322 ANNUAL REPORT 



Blackberries must not be neglected at any period of their cultiva- 

 tion, and the beginner will derive more satisfaction from a small field 

 well cared for than from a much larger one if it is allowed to get the 

 start of him; for of all slovenly and unprofitable fields a lot of un- 

 kempt and neglected blackbery briars will take the prize. 



BLACKBERRIES AND DEWBERRIES IN MINNESOTA. 

 By Miss Edith A. Kellogg, Janesville, Wis. 



What varieties of blackberries are best adapted to culture in Min- 

 nesota? Have we any variety hardy enough to bear well in Minnesota 

 without winter protection? No. The best varieties for culture are 

 Ancient Briton, Snyder and Stone's Hardy. I should plant Snyder 

 for early, Stone's Hardy for medium, and Ancient Briton for late. I 

 would prepare the ground by plowing deep, manuring heavily, forty 

 to sixty loads per acre, and thorough cultivation. Have the rows 

 eight feet apart, and the plants three feet. Keep them in hills, and 

 do not allow them to spread over the ground. Keep all the suckers 

 down if you want choice fruit (this is easily done with a horse and 

 cultivator), and pull out where they grow too thick Do not allow 

 over five canes in a hill. All blackberries should be protected in this 

 latitude. A spadeful of earth may be removed on one side of the 

 plant, binding the plants down till the tops touch the ground; then 

 fastening down with a little earth, and covering with dirt, marsh hay 

 or corn fodder; or even coarse manure will answer the same purpose 

 where there are no mice. Remove the covering in the spring as soon 

 as freezing weather is done. Raise them up with the fork, and press 

 the dirt firmly with the foot on the side where it was removed in the 

 fall, and tie to a wire stretched on posts, two and a half feet over the 

 row. Work the coarse manure well in under and about the bushes; this 

 serves the double purpose of choking weeds and grass, and keeping 

 the ground moist during the scorching days that, as a rule, are to be 

 expected in August. Pinch the new canes back to about three feet 

 and three and a half feet in June and July. This causes them to 

 branch out. Do not prune the laterals, for if you do, you will cut oQ" 

 the part where uur best fruit grows. J'ake oS" nothing but the top of 

 the upright cane. The cost of covering is from six to ten dollars per 

 acre. Some think that it is better to place a trellis on each side of 

 the row, and the wires about two and a half feet from the ground, and 

 stakes twenty feet apart. One wire on each side is sufficient. Dew- 



