STATE HOETICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 29 



20 feet apart and a Xo. 8 wire stretched along say 22 feet from the 

 ground, with short wire across between each hill. The canes 

 growing np between squares thus made obviates the necessity 

 for tying. 



All red varieties propagate by suckering from the roots and 

 all surfdus suckers must be kept down by treating them as 

 weeds, or the plantation will soon become unfruitful. 



BLACKCAPS. 



There is more money in the Doolittle Improved, taken one 

 year with another, than any other variety I have tested. The 

 fruit of the Gregg is large and showy, but the plants are not 

 hardy enough for this climate unless winter protection is given 

 them. The Turner is the hardiest variety among the reds: the 

 fruit is superior in flavor and appearance and a favorite in the 

 market and at home, is also very early. The Philadelphia is 

 more productive when given winter protection, but the fruit is 

 not as salable. The Cuthbert is promising to take the lead as a 

 late berry. The fruit is large and showy and ships very well. 

 while the quality is second only to the Turner. I have not tested 

 the newer varieties sufficiently to recommend them. 



BLACKBEREIES. 



The cultivation of the blackberry is beginning to assume an 

 important place in the horticulture of Minnesota. 



As I commenced the preparation of this paper last night, I 

 did not have time to complete it, and I wish to say a few words 

 further in regard to blackberries. Their culture is attracting 

 the attention of farmers throughout the State, and is more par- 

 ticularly attracting the attention of market gardeners, who 

 are finding it to be a fact that they can be grown as successfully 

 here as in any other state. Like the raspberry, they should be 

 put on rich soil. They should be pinched back when they are 

 to the proper height. Keep them in hills, and do not allow 

 them to spread over the ground, keeping all superfluous shoots 

 trimmed out. The plants should be given protection by cover- 

 ing in the fall. A spadeful of earth may be removed on one 

 side of the plant, bending the plants down till the top touches 

 the ground, then fastening down with a little earth, and pass to 

 the next hill. The canes mav then be covered with earth, corn 



