102 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



hens in hot weather. I have seen that done a good deal in the 

 southern part of Massachusetts. A great many of the small 

 fruit growers there have poultry in connection with their busi- 

 ness. In that way they have made a great success with rasp- 

 berries in a small way. The first year in raspberry planting, 

 or blackberry either, if planted 6x8, 6x6, or something like that, 

 a couple of rows of vegetables can be grown in among the 

 bushes to give some return from the land while the plants are 

 developing. I think that peas, carrots, turnips, cabbages or 

 a similar crop are excellent to grow in this way, and as in all 

 the small fruits you have to consider getting a quick return, 

 this is one way to get it from the raspberry or blackberry, cur- 

 rant or gooseberry. I planted this year a good many goose- 

 berries. I took enough early beets ofif the land to pay for the 

 first cost of planting and the bushes. It didn't injure the plants 

 the least bit. While they were catching hold the beets were 

 growing and the land was fertilized highly enough to take care 

 of the beets at the same time. So we can readily get some 

 return from the land the first year, and with raspberries that 

 bear the second year we ought to get a fair amount of return 

 the second year, and if the pruning and cultivating are kept up 

 they ought to grow to the seventh, eighth or even tenth year. 

 In pruning, all the old wood that has borne should be taken out 

 at once. It is not a good idea to leave it in, because insects 

 and diseases harbor in that dying wood and are apt to cause 

 trouble later on. A good many people leave the old wood in 

 during the winter, thinking that the protection that wood gives 

 to the plants is of some benefit, but I think the benefit is very 

 doubful and I remove both blackberry and raspberry canes 

 after they have fruited, cutting them out with a good heavy 

 pair of pruning shears. You will find that in pruning black- 

 berries a person needs to wear a heavy pair of gloves. 



The same rule about packages holds good in the raspberry 

 and blackberry as in the strawberry. We have got to pack in 

 clean packages, and in small enough packages so that the berries 

 won't settle together very badly. 



In regard to the varieties, here in New England there are no 

 better red varieties than the Cuthbert, and possibly the Herbert 

 which is being tested now a good deal. I have had it fruiting 

 on my place for two years and am very much pleased with it. 



