WINTER MEETING AT LEBANON. 235 



Blackberries and raspberries, after fruiting seven to ten years, be- 

 come unprofitable and can be easily killed by cutting all canes off as 

 •soon as the berries are picked. Plow the land at once and repeat in 

 two months, after which the land will be in a better condition than 

 when the berries were first planted. Two years ago I had a patch of 

 blackberries nine years old that became unprofitable, and I wanted only 

 one more crop, so I cut all young canes off as soon as they came up 

 to give all the nourishment to the berries. The yield of that ten-year- 

 old patch was better than the two previous seasons. This will show 

 that to let suckers grow between rows will lessen the crop. Suckers 

 are mostly caused by cutting or tearing roots with plow. After first 

 season blackberries should be plowed shallow, not more than two to 

 three inches deep, but often. 



VARIETIES. 



The Kittatinny blackberry in Southwest Missouri leads for profit, 

 like Ben Davis apples : but as they winter-kill, say one year out of six, 

 or reduce the crop to one-fourth, we should plant some iron-clads, such 

 as Snyder, which never have been known to winter-kill in our climate. 

 Lawton, Wilson and other varieties I could name will winter-kill about 

 one year out of three. Crystal- white and others winter-kill two seasons 

 out of four. Some people want blackberry bushes without thorns. 



My experience with thornless blackberries is, no briers and no 

 berries. 



The blackberry dates back to 1842 ; the Lawton was the first in 

 culture, like the Wilson strawberry. As the blackberry and its culture 

 is in its infancy, and not sufficiently interested, I will close for this 

 time. 



I made every possible effort to make this paper profitable. 



Mr. Patterson— I don't think the blackberry is the "lazy man's 

 berry." If you let it alone, it is a failure. Mr. Faith plants too close. 

 I would plant eight or ten feet wide, so that I could cultivate with a 

 two-horse implement, such as the Acme harrow. 



