Juneberries 383 



and sprightliness as a table fruit, but this defect is readily 

 overcome by adding a few currants, cherries or goose- 

 berries, which are available at the same season of the 

 year. To be at its best it should be used when perfectly 

 fresh, for it suffers much in flavor by standing. This may 

 prevent it from becoming popular as a market berry. 

 In any case, it ought to be primarily a home berry. It is 

 so easily grown, and the plants themselves are so attractive 

 that it may well find place in any home-garden, however 

 small. 



One grave obstacle stands in the way of its successful 

 culture. Every bird in the region will be there to help 

 harvest the fruit. Only two remedies are apparent 

 either grow more Juneberries than the birds can hold, 

 or plant but few, in close clumps, and protect them with 

 netting. Benjamin G. Smith reports 1 having been able to 

 keep the birds away by scarecrows, which were changed 

 in position two or three times a day. Experience with 

 other fruit leads to the conclusion that very lively scare- 

 crows would be needed to interfere with the birds of most 

 localities. In Europe, cheap netting is used for protecting 

 cherries and similar fruits, and this method could be 

 adopted for a few clumps of Juneberries with slight ex- 

 pense. 



The productiveness of the dwarf varieties is beyond 

 dispute. The plants are covered with a mass of fruit until 

 ripe enough for the birds to consider it worth their atten- 

 tion. In Nebraska it ripens from June 10 to July 4, in 

 New York somewhat later. It will thrive upon any soil, 

 as it is found from the lowest swamps to the highest 

 1 Gardener's Monthly, 1878: 306. 



