acres, a large crop each
of apples and pears were grown on the same ground. Like currants,
the gooseberry must be sprayed to destroy the worms, and cut back
and burnt to destroy the cane borer.

There is little special knowledge required, however, in raising this
fruit, and it is well adapted for growers with small acreage and
little money.

In going into the cultivation of bush fruits, it is usually best to
grow them in great variety near the market where they are to be
sold. The bush fruits are then uniformly profitable. In _Suburban
Life_ Mr. E. C. Powell tells us that the spring is the best time for
planting raspberries and blackberries, just as soon as the ground is
dry enough to work. The first season the plots should be well
tilled. It is possible to grow vegetables between the rows the first
year before the berries begin to bear, but unless pressed for space,
it probably doesn't pay.

Perhaps the best of small fruits, however, and most largely used is
the strawberry. The strawberry can be planted by the acre. The
ground must be rich loam and plenty of humus, well drained, with a
southern exposure. Well-grown plants set out in the open will bear a
small crop the first season, but will not become of maximum bearing
till the second year. After the crop is taken off in the fall a
mulch of straw or leaves should be placed over the plants to protect
them during the winter. The strawberries are picked by boys and
girls.

The strawberry is an exceedingly profitable crop if properly
handled, and is one of the best small fruits for people with little
capital. While the price in the general market varies from fifteen
to thirty cents per quart, they sometimes run as high as fifty in
the early spring; yet it is possible to grow strawberries worth six
dollars a quart by intensive culture in greenhouses. Mr. S. W.
Fletcher, in _Country Life in America,_ says: "The forcing of
strawberries is a specialized industry of the highest type.
Everybody cannot make it pay everywhere.... Strawberries are forced
in pots or in benches. The pot method is preferred by those who find
a demand for the highest quality of fruit regardless of expense....
If fruit is desired for Christmas, the plants are not checked to any
extent, but are kept in continuous growth. The conditions of
springtime are simulated as far as possible. At Christmas time a
quart box of forced Marshall strawberries sells at from one-fifty to
eight dollars per quart,