SMALL-FRUIT CULTURE FOR MARKET. 



these often proving very troublesome 

 in fields enriched with stable manure. 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATION. 



The best time for planting small 

 fruits is yet a disputed question, except 

 in the North, where fall-set plants of 

 most species are subject to winterkill- 

 ing. There are few localities where 

 spring planting is not the safer method, 

 though often the soil can be more 

 thoroughly prepared and the planting 

 be more cheaply done in autumn than 

 in spring. If done in autumn, in re- 

 gions where the ground freezes to any 

 considerable depth during winter, the 

 newly-set plants should be well mulched 

 to prevent winter injury. 



All planting should be in straight 

 rows of equal distance apart. In the 

 case of the bush fruits it is often advan- 

 tageous to have the rows laid off both 

 ways, so that the cultivator can be run 

 in both directions, at least during the 

 first season. If the land is hilly and 

 inclined to wash, the rows should be 

 laid around the hills, conforming to 

 their curves, but on land reasonably 

 level the rows should, if possible, run 

 north and south and should be as long 

 in that direction as the shape of the 

 field will permit. Overcrowding of 

 plants should be avoided, as fruit of 

 large size is rarely produced by plants 

 having insufficient food, air, and sun- 

 shine If more than one variety of 

 any fruit be planted, or if plants of 

 the same variety be obtained from dif- 

 ferent sources, each lot should be sep- 

 arately planted and labeled. Failure 

 to do this often leads to expensive un- 

 certainty in later years when plants are 

 desired for new fields or for sale. Many 

 a careless or dishonest plant grower 

 or dealer has escaped responsibility 

 for misnamed or damaged stock through 

 the inability of the planter to positively 



trace the plants to his establishment 



Plants should be promptly examined 

 upon receipt, and should be at once 

 heeled in if planting cannot be done 

 immediately. In no case should they 

 be permitted to dry out or be left with 

 roots exposed to the sun or to drying 

 winds. If dry when received, they can 

 often be freshened by placing the roots 

 in water for a few hours. If the weather 

 is dry at planting time, the " puddling " 

 of the roots by dipping in a thin mud 

 of clay and water to which fresh cow 

 manure has been added will often go 

 far toward insuring their growth. 



Before setting out, each plant should 

 be carefully examined, and all broken 

 or decayed roots, leaves, or branches 

 should be removed. Plants found dis- 

 eased or infested with injurious insects 

 should be promptly destroyed, unless 

 the affected portions can be readily cut 

 off and burned. The roots should al- 

 ways be placed in contact with fresh, 

 moist soil, whether the planting be done 

 with the hand or with dibble, spade, or 

 other implement. 



Cultivation should immediately follow 

 planting, and should be repeated at 

 frequent intervals during the spring and 

 summer. The appearance of weeds 

 should not be waited for, as the culti- 

 vation is for the crop rather than for 

 the destruction of weeds. In general 

 it should be shallow rather than deep, 

 though when the soil becomes hardened 

 by the impact of heavy rainfall or the 

 tramping of berry pickers, the grower 

 should not hesitate to break it up by 

 running a sharp cultivator, or even a 

 light one-horse plow, to the depth of 3 

 or 4 inches between the rows. If the 

 soil is properly prepared and the culti- 

 vation regularly kept up, this tearing up 

 will rarely be necessary except after the 

 harvesting of a crop of fruit. Provided 

 the soil is in condition to work, once a 



