112 Bush-Fruits 



illustration, suppose that by ordinary methods of culti- 

 vation an acre of blackberries produces seventy bushels, 

 and that sixty bushels are required to repay the cost of 

 production. Now, if by judiciously increasing the cost 

 of production to seventy bushels, by more liberal fertiliz- 

 ing or better cultivation, we can increase the yield to 

 ninety bushels, the profit is doubled. Nor does this fully 

 express the difference, for with an additional expense equiv- 

 alent to ten bushels, we have secured an additional 

 profit of ten bushels, and the additional outlay has paid 

 a return of one hundred per cent on the investment, while 

 the first ten bushels only pay sixteen and two-thirds per 

 cent on the investment. In other words, one acre under 

 the second management is better than two acres under 

 the first, for it is equivalent to growing the second acre 

 with an outlay equal to only ten bushels, instead of an 

 outlay equal to sixty bushels. 



It should be remembered that soil and climate play 

 an important part in returns. To secure a yield of 5000 

 quarts under some conditions is easier than to secure 3000 

 quarts under other conditions. The lesson of adaptation 

 is one not easily learned. Many growers are struggling 

 along with meager returns because they are dealing with 

 an unproductive soil, or because they are trying to bring 

 about something for which the locality is not well adapted. 

 The blackberry is not a fruit which is universally success- 

 ful. In some localities its culture may prove very success- 

 ful as a commercial undertaking, in others very unsatis- 

 factory. The question of adaptability should be one of 

 the first points to determine. 



