No. 4.] FRUITS FOR LOCAL MARKETS. 55 



temperance cause had been expended in increasing the pro- 

 duction and consumption of fruits, the saloons would have 

 been driven out of town long ago. Just get a man fond of 

 good American apples and other acid fruits, and away goes 

 all desire for strong drink. Fruit growing and fruit eating 

 make people sunny, sweet and happy ; and I am fully con- 

 vinced that fruit will rule the world just as soon as the Fruit 

 Consumers' League has taken us all in. No one can be full 

 of fruit and full of fight at the same time, and discerning 

 people are seeing it ; hence the greatly increasing demand 

 every year for all kinds of fruits in our markets. The land 

 owners who are supplying this demand are making more 

 money out of it than ever before, and are in the way of an 

 ever-increasing, profitable business. 



The strawberry is the first we think of, and it should be 

 the first, because in one short year after planting it will come 

 to its full fruitage, and because it will grow in so many dif- 

 ferent soils and bear freely with the greatest neglect ; in fact, 

 it has been called the lazy man's berry. But there are too 

 many inferior berries oflfered on the market, and they are not 

 profitable. The old-fashioned, thickly matted row system, 

 under which too many of our local cultivators work, is re- 

 sponsible for the lack of success in many cases. More than 

 75 per cent of all the strawberries in New England are grown 

 on that method, — setting out in rows 21/^ to 4 feet apart, 

 and 2 feet in a row, letting each one make the most it will. 

 The worst Aveed in the strawberry patch is the strawberry plant 

 itself. It will produce from four to ten times, on a square 

 rod, what should be there ; and that is a mistake. You must 

 thin out your strawberries if you are going to make any 

 money in that system. You should grow them in hills or in 

 very narrow rows, or grow them in widely matted rows and 

 thin out all the surplus plants in August or September, — 

 perhaps not later than the last of August. Cut out all the 

 plants except what you want, leaving them 6 to 8 inches 

 apart, having a row, if you will, 2 feet wide, and a path or 

 space between them. It looks like an expensive job to go 

 into a matted plot or row, and thin them out. It does cost 

 money and takes time, but it will pay. The balance of the 



