CALIFORNIA BLACKBERRY GROWING 405 



THE BLACKBERRY 



The blackberry is a great favorite in California markets. It thrives 

 in all parts of the State, and the plant is best suited of all small fruits 

 to yield generously without irrigation, though it relishes sufficient mois- 

 ture and repays it with fruit. There is great difference in practice as to 

 supplying water artificially. The growth of cane, and the size and 

 appearance of the fruit, will show the observing grower what should 

 be the practice in his situation, and the general suggestions as to irriga- 

 tion in Chapter XV are applicable. There are regions in which blacK- 

 berries are irrigated weekly throughout the summer, and others in which 

 the berries are gathered from June to November without irrigation. Of 

 course, with such wide local variations there can be no general rule for 

 practice. Let the grower simply bear in mind that if he does not get 

 good, plump, and glistening fruit and good strong growth of new canes 

 at the same time, he should give irrigation. The requirements of the 

 plant during the fruiting season are great, and they must be met. Many 

 failures are due to lack of irrigation when needed. 



Propagation. Blackberry plants are secured by digging up the 

 shoots which come late in the summer from old stools ; securing there- 

 with a bunch of fibrous roots with a portion of the main root three or 

 four inches long. To propagate on a large scale dig up the roots 

 entirely, and, cutting them up with pruning shears into pieces about 

 two inches long, plant them in a well-prepared bed in the garden or 

 nursery. Place the root cuttings about two inches apart and cover 

 about three inches deep with well-pulverized soil, the depth being 

 regulated, of course, according to the nature of the soil, deeper in light 

 than heavy soils. A light mulch will assist in retaining moisture. The 

 time for this work is at the dormant period of the plant. One summer's 

 growth gives good plants for setting out. 



The Mammoth and Crandall are propagated by rooting tips of 

 canes. 



Planting out Blackberries. Blackberries should be planted in 

 rows far enough apart to admit; of the use of the horse and cultivator. 

 As the constant tendency of the plant is to extend itself in the growth 

 of new canes, the rows should not be less than six to eight feet part, 

 and the plants about three feet apart in the row. The plants soon 

 occupy the full space in the row, and cultivation is only possible between 

 the rows. Some growers plant blackberries as they do grapevines, 

 seven or eight feet apart both ways, and then cultivate with the horse 

 both ways. Planting in rows is usually thought better. The number 

 of plants to fill an acre at different distances can be calculated as 

 described in Chapter XXVI for grapevines. 



D. Edson Smith, of Orange County, who had much experience with 

 small fruits, described his method of laying out and planting on a large 

 scale, with a view to irrigation, as follows : 



Plow deeply and harrow thoroughly several times before setting out. Lastly, 

 open a trench with your plow where the row is to be, twenty inches deep; go 

 along with a basket of plants, a four-foot lath and a shovel, and set a plant in 

 this trench every four feet and fill the dirt around it with the shovel. If this 

 trench is too deep in places for the length of the plant root, fill in with a little 



