II. THE WILD FRUITS OF THE FARM 



41 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant 

 fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. ' ' 



The Song of Solomon, 7:13. 



The bounty of nature is never more fully appreciated than 

 when we see a tree bearing a load of luscious fruit. A tree 

 that has been green, like its fellows, suddenly bursts into a 

 glow of color, and begins to exhale a new and pleasant fra- 

 grance as its product ripens. The bending boughs disclose 

 the richness and abundance of its gift to us. 



Among nature's delicacies there are none so generally 

 agreeable and refreshing as her fruits. They possess an 

 infinite variety of flavors. Before the days of sugar-making, 

 they were the chief store of sweets. They everywhere fulfill 

 an important dietary function, both for man and for many of 

 his animal associates. 



All fruits were once wild fruits. Most of them exist today 

 quite as they came to us from the hand of nature. A few have 

 been considerably improved by selection and care. But none 

 of them has been altered in its habits. They grow and bloom 

 and bear and die as they did in the wildwood. 



They have their seasons, the same seasons that the market 

 observes. First come the strawberries, breaking the fast of 

 winter's long barrenness. What wonder that our Iroquois 

 Indians celebrated the ripening of the fragrant wild straw- 

 berries by a great annual festival ! Then come the currants 

 and the raspberries and the cherries and the buffalo-berries 

 and the mulberries and the plums and many others in a long 

 succession, the season ending with the grapes, the apples, the 

 cranberries and the persimmons. 



The wild fruits have their requirements also as to climate, 

 soil, moisture, etc., and these we must observe if we cultivate 



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