The small fruit culturist

Preface To Revised Edition

It is now fourteen years since I wrote the first edition of this work, and sent it forth upon its mission. At that time no one, however sanguine as to the success of Small Fruit Culture in this country, could have imagined that so great progress would have been made within the time named. From a few small plantations, scattered about the country here and there, the cultivation of these fruits has extended until the numbers of specialists in this branch of horticulture amounts to thousands, and we may safely say that, the quantity of berries now sent to some of our larger cities in a single day, is greater than the entire amount sent in a whole season fifteen years ago. That this little work has had some influence in promoting this advance in small fruit culture, the author thinks he may claim without fear of being accused of conceit. The large number of copies sold by the publishers has not only been very gratifying to the author, but it has shown that there was a want of just such information as it contained. The people of Germany have long been considered among the best informed and most practical fruit growers in the world ; but they appear to have discovered something in this work worthy of their attention, for, in 1868, Mr. Heinrich Maurer, of 3 lY PEEFACE TO KEVISED EDITION".

Jena, translated in into German, and a very handsome edition was brought out by Bernhard Friedrich Voight, of Weimar. This being the first horticultural book written by an American which has been translated and published in Germany, I cannot but feel that it is not only a compliment to the author, but to American horticulturists generally.

My principal object in experimenting with Small Fruits, and giving the results to the public in a book, was to make these fruits more plentiful than formerly, and, if possible, to encourage their cultivation until they should be produced in such abundance that even the poor of our cities might be able to obtain what had been long considered as luxuries for the rich only. Whether I have been instrumental in producing these results, it is not for me to say, but our markets are now well supplied with choice small fruits of all kinds, and usually in such abundance that high prices can no longer debar eyen the poor from indulgin;^ in an occasional dish of the best. That the same abundance may be continued is the wish of

The Author.

Ridgewood, N. J"., July, 1881.

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 j^lants 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 Fruit?, 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

I^STTRODUCTION". 7

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 Eochelle 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 tAventy years is certainly something of which our horticulturists may well feel j)roud, 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 yarieties 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 fruit-culture, 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 " Easpberry 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 mo-^t 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

INTRODUCTION-. 9

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 trans23ortation 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 fruifcs, 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-

INTEODUCTIOK. 11

tions ; thus an exchange is made beneficial to both, and to the advantage of trade. The Southern States produce fruit for home consumption, and for sale at the North, and vice versa. Different sections produce different fruits, but often both yield the same, and yet they become a market for each other.

With a constantly increasing demand, and no apparent prospect of our markets being fully supplied, it is no wonder that many have turned their attention to the cultivation of the Small Fruits.

All along the lines of our railroads, canals, and navigable rivers, new villages are springing up, each of which soon becomes a shipping point for produce sent to the larger cities and villages. Places which did not exist eight or ten years ago, are now annually sending to market a half million to a million baskets of fruits.

It is not to be expected that every one who attempts the cultivation of the Small Fruits will be successful, any more than that all will succeed in any other business, still it must be admitted, that the culture of the leading varieties of this class offers as wide and safe a field for enterprise as is to be found in any other branch of business pertaining to the cultivation of the soil.

