10 



SMALL PKUIT CULTURIST. 



been satisfactory in general cultivation. There is room 

 for great improyements upon even the best of those now 

 known as the leading native varieties, and if half the 

 time and skill had been bestowed upon the native Eed 

 Raspberry, in endeavoring to produce new sorts, as has 

 been u:pon the foreign, we would now have something 

 better than even the highly extolled Cuthbert and Turner. 



The introduction and almost general use of fruit-pre- 

 serving cans have afforded the people an opportunity of 

 obtaining an uninterrupted supply of choice fruits, re- 

 gardless of time or season. Thousands of bushels are 

 annually preserved for home use by families, both in 

 country and city. One may step into any of our restau- 

 rants — even when the snow covers the fields and with the 

 thermometer at zero — and call for a dish of strawberries 

 and cream, and he will be supplied as readily as in the 

 month of June. The fruit may not be quite so good as 

 when first gathered from the plant, but, considering the 

 time of year, it is very acceptable. Not only do private 

 families, saloons, and hotels consume enormous quantities 

 of the Small Fruits which have been preserved in these 

 hermetically sealed cans and jars, but every steamer or 

 sailing vessel that leaves our ports takes with it a supply 

 for use on the voyage, and it often forms a share of the 

 freight. AVe are not only called upon to produce fruits 

 to supply the home demand, but other portions of the 

 world which cannot or do not produce them, and it can 

 readily be seen that it must be many years before any- 

 thing like an adequate quantity can be produced, even 

 with the rapid strides we are making. The field for pro- 

 duction may appear to be a very large one, still it is far 

 less than that of consumption. It is not every location 

 or soil that is adapted to the cultivation of the Small 

 Fruits, neither will every variety succeed equally well on 

 the same place. Consequently the favorable regions for 

 particular kinds must furnish the people of other loca- 



