06 SMALL FRUIT CTJLTUEIST. 



his own grounds far above any market value ; therefort 

 the cost of production is of very little importance, pro- 

 vided the results are satisfactory. 



It is not to be expected that a man in moderate cir 

 oumstances will continue to grow fruit which costs more 

 than it is worth ; still there is a pleasure in producing ex- 

 tra fine fruit, even if there is no great profit in the opera- 

 tion. Besides, I am not quite sure that extra care and 

 cultivation will not, as a rule, prove to be as profitable as 

 that which is generally called good culture. 



I have made several experiments for the purpose of 

 thoroughly testing extra cultivation, most of which have 

 been quite satisfactory. 



A few years since I prepared a sixteenth of an acre bj 

 trenching it two feet deep, applying twelve large twt> 

 norse loads of pure, well-rotted cow manure, thoroughly 

 incorporating it with the soil to the depth of one foot. 



I then planted this bed with the Triomphe de Gand 

 Strawberry, placing the plants about two feet apart each 

 way. A few runners were allowed to take root between the 

 plants in the rows, but I removed all others. The ground 

 was hoed often, and in winter the plants were protected 

 with a coat of salt hay two inches in depth. The whole 

 expense of preparing the bed-planting, hoeing and mulch- 

 ing up to the time of picking the first crop was fifty dol- 

 lars. The bed yielded a l&ttle over four hundred quarts, 

 which, at the low price of twenty-five cents per quart, 

 would have given a fair profit. The next crrp was fully 

 equal to the first, and the expense incurred to produce it 

 but very little in comparison to the first. This bed con 

 tinned in bearing for five years, and even then the lan<? 

 was in good condition for any other crop. There are prob- 

 ably many soils that are naturally as rich as this bed wa 

 after being prepared, but in this instance it was impera- 

 tively necessary to enrich the ground to get even a mod 

 rate crcp 



