668 



GLEAKlls^GS IN JiEE CULTUUE. 



Oct. 



THE RASPBERRY. 



ITS SOIL, AND HOW TO PROPAGATE. 



fHE raspberry is divided into two distinct class- 

 es— the "Blackcap " family that is propa- 

 gated by the tips of the young canes taking 

 root in the soil during the autumn months, 

 and the^" Ked" raspberries, which are prop- 

 agated from root cuttings, or by the suckers, which 

 are produced freely from the roots. The former is 

 of American and the latter of foreign oi-igin, and 

 both, as a rule, produc-e fruit only on canes of tlie 

 previous year's growth — the canes v.hich have 

 borne fruit, dying during the latter part of the sum- 

 mer, and during autumn, and the young shoots 

 which started out vigorously from near the surface 

 of the ground, early in the season, taking their 

 place to bear fruit the next year. 



The raspberry follows ?he strawberry in the time 

 of ripening; and while it is one of the most whole- 

 some, refreshing, and agreeable raid-summer des- 

 sert fruits, it is also largely used in canning and in 

 making syrups, .iellies, and jams. The black-caps 

 are easily dried, about three quarts of the bcriics 

 making a pound of dried fruit, and the market qvm- 

 tatlons of 2.") to 35 cts. per lb. seein to indicmte that 

 dried raspberries are appreciated. 



That a fruit so highly esteemed ly ucaily every 

 one should have lieen so much neglected, can be ex- 

 plained only on the hypothesis that there Is a wide- 

 spread misappreliension in regaid to the soil, cul- 

 ture, and pruning required, or that the productive- 

 ness, Ireedom from insects and diseases, and gener- 

 al reliableness of the hardier varieties of the rasp- 

 berry, have been overlooked or underrated. 



In the last five years our Kittatinny blackberry- 

 canes have been killed to the ground twice by the 

 cold winter; and apples, peaches, cherriis, plums, 

 grapes, currants, and gooseberries, iiave all failed 

 once, and most of them several times, from the cold 

 of winter or frosts of spring; but we have gathered 

 five good crops of raspberries in that time. Then 

 the growing of the fruits commonly found in our 

 orchards and gardens means a continual conflict 

 with rabbits, mice, caterpillars, borers, curculios, 

 and currant-worms; but the raspberry bids defi- 

 ance to all these. With us (and I might say in this 

 section of country) the rasplierry is entirely exempt 

 from disease and the attack of insects. 



RKD KASPBERRIKS AND THEIIl PROPAGATION. 



These, if let alone, will propagate themselves 

 quite freely by sending up young shoots for several 

 feet in every direction. When jilanls are wanted it 

 is only necessary to let these suckers renuiln until 

 the proper season for transplanting. 



Ur-ACK-CAPS. 



These will propagate themselves to a limited ex- 

 tent; but the only certain way to obtain any consid- 

 erable number of jilants is to bend down and bury 

 three or four inchesof the points of the canes in the 

 ground. We do this by inserting a masons trowel 

 four or five inches in the ground, at an angle of 

 aljout 4."> degrees; then, xvithout withdrawing the 

 trowel, the handle is raised a little, and th<^ i)oint of 

 the cane pushed in under the trowel, and held there 

 while the trowel is removed, and the soil firmed 

 over the point of the cane by pressing on it withone 

 foot. This work should be done about the first of 

 September, and the tips of the canes will be' Avell 

 rooted, and ready to transplant, by the latt«'r part 

 of October. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



It is claimed that plants set in the fall will make a 

 much stronger growth the first year, while the ob- 

 jections urged against fall planting are, that the 

 plants are liable to be heaved out like cloxer and 

 wheat by thealternate freezing and thawing in win- 

 ter, and that heavy soils sometimes bake over the 

 plants so as to interfere with the growth. An extra 

 three or four inches of soil drawn up over the 

 plants in the fall, to be raked oft in the spring, or a 

 small forkful of coarse manure dropped on each 

 plant in the fall, is recommended by some of those 

 who favor fall planting. Spring planting, as a rule, 

 should ;-.e done as soon as the ground is in good con- 

 dition for working; but wheri the plants are obtain- 

 ! ed within a short distance it is possible to make late 

 planting successful. In May, ISS3, we put out about 

 j ^J'sOO plants when the young shoots were from four 

 , to eight inches high. The plants were conveyed, 

 I about 7.) at a time, some 20 rods in a hand-cart, and I 

 I distributed them along the rows, taking care not to 

 \ break the younji' shoots, and transferring along 

 wit!) the plants all the clay that adhered to the 

 roots. In setting the plants, one person went along 

 and put the plants in place, spreading out the roots 

 and drawing a little fine soil over them; a second 

 followed, pouring about a iiiiit of water over the 

 roots ol' each plant: and a third person, xvith a hoe, 

 finished the opoi ation liy drawing an inch or two of 

 dry soil over that which had been xvetted. This 

 transplanting was done in a very dry time, but 

 thei-e were not as many as a dozen plants xvhich 

 I failed to grow, and they did well enough to yield 



about twenty bushels of fine berries in 1884. 

 I The old stereotyped i)hrase, "Plant shallow," has 

 become obsolete xvitbin a few years; and at jires- 

 ent, most if not all of the successful raspberry- 

 I growers advise and practice planting to a depth of 

 three or four inches. By planting at this depth 

 they are less apt to be blown over bjthe wind, and 

 my experience seems to indicate that they are more 

 : apt to live and grow, than when planted shallow. 

 K. yi. Keynom>s. 

 I East Springflel.l, O., Sept. 8, 18?5. 



I Tlianks, friend IL. for your suggestions. 

 It seems to me tlie outlook is quite favora- 

 ble for bee-keepers to have a good planta- 

 i tiou of raspberries in connection with the 

 ! honey business. The demaml for the fruit 

 I is excellent : and with rt cent improvements 

 { in the way of evaporatiiiL:; and drying, there 

 ( is little probability of any market" ever being 

 ' overstocked. 



MORE ABOUT GELSEMIUM HONEY. 



SOMK. ADIHTIO.NAI. KACIS. 



^JTIH join- permission I shouhl like to make a 

 few remarks in reference to the yellow 

 jessamine, or (irhiinium ntnujen-irenii, of 

 the South, poison honey, etc. I have lived 

 in the South, and gathered this i)lant a 

 great many times in its various stages of growth, 

 and at all times of the year— have used the fresh 

 infusion and tincture from the green root, and the 

 infusion and tincture from the dry root, in many 

 forms of disease, and in no case were there any in- 

 jurious eflfects from its use, but the most desirable 

 and agreeable i-esults. 1 have chewed the flowers, 

 and known others to do so, when 1 have been gath- 

 ing the vine— have made the infusion from the 



