THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



of blackberries on thin, sandy land, which bore good crops of fruit for thirteen years, yielding 

 several times 650, 700, and once 800 bushels of fruit, while land adjoining, equally good, 

 planted with corn, did not produce more than half that number of bushels per acre. When 

 the corn was removed, all was gone; to get another crop we had to manure and plant again. 

 But not so with the blackberries, for we pick only the ripe fruit, and leave the foliage to fall 

 upon the ground to add to its fertility. The plants being once established, the annual crop 

 of fruit taken off may be compared to the coupons taken from government bonds, the 

 principal remaining to produce more. 



Having experimented on several kinds of soil, from a firm clay to a light blowing sand, 

 we prefer, as the most favorable location for blackberries, a light, moist, sandy loam; well 



underdrained, if water would other 

 wise stand near the surface. For 

 merly we thought that low, rich 

 land would be best, judging from 

 the large growth of briers along 

 the ditches and swampy places. 

 Accordingly one of our neighbors 

 planted ten acres of low, dark, rich 

 land that had produced heavy crops 

 of corn and timothy, expecting to 

 get a corresponding one of black 

 berries; but in this he was disap 

 pointed, except in growth of canes, 

 which were very large and strong, 

 but not well ripened before winter 

 set in, and consequently were 

 greatly injured, and sometimes en 

 tirely killed before spring, and 

 yielding but little or no fruit; while 

 blackberries planted on thin, higher 

 land, not worth near so much for 

 agricultural purposes, produced 

 small canes with buds well devel 

 oped and wood matured before 

 the approach of winter, and yielded 

 heavy crops of fruit. 



The land should be plowed 

 and harrowed smoothly, then open 

 furrows in the fall at a distance of 

 eight feet apart; and if muck can 

 be had conveniently, it is valuable 

 to spread along the furrows during 

 winter, leaving it exposed to the ac 

 tion of the frost. Early in spring set the plants nearly three feet apart, requiring 2,000 

 plants to one acre. The intervening space, while the plants are small, need not be lost, 

 but corn, potatoes, or other vegetables may be grown midway between the rows for the first 

 year or two. The roots will mostly follow along the muck, and grow more vigorously than 

 lateral or side shoots. Hence the strongest and best plants will come up nearly where they 

 are wanted, to produce fruit the following year. But they should not be left to stand along 

 the rows closer together than an average of one plant to a foot in length in the rows. 



WILSON S EAHI.Y BLACKBEBRY. 



