96 



decidedly, yes. It comes in at a time when fruit of that class is very much needed — ;iust 

 after strawberries are done, and when consequently the demand for something of that 

 sort is veiy great. I would beg leave to decline advancing the discussion any further 

 at present. I should like to have an opportunity of thinking of that matter a little 

 more. 



Mr. Young. — So far as my experience has gone I have found raspberries to be 

 very profitable for the market. I have cultivated two red kinds, the Clark and Phila- 

 delphia red. I find that the Clark is a very line berry. It sells as well, and brings a 

 higher price, but is not so productive — not, probably, quite so profitable — as the Phila- 

 delphia red. It is a little too soft for market. The Davison's Thornless has done very 

 well with me. In a very dry time it is very apt to dry up. On the whole, my experi- 

 ence is that raspberries of the diflferent varieties are profitable for market. 



Mr. Gott. — Very much depends on the cultivation and the location of the planta- 

 tion, and also upon the season in which the berries are grown. For a profitable rasp- 

 berry plantation you require deep soil, very fertile, and not too much exposed to the in- 

 fluence of the sun. The berry requires to be planted in regular order and thoroughly 

 cultivated. It should be kept thoroughly clean. The canes should be pruned when the 

 young cane is rising, say, about three feet. It should be carefully pruned so that it gets 

 no higher. That practice should be applied to both the black caps and the red caps. 

 The result will be that the side branches will start out the whole length of the cane, and 

 the fruiting qualities of the cane will be more than doubled — sometimes trebled. The 

 site, too, has quite an influence on the raspberry crop. Where the site is veiy dry, and 

 very high moisture is lacking at the time that the raspberry needs it, the conse- 

 quence will be that the crop will dry up. To obviate this a site should be chosen which 

 leans from the sun, gently towards the north. This has a very good efiect upon the 

 fruit. The distance that we plant for profitable culture is four feet between the rows and 

 three feet in the rows, and the old stools keep perfectly to themselves. In the spring we 

 go through with the cultivator and the hoe. In this way we keep the raspberry planta- 

 tion looking very pretty. At the time the fruit is ripening it is really a picture worth 

 looking at. The blackcaps require a little difierent management from the red, especially 

 if young plants are required, but it is found not to be profitable to raise young plants 

 and fruit at the same time. 



Mr. Edwards. — Although I am in a very small way in raspberries, still I should 

 say that raspberries would turn in money at an average of about ten cents against straw- 

 berries at eight cents. The crop will run in about the same proportion against the rasp- 

 berries again — there will not be so many raspberries taken oS" the same amount of ground 

 as of strawberries. But it must be remembed that raspberries will last a greater number 

 of years than strawberries. You are only losing the use of the land one year in five 

 with raspberries, whereas with strawberries you lose the use of it one year in two, or one 

 year in three, at any rate. I have a high board fence, and the scantling is four feet 

 from the ground — that is, to the top of the posts ; and I prune my raspberries as soon as 

 they get to the top of the scantling. In this way I make a very pretty fence. The 

 raspberries take up no room practically. I use pieces of buckskin or anything of that 

 kind to tie the bushes to the fence. I find that the berries have done better with me this 

 year, twice over, along the fence, than in the middle of the garden. I find sometimes 

 that the young shoots coming up will die down in a short time. I do not know what 

 is the reason of it. Perhaps somebody can inform me. Then I have had a dozen whole 

 plants die. 



Mr. Wright. — Allow me to ask the gentleman on which side of the ground is his 

 fence situated. 



Mr. Edwards. — The fence is on the west side of the raspberries. The part I speak 

 of in the middle of the garden is hardly in the middle. It is rather in one corner, and it 

 also is partly shaded by the fence. 



Mr. Wright. — I live so far north that it is very difiicult for me to grow any 

 varieties at all, and consequently my experiance has been very limited in that respect. A 

 great number of varieties that other gentlemen in this room can grow I cannot at all. 



Mr. a. M. Smith. — I find the raspberry crop quite profitable in the locality where I 



