STATK POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 79' 



There were several barrels of apples and all the other fruit needed in 

 the family. The raspberry and blackberry bushes passed the second 

 winter finely and before the season was through formed four compact 

 rows of shrubs as fine as one could wish or expect under the most 

 favorable circumstances. 



SMALL FRUITS FOR THIKTEEN WEEKS. 



We come now to the seventh and last year of which I shall speak. 

 These details must be wearying to you, but other than some of the 

 discouragements of which I propose to say a word or two later, they 

 portray tiie work of fruit growing in a one-acre garden. This year 

 was the most fruitful we had had because vines, shrubs and trees wei'e 

 in the best condition for fruit. Tiie first ?trawberries were gathered 

 the 2oth day of June, and from that day to the 20th of September 

 there was not a single day when small fruits of some kind were not 

 abundant in onr garden ; and permit me to say here that twelve or 

 thirteen weeks' time is none too long for the enjoyment of these luscious 

 fruits. The apples, of which there were about a dozen barrels, will 

 cover the year finely. The great triumph of the season, however, 

 was the magnificent crop of raspberries and blackberries. Early in 

 the season the Turners began to bloom, then the Clarkes and Cuth- 

 berts, and shortly the Snyder blackberries were a mass of snowy 

 whiteness, surpassing in modest beauty the most gaudy flower beds. 

 As the season advanced they were marvels to behold, and an astonish- 

 ment to all who examined them. From tip to base of canes every 

 available bud was utilized by the berry clusters. Loaded down as 

 they were from the first they matured an abundant crop of fruit, which 

 in quality was of unsurpassed excellence. While the raspberries, 

 commencing with the Turners, ripened far more fruit than any of us 

 had ever anticipated. There was no longer questioning by the passers- 

 by as to \vhat these bushes were, or whether they were expected to 

 bear fruit ; they bore their own testimony so that all could see and 

 learn the lesson they taught me, which is that these fruits may be suc- 

 cessfully grown in Maine. 



During each year the garden produced all the vegetables used by 

 our family, with the exception of potatoes, while the fruit trees seemed 

 to grow all the better for the culture. 



