612 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



freezes hard in the fall, aud leave the water on until all danger 

 of spring frosts is past. North of New York city two feet of 

 water is desirable, south of there, one foot is sufficient. The 

 patch that is flooded is not likely to be attacked by the cran- 

 berry worm; the danger of winter freezing is avoided; the 

 danger from frost after vegetation has commenced in the spring 

 is done away. In a season of extreme drought the water can be 

 set back onto the patch, and the crop saved. If there are indi- 

 cations of frost Ijgfore the fruit is ripe it can.be covered with 

 water until the cold snap has passed. Almost any one of these 

 advantages is sufficient to justify the ordinary expenses of an 

 embankment and a water gate. If the fruit rots, it is probably 

 too wet, and should be raised by an addition of sand to the sur- 

 face. It can be applied on the ice, and the plants will soon 

 grow up through it. 



Gathering, Packing, and Marketing the small fruits are 

 important items, and can be very much systematized. Women 

 aud children are usually employed as pickers, and if a succes- 

 sion of fruits is raised a better class of help can be secured, as 

 they have employment for three months instead of one. For 

 this and other reasons we recommend a succession of small 

 fruits, rather than that a man's whole capital should be staked 

 on one kind. A good succession can be arranged with straw- 

 berries, raspberries, currants, blackberries, and cranberries. The 

 fruit should be gathered in dry weather, and not until after the 

 dew is off in the morning. The usual course of large growers 

 is to erect a tent or shed in the field, to which each picker 

 brings the fruit and receives a ticket for the number of baskets. 

 Formerly each grower must provide himself with a large 

 number of baskets, in which to send his fruit to market, but this 

 is obviated by the Free Fruit Box of the Burlington Manufac- 

 turing Company of Burlington, New Jersey. {Fig. 187.) 



J 



