506 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



wild patch in wliicli grew tliose incomparable berries of my boy- 

 hood. But I found the berries scant and seedy, many of them inex- 

 cusably sour, and the briers were intolerable. I came back to my 

 Agawams with relish, and they are to this day ray ideal of summer 

 fruits. 



There seem to be three important difficulties in the raising of 

 blackberries in this State : one is the slow j)rice which sometimes 

 prevails when there is a heavy competing crop of early peaches ; 

 another is the winter-killing of the plants ; and the third is the 

 effect of droughts. Respecting the first difficulty, I can only say 

 that it is rarely serious if the fruit is well grown and attractively 

 handled. Prices are generally good for worthy blackberries. With 

 ourselves, they sell the best of any small fruit. The winter-killing 

 is avoided by planting the hardiest varieties and by taking care not 

 to keep the plants growing too late, and by heading the canes early 

 so that the laterals become well matured. The effects of dry 

 weather are often serious because the blackberry is largely water, 

 and it ripens in the hottest part of the year. But the difficulty can 

 be almost wholly avoided in New York by care in selecting land 

 which does not quickly suffer from drought, and, especially by early, 

 frequent and timely cultivation. 



Lwnd. — The best blackberry land is a deeiD, mellow, clay loam ; 

 that is, a soil of which the body is clay, — and which, originally, 

 migjit have been very hard, — but which contains considerable 

 humus and crumbles rather than bakes in the furrow. Loose, 

 gravelly lands are too deficient in water for the blackberry. It is 

 very important to plow all hard lands deep and to fit them with 

 much care before setting the plants, for, if the plants are to escape 

 the effects of droughts, the roots must grow deep and there must be 

 a liberal reservoir for water upon the foundation or hard-pan. Flat 

 lands with high subsoil should always be tile-drained before black- 

 berries are set upon them, else the bushes will generally suffer in 

 winter, and the fruit is also more liable to injury fi'om mid-summer 

 droughts. It is generally best to set blackberries in the spring, and 

 strong yearling plants are commonly used. One may use the 

 suckers which spring up about blackberry bushes for setting, or he 

 mav grow them from root cuttino;s. The suckers are almost whollv 

 used by commercial berry growers. These may sometimes be 

 transplanted with success even after they have started to grow in 

 spring. 



