234 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a gallon ; deduct for picking 4 cents per gallon, 4 cents for box material 

 and 2 cents for marketing, which makes a total of 10 cents, leaving net 

 price of 15 cents per gallon, or $24. This leaves for both years a bal- 

 ance due on cost of production of §8; interest, 85 cents ; rent, $2; 

 culture, $2; pruning, $3; total, $16.13. 



The third year they bear 75 bushels, or 600 gallons ; at 15 cents per 

 gallon bring $90, and after deducting the $16.13 for cost of production, 

 leaves a net profit for the three first years of $73.81 ; and if my farm 

 were within a few miles of a shipping place instead of twenty miles, 

 this profit would be double. These vines will bear five to eight more 

 crops with but little work after the first year. 



CULTURE. 



Plow land as for corn. Mark the rows eight feet apart, and for 

 the strong growers nine feet is better. Mark rows six to eight inches 

 deep and drop about two feet distance in the rows. Boot-cuttings are 

 best, but if plants are used, cut all the tops off so that the roots may 

 get well established before they are required to supply nourishment for 

 long tops. Potatoes or other crops may be grown between the rows 

 the first season, after which the vines will require the whole space. 

 Stir the ground frequently the first year with a two-horse cultivator to 

 keep down grass and weeds, being careful during warm, dry weather, 

 not to disturb the small roots feeding near the surface. Blackberries 

 should be planted very early in the spring, and after rains ground 

 should be raked with an iron tooth-rake. I prefer root-cutting three 

 to six inches long, and to grow plants for nursery stock one inch long 



Pruning. — The first season, when shoots or canes are twelve to 

 eighteen inches long, cut them off. This can be done with a corn-cut- 

 ter or hedge-knife. I use a German reaping-hook. This clipping off of 

 canes or stalks will cause the growth of laterals or branches; these in 

 turn also cut off ten to twelve inches. It is necessary to go along the 

 rows every two or three weeks to do this work, as new shoots will grow 

 up during the summer. The second year let the canes grow three to 

 four feet high — owing to the strength of canes and varieties — before 

 clipping, as described above. Being thus kept within bounds, they will 

 present a neat, compact and productive appearance instead of rambling 

 stragglers hanging across between the rows. 



Much is written in books about cutting old canes out soon after the 

 fruit is picked. Of late years I let the old canes stand until early spring. I 

 claim, as the blackberry and raspberry canes are of a biennial growth — 

 the first season the canes and the second the berries — and after matur- 

 ing the fruit require no more nourishment from the roots. 



