The Canadian Horticulturist. • 361 



occur each season, but the injury is not observable except during autumn. 

 Saunders says : " As it is probable that most of the late brood pass the winter 

 in the chrysalis state attached to the leaves, if these were gathered and burned, 

 a large number of the insects would perish. The infested grapes might 

 also be gathered and destroyed. This insect is attacked by a small parasite, 

 which doubtless does its part towards keeping the enemy in subjection." 



THE CULTIVATION OF NEAR MARKETS. 



I Y experience of the last four years has demonstrated at least to my 



own satisfaction that the small fruit trade of Ontario is capable 



of being enormously increased. The consumption of small fruit 



at present is largely confined to city and towns. Country people, 



as a rule, do not buy fruit, simply because they have never been 



in the habit of it. When the fruit grower supplies the shops in 



his vicinity, he imagines he has fully supplied the local need ; 



but he never made a greater mistake, for though the farmer never thinks of 



buying fruit when he goes to town, yet he will buy it is his attention is called to 



it or the fruit brought to his door. 



This is easily explained. The wild berry has either disappeared or 

 retreated into inaccessable barrens and swamps, but it has left him with a culti- 

 vated taste for fruit. And very little management beyond exhibiting the fruit, 

 and calling his attention to the cheapness of it will be found necessary to effect 

 the desired change in the old custom of getting fruit for the picking. One sale, 

 however small, I have found will always turn habit into the new channel. 



Strawberries sell most readily, gooseberries the most slowly. And yet my 

 whole crop of gooseberries sold at home this year, and the bulk of the orders 

 were in before picking time, many of rny old patrons bringing in orders for 

 neighbors that I was unable to fill. But this may be called peddling,, and the 

 fruit grower a peddler, and so he is if the butcher and the baker are. I have 

 no doubts that hundreds of baskets of peaches could be sold in this way in 

 country places. 



At a strawberry festival held here late in the season about 100 baskets 

 were left over, and these sold readily at 8^ cts. to farmers who had passed by 

 heaps of them during the season selling at 4 and 5 baskets for 25 cts., and so 

 strong was the demand it was hard to settle who were to have them. One 

 more point. I was filling orders in a neighboring village, and had taken an 

 extra basket of gooseberries along with the intention of experimenting on this 

 line if opportunity offered. I took the basket into a general store, and requested 

 the proprietor to offer it for sale. He thought there was no demand for goose- 

 berries. Three country people were in the shop at the time, and I merely 

 ca'led their attention to the fruit and its cheapness, with the result that one 

 bought the basket, and the other two each left an order. The next day the 

 store keeper sent an order for 6 baskets he had promised through the one 

 basket, but I was sold out. 