Some will fail because they obtained varieties unsuited to their soil or location, for it must be remembered that there is no such thing as general cultivation, when applied to the whole United States. Others will attempt more than they are capable of completing. And there are those who imagine that all that is required is, to obtain the plants and see that they are planted, after which they can sit down and wait for a bountiful harvest. Such people are always disappointed, and it matters not what they undertake they are sure to be unfortunate, and every experiment will end in failure until they learn to labor as well as to wait. Profitable fruit-culture cannot result from idleness or negligence. Prompt, energetic action, applied at the proper time, is far more essential with the small fruits than with the larger ones. An apple or pear tree will struggle long, and often successfully, agamst weeds, drouth, or an unsuitable soil, while a Raspberry or Strawberry plant would perish in a week under similar circumstances. There is probably nothing appertaining to the cultivation of the soil which will, if properly conducted, yield more pleasure or profit than the culture of our best varieties of small fruits. Still it must not be expected that there are no difficulties in the way, for there will sometimes be early and late frosts; wet and dry seasons ; cold winters and hot summers, and insects that will destroy more rapidly than nature can restore ; therefore no one should attempt the culture of any kind of fruit, unless he has courage and ])erseverance sufficient to meet and overcome all the obstacles he may find in the road to success. To the inexperienced cultivator these difficulties may appear very formidable, yet they are no greater than in any other branch of business, and far less than in many. The small fruits, as a class, are less liable to be affected by disease or insects than a majority of the larger kinds, and as many of them, like the Raspberry and Blackberry, bloom late in the season and perfect their fruit early, they are seldom injured by the late spring frosts, which are often so very destructive to the Peach, Apple, and other early bloomers.

To guard against great losses it is best not to risk one's entire capital in any one kind, for if that should fail, it would be ruinous. Neither is it advisable to cultivate toe great a variety, for capital, needlessly scattered, is not readily gathered. The aim of the cultivator should be : 1st — To provide against total failure. 2d — Cultivate no more of aiiy one kind than he can properly attend to, both in cultivating and in gathering the fruit. 3d — Provide for a succession of crops, so that there shall be an uninterrupted income, in preference to a lai'ge and fluctuating

INTRODUCTION. 13

one. Fruit-baskets, crates, etn., must be provided, and the capital invested in these should not be allowed to re main idle any longer than is absolutely necessary. If sev* eral kinds are cultivated, commencing with the Strawberry, and followed by Raspberries, Gooseberries, Currants, and Blackberries, the fruit-baskets may be constantly employed for at least three months, when if but one kind is grown their use will scarcely extend over as many weeks. Besides this, a better class of help can be secured for gathering the fruit where steady employment for three months can be given, than when for only a few days or weeks.

The chief object of those who cultivate fruit for market is that of profit, and to secure the largest return on capital invested requires a judicious selection of varieties. The best in quality are seldom the most profitable for general mnrket purposes. Usually the highest flavored are the most delicate growers and quite unproductive. Individual tastes differ — one will choose a variety that another will reject. Taste, however, is changeable, and a fruit, which at one time may be quite distasteful, will, by a constant acquaintance, become very agreeable. Our markets are but an aggregation of individuals, consequently they often change, and a particular variety of fruit, when first introduced, will find no purchasers, though it may afterwards become exceedingly popular.

A particular color will often be the cause of rejection, and it will require a constant and persistent effort on the part of the producer to introduce the variety and persuade the masses to purchase. A case in point is that of the Brinckle's Orange Raspberry, a variety which is acknowledged, by connoisseurs in fruit, to be one of the very best in quality ; still, place it beside almost any ordinary red variety in any of the New York markets, and not ten baskets of it will be sold to one hundred of the latter.

In other cities the results may be quite the reverse, which would only show that the masses must become acquainted with a variety before they will freely purchase, especially if it differs widely in appearance from those which are well known. The public taste in this country has not as yet been sufficiently cultivated to discriminate or select the very best, and it is doubtful if the masses appreciate or care wliether a fruit is fully up to any particular standard of quality that scientific horticulturists have endeavored to establish ; quantity is evidently more highly prized than quality, especially if the latter is attended by scarcity.

I do not wish in these remarks to convey the idea that the very best should not always be sought for, but when their cultivation is not remunerative, quality alone becomes of doubtful advantage to the producer.

The more familiar a people become with any particular kind of fruit, the more they will appreciate it, and should anything occur to deprive them of a supply, they will feel the loss very keenly. Small fruit-culture has already become qtiite a prominent feature in American horticulture, and every possible means should be employed, not only to keep up the supply, but to increase it, so that it shall equal the demand.

