INTRODUCTION. 11 



tions ; thus an exchange is made beneficial to both, and 

 to the advantage of trade. The Southern States produce 

 fruit for home consumption, and for sale at the North, 

 and vice versa. Different sections produce different 

 fruits, but often both yield the same, and yet they be- 

 come a market for each other. 



With a constantly increasing demand, and no apparent 

 prospect of our markets being fully supplied, it is no 

 wonder that many have turned their attention to the 

 cultivation of the Small Fruits. 



All along the lines of our railroads, canals, and naviga- 

 ble rivers, new villages are springing up, each of which 

 soon becomes a shipping point for produce sent to the 

 larger cities and villages. Places which did not exist 

 eight or ten years ago, are now annually sending to 

 market a half million to a million baskets of fruits. 



It is not to be expected that every one who attempts 

 the cultivation of the Small Fruits will be successful, any 

 more than that all will succeed in any other business, still 

 it must be admitted, that the culture of the leading vari- 

 eties of this class offers as wide and safe a field for enter- 

 prise as is to be found in any other branch of business 

 pertaining to the cultivation of the soil. 



Some will fail because they obtained varieties unsuited 

 to their soil or location, for it must be remembered that 

 there is no such thing as general cultivation, when ap- 

 plied to the whole United States. Others will attempt 

 more than they are capable of completing. And there 

 are those who imagine that all that is required is, to ob- 

 tain the plants and see that they are planted, after which 

 they can sit down and wait for a bountiful harvest. Such 

 people are always disappointed, and it matters not what 

 they undertake they are sure to be unfortunate, and every 

 experiment will end in failure until they learn to labor 

 as well as to wait. Profitable fruit-culture cannot result 

 from idleness or negligence. Prompt, energetic action, ap- 



