ir^all Icriiits. 



RASPBERRIES, ETC. 



A DISCUSSION. 



Mr. M. Pearce: There may be a failure in strawberries, but j'ou take 

 the red raspberr}^ and for fifteen 3^ears I have never had a failure; 

 and if I should live fifteen j^ears longer I should not have a failure- 

 Now, that is saying a good deal. There are great mistakes made in 

 raising raspberries, and there is a great amount of labor thrown 

 awa}'. I believe I can take ten acres of raspberries, cultivate them, 

 lay them down and give them the best winter protection possible, 

 and it will cost no more than growing- ten acres of corn. In the 

 place of putting in $15 to $20 an acre, I should calculate to do it for 

 $3.00. There is no crop grown in our state that pa3s as well as red 

 raspberries if properly handled. The great trouble is that people 

 let them stand until the leaves are all off before they do anything 

 with them. My raspberries are all laid down crosswise of the row the 

 last week in September or the first week in October, and in the spring 

 when I take them up they are just as green as they were in the fall 

 when I put them down. I bend them right down to the ground with 

 xny foot and cover them up. It is the easiest thing to cover a mile a 

 day. Just select those canes 5^ou wish to cover, bend them right 

 over to the ground, hold them there with j^our foot and draw earth 

 over them with your hoe. I never remove a cane. 



In the spring before taking up the canes, I go along the row with 

 a brush scj^the and cut off all the old canes and shoots that are left 

 standing and burn them up; then I raise iny canes and string a wire 

 along under them to support them, as thej' are all leaning the way 

 thej^ Avere laid down. The new canes that cotne up during the sum- 

 mer will grow up straight, and in the fall I la3' them down in the 

 opposite direction from that in which the canes were laid down the 

 previous season, and in the spring it is easy to cut out the old canes 

 as they all lean in the other direction. And then I string my wire 

 over on the other side; and so I change about from year to j'ear. 

 The ground is kept sufficiently shaded on the side toward which 

 they lean, and on the other side you can cultivate right close up to 

 the row; and if a man has got good ground and gives them good 

 cultivation, no matter how dr}^ it is, he can raise fruit ever}- time. 

 The great trouble is you don't know how to do it. You put off laj'- 

 ing theiu down too long. You let them stand until the leaves are 

 all off and the wood is drj^, and then the canes will break before 

 they will bend. I never remove a bit of dirt. It is the easiest thing 

 in the world. I never failed in u\y life, and I have done it for j^ears 

 and years and years. 



Mr. Harris: How far apart do jou plant your raspberries. 