Heretofore its production has been mainly local ; that is, a particular neighborhood has made a specialty of growing some one or more kinds that have been found to be adapted to the location and soil.

Fruit-growers in other sections, having tried the same variety or varieties, as the case may be, and not finding their culture remunerative, have discarded them. Instead of doing this, they should have tried to produce new varieties that would succeed ; or, endeavored to procure from among the many already known, some kind that was adapted to their particular soil and location. It is well known to every experienced horticulturist that certain Bpccies, and all the varieties produced therefrom, fail in

INTRODUCTION. 15

Bome locations and soils, while other species and their varieties, although of the same genus, will succeed most admirably. These peculiarities of species have given rise to much discussion among fruit-growers. One will assert, for instance, that the Raspberry is a total failure in his section, and that it cannot be grown, which may be true in regard to a particular kind or class, but no farther. There is probably no soil in our whole country, unless it be under water or totally barren, in which some one ov more kinds of small fruits may not be profitably grown. The great desideratum is, to determine which they are, and the people are looking to experimenters to furnish the required information.

This is being given through various mediums that are accessible to all, and the rapidly extending culture of this class of fruits shows very clearly that the knowledge gained is put to practical use. The dissemination of simple facts, which are frequently conveyed in a single word or line, is often of more value than a learned and elaborate essay.

We sometimes observe in nurserymen's catalogues, referring to a particular variety, a simple remark like this : "succeeds admirably with me in a light sandy, clayey, or loamy soil," as the case may be, thereby giving a key to the secret of his success and the failure of others.

There was a time in the history of horticulture when secrets were a merchantable commodity, and the particular methods of propagation and culture were transferred from one o-ardener to another for a consideration. But those days are past, for the true horticulturist of the present day keeps no secrets that will benefit mankind, but hastens to give to the world the advantages which may arise from any discovery he makes, receiving in return that which is of more lasting value than money : the thanks of his co-laborers. It is true, that occasionally a man can be found so blind to his own interest and reputation, and

BO selfislily mean, as to desire to keep to liimself any process by whicli he thinks he can snrpass his neighbors, and tax the pubUc for his own benefit; but such is the estimation in which these men are held by a large majority of horticulturists, and so readily is their meanness discovered by their customers, that they are very soon obliged either to retire from business and seek some other less honorable occupation, or eke out a miserable existence supported by the patronage of a class no better than themselves.

The laws of nature should be secrets to none, and he who would deny others the knowledge of any important discovery in horticultural processes, would, if he were able, have the blessed sunshine and showers shut out from every field but liis. It is to the constant interchange of fiicts, derived fi-om experience, that we owe much of our progress in horticulture. To know the different varieties, so that one can name them at sight, does not constitute, as some may suppose, all the knowledge requisite to enable one to cultivate them successfully.

Their adaptation to tlie various soils, locations, and climate; tlie best mode of cultivation, propagation, pruning; whether the fruit is firm or fragile, rendering it more suitable for market or home use — these and many other points must be understood before one can safely go into small fruit-culture on an extensive scale. There has been much discussion as to whether a constant cultivation of the soil was necessary to produce remunerative results from growing the apjjle, peach, pear, and kindred fruits. There is, i)erhaps, some i-eason in particular cases for an apparent neglect, such as excessive growth, which may be checked by non-cultivation more readily than otherwise. But Avith the fruits, of which we shall treat m the following pages, there are no exceptions to the rule — • the better the care, the more remunerative the results. By bestowing the best of care, we will not only obtain better returns, but they will be in an increased ratio to the amount

