80 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



POSSIBILITIES OF SCIENTIFIC FRUIT GROWING. 



HON. THOS. HARRISON, BLANCHARD, N. 1). 



For three years I have been quietly: carrying- on experiment* 

 with raspberries and feel amply repaid for the time g-iven. In this 

 report I can only give a brief suminary of my mode of operation. 



Commencing with the day I finish the berry gathering season, I 

 remove all canes that have borne fruit. This work I consider essen- 

 tial to be done at this time in order that all nourishment from the 

 roots may go to the young canes to hasten their growth and full de- 

 velopinent before the close of our short growing season. 



In the fall I lay the bushes down in the usual way, covering them 

 entirely with earth; I then cover the entire ground with well rotted 

 barnyard manure to the depth of two inches. In the spring after 

 all danger of frost is past, I remove the earth, raise the bushes and 

 tread the earth firmly around the roots. By the time the raising 

 process is completed, the manure applied the previous fall will be 

 thoroughly incorporated with the soil. My next work is to spread 

 as evenly as possible one bushel of unleached ashes to every forty 

 hills of berries. This should cover the ground for a distance of 

 twelve inches each way from the hill. If ashes from ash or elm tim- 

 ber is used, less will do, as these contain more potash. Then use a 

 garden rake to mix the ashes with the earth and manure. I confine 

 plants intended for fruiting always to hills. Work then ceases for 

 twenty to thirty days, and during this interval the young canes ap- 

 pear. When the young canes are three to four inches high I go 

 carefully over the entire berry grounds and destroy all young canes 

 except eight in or around each hill, and these grow inuch faster than 

 if all were allowed to grow and divide the sap from the roots. A ju- 

 dicious selection is very necessary. Save only those with large and 

 perfect shaped leaves. I keep the berry patch carefully looked over 

 once A week until about July first, destroying- all weeds with a hoe. 

 I never use a cultivator, for the reason that it destroys man}^ of the 

 small fibrous roots, [n some instances I have found small fi- 

 brous roots extending three and four feet from the hill on parent 

 stock. The thrifty gardener who has thoroughly prepared his land 

 for planting berry bushes by cultivating one or two hoed crops will 

 find few weeds to destroy. 



I have abandoned the practice of pinching off the canes when two 

 or three feet high, and instead of dwarfing the bush I induce the 

 largest possible growth. My bushes for next season's crop average 

 six feet high, and many of the canes are one-half to three-quarters 

 of an inch in diameter one foot above the ground. 



When plants are required for setting out a new field, I select them 

 at the same time I select in the hill. These are in the open spaces 

 between the hills or rows. Whenever I do this I invariably dig them 

 up in the fall before laying down the bushes for the winter. These 

 bushes I place in a trench two feet wide by eighteen inches deep 

 commencing at one end of the trench and keeping the roots a few- 

 inches lower than the tops; these I cover over entirely with earth. 

 If canes thus cared for are carefully planted in the spring, they will 

 give a liberal crop the same season. 



