DISCUSSION OF PLANT INDUSTRIES 461 



the crop is very profitable, as the yield may exceed four hun- 

 dred bushels per acre. Strawberry raising on a large scale was 

 long confined chiefly to gardens in the neighborhood of cities 

 which served as a market. With improved quality and better 

 facilities for shipping it has now become an extensive indus- 

 try, and the season for some consumers has been extended 

 from a few weeks to five or more months, beginning in Jan- 

 uary with the product of the Gulf States and ending in July 

 with Canadian berries. 



There are at least five species of raspberries in cultivation, 

 but none of them bear transportation especially well. They 

 are grown considerably for shipment over comparatively short 

 distances. The red species, whether wild or cultivated, is much 

 used in preserving-factories in making jam, and at times is 

 prominent in the fruit markets. 



Blackberries, of which, including the Pacific coast forms, 

 there are five or more species in cultivation, are known as 

 commercial fruit only in America. Their cultivation began 

 before 1841, and was slow to reach its present importance. 

 Most of the favorite varieties were for years only chance 

 seedlings of the upright wild species, but at present improved 

 kinds that are descended from the trailing dewberries are 

 coming into favor. 



426. Stone fruits. Our most common stone fruits are 

 peaches, plums, and cherries. Of these three fruits the two 

 latter occur wild, but only plums have been much used in the 

 wild state. Of the thousands of acres of wild-plum thickets 

 once widely scattered over the Middle West, few now remain. 



Peaches are of Chinese origin, and were early introduced 

 into America from Europe. They cannot be safely cultivated 

 except where there is little danger of frosts after the trees 

 have blossomed. Favorite peach-growing portions of the 

 United States are the southerly part of the region bordering 

 the Great Lakes, parts of Georgia and Alabama, southern 

 Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, western Colorado, Texas, 

 and most of California except the mountainous portion. As 



