354 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



Any good corn land that is not too low can be made to pro- 

 duce profitable crops of raspberries and blackberries. Prepare 

 the ground as well as possible, setting the crown of the roots 

 about three inches below the surface of the ground. Black- 

 berries and strong-growing raspberries, like Shaffer's Colossal, 

 should be placed three by eight feet apart; black cap rasp- 

 berries, two and one half by six feet apart. 



Cabbage, potatoes, corn, or some other hoed crop, should be 

 planted between the rows of berries the first year, which will 

 partly pay the expense of cultivation, and of the berry plants. 

 Cultivation should be done frequently and thoroughly, and 

 the weeds kept down. 



After the first year, there will not be room to raise any other 

 crop with the berries, but the cultivation must be kept up year 

 after year as long as you want profitable crops of fruit. In small 

 fields and gardens, mulching may be done in place of culti- 

 vation, where cultivation is not convenient. The first year 

 I pinch off the tips of the largest canes when they are 

 about eighteen inches high, and the following spring I 

 cut back the side branches. After the first year, I nip 

 ■off the ends of the young canes when they are about two feet 

 high, with my thumb and finger, going over the same field two 

 ■or three times, at intervals of a week or ten days, as the canes 

 are not all tall enough when I go through the first time. The 

 trimming of side branches or laterals I do in the spring after 

 new growth begins; then I leave them eighteen to twenty-four 

 inches long, except when they are injured, when I cut the 

 injured part all off. After the fruit is all gathered, the old canes 

 should be cut out at once, or may be left till the following 

 spring. 



If you have a number of pickers, it is necessary to have some 

 one in the field to watch them, and watch them closely, too, so 

 they will pick all the ripe berries, and only the ripe ones, never 

 putting dirty or moldy berries in the box. This is important. 

 Always use new, clean boxes, of uniform size, to market your 

 fruit in. 



Now, as to varieties, don't plant too extensively of some new 

 variety that will produce "fully five times as much fruit as any 

 other," unless you wish to be disappointed. Stick to the old 

 standbys that have been doing well in your locality, or one similar 

 to yours, until you have proven the newer to be at least as good 

 as the older kinds. If you wish to keep up with the times, try the 

 best of the new kinds in a small way, as now and then there is 

 something valuable among them. The best early black caps ' 

 with us are Tyler and Souhegan, which are nearly identical, 

 and hardy and prolific. The best medium is Ohio; hardy, very 

 prolific, and fine-flavored. The Gregg is the largest, and latest 

 to ripen, but lacks in hardiness. 



