276 TJic Cultivation of Small Fruits. 



in barrels, with holes bored in the heads to prevent heating. Currants, if 

 large and fine, can sometimes be shipped to advantage in the quart pack- 

 ages. But these two last do not bear so early as the first. 



By this time, some propagation of plants can be begun ; and this is one 

 advantage in the cultivation of small fruits. The runners of the strawberry, 

 the tips of the raspberry, the sprouts of the blackberry, and the cuttings of 

 the currant and gooseberry, can all be made into independent plants, and 

 sold, or planted as an enlargement of the area of culture. In this way, 

 a double harvest can be reaped. 



The wood that may have borne on raspberry and blackberry bushes is 

 now dying, and may be cut out. The runners from the strawberry-plants 

 may be permitted to fill the vacant spaces, if plants are wanted ; or may be 

 restricted in case something like cultivation in hills is preferred. 



The second and subsequent winters, the straw-mulch will still be desira- 

 ble. Corn-stalks and planing-mill chips will answer the same purpose, and 

 can be substituted according to the capabilities of the neighborhood. 



Subsequent seasons will be much the same ; except that, sooner or later, 

 the plantations of strawberries and raspberries will be the better for being 

 renewed, and the gooseberries and currants will need thinning and manur- 

 ing as they advance in years. The blackberries will need manure, and a 

 suppression, with the hoe, of sprouts, unless plants be a special object. 



It will be well, where possible, to keep a steady horse and an equally 

 steady boy. With these, horse-power culture can be applied, fruit hauled 

 away, and manure hauled in during the winter months. 



In this outline, I can but allude to details which close observation and 

 practice best teach and impress. Perhaps, however, I have said enough 

 to show that the labor is light and pleasant, and the probable profits greater 

 than can be gained in most of the pursuits in which women now engage ; 

 whilst as regards health, independence, and self-respect, it is far preferable 

 to the state of dependence and confining labors of many of them. 



Alton, July 3, 1867. W. C. Flagg. 



