138 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Try it for once to give the Currants a 

 respectable place in the garden, and cul- 

 tivate them like any other shrub or 

 plant which you expect to bear fruit, 

 and you will soon become convinced that 

 " it pays" to give fair play even to a 

 Currant-bush. — American Garden. 



A CHANCE FOR BOYS. 



Boys on farms want spending money, 

 and are often sorely troubled to obtain 

 it. Their best chance appears to be in 

 cultivating some crop at home that re- 

 quires small capital and a small 

 amount of land for its production. 

 The small fruits are excellent in these 

 respects. They can generally be dis- 

 posed of to greater advantage in coun- 

 try villages, or even among neighboring 

 farmers, than in large cities, as there 

 is no expense for packages, transporta- 

 tion, or for selling. The country boy 

 can take his own fruit to his custom- 

 ers, sell it by measure, and pocket the 

 proceeds. Probably the most profit- 

 able fruits to raise are strawberries 

 and grapes, although blackberries and 

 raspberries sell well in their season. 

 Strawberries offer many advantages 

 over other small fruits. It costs little 

 to get a start with them. A hundred 

 plants set out in a rich place after the 

 bearing season will produce a thousand 

 plants by fall. They will produce a 

 good crop the year after they are trans- 

 planted. No implements are required 

 for their cultivation except those found 

 on every farm. 



It takes but a small patch of land to 

 produce 50 quarts of strawberries per 

 day during the bearing season, and there 

 are few places where they will not 

 bring at least six cents a quart. By 

 having late and early varieties, the 

 strawberry season may be extended 

 several weeks. There are few persons 

 who will deny themselves strawberries. 

 Grapes have some advantages over 



strawberries. They are riot as perish- 

 able, and may be transported long dis- 

 tances without injury. Mature grape 

 vines are almost sure to produce a crop 

 every year. There is little trouble in 

 keeping grapes till Thanksgiving and 

 Christmas, when there is always a 

 demand for them at good prices. With 

 grapes and strawberries to dispose of, 

 any farmer boy can keep himself sup- 

 plied with money and have some to lay 

 up for a rainy day. — Fruit-Grower. 



DO BEES INJURE GRAPES ? 



The above question has so often been 

 asked, and so often been answered in 

 the ajfirmative by persons who never 

 took the pains to ascertain the truth of 

 their assertions, that I now venture a 

 few words. 



I wish to relate a series of experi- 

 ments made at the residence of one of 

 the Western lUinios Bee Keepers' So- 

 ciety. 



This gentleman was showing to a friend 

 a bunch of grapes which, having been 

 purposely placed in one of his hives of 

 bees, had been left untouched, though it 

 had remained there several days. 



" Well," said the friend, " it might be 

 that in a hive they don't work on the 

 grapes ; but, out-doors, where they 

 generally get their honey, they will 

 certainly cut the berries open." 



" We can try," said the bee keeper. 



All his grapes were being gathered 

 that day, and as bees were thick among 

 the vines just then, everything was suit- 

 able for the experiment. The two friends, 

 therefore, took all the damaged berries 

 from quite a number of bunches in the 

 same spot and left them ungathered. 

 A few hours after all the crop of grapes 

 had been gathered except these particu- 

 lar bunches, they again went to the vine- 

 yard and found the grapes as they had 

 left them. The bees were almost all gone. 



