90 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Atherton, Another objection is that we cannot continue 

 to grow the fruit on the same half acre but must change it from 

 place to place ; so we have got to devote more than the half acre to 

 it. 



Mr. Hale. You can shift from your fruit garden to your vege- 

 table garden and in various ways you can get around that difficulty. 

 You are Yankee enough to work that out. 



THE CULTURE OF SMALL FRUITS. 

 By A. J. TOLMAN. 



The subject I am about to treat is a well worn one, and one that 

 has been handled in a masterly manner by good authorities on the 

 subject, at the present and at previous meetings of this Society, so 

 that I doubt my ability to give you any new information in regard 

 to it, or present an article that will be of much general interest. The 

 culture of the small fruits is an important branch of our horticul- 

 ture, and in favorable locations has proved a very profitable busi- 

 ness. I have been an enthusiast on this subject in the past, and 

 still have great faith in the business, and advocate their general 

 cultivation for the Maine farmer. It is a matter of surprise that so 

 little attention, as a general rule, is given to the fruit garden. 

 Many neglect it entirely, and but a few give it the prominence it 

 deserves. The farmer is better situated to have upon his table 

 everything in the way of small fruits than any one of every descrip- 

 tion. Though the most luscious strawberries can be raised in any 

 garden at a small cost, and the free use of them during their season 

 saves many doctors' bills, yet not one farmer in a hundred will 

 devote his time to them. Even the few old currant bushes are neg- 

 lected and grown up with grass and weeds, although the currant is 

 one of the most desirable fruits we grow. But this is a busy world. 

 Neither time nor money is plenty. There are many families who 

 would be pleased to have upon their tables every day the delicious 

 berries in their season, and if they knew how easily they could be 

 grown, would certainly cultivate them ; but having made some 

 unsatisfactory experiments, with but partial success, they give up 

 the attempt and think that the business requires too much expense, 

 or special instruction. However, Nature is kind to all who have 

 an appreciation of, and make a proper use of her gifts, and like 



