88 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



except that your rows should be eight feet apart. Mark out the rows 

 and drop the root cuttings about a foot apart, cover with a cultivator, 

 when the weeds start, use the harrow and by the time the v/eeds start 

 the second time you should be able to follow the rows and can use a 

 small shoveled cultivator to clean out the weeds. I have also secured a 

 good stand by making a shallow furrow with a plow and planting the cut- 

 tings, being careful not to cover more than three or four inches deep. 



I have tested nearly all the leading varieties of blackberries, but 

 the Snyder seems to be the only one to tie to. Mercereau and Blowers 

 beat it in 1906, but nearly all varieties did well last year, consequently 

 a longer test will be necessary before we discard Snyder. 



Currants and Gooseberries may be propagated from cuttings and are 

 very easily transplanted, but they should be on the shady side of a stone 

 wall or picket fence, or in the shade of a cherry tree. The fence being 

 the better places as it gives shade, without robbing the plants of necessary 

 moisture. Our hot sunshine is not to the liking of the gooseberry. 



Strawbei-ries. — While some success has been attained in planting with 

 a machine that plants five or six acres, as there are very few berry 

 growers whose plantings are extensive enough to pay to invest $50 to $75 

 in a machine, so we will confine our remarks to hand planting. Rows 

 should be four feet apart and the plants from ten inches to two feet apart 

 in the row, depending on the ability of the variety to make plants. 



Summer and fall are sometimes recommended as the time to set 

 strawberry plants, but with our climatic conditions fall setting will fail 

 three times in five. I depend entirely oti early spring. It is often recom- 

 mended to wait until the blossom buds have started in the spring, then 

 when you transplant there will be no trouble picking off the blossom 

 buds to prevent bearing the first year. Owing to the late spring and 

 rush of work I followed this plan in 1906; at present I estimate my loss 

 at $1,000. Next spring our planting will begin as early in April as the 

 weather will permit. 



When the weather is favorable strawberries may be planted with a 

 spade, as recommended for raspberries, if you have a small boy to drop 

 the plants behind the spade. The plan I have found most satisfactory 

 is to have the ground plowed in the fall or very early spring, have it 

 free from trash and do not be afraid of doing too much work on the 

 ground before planting; be sure you have harrowed, floated, and disked 

 until you have thoroughly established capillary attraction with the soil 

 beneath. Mark out your rows, then have a boy make the holes with 

 a small spade, one about three and one-half inches wide preferred. One 

 boy will make holes for two planters; have your plants in a bucket 

 with .iust enough water to cover the roots; spread the roots and put 

 the plants in the ground deep enough that the crown of the platit will 

 be even with the surface; press the soil solidly about the roots, and be 

 careful that there are no "rat holes" beneath the plants, and you are 



