TirK CAN'AinAN II<>UTICULTURIST. 



53 



SMALL FRUITS FOLl FARMERS. 



(For the Horticulturist.) 



Why is it so few farmers grow small 

 fruits enough for their own tables 1 It 

 is not on account of the work required 

 to grow them, because there is no crop 

 grown on the farm that will give better 

 returns for the amount of labor be- 

 stowed upon them. There are several 

 reasons; perhaps the greatest is, they 

 know so little about growing them, 

 they think it requires a great amount 

 of labor and skill, and, again, so many 

 have bought a few plants and put them 

 out in the garden, where all of the work 

 has to be done by hand, hence requires 

 so much time they do not get attended 

 to. The time is not far distant when 

 farmers will think as much of having 

 their patch of strawberries and rasp- 

 berries as they do of their potatoes and 

 cabbage. Every farmer's lady knows 

 how difficult it is to get up a nice meal 

 early in the summer without having a 

 patch of strawberries to run to. The 

 plan that is most practicable for farmers, 

 as a rule, is to plant out a few rows in 

 the spring, on any soil that is good 

 enough to grow potatoes. Clay loam is 

 to be preferred, if not too heavy ; if it 

 has been plowed in the fall do not 

 plough again in the spring, but culti- 

 vate well and plant early. It will take 

 but a short time to set the plants, and 

 they will not need any more work until 

 after seeding is done. 



For strawberries, plant in rows four 

 feet apart and twelve to eighteen inches 

 apart in the row. Cut off the first 

 runners that make their appearance, 

 also cut off all fruit stems. As soon as 

 they send out three or four strong 

 runners at once let them run, but keep 

 working with your corn cultivator be- 

 tween the rows, narrowing the cultiva- 

 tor as the rows spread out until you 

 get a row eight(;en or twenty inches 

 wide, letting the plants grow as thick 

 together as they choose in the rows. 



In the fall, as soon as the ground freezes, 

 cover with straw, putting the most 

 between the rows and just enough on 

 the plants so you can see them through 

 the straw. Leave it on until after the 

 fruit comes off. The plan we have 

 found to take the least work where land 

 is plenty, is to plant out a few rows 

 every spring and work as above. It 

 does not take as much work to set out 

 and take care of a new patch as it does 

 to clean out tlie old one. You can 

 leave the old patch to bear another 

 season without any work, except cutting 

 out the large weeds that grow up 

 among them. You will get quite a 

 crop of earlier fruit, but not so large 

 as from the new plantation. By plant- 

 ing several sorts, such as Crescent 

 Seedling for early, Wilson and Cnptnin 

 Jack for medium, and Sharpless and 

 Kentucky for late, you can have them 

 on the table every day from four to 

 six weeks, and if 3'ou want to grow 

 some of the finest and best flavored 

 you ever saw, plant a few of Longfellow, 

 Warren and Bright Ida. 



Raspberries should also be planted 

 so they can be worked with a horse 

 and cultivator. Put in rows six feet 

 apart and four feet apart in the row. 

 When new growth is tw o to three feet 

 high pinch br •"k \nd >^l :n side shoots 

 get fifteen incneo .onp ;)inch back again, 

 then your bushes wiii grow strong and 

 will not need staking. For the Cap 

 varieties, cover the ground in the row, 

 where you cannot cultivate (between 

 the bushes) with coai-se manure. It 

 will keep the ground from drying out 

 and largely increase the crop of fruit. 

 The red varieties will grow too rank if 

 manure is put around them until they 

 liave borne one or two crops of fruit. 

 Let only four or five canes grow in a 

 hill of the red sorts, hoeing of!' all 

 suckers as soon as they make their 

 appearance. If worked well until July, 

 will not need any after that time, and 



