122 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



house wife will tr}" to cull from beneath the laughing butter cup, the 

 nodding daisy, or the crinkled brake enough of those poor little 

 insignificant wild strawberries to set on the table for her liege lord's 

 supper. Or in raspberr^^ or blackberry tinae you must hie to the 

 back lot or the cut-down and stumble over rocks and stumps and 

 climb through bush and bramble in your hurry-skurry to get back 

 by tea time. Such I believe to be the present condition of things 

 on most of the farms without the "small fruit" garden. 



If on the other hand they would devote a little more time and a 

 little more space on their farms for these best of health giving fruits 

 and eat less of pork and beef, I believe the doctor would have to 

 be called to visit the sick far less than now. 



But some one said, "I can't afford the time to set out and tend 

 a 'small fruit' garden." Well, let us see about that, first, how many 

 plum trees shall we set and what varieties are the best? In reply I 

 would say set two Lombard, two Imperial Gage, one Bradshaw, one 

 Washington, enough for home use and some to give to your indolent 

 neighbor. Six good cherry trees would help fill up the list. In 

 grapes I would set the Brighton, the Warden, the Delaware and 

 Concord ; each in their time would furnish an abundant supply of 

 that most excellent fruit. Next let us look to the strawberry bed. 

 Of this delicious fruit I shall speak more fulh^ This is the most 

 difficult of all the small fruits to raise, 3'et the best if it is rightl}^ 

 managed. For location I would select a good, strong, moist soil, well 

 drained and enriched. I would set my strawberry bed on land that 

 had been used for some hoed crop the year previous, bearing in mind 

 that it must be kept free from weeds, and the next spring as early 

 as possible I would set out the strawberr}^ plants. 



Now, for a list of strawberries. As far as my experience goes, I 

 would select from the following list: Wilson's, Albany, Sharpless 

 and Crescents, perhaps it would be better to substitute the Man- 

 chester in the place of the Sharpless for this reason, the berries 

 are equally as large as the Sharpless, the Manchester grows on very 

 strong stalks not very long, in consequence of which the berries 

 are held up from the ground. While with the Sharpless they grow 

 on long, weak stalks and are more apt to drop in the dirt and become 

 unfit for table use. 



Of course these varieties will vary according to soil and location. 

 My bed is on a good strong muck soil well drained, it is the natural 

 home of the strawberry, and well cared for a small patch will furnish 

 an abundance of this luscious fruit for the home table. Perhaps just 



