126 State Horticultural Society. 



Growers' Association has in hand. This is the saving of the lOO to 200 

 car loads of berries that were allowed to go to waste in 1903- 1904, and 

 again this year; or, if not wasted in the field, were shipped at a positive 

 loss, amounting sometimes to the profit on the No. i berries. Our asso- 

 ciation has had several conferences with one of the two strongest pre- 

 serving and canning plants in the United States, and we can assure Ozark 

 Fruit Growers' Association growers that next season they can sell at a 

 I)rofit their sound No. 2 berries and peaches, and, by shipping only No. i 

 fruit, can sell on track, the best grade bringing as much money as the 

 two grades have been netting. 



Through co-operation, these efforts will succeed, and still more can 

 be accomplished. In this work we are doing for the country, as well as 

 for our own homes, it is the duty of every citizen to stand for the right — 

 to stand against wrong — and to stand together ! 



PROFITABLE BLACKBERRY GROWING AND MARKETING. 



(Ohas. W. Steiman, Dalton, Mo.) 



The blackberry, when fully ripe, is one of the most delicious fruits 

 of the berry family. No garden is complete without having a few rows 

 of these bushes, to supply the busy housewife with a filling for pies or 

 the children with some delicious fruit fresh from the vines. 



Blackberries thrive on any soil that will groiw thrifty apple trees. 

 Good drainage is the most important item for consideration. Even poor 

 upland soil, if not sprouty, will produce an abundant yield of berries in a 

 favorable season, and the land will in time regain its fertility again. 



To grow blackberries for profit, in a commercial sense, they should 

 be planted in combination with some other fruit or vegetable crop. If 

 possible, the ground should be plowed deeply late in the fall preparatory 

 to spring planting. When spring comes, replow the ground, harrow 

 smooth and lay off rows with lister plow. For varieties like the Early 

 Harvest the rows should be eight feet apart, and for Snyder, Taylor and 

 other rank growers, twelve feet. So much done, bring to the field the 

 plants from their winter quarters in a wagon provided with sufficient wet 

 straw to keep the roots damp. 



Two men and a bright hoe can plant a large field in a day. One 

 man to place the plants three feet apart in the row and hold them, while 

 the other draws the loose earth over the roots with the hoe, and then 

 stamps the earth firm about the plant with his feet. Now as to the wide 

 space left between the rows; this is to facilitate cultivation and picking, 



