THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



115 



FARMERS THAT DISLIKE FRUIT 

 GROWING. 



The Chicago Herald thus speaks to 

 those farmers who neglect fruit plant- 

 ing : 



" While all parts of our country are 

 adapted to the cultivation of excellent 

 fruits of various sorts, and while all 

 locations will produce a fair variety, it 

 is a singular fact that many farmers 

 never undertake to produce even the 

 very moderate amount which would be 

 used by their own families. The writer 

 of this went to his farm some ten years 

 ago. About the first serious work that 

 engaged his attention was the planting 

 of fruit, of the sorts that would bring a 

 return — as currants, gooseberries, rasp- 

 berries, strawberries and apples — of the 

 latter several hardy standard sorts, as 

 well as several varieties of crabs. It 

 really seems now that it was but a very 

 short time until we not only had a large 

 supply for our own use, but a surplus 

 began to come along, which in our own 

 section commanded a ready sale and 

 good prices. Our raspberries and cur- 

 rants are a regular mine of luxuiy 

 during the summer heat, when one so 

 appreciates such cooling and healthful 

 and nutritious articles of diet. The 

 currants are specially craved during 

 haying and harvesting, and it would be 

 a deprivation indeed to go without 

 them ! 



" But our nearest neighbor, though 

 he had ten years the start of us, has 

 never yet raised an apple, and not a 

 single berry or currant ! He has once 

 in awhile set a few apple trees, but he 

 has left the pruning to his cattle and 

 colts, and they have done the work far 

 too well ! He is very glad about these 

 days to send * the children ' over to our 

 orchard to pick up the fruit which drops 

 off, from which 'the oM lady' elaborates 

 a little ' applesass !' But such a thing 

 as a dish of berries and choice ripe 



currants is very seldom, if ever, seen 

 on his table. He has never set so much 

 as a pie-plant, and if even this coarse 

 substitute for fruit is ever used in his 

 house, it has been begged from some 

 more thoughtful and thrifty neighbor. 



" Such neglect as this is without any 

 excuse whatever. What motive, or 

 lack of motive, it originates from one 

 can hardly guess. Whether these pro- 

 crastinating people are too stingy to 

 make the small outlay required at the 

 start, or are afflicted with downright 

 laziness, or a combination of both these 

 ailments, would be a difficult matter to 

 establish. But the fact exists, that 

 such utterly shiftless people do abound 

 in every community, and that they are 

 content to live year after year upon 

 * hog and hominy,' when the soil at 

 their very doors would supply them 

 with the choicest fruits that can bo 

 grown in the temperate zone ! Every 

 variety — grapes, strawberries, ras[)ber- 

 ries, blackberries, currants and goose- 

 berries — can be produced in any quan- 

 tities. Once established, their after 

 care is very easy and simple, and they 

 will load the farmer's table with choice, 

 delicious and healthful food all the year 

 round. 



** Our advice to every farmer is simply 

 this — make it a point to produce fruit 

 enough to supply your own table all the 

 year round. If you are going to open 

 a new farm, do less of the hard work 

 which brings only a small return, and 

 plant fruit. If you cannot do all in 

 one season, do a little each year, until 

 you are quite sure that you have suffi- 

 cient for a home supply. Not only 

 will it pay you as we have set forth 

 above, but the thought, investigation 

 and study which its culture require^s is a 

 most excellent discipline for the mind — 

 almost * a liberal education.' There is 

 no reason wliy every farmer should not 

 be, in a moderate and modest way, a 



