STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 319 



length, and if injured cut back to sound wood. And here I might say 

 take no risk of losing a crop by winter-killing when they can be so 

 easily saved by covering over, the same as the blackberry. We may 

 rest assured they will pay by extra yields for all the extra labor, even 

 if it is not necessary to save the crop. As soon as convenient after 

 the bearing season is over, cut out all the old wood and the new shoots 

 to four or five inches in each hill, always bearing in mind that all rasp- 

 berries are perennial, and that we must lay the foundation for the next 

 season's crop by securing a vigorous growth of healthy shoots at this 

 time. Besides, a careful pruning now will greatly assist in the after 

 culture and winter protection. 



We cover by removing several inches of earth from one side of the 

 hill, so that the plants may be bent over by bending the roots, and 

 then cover the whole plant with earth. This must not be done until 

 or near freezing weather as possible, and should be removed early in 

 the spring. After lifting them in the spring, cultivate shallow but 

 thoroughly. The best mulch to guard against drouth is three or four 

 inches of fine, loose, easily stirred soil. When the time for picking 

 arrives, gather as often as once in two days, and pack directly in the 

 boxes in the field when picked. For blackcaps, use quart boxes and 

 16 quart cases, and for red, pint boxes, and 24 pint cases, and market 

 as soon as practicable after picking, as they are never better than 

 when first taken fi om the bushes. Crates will cost, with boxes, 12 or 

 14 cents each. There is probably no branch of horticulture that pays 

 better for a series of years than a good field of raspberries, as they are 

 a comparatively sure crop, besides always bringing a fair market price, 

 as their soft natural condition and rapid deterioration prevents our 

 southern neighbor* from filling our markets with hundreds of carloads 

 in a season, as they often do with the firmer strawberries and grt^pes. 



In conclusion I would say, while I have worked with great pleasure 

 in our berry fields, and enjoy both their cultivation and the opportu- 

 nities for study they afford, yet this is my first, and I fear my last, at- 

 tempt to describe our various operations. Besides on every page I 

 find, on reading it over, that I have omitted many things which time 

 and limited space will not permit me to rewrite and describe. There- 

 fore I will close by wishing prosperity and extended usefulness to all 

 the members of the Minnesota Horticultural Society, hoping when 

 my school days are over to be worth}'^ to sit at their feet and learn 

 wisdom from their councils. 



We cover the canes late in the fall as possible before freezing 

 weather, and it may be done by one man, or what is better, by two 



