The Bulletin. 9 



The importance of selection in growing dewberry plants is often 

 overlooked. Many growers will cover up almost any vine, and the 

 more vines that can be covered up, the better. This is a bad prac- 

 tice. We know that the offspring will be very much like the parent 

 from which it came. If the parent produces little or poor fruit, is 

 a poor grower and a sickly plant, the offspring in nearly every in- 

 stance will possess these same characteristics. This is because the 

 young plant comes from a portion of the old plant — a portion of the 

 stem. 



To secure the very best results it is necessary to go into the field 

 while the fruit is still on the vines and mark in some way those plants 

 that come -nearest to the grower's ideal; then, in the fall, the growler 

 can select these plants for propagation. If one waits until fall to do 

 his selecting, he usually knows very little about the fruiting qualities 

 of his plants. There is just as great difference between dewberry 

 plants in a field as there is between the best ears of corn and the 

 poorest nubbins in the corn field ; and no one would think of planting 

 the corn that came from nubbin ears. This is a matter which should 

 receive more attention from growers in the future. 



Sometimes plants are selected for propagating purposes which are 

 badly infested with anthracnose. This simply means that the dis- 

 ease is carried from parent to the young plant. By all means avoid 

 such plants in propagation work. 



Some of the growers do not even cover up the plants with a hoe, 

 as should be done. They depend upon the canes being accidentally 

 covered at the last cultivation. This, of course, will give plants, but 

 in many cases poor as well as good plants are secured. It is a bad 

 practice. 



Root Cuttings.— This method of propagating the dewberry is sel- 

 dom employed in this State. It consists in making cuttings two to 

 three inches long and one-quarter to one-half inch thick, from the 

 roots of old plants, planting these out in nursery rows about two to 

 three feet apart, and covering the roots about one to two inches. This 

 method has the advantage of giving a large number of new plants 

 from a few old plants. It has another advantage, in that no disease, 

 such as anthracnose, is carried from parent to the young plant. It 

 has the disadvantage of not making strong-bearing plants as quickly 

 as the tip-layer method. Of course, when this method is employed, 

 the same precautions should be taken that were suggested in the tip- 

 layer method. 



The best time for making these root cuttings is during the fall; 

 they are stored in sand or sawdust over winter and are ready for 

 planting in spring. The soil should be kept mellow and moist until 

 the young plants are well established. It is best to grow these in 

 nursery rows the first season instead of planting them out in their 



