I02 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Turner stands at the head of the list of red varieties that have been 

 fruited in this vicinity for home use and near market. They should 

 always be marketed in pint boxes. This is certainly a delicious berry to 

 use on the table fresh. For a family berry it is number one. Another 

 advantage this berry has for a family berry is its long bearing season. 



Philadelphia is excellent for canning. It is a better berry for can- 

 ning than Turner, but it is hard to dispose of in the market. 



Brandywine is a good shipping berry, large, firm and bright red; 

 the plant is not a very strong grower, but is hardy. 



Pride-of-the-Hudson — well, it is not the pride of the Illinois ! No, 

 not by a long ways ! It killed to the ground last winter, and made a 

 very feeble growth this season. By some it is called the "Straw- 

 raspberry," as it sends up but one slender shoot, resembling a straw; 

 perhaps we don't care for it as tenderly as the originator did. No doubt 

 this variety does fairly in a few localities, and from the reports I should 

 judge they were '■'■few and/ar between." 



Ganargua is tolerably hardy, very productive ; fruit below medium 

 in quality, pretty good for canning and pies, but poor for market, on 

 account of its dirty-looking color. 



Florence is a yellow berry, very productive, and I think would be 

 good for drying, for it is nearly dry when you pick it from the bushes. 



The Gregg, Miller's Daily and Sweet Home I have growing, but 

 have not fruited them; the Gregg is very promising. 



I prefer planting in the fall, unless my plants are growing near by 

 where I want to plant ; in this case I take up the plants, with a little dirt 

 adhering, after they have made a growth of a few inches in the spring, 

 and, if handled carefully and reset, in this way they do fully as well as 

 fall-set plants. They should be set from two to three feet in the row and 

 seven feet between the rows, eight feet would be better for the strong 

 growing varieties ; the red varieties might be set a little closer between 

 the rows. The young shoots should have the tops pinched or cut off at 

 the height of two feet ; this causes laterals to be thrown out, and when 

 the laterals have made a growth of eighteen inches they should be checked 

 in the same way, then let them grow till the end of the season. In the 

 winter or early spring the laterals should be shortened to within fifteen 

 and thirty inches — according to the strength of the plant — of where they 

 were last pinched. Laterals should not be pinched more than once unless 

 they are of a very strong-growing variety, and even these, I think, would 

 be better to let grow, for if pinched too much they will not mature 

 sufficiently to stand the cold. Thorough cultivation should be given, 

 with some implement that leaves the ground level, till the first of August. 

 I would prefer mulching with straw to cultivation, or with some similar 

 material, to the depth of four to six inches. 



Blackberries. — "Well, what about the Snyder? " " Did it winter-kill 

 last winter?" These are questions I am often asked. Well, it did 

 winter-kill on the low land; I can't explain why it did, for it has here- 

 tofore stood as low or lower degrees of temperature and produced berries 



