SMALL FRUIT IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. 39 



also claimed to help the old plants to winter, as the new plants will 

 have strong roots in a few weeks and thus the cane is strengthened and 

 fed from both ends. As soon as the fruit has been picked, the old 

 canes can be removed, and should be if bothered by insects; other- 

 wise they can remain until spring, when it should be cut and all new 

 canes shortened to two to three feet, according to strength of cane. 



Our mode of cultivating the old blackberry and raspberry patches 

 is to plow them shallow with an eight or ten inch stirring plow once 

 a year, always throwing the dirt to the row. The balance of the sea- 

 son's cultivation will be with a hoe. Planter Jr. one-horse cultivator, 

 or something similar. They should have a good dressing of manure 

 once in four or five years. A raspberry or blackberry patch thus 

 treated will remain profitable for from eight to twelve years. 



The most satisfactory varieties with us are Snyder blackberry, and 

 Gregg, Nemaha, Older, Palmer, and the Old Mammoth Cluster rasp- 

 berries. The Turner is the best red raspberry yet tried. The Mam- 

 moth Cluster may not be so promising in the start, but holds out 

 wonderfully under good care, being in good condition and bearing 

 profitable crops for twelve years. 



The juneberry, gooseberry, and currant should be planted from four 

 to five feet apart each way and kept clean by thorough cultivation. 

 They bear well. 



Currants do not seem to enjoy our bright hot sun and dry south 

 winds, therefore will be more satisfactory if planted where the south 

 winds do not disturb them, in rows with young orchard trees. The 

 thin shade the young fruit trees will furnish through the heat of the 

 day is just what currants need to make the fruit stick on the full 

 length of the stem, thus giving the best results. 



Our most satisfactory method of growing strawberries is to plant in 

 rows from three to three and one-half feet apart and fifteen to eighteen 

 inches in the row, and cultivate and hoe thoroughly. Trail the run- 

 ners up and down the row until it is filled with plants to a width of 

 from six to eight inches; say two to three plants wide. Keep middles 

 clean all summer by cultivation, and when ground is freezing in late 

 fall cover two inches deep with old hay or straw that has no weed seed 

 in it. In the spring this covering should be raked olf the plants and 

 left between the rows until the fruit is jiicked, when it should be re- 

 moved from the patch and the plants cultivated as before. 



