IS FRUIT CULTURE PROFITABLE ? 73 



these two sorts such olyections are almost wholly removed, and 

 if on further trial they shall prove to be equally productive and 

 hardy with the older varieties, with the advantages that we have 

 mentioned, they will be truly valuable, and we may reasonably 

 expect to see blackberries planted in many gardens where they 

 are now seldom found. A strong but not wet soil is better 

 suited to this fruit than a light or sandy soil. They always 

 succeed better when protected in some way from the effects of 

 the winter, but it has been found difficult to lay down the 

 thorny varieties. They should be set in hills or stools like rasp- 

 berries, about five feet apart in the rows, with rows six or eight 

 feet apart. A cheap trellis of stakes with wire stretched across 

 is a great advantage, for the canes can then be tied up out of 

 the way. This fruit always sells readily and brings a high 

 price, and it is a pity we cannot grow more of it ; but our 

 experience has not been of the most favorable kind, and some 

 of our neighbors have had no better success, and have aban- 

 doned the cultivation of this fruit entirely. We will not 

 trespass further to speak of other fruits that can, under certain 

 circumstances, be raised to profit. The cranberry is prominent 

 in our mind, and we are glad to know that increased attention 

 is being paid to the growing of this fruit every year. We hope 

 the time is not far distant when the bogs, swamps and marshes 

 of our whole State shall yield its ruddy fruit that shall equal 

 the product of the cranberry fields of Cape Cod. But what 

 shall we say more ? for time would fail us to even briefly hint 

 at many important things connected with the cultivation of 

 various fruits both out of doors and under glass. Some 

 inquiries naturally force themselves upon us, and many are 

 ready to ask, as they have many times before, Is fruit culture 

 profitable ? We unhesitatingly answer yes, and profitable in 

 more respects than one. But profitable in that one respect to 

 which all minds are strongly drawn — that of actual proceeds or 

 incomes in greenbacks ; profitable as it tends to develop our 

 better nature, to cultivate our taste, to add to the comfort of 

 our homes, to subdue the stubborn and waste places, and make 

 them bloom and smile beneath the golden and purple fruitage 

 of autumn. 



If great advances have been made in the last half century 

 in our country, what may we not reasonably expect during the- 

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