CARE OF THE BLACKBERRY PLANTATION. 893 
year. It is enough to say that the tomatoes paid me about fifty cents per 
hour for the work I put on them. You see, the weed seed was killed, so 
the weeds could not grow. This fall I set out an asparagus bed and will 
plant the balance of the marsh that I own to blackberries next spring. 
I have a neighbor who has a one-third acre of marsh in blackberries. 
The average yield of that patch is 3,000 quarts. I have been told that 
if it was thoroughly drained, so that the center of the patch would yield 
as much as the outskirts, the yield would be 5,000 quarts. How is that? At 
the rate of 15,000 quarts per acre. Not fancy, but fact! 
If ordinary land is to be set out to blackberries the soil should be en- 
riched. But this can be done after the first year by mulching. 
As a rule, fall plowing is the best. In April, as soon as the frost is out, 
harrow the ground thoroughly. You will then be ready tor planting. 
As to kinds. I have only tried the Snyder and Ancient Briton. They 
are the standard varieties. Others recommended by this society ought to 
be good. 
Plants may be secured in several ways. Ii you have plenty of money, 
buy of the nurseryman. If you have a blackberry patch, get as many plants 
as you can of your own. In June of the year previous to planting, black- 
berry sprouts may be transplanted, like cabbage plants. They will grow into 
good plants by the time they are wanted. Plants may be procured cheaply 
by visiting a blackberry patch when they are covering in the fall. A great 
many plants are plowed up then. These could be heeled in till spring. 
The best way, though, is to transplant in the spring. Try and get good 
thrifty plants, with fibrous roots. Take a marker and mark out your rows 
eight feet apart. If you do not intend to plant a crop between the rows, the 
rows should be marked across every three feet. Plow furrows to plant in. 
Have a boy drop the plants every three feet. If it is a bright, sunny day, 
the plants should be soaked in water, or kept moist by being covered. Use 
a short handled hoe in planting. Spread the roots and pack the dirt firmly 
around them. 
I know most of you will object to planting three feet apart in the row. 
Well, there is nothing like knowing your job from beginning to end before 
you begin. I wish to advocate the continuous row system of culture I 
would plant so that when the blackberries came into bearing there would be 
rows of canes, with an average width apart of about eight feet, and clumps, 
or hills, “of from one to three canes each, at an average distance apart of 
about one foot. This system has the following advantages: You can get 
more berries off the same amount of ground; you can prune out and renew 
the vines better; the vines will have more room to grow; the vines can be 
mulched so that weeds cannot grow in the row. 
Cultivate thoroughly during the growing season. Hoe around the 
plants when necessary. If nothing is planted between, cultivate both ways 
the first season. If you do not put in a crop of vegetables I assure you 
that you will get tired of cultivating that eight feet.of empty space for 
nothing. 
In the fall the vines should be covered with dirt. 
You have heard of being puffed up with pride; you may have that feeling 
when the blackberry patch comes into bearing, especially when you deliver 
the berries to your customers and hear them say: ‘What fine berries you 
do have! How do raise such nice berries?” 
