The Cultivation of Small Fruits. 



By Frank J. Kinney. 



Bead before the Worcester County Horticultural Society, Feb. 10, A. D. 1881. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — The subject for our 

 discussion to-day is nssuuiin^ such immense proportions, that it 

 demands, that we as a Society shall disseminate only facts in re- 

 lation to it, so I shall endeavor to speak of only what I know 

 from experience, using no figures except those taken from my 

 own books, or those of reliable friends ; and will preface my re- 

 marks by saying that I have found no " Royal Road " to success, 

 but like all other business, to make a success of it, one requires 

 first, ability to learn; second, a long apprenticeship; third, a 

 love of the business ; fourth, courage and strength to combat 

 witli odds constantly. There is no calling that requires a more 

 varied and thorough education, none where one will be more 

 tempted to take the wrong road or where the right road is so 

 full of pitfalls. I shall confine myself to varieties that have real 

 merit, as I have found them, for the day would prove too short 

 to mention all the varieties that have been considered worthy of 

 a name. 



The first fruit that will come to our table will be the straw- 

 berry, and it is conceded to be the best and most profitable of 

 all and one of the easiest to grow. The lists of varieties are 

 constantly changing : the hundreds of twenty-five years ago have 

 dwindled down to one, the Wilson's Albany ; originated by 

 John Wilson, of Albany, N. Y. If Hovey's Seedling, the first 

 good native — originated by C. M. Hovey, of Boston, forty-five 

 years ago — caused a slight breeze in the horticultural world, 

 Wilson's Albany produced a whirlwind that carried tlie produc- 

 tion of the strawberry into more families and States than all that 

 had been done before. Rev. E. P. Roe in his elegant and in- 

 structive volume " Success With Small Fruits " — that our enter- 

 prising committee on the library have placed on our tables, and 

 that ought to be read by every member — on page 45 says, " In 

 spite, however, of all that is said and written annually against 

 the Wilson, it still maintains its supremacy as the market berry." 



