RASPBERRIES 1355 



Lighter, wanner soils, well stocked with humus and retentive of 

 moisture, are preferable. Most of the plantations of western 

 New York are on sandy and gravelly loams. 



MANURE AND FERTILIZERS 



Moderate annual applications of stable manure and commercial 

 fertilizers are usually beneficial. Fertilizers rich in nitrogen 

 should be used with care to avoid overstimulating the plants. The 

 amount of plant food already in the soil is an unknown and vari- 

 able quantity, and exact specifications as to kind and amount of 

 supplemental fertilizers to be used cannot be given accurately. 

 Such questions should be worked out on the different soils by trials 

 of the different materials, using (1) 400 pounds acid phosphate 

 per acre; (2) phosphate as above and 200 pounds muriate of 

 potash; (3) phosphate and potash as above and 150 pounds nitrate 

 of soda; (4) 8 tons of good stable manure. These should be 

 applied in plats, leaving a plat unfertilized, similar in size and 

 character to the others, as a check. Stable manure should be 

 applied in November, during the winter, or in early spring, while 

 commercial fertilizers should be applied early in the spring. 

 Applications need not be so heavy as with currants or gooseberries. 



PROPAGATION 



Red raspberries are usually increased by digging up and trans- 

 planting the numerous suckers which develop along the plant row. 

 A part of the root system should be dug with each sucker. The 

 dormant tops are usually cut back to within a short distance of the 

 root. 



CULTURE 



The best plants obtainable should be secured, and they may be 

 set either in the fall or spring. The rows of plants set in the fall 

 should be backfurrowed or the plants should be protected over 

 winter. In the spring the plants should be set early. Summer 

 planting is sometimes practiced, usually in May, the young suckers 

 (four to eight inches high) being transplanted during cloudy or 

 wet weather. Plants should be set slightly deeper than they grew. 



The spacing of rows and plants depends on character of soil, 

 on variety, and on the method of culture. Red raspberries are 



