FRUIT CULTURE. 827 



is one of the hardiest varieties known. The fruit is of good quality, large size, jet black in 

 color, and ripens among the earliest, which is at the time when strawberries are getting scarce in 

 the market. 



Brinkle s Orange. A variety of excellent quality; fruit large, fine flavored, and 

 light yellow in color. The plant is a good grower, but not hardy, and must have winter pro 

 tection at the North. 



Carolilias. This is a seedling of Brinkle s Orange, to which it bears a close resemblance 

 in appearance and quality. The plant is, however, quite hardy. 



Soil. Raspberries may be grown on almost any soil that will produce a good crop of 

 corn or potatoes. Care should be used, however, to avoid very heavy clay soils, and such as 

 are liable to remain water-soaked during the winter. The black varieties are more hardy 

 than the red, and good crops but not the best may be grown on even hard clay or wet 

 soils. A rich, gravelly soil, or a moist loam of good quality, are perhaps the best for this 

 fruit, while fine crops may also be produced from a deep sandy loam. The berries will ripen 

 several days earlier on the latter soil than upon any other. It is always best, when practica 

 ble, to select such soils as are adapted to the plants, as the most satisfactory results are thus 

 obtained. f 



Manures and Fertilizers. Well fermented stable manure is perhaps the best for 

 general use in raspberry culture, although there are many other fertilizers that will answer 

 the purpose well. Decomposed sod and muck are both excellent, and especially if left 

 exposed to the action of the frost in a barnyard during the winter. Bone dust, guano, or 

 hen manure may be applied at the rate of from five hundred to eight hundred pounds per 

 acre, with benefit, either broadcast and harrowed in, or placed on the surface before hoeing 

 or cultivating. Wood ashes, leaf mould, or soil from the woods, and salt, are also good; the 

 latter should be applied in quantity from one and a half to three bushels per acre. On very 

 rich soil, such as the prairies of the West, ground bone and wood ashes will prove very 

 beneficial. 



Planting. Land that has previously been occupied by hoed crops, or grain, is more 

 desirable for planting raspberries, it being more easily worked, although they may be grown 

 quite successfully on sod land after the sod has been turned under. Keep the roots moist 

 while setting, taking pains not to allow the hot sun to dry and wither them. For field culture 

 the rows may be from six to eight feet apart, with plants two or three feet apart in the rows. 

 In garden culture, they may be planted at the same distance, or in hills about four feet apart 

 each way, and one or two plants in a hill. Some place the thrifty growing cap varieties at 

 five feet apart. In planting for field culture the usual custom is to turn a furrow with a plow 

 for setting. Place the plants in at about the same depth of soil they previously occupied, 

 and cover the roots with a hoe or small plow. When a spade is used for planting, make the 

 excavation for the roots sufficiently large to allow them to spread out well. Unless the 

 ground is quite wet, press the soil a little with the foot in setting, just before filling in the 

 last inch or two of depth. 



This will aid the roots in retaining the moisture of the soil, and also the plants in main 

 taining a secure upright position. If it is very warm at the time of planting, and the canes 

 are in leaf, the plants may require shading for a few days; otherwise they will not. Many 

 fruit growers consider it beneficial to cut off the canes within from two to six inches of the 

 ground after setting, in order to give them a more vigorous start when planting in the spring. 

 This is not desirable when planting in the fall. The usual time for planting raspberries and 

 blackberries is during the month of October or early November; this gives the roots a chance 

 to grow before the ground freezes, which they will do even when the tops are dormant. Red 

 raspberries will remain in prime bearing condition from six to eight years, with good care, 

 until they will frequently contrive to yield fair crops from fifteen to twenty years. 



