Blackberries. 50T 



Planting. — The plants are usually set in a furrow six or seven 

 inches deep, and if the land is thin, stable manure may be scattered 

 in the furrow. For all the ordinary large-growing varieties, eight 

 feet between the rows is enough. This allows of easy cultivation. 

 For myself I like them far enough apart to admit two horses in cul- 

 tivating, as shown in the picture in our plantation, on the title-page. 

 Two horses and a spring-tooth cultivator are the most efRcient means 

 which I have yet found of keeping a blackberry plantation in condi- 

 tion. In large jjlantations it is well to leave out a row occasionally, to 

 allow of a roadway. In the row the plants are set from two to three 

 feet apart. They will soon spread and fill the row. There are some 

 growers who prefer to set the plants six or seven feet apart in the 

 row in order to cultivate both ways, but this is profitable only where 

 it is possible to give extra attention to tillage and pruning for the 

 purpose of producing fine dessert fruit. 



The year the plants are set potatoes or other crops may be grown 

 between the rows, and the yield should be sufficient to pay for the 

 use of the land. Some growers plant strawberries, not only between 

 the rows but sometimes in the row between the plants ; and it is 

 possible, by good cultivation, to obtain two good crops of straw- 

 berries before the blackberries smother them. 



Three or four canes may be allowed to grow the first year if the 

 plants put out vigorously, and these will bear some fruit the follow- 

 ing year. As soon as the canes have reached a height of two or 

 three feet they should be headed back. 



Training. — The subsequent training of the blackberry is simple, 

 and it is essentially like that demanded by the raspberry. The 

 operator must know, of course, that the shoots or canes which spring 

 from the root one year will bear fruit the next year and that their 

 'usefulness is then ended. Every year, therefore, the canes which 

 have borne fruit are cut out, and others are allowed to grow from 

 the root to take their places. It is generally preferable to remove 

 these canes as soon as the fruit is off, that is, in late August or early 

 September ; but the operation is usually delayed until a less busy 

 season. They should always be removed before growth begins the 

 following spring. These old canes are simply cut off close to the 

 surface of the ground with long-handled shears, a spud or a cutting 

 hook. Whilst the canes are bearing, others are growing from the 

 root to take their place. A strong root may send up from ten to 



