400 STATE HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



growiDg, and filling up the furrow by subsequent cultivation till our 

 land is as level as before farrowing. The only thing is to be carefal 

 when planting blackcaps that you do not plant them too deeply in the 

 bottom of the furrow lest in case of much wet weather the plants 

 would be smothered, but when they once start then you are safe. This 

 deep planting is done for two purposes : First, to guard plants from 

 drouth the first season, and second, to force deep rooting of plants so 

 that they will be below the cultivator, thus protecting the roots from 

 breakage. With these two precautions I am insured a fine season's 

 growth and a fair amount of fine fruit the first season. The first sea- 

 son's culture can be safely done with any implement that will loosen 

 the soil so that it does not run too deep. Even a double shovel will 

 do good work by using small shovels. With the second season our 

 trouble begins, for now an innumerable army of suckers will spring up, 

 and unless subdued will suck the life from our bearing plants. For 

 this purpose I have made a cultivator, and its use proves its superiority 

 over the general run of implements. This cultivator is run every two 

 weeks in the spaces until every sucker and weed is eradicated and the 

 top soil is as loose as dust. It should not be set to cut deeper than 

 three inches. By its use my rows are uniform in width, all spaces are 

 free from weeds and suckers, the soil is mide drouth proof, and all the 

 strength of the roots gjes to the fruiting plant and not to nourish 

 suckers. The cultivator can be made for one horse or for two, of 

 course running the one-horse twice in the space. For a two-horse 

 cultivator I use 4x4 hickoiy or oak. The /\ arms are six feet long and 

 the cross arm four feet. The center cross arm insures firmness. For 

 the knives or cutters use bar steel one inch wide and three-eighths inch 

 thick. Out this into lengths of one foot. Have them bent in L form» 

 the lower, or knife part, being three inches. This is drawn out to a 

 sharp cutting edge and kept sharp all the time. Insert them in the 

 beams in mortices, the knife cutting inside and slightly inclined to the 

 rear. The upright arm of the knife should be sharpened for at least 

 three inches. For cross arms use triangular harrow teeth, inclined to 

 the rear so as to prevent clogging. For a one-horse cultivator the /\ 

 arms need to be four feet and the cross beams two and one-half feet. 

 It will require about eighteen knives and nine teeth for a two-horse 

 cultivator, and for a one-horse twelve knives and six teeth. If you 

 once try this implement you will agree with the writer that it is par 

 excellence, the one for success in growing fine berries. It can be used 

 in cultivation of currants and gooseberries where planted the proper 

 distances, and with the same success as with the berries. — J. H. Haynes 

 in Prairie Farmer. 



