158 THE HOME ACRE. 



A rust similar to that which attacks the black- 

 cap is almost the only disease we have to contend 

 with. The remedy is the same, extirpation of 

 the plant, root and branch. 



After testing a great many kinds, I recommend 

 the three following varieties, ripening in succession 

 for the family, the Early Harvest, Snyder, and 

 Kittatinny. These all produce rich, high-flavored 

 berries, and, under the treatment suggested, will 

 prove hardy in nearly all localities. This fruit is 

 not ripe as soon as it is black, and it is rarely left 

 on the bushes until the hard core in the centre 

 is mellowed by complete maturity. I have found 

 that berries picked in the evening and stood in a 

 cool place were in excellent condition for break- 

 fast. To have them in perfection, however, they 

 must be so ripe as to drop into the basket at the 

 slightest touch; then, as Donald Mitchell says, 

 they are " bloated bubbles of forest honey." 



I fancy the reader is as impatient to reach the 

 strawberry as I am myself. " Doubtless God could 

 have made a better berry " but I forbear. This 

 saying has been quoted by the greater part of the 

 human race, and attributed to nearly every promi- 

 nent man, from Adam to Mr. Beecher. There 

 are said to be unfortunates whom the strawberry 

 poisons. The majority of us feel as if we could 

 attain Methuselah's age if we had nothing worse 



