276 B04RD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following Report was presented, upon 



SMALL FRUIT CULTURE. 



BY A. P. SLADE. 



In submitting to the Board a paper on the cultivation of the 

 small fruits, I propose to give the best method for field culture 

 of a crop of strawberries, as the result of a somewhat extended 

 experience. Notwithstanding the cultivation of the strawberry 

 has engaged the attention of fruit-growers quite extensively 

 within the last ten years, yet the demand for this delicious 

 fruit, at remunerating prices, is far in excess of the supply ; 

 and we see no reason why this should not continue for years 

 to come. 



The same market that consumed 2,400 boxes in 1861, at an 

 average price of seventeen cents per box, consumed in 1868 

 11,000 boxes, at an average price of a fraction less than twenty- 

 five cents. While this market increased in population during 

 the above period about forty per cent., the increase in the con- 

 sumption of strawberries was over three hundred and fifty per 

 cent. — or, in 1861 one box would supply a family of seven, and 

 in 1868 the same family required something over three and a 

 half boxes. Assuming this to be a fair criterion, it is not easy 

 to determine the exact time when the supply will be fully up to 

 the demand. 



There is evidently a growing conviction on the part of con- 

 sumers that a certain amount of fruit in its season is absolutely 

 essential to their physical well-being. Thousands have discov- 

 ered in its use a cheap and wholesome luxury, in which they 

 can indulge without materially increasing their table expenses. 



It is not uncommon for writers on this subject to assert that 

 this fruit is very easily raised, yielding enormous crops and large 

 profits. Now, I think that the experience of those engaged in 

 growing strawberries will bear me out in the assertion that if 

 they harvest a fair crop as often as three years out of five they 

 will bo doing as well as they have ever done, or as well as they 

 expect to do in future. 



There is certainly no crop that requires cleaner culture, or 

 more practical experience in its successful cultivation, or that 

 is more injuriously affected by causes wholly beyond the control 

 of the cultivator, than the strawberry crop. Tlie unaccountable 