INTRODUCTIOX. 17

of labor bestowed. In many instances, with an annual expenditure of twenty-five dollars per acre, a return of only one hundred is obtained, while upon the same soil and with the same variety, if fifty dollars had been expended, the return would have been three or four hundred. All experiments show that extra culture is far more pro^ itable than what is generally termed good culture. I do not mean by this that it is necessary to trench the soil four feet deep, and apply a thousand loads of manure per acre to a soil which is naturally deep and rich ; but that deep plowing and subsoiling should be employed, with a liberal supply of enriching materials, if the best results are to be obtained. But few of those who are called good cultivators are aware of the large increase of fruit which may be produced on an acre by giving extra culture, instead of the ordinary method. Many fruit-growers, for the purpose of extending their business, increase the number of acres, when, if they would double the depth of that which they already possess, they would obtain the same increase in product without going to the expense of purchasing more land, besides incurring the extra trouble of cultivating two acres, when one might, with proper care, produce the same results. Deepening the soil is not AvhoUy for the purpose of furnishing more plant food, nor to facilitate the downward growth of roots, but it is principally for the purpose of disintegration, and making it of such a consistency that it will be capable of retaining a sufiicient amount of moisture at all times to nourish and supply the plants growing Therein, but not enough to be detrimental. Rain water, as is well known, contains gases that are beneficial to plants, and if the soil is in a condition to allow it to pass through it, a large portion of these gases will be retained, but if the surface is hard, the water either luns off or remains until it evaporates.

Again, a soil that is loose and fnoble admits air, and with it moisture. To prove this fact, we have only to take a piece of glass or polished steel, or any similar substance, and place it in au ice-house where it will become cold ; then carry it into the open air, and in a moment it will be covered with water condensed from the atmosphere. Now, we know that this moisture did not exude from the glass, therefore it must have come from the air. By stirring the soil, and placing that which has become heated underneath to warm the roots, and bringing the cooler portions to the top to condense the moisture, two objects are obtained : besides loosening the earth that it may be the more easily penetrated by the rootlets, it at the same time admits the air charged with moisture for their nourishment. The benefit derived from frequent stirring of the surface soil in dry weather, especially if it be of a compact nature, is mainly derived froni the admission of air containing moisture. Many cultivators appear to think that all that is required of them is, to keep the weeds from growing among their plants, and they never stir the soil except for this purpose ; but our best cultivators have learned that frequent moving of the soil is very beneficial to all crops, especially in time of drouth. If any one doubts that soil can be made moist by frequent stirring, let them select a piece of ground imder some open shed where no rain has reached for a year or more, break up the soil and pulverize it finely ; then stir it and turn it over every morning for a week or two, and it will become quite moist, while a similar soil in the open field, which has not been stirred, will be parched and dry. Mulching the surface with straw, leaves, or similar ranterials, is often very beneficial, especially to plants whose roots do not penetrate dee])ly. The mulch not only assists in preventing evaporation, but insures condensation of moisture from the air, which passes freely through it to the soil.

It is not my purpose to enter into any elaborate discus-

INTKODUariON. 19

Bions of particular theories relative to growtb, structure, food of plants, or any of the various points in vegetable physiology which are considered debatable questions. But as I shall have occasion in the followhig pages to advise deep and thorouglily pulverized soil, I have stated the foregoing simple facts, so that the reader may understand why they are recommended.

CHAPTER I. BARBERRY.— Berberis

NATURAL FAMILY BerberidacecB.

[Name derived from the Arabic Berherys. The French name is Epine vinette ,• German, Berbcritze ; Dutch, Berberisse ; Italian, Berbero ; Spanish, Berberis.]

General CnARACTERS. — Shrubs of medium size, with yellow inner bark and wood ; flowers in drooping racemes ; leaves, and fruit, acid. A section of this genus, with evergreen leaves, is called Mahonia.

SPECIES.

Berberis vulg^aris. — Common Barberry. — Native of Britain, but has become naturalized in the New England States ; stems with sharp spines ; leaves obovate-oblong, bristly-toothed ; berries oblong, scarlet.

Berberis Canadensis. — American Barberry. — Very similar to the last ; the racemes not quite so long. Berries oval, red. Considered by some botanists as only a variety of B. vulgaris. AUeghanies and southward.