■44 State Horticultural Society. 



SPRAYING RASPBERRIES. 

 (J. E. ]\Iay, Wilson, Adair county, Mo.) 



As I have been growing the raspberry for commercial purposes 

 but a short time, my experience is somewhat limited, and I am sure 

 Secretary Goodman could have assigned the subject given me to some 

 one who could have written a more interesting and instructive paper than 

 I can. 



I have always grown the raspberry for home use, both red and black, 

 and never had occasion to spray until I came to Alissouri, which was in 

 the spring of 1892. On the farm we purchased I found the Turner red 

 and some variety of black raspberries. These produced us one or two 

 crops of fruit and then died out, I suppose winter killed. Not wishing 

 to be without raspberries, I purchased 100 plants each of the Cuthbert 

 and' Hopkins, and put them out, giving good culture. They made a 

 fine growth and I expected a fine crop of berries, but when spring came 

 I found them nearly all -dead. "Winter killed again," I said, and de- 

 cided they were not hardy enough for this climate. I left the plants, 

 however, hoping for a crop next summer. The plants made a fine growth 

 and it was with much interest that I watched the bushes the next spring, 

 but was doomed to disappointment, for they were dead. I have never 

 been able to pick a gallon of berries from the 200 plants. 



I was taking a fruit paper at the time, and read an article in it de- 

 scribing a disease called anthracnose that attacked the raspberry; so I 

 began to investigate and found that was the trouble wnth my bushes. 

 Let me say that the Turner has never been affected with the disease, and 

 is growing right by the side of the Cuthbert. 



In the spring of 1897 I set out 1,000 plants of the Kansas raspberry 

 and had great hopes of producing good crops of fine fruit, but found 

 that th^. anthracnose had spread to them, though not nearly as badly, 

 and they produced a fair crop in 1898. The new canes made a fint 

 growth and withstood the extreme cold of the winter of '98 and '99. 



But I found that the anthracnose was getting a better hold each 

 year, and concluded something must be done, or I would soon be out 

 of the raspberry business. So in the spring of 1900 I prepared to spray. 

 Previous to spraying I cut out all diseased canes, which I think should 

 be done. I sprayed the first time wdth copper sulphate solution before 

 growth started; second application with Bordeaux mixture, when canes 

 were four to six inches high ; and a third application about two weeks 



