324 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
CARE OF THE BLACKBERRY PLANTATION THE 
SECOND YEAR TILL AFTER HARVEST. 
W. H. EDDY, HOWARD LAKE, 
This is another indispensable fruit, as it fills the interim between rasp- 
berries and other fall fruits, and with the appreciation of its medical value 
it should have a proper place on every family table during its season. 
The second year’s care of the blackberry, I think, rightly begins with 
pinching off the ends of canes when they are eighteen to twenty-four inches 
high, of the first year’s growth, and at the same time thinning canes out, 
leaving four or five strong canes in a hill. We give the ground thorough 
cultivation until fall. In the month of October, or just before the ground 
freezes, we take one man with a spade and heavy leather mittens and begin 
at the north end of the row, by removing the earth four to five inches deep 
from the north side of hill. Then the man with the mittens on gathers the 
canes together and at the same time with his foot gently presses the roots 
to the north and lays the canes Hat to the ground. The man then, with the 
spade, places enough earth on to keep the canes to the ground. Continue in 
this way until the plantation is laid down. After freezing weather sets in, 
say in the month of November, place from four to five inches of rotten 
straw over the whole bed for winter protection, also to act as a mulch for 
the next summer until fruiting. In the spring, from the middle to the last 
of April, take a spading fork or a four-tine hook and, beginning at the 
north end of the row, remove enough straw and earth to secure the canes 
and then place them upright and press the earth firmly around the hill; 
also place the mulching over any bare places. 
From the first of May until fruiting time allow the parent canes to keep 
their strength by keeping all the young canes down, excepting those for 
the next year’s fruiting. (Nurserymen do not always follow this plan.) In 
fruiting time we use pint boxes, carried in crates holding from six to eight 
boxes. 
As soon as the fruit is picked, we cut out all old wood and take off all 
straw that will not cultivate in and continue cultivating until fall. 
We grow the Ancient Briton and Snyder, but like the Ancient Briton 
in preference to the Snyder, as they are heavier bearers and easier covered 
for winter protection. 
We find this plan of blackberry culture a success on our low land— 
rich, black loam and clay subsoil, but it might be unprofitable elsewhere, as 
the condition of soil, location and climate have a great deal to do with 
success in fruit culture. 
Mr. Philips (Wis.): Why do you use pint boxes instead of 
quarts? 
Mr. Eddy: . They sell-better. 
Mr. Yahnke: Don’t the mice bother you in the winter when 
you mulch with straw? 
Mr. Eddy: We do not put on the mulch until the ground is 
frozen, and we have not been bothered with mice. The best time 
to put on the mulch is just before a snow storm; if you can do that 
the snow will keep the mulch on. 
