CHAPTER XXXVII. 



THE SMALL FRUIT GARDEN. 



tried to show you that a farmer's home is 

 hardly perfect without this ; now how shall he 

 manage it ? First, he must decide whether to shut 

 the hens up in an enclosure or enclose the fruit 

 garden. If enclosed, it may be with the vegetable 

 garden. We have no hens, so no enclosure is 

 needed. On account of ease of cultivation, a plot longer than it is 

 wide would be better than square. There should be ample head- 

 lands so you can turn a horse around readily. Horse culture 

 must be used, and most of the work must be done in this way, 

 quickly and cheaply. With proper tools and systematic effort, it 

 will be a source of profit and great pleasure. Wrongly arranged 

 and managed, it will soon be neglected and considered as costing 

 more than it comes to. An eastern or northern exposure or level 

 land will be rather better than that sloping to west or south, be- 

 cause cooler. Berries want coolness and moisture, but not wet 

 land. It should be well drained. Do not select a low place as it 

 will be more subject to frost. A late spring frost may injure the 

 yield greatly. High and cool and moist, but not wet, and rich 

 land is just what is best. Come as near to it as you can. It will 

 be best if you can select land that is quite clean. Chick weed, 

 purslane, etc., will make much trouble; however, they can be 

 kept down. Avoid setting strawberries on any soil that has white 

 grubs in it. They will eat the roots and destroy the plants. 

 While partial shade will do for raspberries, it will not do for 

 strawberries, as shade means tree roots in the ground to use up 

 the moisture. Now, how much land will be needed ? To allow 

 for rotation of strawberries (they may well be rotated with garden 

 crops and seeded with clover once in three or four 3^ears) , and give 

 a great abundance of all kinds of small fruits, from half an acre to 

 an acre will be required for most families. For our family of six 

 or seven persons we would want apiece of land, say, about 8 rods 

 by 1 6. Beginning on one side, I would have four strips, each a 

 rod wide, to rotate strawberries and garden crops on. Then the 



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