II. THE WILD FRUITS OF THE FARM 
“The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant 
fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.” 
—The Song of Solomon, 7:13. 
The bounty of nature is never more fully appreciated than 
when we see a tree bearing a load of luscious fruit. A tree 
that has been green, like its fellows, suddenly bursts into a 
glow of color, and begins to exhale a new and pleasant fra- 
grance as its product ripens. The bending boughs disclose 
the richness and abundance of its gift to us. 
Among nature’s delicacies there are none so generally 
agreeable and refreshing as her fruits. They possess an 
infinite variety of flavors. Before the days of sugar-making, 
they were the chief store of sweets. They everywhere fulfill 
an important dietary function, both for man and for many of 
his animal associates. 
All fruits were once wild fruits. Most of them exist today 
quite as they came to us fromthehandofnature. Afewhave 
been considerably improved by selection and care. But none 
of them has been altered inits habits. They grow and bloom 
and bear and die as they did in the wildwood. 
They have their seasons, the same seasons that the market 
observes. First come the strawberries, breaking the fast of 
winter’s long barrenness. What wonder that our Iroquois 
Indians celebrated the ripening of the fragrant wild straw- 
berries by a great annual festival! Then come the currants 
and the raspberries and the cherries and the buffalo-berries 
and the mulberries and the plums and many others in a long 
succession, the season ending with the grapes, the apples, the 
cranberries and the persimmons. 
The wild fruits have their requirements also as to climate, 
soil, moisture, etc., and these we must observe if we cultivate 
16 
