The Red Cloud chief., 1881-05-12
Small Fruits.

Dm1ii IIutts
Small fruits, in our climate, mean, ]
take il, currants, gooseberr.es. black
berries. raspberries. Strawberries and
grapes. Their culture for profit, home
comfort and health should have The
widest welcome. No industry will av-
erage any richer dividends from the
market than these na;tily offered and
well grown supplies. They NAV be
raised in hne form. under the richest
culture, yet il they are not marketed
neatly. in good order, free from mussi
ness. and freshly picked. the fmit raiser
will be Disguised with his returns. A
good many sioyenly growers meet re-
butts 10 the uncomely offerings of their
goods, which theT are blind enough 10
think due TO 4 public want of taste Tor
small fruits. But there - in cit cs and
large towns an unlimited market for
fruits 10 which culture has done justice
ana which the owner Oilers measured
out and boxed in handy shape to han
de. No man should market fruit who
does not make ii a business. Because
you have 4 few quarts of any kind be-
yond your home supply. don't ill your
In MULTI vi DfCN fifsl-uft anu tbiilf
into a store to swap for groceries. Give
your overplus To some nice neighbor or
some poor. lone widow. whose home
room or pinched affairs will To- admit
growing them or buying them.
Every householder. both for the love
of The iruit aud the joy Of is culture
aud possession. should plant some Of
these small fruits. An abundance is the
duty and the glory Of any large place.
No house lot, however small. should be
without some of the assortment. II is
wonderful what crops every kind will
Weld To a busy worEer in his home lot.
Every vacan place, every dropping
she'd. every fence border can be made
to rejoice in their fruitage. OF course
they cannot be lett to take care OF them
selves as ordinary fruits often are. in
the wide garden or fruit farm. a good
deal OF winter pruning, iIc uent sum
mcr pinching, skill and judgment in
training TO cover unoccupied spaces,
and a dizziness that only practice teach
rs, must beget plenty and excellence.
Some of the care and constant watch
fulness over small fruits in the little
home is not out OF place either in larger
grounds or on the fruit farm. Illleave
the larLer cult vators to take care of
themselves and devote a few words to
the methods by which 4 plenty of small
fruits can be had IN the narrowest do
main.
And first about grapes: l have n
friend who, from a single line of Clinton
Grape on a galvanized wire, gets bush
els IF the fruit. On a twenty-five foot
lot twelve such vines can be trained up
on to the lean-to or real walls of the
dwelling, stretching up thirty feet or
more. both studded with fruit and
shading the house. Strong posts around
your little e ward may hold a. many
more. Then along the borders below
the grapes YOU may have currantS
trained TO single stems and tied 10 hor-
~riZontal wires. ripcn!ng in their season
a delightful abundance. G~oosebcrricS
SO trained, of our hardy, unm,ldewing
American kinds, will give you lots OF
the luscious fruit. some of those hardy
modern black-cap raSpberrics trained in
some odd place will cheer Your table
with their harvest. Even the thOrny
Lawton or some of the harder kinds Of
blackbcrries, trimmed and trained and
pruned and pinched. will give a large
supply for their season.
Then as to strawberries, not much
can be done with any kind OF comfort
in an ord nary citY lot. But in a small
homestead OF fifty By one hundred feet
there is, after all these other fruits are
provided for, still room for Il straw
berry bed to supply that delightful
fruit from the beginning to the ending
of its season. On this JOY OF the table
the householder should expend his
soul. Its soil should be deep and rich,
but not with too rank manure every
runner should be clipped during its
bearing season. I'm separate rows he
should have kinds covering the first
blush of this frdit To its latest Weld.
Not a weed or n grass-Spirc should be
found; but all should he well mulched
to keep the berries from the scattering
rain and dirt. Through the bearing
season drench with water. This latter
is a very needed thing which the large
growers cannot furnish. But for il the
strawberry's appetite i SO great that
crop. as TO the bigneSs and abundance
of its yield and the duration of lis sea-
son. as an abundant supply of water
nights and mornings.
Nothing SD binds to our hearts the
sacred memories of home as the JOYOUS
ness of the family table well supplied
with small fruits. The little Youngsters
from their earliest youth 50 relish these
healthful fruits. that in after lie enjoy
ment of them makes up a large part of
home memories and endearS 10 them,
As much rs any aesthetic or mental cul-
ture, those who have cared for their
tender yearS.-C0r. Larat NcW Yorker