STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 3lT 



GROWING BLACKBERRIES AND DEWBERRIES IN 

 MINNESOTA. 



By Burton T. Wilcox, Hastings. 



♦ SPECIES. 



High Blackberry (Rubus Villosiis). Dewberry, (Riibiis Canadensis). 



Both these species grow abundantly in the wild state all over the 

 United States south of latitude 45 degrees, and are the parents of all 

 our cultivated varieties. Stems three to ten feet long, pale green to 

 dark brown color, and covered with strong, sharp prickles; does best 

 on rocky or sandy soil in a wooded region; flower racemed, long, with 

 short bracts; fruit oblong or cylindrical; high blackberries, strong 

 and erect canes; dewberries long, low and trailing in habit. 



Some hybrids have been successfully produced by cross-fertilization 

 between these two species, whose descendants have proved our best 

 market berries. But the difficulty encountered here by the fruit-grow- 

 ers of Minnesota is in the want of hardiness, characteristic of both 

 parents. Still we may hope, when our worthy pioneers in pomology 

 have devoted one-half the energy and effort to produce hardy varieties 

 of blackberries which they have given to the equally tejider apple, to 

 see them successfully grown in every county of the State. 



The blackberry and dewberry are so near alike in the requisites for 

 their successful cultivation, that I shall consider them together in a 

 general way in the notes which follow. 



With its wide geographical range the blackberry seems to thrive 

 upon almost any kind of soil, and will resist drouth better than any 

 other of our small fruits, and my preference for a moderately light 

 sandy soil would only be because in such a location it could be much 

 easier cultivated, especially when laying down for winter and would 

 be more likely to fully ripen the young wood before the frosts of win- 

 ter came upon it; still the Snyder will often lose its foliage on sand. 

 When you are choosing a location bear in mind the fact that a field 

 of blackberries well established will continue to improve for many 

 years, and select just what you wish to use permanently for that pur- 

 pose. 



Plow deep, even subsoiling will pay, and work fine as you would for 

 a premium crop of corn. Then mark in straight rows seven feet 

 apart, and set three feet apart in the row, be sure to spread the roots 

 when setting and press the dirt very firm about them. Set full as 

 low as the plants formerly stood, and you will have little difficulty 



