42 SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



In the year 1876 the same gentleman had ten acres of 

 Brandywine raspberries that yielded about eighty-two bushels 

 to the acre, giving a clear profit of $280, or of ^2,800 for 

 the entire area. This crop, so far from being the average, 

 was awarded a premium as the most profitable that year in 

 the section. 



J. R. Gaston & Sons, of Normal, 111., have given the fol- 

 lowing record of a plantation of Snyder blackberries : ** We 

 commenced to pick a field of seven acres July 12th, and 

 finished picking August 2 2d. The total amount gathered 

 was 43,575 quarts, equal to 1,361 bushels and 22 quarts. 

 The average price was eight cents per quart, making the 

 gross proceeds equal to ^3,486. We paid for picking 

 ^435.75. The cost of trimming and cultivating was about 

 ^400; cost of boxes, crates, and marketing was ^1,307.25, 

 leaving a net profit of $1,343." 



A gendeman in Ulster Co., N. Y., stated that 200 bushes 

 of the Cherry currant yielded him in one season 1,000 lbs. 

 of fruit, which was sold at an average of eight cents per 

 pound. His gross receipts were $80 from one-fourteenth 

 of an acre, and at the same ratio an acre would have yielded 

 ^1,120. Is this an average yield? So far from it, there 

 are many acres of currants and gooseberries that do not pay 

 expenses. Thus it can be seen that the scale ranges from 

 marvellous prizes down to blanks and heavy losses ; but the 

 drawing is not a game of chance, but usually the result of 

 skill and industry, or their reverse. 



I might have given many examples of large, and even 

 enormously large, profits obtained under exceptional cir- 

 cumstances ; but they tend to mislead. I write for those 

 whose hearts prompt them to co-work with nature, and who 

 are most happy when doing her bidding in the breezy fields 

 and gardens, content with fair rewards, instead of being 



