LECT. vii PROFITABLE CULTURE 103 



districts it is the custom to plant early potatoes in 

 rows forty-two inches apart in March ; plant beans 

 between the rows in May, chop off the twiners as 

 they appear with sharp hooks or knives, and so 

 make the plants dwarf. In that way they bear 

 early and heavily, the crops usually selling for 20 

 an acre, and the early new potatoes at a penny a 

 pound easily realize 25, heavy yields decidedly more. 



The fact is all kinds of green crops, even vegetable 

 marrows, are profitable, when the best varieties are 

 well grown and placed in the market at the time 

 they are wanted ; but by no means are all persons in 

 a position to sell them to advantage, and judgment 

 is needed in this matter. 



Small Fruits. These are particularly appro- 

 priate to small gardens, and soon produce crops that 

 are of great service in families. The fruits to be re- 

 ferred to are strawberries, raspberries, currants, 

 and gooseberries, and some of most, if not all, of them 

 should be found in every garden that is attached to 

 a home. 



No kind of fruit comes into bearing so quickly as 

 the strawberry does. Strong plants put out in July 

 bear a very profitable crop the next year, and smaller 

 ones planted in September give a full yield the second 

 season. This amounts to about 4,000 Ibs. per acre, 

 and at 4=d. a pound the crop is worth nearly 50, but 

 the expenses of management, picking, and marketing 

 are considerable altogether about 17, as founded 

 on experience in Hampshire, where 1,500 acres are 

 grown in one district, in various sized allotments 

 ranging from a quarter of an acre to 10 acres in 

 extent. In some parts of Kent strawberry culture 

 has supplanted wheat culture to an extraordinary 

 extent, and much land has increased in value in 

 consequence. See page 149. 



