STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 83 



think it requires a knack. Now, it does not, but it requires care. 

 You can all remember some old farm house where there seem 

 to be no conditions favorable for the growth of plants, but the 

 little old lady who lives there — or it may be a young lady, or 

 even a little child — has them in her window, waters them care- 

 fully, and puts papers around them to protect them when the 

 mercury goes down. You would say, "Why, she can never 

 make plants grow there," but some day the last of winter you 

 drive by and her windows are filled with blooms, many more 

 than you will see in fine, warm, steam-heated houses where 

 conditions are better, and you say, "Why is it ?" I can tell you. 

 It is because this old lady loves her plants. She knows what 

 they want and she does the best she can to supply their needs. 

 It is the sentimental fruit grower that is going to be successful. 

 The fruit grower must get into communion with his plants 

 Not every man is such a man, but every man who is willing to 

 give attention to details, and is willing to work hard, and is 

 willing to smile when he finds that the weather has practically 

 spoiled his products, — such a man is going to make a success of 

 fruit growing. 



Now I haven't anything new to tell you about growing small 

 fruits. A good many of you here probably know more than I 

 know, after having had speakers come before you for twenty 

 years and tell you all there is to tell about growing small fruits 

 I am a great deal like the frog who found himself m a can of 

 milk that a farmer shipped to market. Now this frog was very 

 much afraid that he would be drowned, but determined to do 

 all in his power to prevent such a disaster. He found it pretty 

 hard work to keep afloat, but he kept paddling, paddling, and 

 by and by he churned the milk into butter, and he floated into 

 Boston on a good big lump of butter, placid and content. Per- 

 haps if we keep agitating a little, we can get something out of 

 this after all. 



The first fruit which comes on and the one which is the most 

 enjoyable, coming with a freshness which the apple has ceased 

 to have, is the strawberry, one of the most valuable of all the 

 small fruits. Nothing can beat the strawberry in its season. 

 This fruit very fortunately lends itself to a variety of soils. 

 Different varieties require different soils and if you will only 

 get the right kind of variety, you can hope to grow the straw- 



