256 Success with Small Fruits. 



twenty-five acres and turned upon it part of the sewage. It now rents 

 for nearly $50 per acre, with sewage supplied. In parts of Spain, land is 

 worth $2,500 irrigated, and but $125 without the privilege of water. 



The enormous and long-continued crops of strawberries raised in 

 California prove that water is equally effective in our new land, where the 

 climate is similar, as in the older countries. Will irrigation pay in our 

 latitude, where we hope for seasonable rains ? I think that in many 

 sections it will, and occasionally I hear of remarkable results obtained by the 

 free use of water. In one instance, a gravelly hill-side, almost worthless 

 for ordinary cultivation, became the wonder of the neighborhood, so large 

 were the crops of strawberries secured by irrigation. 



Mr. Chas. W. Garfield, Secretary of the Michigan State Pomological 

 Society, gives an interesting account of his visit to Mr. Dunkley, a success- 

 ful gardener, at Kalamazoo : " A force," he writes, " were picking 

 strawberries from rows of vigorous plants, and as we opened the vines in 

 advance of the pickers, a more delightful strawberry prospect we had 

 never seen. The varieties were Monarch, Seneca Chief and Wilson, and, 

 under the system of irrigation employed, they were just prime for market 

 after all the other berries in the vicinity had ripened and were gone. Very 

 remunerative prices were thus secured. His vines were vigorous, and 

 independent of the rains. Every berry that set, reached perfection in size 

 and form." The abundant moisture greatly increases the size of the fruit, 

 but retards the ripening. When the fruit has reached the proper stage for 

 maturity, the water is withheld, and then the berries ripen fast, but in their 

 perfect development are firm, and are shielded from the sun by the luxu- 

 riant foliage. " We water," said Mr. Dunkley, " only to supplement the 

 rain. If the season is wet, we employ our artificial system but little, or 

 not at all, and in such seasons get no profit from our investments ; but 

 generally, sometime during a season there is a drought that shortens some 

 crop ; then we irrigate, and have the advantage of neighboring gardeners." 



This statement suggests the practical question, Do droughts or dry 

 seasons occur with sufficient frequency to warrant the outlay required for 

 irrigation ? In a very interesting paper read before the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, Mr. W. D. Philbrick gives much information on the 

 subject of artificial watering, and its need in our latitude and section, and I 

 quote from him freely : 



" The amount of water required will depend largely on the rain-fall, velocity of 

 the wind, atmospheric humidity, soil, etc. A loose ; sandy soil will require much 

 more water than a retentive clay. In general, however, it may be assumed that in 



