128 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



for home use. Grape juice is easily made and kept and is 

 a pleasing beverage. Grape jelly is excellent and could be 

 readily marketed in any nearby town, since there is very 

 little, comparatively, on sale. A grape arbor gives shade, 

 needs little care, and can be planted near the house where 

 it will not interfere with the crops. For you cannot cul- 

 tivate all of your land; some grassy space must be left 

 around the house if only for drying clothes. But if ground 

 is scarce, vines or lima beans can be trained up the back 

 porch or up the sunny side of the house ; or a few climbing 

 nasturtiums will give decorations without care, while the 

 young leaves make a good salad. 



Of home orchard fruits, the plum, pear, and quince are 

 all profitable specialties, especially for intensive acre rais- 

 ing. In general, the same remark may be made of them as 

 of the other fruits, that they need careful selection of land 

 to get the best results. The cherry has recently come to 

 be recognized as a good commercial specialty. Mr. George 

 T. Powell, in The American Agriculturist, says : " The crop 

 is a precarious one to market. . . . The risk and loss may 

 be largely reduced by making a proper selection of site for 

 the orchard. This should be on high ground where the air 

 generally circulates freely. This is especially necessary for 

 sweet varieties. The soil should be rich, with naturally 

 good drainage." 



He says : " I have had Rockport trees produce four hun- 

 dred pounds each and the fruit net ten cents a pound for 

 the entire crop. The English Morello trees may be grown 

 fifteen feet apart each way, which will allow two hundred 

 trees to the acre. The larger trees ought to be planted 

 somewhat thinner. . . . Cherries are packed largely in 

 eight-pound baskets and in strawberry quarts. Each bas- 



