4U THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 



( Continued from ikkjc 371.) 

 RASPBERRIES. 



Like most of the other varieties of Bmall fruits, the Raspberry is a general 

 favourite, and is found in most gardens from the least to the greatest. It is of 

 easy cultivation, yet, nevertheless, to produce fruit of the highest quality and of 

 the richest flavour an effort has to be made ; for although large crops can and 

 are yearly produced from plants which receive little or no attention, except at the 

 pruning season, yet a little good cultural management will be amply repaid in the 

 quality of the fruit produced. We will therefore direct the I'eader's attention to 

 a few of the most vital points requiring attention in the good management of the 

 Raspberry. 



Following the course we have done in all our former papers, we will first direct 

 our attention to the propagation of the Raspberry. This object is accomplished 

 by any one of the following methods — viz., by seed to produce new varieties, by 

 cuttings, and by suckers or offshoots, the latter being the most generally adopted 

 jjlan. To raise Raspberries from seed the best plan is to select the finest of the 

 fruit, which should be washed at once to remove the pulp, after which the 

 seed should be dried and sown in shallow pans in rich light soil, and placed in 

 a cool frame to vegetate. If the frame is very cold, the young plants may not 

 appear till the following spring. As soon as they are a few inches in height they 

 may be transplanted into nursery-lines about a foot apart, where they will soon 

 rush away into growth. In autumn or early winter they ought to have 

 the young canes cut back to three or four eyes. In spring they will start 

 and grow strong, and in the following autumn will be fit to place in their perma- 

 nent position ; and if the plants are strong, will probably produce a crop of fruit 

 the following year. If, however, the fruit can be wanted, it is much better not to 

 take a crop the first year after planting, but rather to cut the canes well back in 

 order to get as fine fruiting-plants the following year as possible. The propa- 

 gation of the Raspberry from cuttings is not easily accomplished, and, unless for 

 the increase of new and rare varieties, is seldom attempted. The best time to do 

 this is February, when the canes may be cut into lengths of 3 inches or thereby, 

 and inserted into light rich soil at the bottom of a wall having either an east or west 

 aspect. If the soil is not of a moist nature it must be kept thoroughly damp by regu- 

 lar waterings after the sun begins to get warm in spring ; and if the sun should 

 prove very powerful, it might be as well to shade the cuttings during the hottest part 

 of the day until they begin to form a few roots. After they are ready for trans- 

 planting, they must just be treated in the way already directed for seedlings. 

 Very little need be said regarding the propagation of Raspberries from offsets or 

 suckers. The principal thing calling for attention is to destroy as little as possible 

 of the roots belonging to the permanent plant, while as much root as can con- 

 veniently be got ought to adhere to the sucker in order that it may receive as little 

 check as possible. A great deal depends upon how the offsets are removed, one 

 man performing the operation without doing the slightest injury to either the 

 parent plant or the offset, while another may destroy both to such an extent as to 

 cause much damage for several years to come. The best time to perform this 

 operation — the removal of the sucker or offset from the parent — is in October. 

 This month is the best of all the year for planting Raspberries, so that a double 

 gain is effected by performing this operation at this period of the year. There is 



