^ SMALL FRUITS. 343 



Lay off the plot to be planted in rows four feet apart. Set the plants 

 twelve to eighteen inches apart in rows. One of the simplest and most 

 satisfactory methods of setting plants is with a spade. Shove the blade 

 down six or eight inches, press it over and back, making a V-shaped hole. 

 Spread out the roots in this hole, with the crown of the plant even with 

 the surface of the ground. Set the spade back about three inches; shove 

 it down below the roots, and then press forward, packing the soil firmly 

 the entire length of the roots, leaving the plant firmly set. It is 

 important that the roots should go down their full length, that the soil 

 should be firmly pressed against them and the crown be exactly level 

 with the surface, neither above nor below. 



Cultivation should begin in a few days, and be kept up throughout the 

 season. When the runners appear, they should be thrown along the 

 row, where they form matted rows of plants. If the work is well done, 

 these matted rows will be sixteen inches to two feet wide by the middle 

 of August. At that time, the bare ground between the rows may be 

 mulched four or five inches deep with fresh-cut slough grass or wild hay. 

 As early as the ground freezes, cover the plants along the row with a 

 light litter of leaves, hay or corn stalks, anything to cover them, but 

 not deep enough to smother or rot them. Early in the spring, rake the 

 coarsest of the mulch from the plants, just enough to allow them to grow 

 through, leaving it between the rows, where it retains the moisture and 

 keeps down the weeds. If Crescent or other of the imperfect or pistil- 

 late sorts are used, every third row should be planted to Wilson or other 

 perfect-flowering variety. 



Easpberries may be planted either late in the fall or early in the 

 spring. Eich, moist ground is best, clay or clay loam being the kinds that 

 yield the largest crops. The red varieties are the favorites. They are 

 propagated from suckers, young shoots coming up from roots; those from 

 a new plantation being much better than those from an old lot. They 

 should be planted three to four feet apart in rows eight feet apart. Set 

 them as deep as they grew before, firm the soil around the roots and cut 

 the cane down to within a few inches of the ground. If fruit blossoms 

 appear, pick them off. Cultivate early and often, and as soon as new 

 shoots are started cut away all of the old cane. 



The first year, the canes should be pinched back when they are two feet 

 high. After the first year, they may be allowed to grow to three or 

 three and one-half feet before pinching back. Cut away all bearing cane^ 

 as soon as the fruit has been gathered. This cutting out the bearing 

 canes as soon as they are done bearing, greatly strengthens the new 

 canes, hastens maturity and increases hardiness. As soon as the weather 

 becomes cold in the fail, bend down the canes, fastening them with a 

 shovelful of dirt, then cover entirely with soil, straw, slough hay or 

 corn stalks. The cultivation should be continuous unless the ground is 

 mulched deep enough to maintain moisture and prevent the growth of 

 weeds or grass. Uncover the plants about the 1st of May. Blackberries 

 and black raspberries require the same general cultivation; the black 

 raspberries being propagated by rooting the tips of the canes, but the 

 blackberries by suckers, the same as the red raspberries. 



Of varieties, the Cuthbert, Turner and Brandywine for red, the Gregg, 

 Souhegan or Hilburn for black, are any of them good enough, and will 



