SMALL FRUIT CULTURE 



BY 



W. T. Macoun 



Dominion Horticulturist. 



The average farmer's home in Canada is not supplied with an adequate amount 

 of small fruits, notwithstanding the ease with which they can he grown. It is a 

 common thing to see a farmer on market day buying strawberries and other small 

 fruits in the town to be taken home and treated as a luxury, when he should produce 

 in his own garden all that he and his family could consume if they ate fruit three 

 times a day. This state of affairs seems to be accounted for mainly by the fact that 

 the farmet thinks he is too busy a man to have and care for a garden. If the farmers 

 of this country only knew how much better they and their families would be with a 

 plentiful supply of fruit they might make a greater effort than they do to raise enough 

 for home consumption. There are some Canadian farmers, we are glad to say, who 

 do have good gardens of both fruit and vegetables. The garden, which is usually on 

 a well drained piece of land near the home, dries earlier than the fields, and can, 

 therefore, be attended to before work begins in the field. A few hours' labour puts 

 it in such shape that it can be cared for with comparatively little work during the 

 summer. 



Witb the following information to guide him., there is no good reason why every 

 farmer shouH not have a fruit garden. 



THE STKAWBERRY. 

 Strawberry Culture in Canada. 



The strawberry is, we believe, the most popular fruit in Canada to-day. It ripens 

 early in the season when every one is craving for fresh fruit, and where it can be 

 readily obtained it is consumed in large quantities and with unabated relish until its 

 season is over and the supply exhausted. The popularity of the strawberry is more 

 general than that of some fruits from the fact that enough berries to supply the 

 family needs may be grown on a very small area of land, hence it is possible for most 

 people to grow strawberries if they desire to do' so. 



The strawberry is found wild from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean in Canada,^ 

 and from the southern boundary as far north as the 64th parallel, and large quanti- 

 ties of the fruits are gathered. The cultivated varieties are grown successfully almost 

 everywhere where the wild species are found, but in some districts require protection 



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