13 G Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



All of this time we have had a horticultural society of live working 

 members who meet regularly ouce a month and discuss all subject? 

 pertaining to fruit raising, thereby imparting much valuable in- 

 formation to the public. Therefore let me urge all friends of hor- 

 ticulture to aid and assist the officers of the Missouri State Socfety 

 in their present efforts to organize our great state and place ic on 

 an equal footing with our sister states. Now I will come to my 

 subject, ''The Raspberry." It is divided into two branches best 

 location, and best varieties for market. Select a high, drv, level, 

 well drained location, sloping gently to the south or east x'or early 

 berries, north for late ones. Avoid all hillsides if possible. My. 

 reasons for this are the raspberry plantation should be i;ept well 

 cultivated before and after picking until the last of Septeaiber. As 

 a consequence our heavy rains will wash away all of the best soil, 

 making it useless to apply fertilizers ; and this is not all,your stools 

 will be left high and dry on a ridge thus exposing the roots )ind thereby 

 diminishing the yield. In view of these facts I would say plant all 

 kinds of berries on level land or nearly so. The second branch of 

 my subject, " What Varieties to Plant for Market," may not be so 

 satisfactorily solved because of so many candidates for public favor 

 among nurserymen,each one claiming his pet or favorite as thebest. 



Of the black caps, I would recommend the "Hopkins' for 

 early and the Gregg for late, and here modesty whispers me io go 

 slow, while I liear some one say,he has also an axe to grind. It was 

 charged that one of our illustrious presidents appointed nearly,all of 

 his kinsmen according to the flesh to office. I hope you will par- 

 don me if I say a good word or two for ray bantling. It is a good 

 strong healthy grower, as yet entirely free from rust or diseaae, en- 

 tirely hardy, very productive and of first rate quality; for calming 

 has no equal. It has never been pushed, but has gained a reputa- 

 tion upon its merits alone. As an evidence of its increasing popu- 

 larity, I shipped on order five thousand tips the last spring toone of 

 the largest small fruit growers of New Jersey. Its season of ripen- 

 ing is with Doolittle or four or five days behind. Tlie Gregg fe a fine 

 large berry, a good shipper but rather poor in quality. Th& Hop- 

 kins is destined to take the place of both Doolittle and Mahimoth 

 Cluster, as they are rusting badly in tlie vicinity of Kansas City and 

 will soon be numbered with the good berries that have gone before. 



If your land for black caps is not naturally rich nii^e it so 

 witk rotted barn yard manure, and keep it so afterwards wiih dried 

 blood as a fertilizer. I always select the best land I have' for my 

 black caps as they are rank feeders, but moderately rich land I 



