway. For instance, I put out my Hibernals next to 

 the highway. (Laughter.) I find if a boy gets hold of one of 

 those apples before it is thoroughly ripe that it is about all he 

 wants, and he goes away. (Laughter.) I have raised this year 

 on one of my Hibernal trees, standing within a couple of rods of the 

 highway, four bushels of apples, and the others in bearing did 

 nearly as well. I find the Hibernal is the best bearing apple I 

 have, and next comes the Duchess and then the Wealthy, but as 

 to the quality of the fruit the reverse is true. 



I have not had any experience with blight or rust on straw- 

 berries. I have managed to get a crop of strawberries, and a 

 good one, every year, but I have planted out a new bed every 

 year. I dO' not cultivate them ; I let them run together. I have 

 only a small bed for my own use, and I have never had any trouble 

 with the winter-killing proposition. I cover them up with straw, 

 and they seem to come out all right in the spring. (Applause.) 



Mr. Elliot: What about plums? 



Mr. Grimes: I have quite a good many varieties of plums in 

 the orchard. A year ago last summer I think I had three or four 

 bushels of plums ; in fact, some trees had too much fruit on, and 

 the wind and the large crop together broke them. I have found 

 the De Soto to be the most satisfactory, because it is less liable to 

 fail in bearing a crop. I have the Wolf, the Forest Garden and a 

 number of other varieties, but the DeSoto has proven the most 

 satisfactory. 



