BLACKBERRIES AND OTHER FRUITS IN THE SUBURBAN GARDEN. I5I 



Mr. A. K. Bush : I would like to emphasize the suggestion 

 of putting down blackberries early in the season. The canes go 

 down then without breaking, and the leaves that are still on the 

 vines assist in holding the plant down. I find there are more 

 failures on account of doing this work too lat'e than there are from 

 doing it too early. 



Mrs. Spates : I would like to ask Mr. Grimes what variety 

 of blackberry he grows ? 



Mr. Grimes : It is the Ancient Briton ; so it is reported to me 

 at least. 



Mr. ]\Ierritt : If the gentleman will take a pair of heavy 

 mittens and put on a good pair of overalls in laying down his black- 

 berries he will find it preferable to any kind of iron. 



Mr. Baldwin : Yes, but then you have got to have somebody 

 to help you. If you work by yourself in the way I have men- 

 tioned you can do as much as two men. The iron holds down the 

 vines while you put on the dirt. 



Mr. Merritt : I suppose you have reference to doing the work 

 yourself and putting them down alone. 



Mr. Baldwin: Yes, one man can do it just as well as two. It 

 "brings the vines together in one place and holds them down 

 while the covering is put on. 



Mr. Nils Anderson : You tie the tip of the first hill to the root 

 of the second, and the tip of the second to the root of the third, 

 and so on, and that is the easiest way to get them down. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor : I would like to ask Mr. Grimes in regard 

 to his blackberry vines, are they tall or short? 



Mr. Grimes : They are quite tall, from five to seven feet tall. 



Mr. Taylor : My plants of that kind are not like that. I think 

 it is a different variety. The tall plants are the Snyder variety ; 

 the Ancient Briton are short. 



The Chairman : But he has them on moist land ? 



Mr. Grimes : Yes, sir. 



Mr. Taylor : When do they ripen ? 



Mr. Merritt : With me the Ancient Briton will bear three 

 times as much as the Snyder. When the plants are about that high 

 (?) I pinch out the top, and they will make strong canes. 



Mr. Grimes : They commence to ripen about the first part of 

 August. 



Mr. A. Brackett : What is the color of the berries when they 

 are green? (Great laughter.) 



Mr. Grimes : My recollection is that the color is green. 

 (Renewed laughter.) 



Mr. Brackett : The Snyder is of a reddish color when growing, 

 and the Ancient Briton is green. 



The Chairman : The stalk is green when growing. 



Mr. Westman : I want to say a word in reference to covering 

 blackberries early. I had a good row of Lucretia dewberries, and 

 I took the advice of Mr. Bush and covered them early, but I have 

 no more blackberries. 



