Another fruit which is profitable in districts suited to its growth is the grape.  Bulletin No. 153, Cornell Experiment Station, says:  “Grapes are a dessert fruit.  They are not used to a large extent in the kitchen (though they might be), so there are few incidental or secondary products; that is, they are not dried, canned, made into jellies, and the like, to any extent, that is, in the United States.

The grape is peculiarly a sectional product.  Central New York has a large area devoted to it.  In northern Ohio, a strip along Lake Erie, and some of its islands, are devoted almost exclusively to grape vineyards.  In districts where grapes are intensively grown, a great part of the crop is used for wine, and American wine is extensively sold m our home markets, although it frequently has foreign labels.

Any one purchasing a farm should plant some grapevines for home use.  Grape juice is easily made and kept and is a pleasing beverage.  Grape jelly is excellent and could be readily marketed in any nearby town, since there is very little, comparatively, on sale.  A grape arbor gives shade, needs little care, and can be planted near the house where it will not interfere with the crops.  For you cannot cultivate all of your land; some grassy space must be left around the house if only for drying clothes.  But if ground is scarce, vines or lima beans can be trained up the back porch or up the sunny side of the house; or a few climbing nasturtiums will give decorations without care, while the young leaves make a good salad.

Of home orchard fruits, the plum, pear, and quince are all profitable specialties, especially for intensive acre raising.  In general, the same remark may be made of them as of the other fruits, that they need careful selection of land to get the best results.  The cherry has recently come to be recognized as a good commercial specialty.  Mr. George T. Powell, in The American Agriculturist, says:  “The crop is a precarious one to market....  The risk and loss may be largely reduced by making a proper selection of site for the orchard.  This should be on high ground where the air generally circulates freely.  This is especially necessary for sweet varieties.  The soil should be rich, with naturally good drainage.”

He says:  “I have had Rockport trees produce four hundred pounds each and the fruit net ten cents a pound for the entire crop.  The English Morello trees may be grown fifteen feet apart each way, which will allow two hundred trees to the acre.  The larger trees ought to be planted somewhat thinner....  Cherries are packed largely in eight-pound baskets and in strawberry quarts.  Each basket is filled with carefully assorted fruit, every imperfect specimen being taken out, after which they are faced by placing the stems downward so that the cherry shows in regular rows upon the face.  Girls and women do this work.  The Eastern fruit grower must bear in mind that he has to meet in his market the competition of the Pacific coast growers, who excel in fine packing; and although our Eastern grown cherries are of a finer flavor, they are sent to the market in such a crude manner and in such unattractive condition that they sell for much less than the California fruit.”