WINTER MEETING. 229 



The Best Blackberries. 



By H. Schnell, Glasgow' Mo. 



The subject being assigned to me, I will say that I am only able to 

 speak of my limited experience, and will say for the best all-round 

 blackberry, I place Snyder at the head of the list. It is extremely 

 hardy. I have never seen it affected with rust ; has never failed in 

 twelve years to bring a gDod crop with me, and one season we picked 

 4700 quarts from one acre, and I have seen reports of even much larger 

 yields. In quality its fair to good, size medium. It is the leading berry 

 for market in the middle and western states. If you want blackberries 

 every year and lots of them, plant the Snyder. Early Harvest is a 

 very early berry, ripening ten days to two weeks ahead of Snyder, very 

 showy, good size, productive, quality fair for family use. It lengthens 

 the blackberry season, and for market it catches the high prices. 

 While it is not entirely hardy, it has withstood 18 degrees below zera 

 unprotected, and produced a full crop. It is, however, subject to rust 

 in some localities, generally on old plantations, but not so much so as 

 Kittatinny and Lawton. 



Taylor is an excellent late one, lasting, perhaps, one week longer 

 than Snyder, almost rust-proof, hardy and of the best quality ; only 

 fairly productive with me, but in some localities it yields abundant 

 crops annually. 



These three are my favorites. There may be others equally as 

 good that I have not tried, but the above three are good enough. I 

 have Stone's Hardy, not productive ; Erie, same ; and have had an 

 occasional crop of Western Triumph, but not yearly, like Snyder, 

 Kittatinny and Lawton were ; both eaten up with rust and none on 

 the place now. The blackberry needs an abundance of moisture from 

 the time the berries are grown until the crop is ripened. Keeping 

 three to four inches of surface between the rows well cultivated and 

 loose, is very essential during dry weather. Heavy mulching with 

 straw or other material will often bring a large crop to maturity during 

 a drouth. 



Where irrigation is practiced a large crop is most always assured. 

 With well-manured land and plenty of moisture, immense crops can be 

 grown and the quality unexcelled, and you all know how good a well 

 ripened blackberry is. • 



