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10 

 PROFITS OF SMALL FRUIT BY A. M. PURDY. 



"When proptnly attended to, and care taken to raise fifsl- 

 class fruit and send it into market in fine order, (which is 

 required of any horticultural or ap^ricultural products, to 

 make them profitable,) there is no branch of business that 

 pays better than the growing of Small Fruit for market, 

 and as to overstocking the market with such, it cannot be 

 done. More profits can be realized from ten acres of Small 

 Fruit, than from any one hundred acre farm in the coun- 

 try, and that too, with less hard labor. 



We are aware, however, that there have been seasons 

 when ordinary fruit has sold low in certain markets. Yet 

 in these very markets and seasons, first-class fruit has always 

 sold at high and most profitable rates, — thus showing the 

 great importance of thorough culture. By " thorough cul- 

 ture," we mean deep, subsoil ploughing, liberal manuring, 

 clean and oft-repeated cultivation, and plenty of mulching, 

 and last, but not least, with the strawberry, growing them 

 in hills — that is, keeping off all runners. And to this the 

 great importance ot growing the best sorts, even if the 

 first cost is considerably higher, and the grower may rely 

 on a ready market, at the highest rates, for all he can raise. 



Don't try experiments too largely, especially if your means 

 are small, and instead of building air castles, go right to 

 work with a will and build up a permanent business, 

 Don't let a little drawback discourage you, — such as low 

 prices some seasons, or a late spring frost or hard winter. 

 Remember, these things will drive many out of the busi- 

 ness, and that those that keep right along, year after year, 

 will have the benefit of the seasons of high pricec. 



We know that there are years when the winter pre- 

 ceding and the season following, are universally favor- 

 able to the full fruiting of all kinds of fruit, and that in 

 such seasons the amount marketed is so large as to cause 

 prices to drop to a low figure ; but let it be remembered 

 that such seasons are exceptions and not the rule, and that 

 most seasons one locality is favored and another not, and 

 other times vice versa. In our long experience in growing 

 fruits, we have found that our crops of Small Fruit net us 

 just about the same every year ; for when the crop is large 

 prices are lower, and when small higher. W(i have, how- 

 ever, some years had large, full crops, when the crop in 

 in other localities would be light, and in such seasons our 



