CHAPTER XV 



Fruit for the Small Garden 



Apples — Apricots — Cherries — Grapes — Pears — Plums — Peaches 



Quinces — Strawberries — Currants — Gooseberries — Raspberries 



Blackberries — Dewberries — Loganberries — Cordon and Espalier 



Training Systems — Ideal Fruit Garden 



SPREAD the truth far and wide, the country over, by every means 

 available. Sufficient emphasis can never be laid on the health- 

 giving advantages to be derived from the free use of fresh fruit. 

 It is beneficial to the adult, but doubly so for the children. It is an 

 insurance against disease. Nothing will assist the processes of nature 

 in such a rational and effective way as the habitual use of fruit. "An 

 Apple a day keeps the doctor away," is an old saying but, nevertheless, 

 a most true one, as many have proved to their own satisfaction, and 

 when one can practice the habit from one's own garden, the pleasure 

 is more than doubled. 



Fruit gathered fresh from the plants is quite a different article 

 to that which has been picked and packed, traveled and finally exposed 

 to the dust and atmosphere of a public market or store. Then, too, 

 another phase of the satisfaction of growing fruit for your own use 

 and to give to your friends is in the pleasure derived from watching 

 its development from the bursting buds on through the period of 

 flowering to the ripe, luscious, perfect fruit. 



It is surprising how much more fruit can be eaten in the garden 

 "out of hand," than when served in the home, and this without the 

 shghtest injurious effects. It is the unripe and stale fruit which should 

 be avoided; if you care for your fruit garden it will reward you with 

 fresh, ripe fruit in abundance. 



In considering a collection of fruit trees for a suburban garden, 

 particular attention will be given those varieties which produce a 

 maximum amount of fruit in a minimum of space and which are 

 designed to supply the family with fruit for the table and culinary 

 purposes the greater part of the year. Available space must, of course, 

 be considered in planting a fruit garden, and location must determine 

 to a large degree the manner of planting and arrangement of the 

 different fruits so as to allow each kind the greatest amount of light 

 and air possible. Apples and Pears, Peaches, Plums and Cherries, 

 therefore, should be planted to avoid casting too great a shade on 

 the smaller fruits such as Strawberries and Currants. Raspberries, 

 Blackberries and Grapes should be confined to trelHses and not allowed 

 to extend beyond certain limits, but to accomplish this, regular atten- 



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