PLANTING AND CARE OF RED RASPBERRIES. 243 



PLANTING AND CARE OF A FIELD OF RED RASP- 

 BERRIES. 



F. J. EMPENGER, BEDERWOOD. 



In planting- red raspberries for profit three things are neces- 

 sary: first, soil; second, good thrifty plants; and, third, cultivation 

 and care of plants. 



Select a piece of well drained ground, and if the soil is not 

 rich enough apply about twenty loads of well rotted barn manure 

 per acre. If fresh manure is used, it should be applied a year 

 before planting. Plow deeply, smooth down, and mark both ways. 

 Some varieties can be set closer than others. I plant mine 5x5 

 feet. They should stand apart far enough to give them plenty 

 of air and sun. This will make larger and firmer fruit. 



I use plants only from young plantations, not over five years 

 old. I would not use plants from old fields if they were given to 

 me. and I were paid for taking them. I tried it once years ago, to 

 save a few dollars, and that once fixed me. I prefer root-cutting 

 plants, as they have more fibrous roots, — but where can we get 

 them? Small sized plants will do if they are from young parents. 

 I take about *fifty plants in a bushel basket, wet the roots, and if 

 it is windy weather keep wet moss or a gunny sack over them. 

 I insert a spade in the ground the full length of the blade, push 

 forward and upward, so as to leave a hole of about eight or ten 

 inches back of the spade, hold the spade with my right hand and 

 foot, insert the plant with my left hand, release the spade and dirt, 

 and the plant is set. In this way I set from 1,200 to 1,500 plants 

 per day alone, and if I use a smart boy to drop plants for me I 

 can set double the amount in the same time. I lose very few 

 plants. 



When the planting is completed, we start to cultivate at once; 

 we do not wait for the weeds to start first. I use a five-tooth cul- 

 tivator twice in a row, and the same in the cross rows, once a 

 week. Every third week I change to two-shovel plow, and keep 

 on plowing until the last of August, when plowing should stop for 

 the season, to allow the wood to ripen for winter. 



The second year, after the last picking of berries is completed, 

 the old wood should be all cut out and gathered in heaps and burn- 

 ed up. At the approach of freezing weather, the tender varieties 

 should be buried in earth deep enough to cover the bushes to 

 keep them from winter-killing. This may be done by bending the 

 bush as far down to the ground as is possible without breaking it 

 off, throwing a few shovelfuls of dirt on the tops, enough to hold 

 them secure, and, when the field is tipped down, taking a common 

 plow and plowing a furrow against the row on each side. This 

 will leave but very little work for the man with the shovel to do. 



