CHAPTER XXX. 
SOME SMALL FRUITS. 
HE home garden would scarcely be com- 
plete without a strawberry patch, and 
hardly anything gives better returns. 
Strawberries grow in various kinds of soil, but 
a light, sandy loam gives the earliest berries, 
because that is the earliest, warmest soil. It 
takes only a few well-developed, well-cared-for 
plants to supply a family with berries enough, 
and the care is no greater than would be given 
corn. But you should make a careful selection 
of your plants. Small, weakly plants, or plants 
that have already been in bearing, are no good 
for your purpose. Therefore, buy from an 
honest dealer. Plants for setting should have 
been grown for that purpose purely, and not 
have been allowed even to blossom, as the im- 
portant thing is to have a vigorous root growth, 
and well-formed crown. 
This sort of strawberry plant will yield large, 
delicious berries about ten to fourteen months 
after setting out, and although a plot containing 
100 plants requires not more than a half-hour’s 
work a week to keep the plants in condition, 
after they have been well started, yet the yield 
will be about a quart to each plant. 
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