Small Fruits in the Home Garden. 



BY S. T. MAYNARD, BOTANIST AND POMOLOGIST TO THE BOARD. 



Small fruits are pre-eminently the fruit for the home gar- 

 den. They are easily grown, and do not require a large 

 amount of land to produce a liberal supply of fruit for home 

 consumption. The fruit can be put on the consumer's table 

 in a fresh, ripe condition, quite unlike the fruit purchased 

 from the market. 



The increasing interest in fruit in the home garden and the 

 numerous inquiries as to the best methods, fertilizers and 

 varieties, have led to the preparation of this bulletin, in 

 which the practice of the best growers is given briefly, modi- 

 fied so as to adapt it especially to the home garden. 



The Strawberry. 



The strawberry is perhaps the most important fruit in 

 cultivation in the temperate zone, and especially as a home 

 fruit, although it takes a leading place as a money crop for 

 fruit growers in all sections of the country. In yield, meas- 

 ured in quarts or bushels, it will probably average through 

 a series of years more than that of any other fruit crop. 

 Reliable records have frequently been made of nearly one 

 thousand bushels per acre, and with an average of from two 

 hundred to three hundred bushels per acre under good aver- 

 age condition of cultivation, or one to two bushels per square 

 rod. The strawberry possesses unusual importance, in that 

 it is the first fruit to ripen in the summer, and is the one that 

 gives the quickest returns to the grower after planting. 



Conditions of Successful Groivth. 

 The strawberry will succeed upon a variety of soils, but 

 to reach the best results on a given soil, varieties must be 

 selected that grow best on that soil. For most varieties, 



