INTRODUCTION.

The cultivation of the Small Fruits, as a distinct feature in horticulture, commenced less than twenty-five years ago. It is true we had raspberries, strawberries, currants, and other berries in our gardens, and nurserymen propagated the plants for sale to a very limited extent, but a catalogue made up exclusively of the Small Fruits was unknown, and I may add, the common announcement in catalogues of to-day, "Small Fruits a Specialty," has come into use within the past twenty years. In Europe there were a few men who made a specialty of the Small Fruits, some choosing the Gooseberry, others the Strawberry, and cultivating these on a limited scale, but to take the entire group of Small Fruits, and make these the prominent feature, or specialty, was as rare in the old world as in the new. The further we go back into the history of horticulture, the less do we find in regard to the berries, and even two centuries ago scarcely any of the English and French authors give anything more than a passing notice of some wild berries, which were occasionally transplanted into the garden. The family supply of these fruits was drawn from the fields and woods, and while the apple, pear, plum, and other larger fruits were attracting attention, as they had done from the earliest times, the Small Fruits remained in their natural and undeveloped state.

Early in the present century, some attempts were made in England to improve the Strawberry, and these being quite successful, a new interest was awakened in this fruit among the horticulturists of the old world, but no

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great progress was made in the cultivation of the different kinds of Small Fruits until several years later.

The progress of fruit-culture in the United States is probably more apparent than in other countries, for we have only to go back to a period within the memory of horticulturists still living, to ascertain nearly every fact in regard to its history. Ask any of our older horticulturists concerning the markets of forty years ago, and they will tell us that there were no Hovey or Wilson Strawberries offered for sale in those days; no Cherry or White Grape Currants; no New Rochelle or Kittatinny Blackberries ; but that they were wholly supplied with berries from the woods and uncultivated fields.

The progress we have made in Small Fruit Culture during the past twenty years is certainly something of which our horticulturists may well feel proud, but the limits in the way of advancement have not as yet been reached, and there is room enough for those who may wish to enter this field to work out many an unsolved problem.

The cause of our advancement is, in a great measure, due to the dissemination of information upon the subject through the horticultural and agricultural press. It is by reading these that the masses have learned where to obtain the plants they desire and how to cultivate them. Thus, by having a medium through which both parties are benefited, trade is augmented and progress made more certain.

The originators of new varieties have been stimulated to make great exertions, because of the high prices paid for their products in times past, but it is quite probable that new sorts will not hereafter command so much attention as they have in years gone by, at least it will not be so easy to obtain high prices for a second-rate article. What may be termed the "Small Fruit Craze" has had its day, and hereafter it will be only the really valuable sorts the intrinsic worth of which has become fully

ascertained and established, that will be in demand. There has been altogether too much puffing of new or supposed to be new sorts, before their merits or identity had become fully ascertained. In many instances varieties have been announced as something wonderful, and endorsed by scores of ministers, doctors, lawyers, and other prominent gentlemen-neighbors of the originators, not one of whom perhaps ever had any experience in fruitculture, or could tell a "Wilson" Strawberry from a "Hovey" or a "Chas. Downing." Instances of this kind of worthless endorsement of new or old sorts, are becoming more and more frequent and annoying to the horticulturist and the public at large. The old "Belle de Fontenay" Raspberry was recently brought out as something new under the name of Amazon, and the man who claimed to have produced it, procured the endorsement of some half a score of ministers as to his own honesty, and the great and valuable merits of his bantling. The said ministers may be very good men, and know something of their parishioner's character, and still, as proved in this case, know very little about Raspberries. In other instances the Mayor of a city, or some noted politician, is called upon to endorse the statement of the raiser of a new variety, while there are plenty of good horticulturists near at hand, whose word in such cases would carry some weight among fruit-growers generally. All persons interested in fruit growing should unite in condemning this species of quackery in horticulture.

The facilities for disseminating plants of all kinds, have largely increased during the past few years, our railroads having penetrated almost every part of the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, affording safe and rapid facilities for transmission of plants to the most distant localities. Added to this, the Post-office Department permits the sending of plants through the mails, but I regret to say at rates of postage far in excess of what they should

be in a country where agriculture and horticulture are the foundation of national wealth. The rates of postage on seeds, plants, and cuttings, has been doubled since the first edition of this book was published, while the rates on some other classes of matter have been reduced to an almost nominal sum-a discrimination against agriculture and horticulture not warranted by the needs of the Department, and much against the wishes of the public at large. The increase of railroad facilities and other means of transportation has not been to the advantage of fruit-growers in all localities alike, but to some a great disadvantage, as it has brought distant parts of the country into close competition. The fruit-growers in the Southern States can now send their berries to northern markets, and while these do not come into direct competition with those grown in the North, still their presence has a very depressing influence upon prices. Weeks and sometimes months before the northern berries are ripe, the markets are flooded with the southern grown fruit, and the residents of our cities have had enough of strawberries before the home-grown berries come in, and wanting a change the public seek some other kind to the neglect of the fresh berries from the fields in the suburbs, and prices go down accordingly. The southern fruits bring high prices, but the cost of freight, commission, etc., leave the raiser but a small margin for profit; consequently the only parties benefited are the transportation companies, commission men, and the consumer.

There have been no great discoveries or improvements made in methods of culture or propagation of the Small Fruits during the past dozen years, but there appears to be a growing desire to improve native varieties to the exclusion or neglect of the foreign, and this is especially noticeable among the cultivators of the Raspberry. The native sorts are attracting most attention, and are well deserving of it, because the foreign ones here have never

been satisfactory in general cultivation. There is room for great improvements 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 Red Raspberry, in endeavoring to produce new sorts, as has been upon the foreign, we would now have something better than even the highly extolled Cuthbert and Turner. The introduction and almost general use of fruit-preserving cans have afforded the people an opportunity of obtaining an uninterrupted supply of choice fruits, regardless 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 restaurants-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. We 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 anything like an adequate quantity can be produced, even with the rapid strides we are making. The field for production 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