66 SMAI^L FKUIT CULTTJRIST. 



his own grounds far above any market value ; therefore 

 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- 

 cumstances 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 by 

 trenching it two feet deep, applying twelve large two 

 horse loads of pure, well-rotted cow manure, thorough!) 

 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 little 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 

 tinued in* bearing for five years, and even then the land 

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

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

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

 tively necessary to enrich the ground to get even a mod- 

 erate crop. 



