June, 1932 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page Seven 



Care of Raspberries and Evergreens 



By J. L. Stahl 



Horticulturist Western Washington Exferinieut Station, Mt. Vernon 



THE CUTHBERT raspberry will 

 usually produce three tons to the 

 acre when the berries are grown 

 most intensively. The Cuthbert has the best 

 flavor of the four varieties commonly 

 grown, and is the one berry the can- 

 neries call for more than the Antwerp, 

 King, or Marlborough. The newer planta- 

 tions being made in and around Puyallup 

 and Sumner are of the Cuthbert variety. 



I have picked out typical soils in that 

 vallev on which berries are commonly 

 grown. One that is commonly called the 

 Cuthbert soil is a light sandy loam. The 

 heaviest soil we have in that valley on 

 which we grow some of our other berries, 

 particularly the Evergreen blackberry, is 

 the heavy clay. Some of the Evergreens 

 are also grown on the muck soil because we 

 have a great deal of muck soil and the rasp- 

 berry doesn't do so well on that soil as does 

 the Evergreen. 



In our system of growing berries the 

 plantation is laid off in rows seven feet 

 apart. That is our common distance used 

 for planting the berry in Puyallup valley. 

 The red raspberries are set 30 inches apart 

 in the row, that requires about 2800 plants 

 to the acre. We run out a furrow and set 

 the plants in that furrow at a six-inch 

 depth so that the root system is in the 

 ground four to six inches deep. We cut 

 off the cane so it is only one or one and 

 a half feet high above the crown of the 

 plant. Setting the plant is very important. 

 Be sure that the dirt is well firmed around 

 the crown and roots of the plant. 



The first season the plants are grown 

 without a trellis, cultivation starting as soon 

 as they are set out. Usually they grow- 

 about three to four feet tall, and we will 

 have three to five canes about that height 

 by the end of the first growing season. 



After setting the plants we continue cul- 

 tivation about once in three weeks until 

 about the first or the middle of May, and 

 then we cultivate once in two weeks or ten 

 days during the growing season. About 

 August 1, wc stop cultivation, then in the 

 fall we plow towards the rows. This is 

 chiefly for drainage purposes. The fine 

 soil that is thrown toward the plant or hill- 

 keeps down weeds between plants and hills 

 and the dead furrow in the center serves to 

 carry off surface water from our heavy 

 rains. This fall plowing is usually done 

 about November. In the spring wc plow 

 awav from the plants in February or early 

 March. 



We thin out the young shoots when wc 

 have six or eight shoots about 18 inches 

 high. We retain the remaining one for 

 our next year's crop and keep out the later 

 canes that develop. In a three or four-year- 

 old plantation wc often have 12 or 13 



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I While there is no great disfarity | 



I i'l methods of flanting and caring | 



I for the cane berry crop it is of in- | 



i terest to even the smaller isolated | 



I gro'.cers to knozv the ■practices em- \ 



I ployed in the finest berry districts. \ 



I Professor Stahl here explicitly out- \ 



I lines the ?nost succesful methods of \ 



I planting and caring for red rasp- \ 



I berries and Evergreen blackberries in i 



I the famous Puyallup-Sumner district | 



I in Washington. Points that are em- \ 



I phasized may be found greater \ 



I factors for success than the average \ 



I small grozcer imagines. 



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produced in one hill. VVe like to keep 

 just the number we want to produce next 

 year's crop, six to 10 new canes being the 

 most we like to leave. Oftentimes we do 

 leave two or three extra canes over and 

 above the six to 1 0, then in case we have 

 some injury we have from six to 10 which 

 will bear a crop next year. 



B 



EGINNING with the second year, we 

 put up a trellis. We belie\e in the 

 trellis system in berry growing, because it 

 is easier for the picker. 



We use four wires on cross-pieces — 

 commonly two wires will do just as well 

 where this plan is used — and we do not use 

 cross-pieces if our post? are thick enough 

 as when we use the 1 0-inch post. These 

 posts are set two rods apart in the row. 



If we have a six-inch post we put on 

 a cross-piece, so wc have our wires 1+ to 

 15 inches apart for our trellis. Then we 

 weave the plants on these two wires, num- 

 ber 1 + wire for red raspberries. Put the 

 wire about four to four and a half feet 

 high. Our experience is if you put wires 

 too high the berries will not be picked as 

 readily. 



In weaving, divide the hill, carrying 

 half the canes on one side and half on the 

 other. The canes are all pulled on the 

 outside of the wire, carried up ov'er the 

 wire, down and on the near side, then tied 

 with a string when we start weaving at 

 the end of the row;. .After that, no tying 

 up is necessary the entire length of the row. 

 Usualh- take about three canes, carr\' them 

 up over, down under and tie them ; take 

 three more, carry up over, down under and 

 under the canes just ahead, very similar to 

 the manner of weaving baskets. 



.Another plan is to weave on just one side, 

 allowing the one wire merely to hold the 

 canes in place. The objection to the single 

 wire in weaving is that you are ■ 

 your canes a little more than you will with 

 the other plan. If you have plenty of wire. 



the lower wires will aid in holding canes 

 in place, but with double wire interweav- 

 ing it is not necessary to use four wires. 



There is another plan, just to carry the 

 canes instead of weaving them to a wire 

 and tying each individual cane with_ a 

 string. That requires quite a lot of hand- 

 work, even more than the weaving. The 

 most common method is that where weav- 

 ing is practiced. 



After the harvest season we cut out the 

 old canes, allowing the new canes to stand 

 between the wires until the following 

 spring. We have the worst winter injury 

 where we do not cut out the old canes 

 until next spring. We train the vines in 

 February, just before the buds start in the 

 spring when the canes will bend without 

 breaking. If we weave in the fall, the 

 canes are more apt to break. 



In the fall we cut out the old canes, 

 about two feet above the ground, leaving 

 the stub. Then in the spring we break that 

 off clear down. If you try to cut out the 

 old canes right after harvest you will have 

 to leave a little stub because that cane is 

 not entirely dry, then go through on your 

 hands and knees next spring and break off 

 that stub. Instead of that we like to leave 

 the stub long enough so we can pull the 

 cane without getting down on our hands 

 and knees. 



WE SE 

 " ' a ya: 



E SET Evergreen blackberries about 

 ard apart in the rows with the 

 rows seven feet apart. At Puyallup we arc 

 growing more Evergreen and that is the 

 one berry that is there to stay. We secure 

 yields of about six tons to the acre, often 

 seven to the acre, so you sec it is a paying 

 crop. 



We set the plants 16 to 18 feet apart. 

 The new canes may be carried on a trellis 

 about two feet in height in the summer, 

 and the following spring, in February, 

 carried up and put on a double wire trellis 

 about four feet in height. The upper 

 trellis on which the bearing canes are 

 trained is made of number 12 wires. The 

 trellis on which the new canes arc trained 

 can be made of number 14 wire. 



We support the canes by means of cross- 

 pieces. The cross-pieces for the bearing 

 trellis are 20 to 22 inches in length, in 

 the trellis for the Evergreen blackberries — 

 for the young canes about 14 inches wide. 

 If we have a narrow trellis, of 12 inches, 

 we will have a great many of those side 

 arms broken and the fruit will not mature. 

 They will break down. If the trellis is 

 wide, they will grow out laterally. 



Some of the growers instead of training 

 the new canes underneath, use eight foot 

 posts for trellising, \vith two feet in the 

 {Continued on page 21) 



