Strawberries, plums, currants and gooseberries can be grown in all parts of our country. Red and black raspberries, though equally distributed regionally, are capricious in their reaction to soils, water supply and diseases. They may be a success on one piece of ground and a failure on the one adjoining. Grapes are well adapted to central and southern regions and they withstand considerable abuse and still yield some fruit nearly every year. Plums are the most widely adaptable and apples the most popular fruits in the orchard, but only hardy varieties resistant to disease should be planted. They must, along with the rest of the fruit garden, be protected from farm animals and cared for properly after planting, if they are to be successful.
Pollination.Most small fruits are self-fertile, and single varieties may be planted in the garden. In most gardens, however, two or more varieties are desirable to lengthen the season or add variety in flavour. Most varieties of tree fruits are self-sterile and many varieties are inter-sterile. Therefore it is necessary to plant inter-sterile varieties near each other to insure fertilization of the blossoms and a set of fruit. A strong colony of bees set somewhere near the fruit garden during bloom helps to insure pollination. Growers are cautioned not to spray the orchard with lead arsenate or calcium arsenate during the period of full bloom, as these kill the honeybees and other pollinating insects and thus prevent proper pollination. If one must spray the orchard during this period to control apple scab or partially control fire blight, only lime sulphur or bordeaux should be used.
Strawberries.Use only strong, deep-rooted plants from last year's runners for spring planting. Such plants have straw-coloured, rather fleshy roots, in contrast to the black, wiry roots of other plants. Strawberry plants may be dug from the garden patch if the plants are healthy.
Raspberries.Nursery stock is desirable, because patches are nearly always diseased or infested with injurious insects.