PRUNING TRAILING BLACKBERRIES 409 



Early, producing a fruit so large that it has been named "Mammoth" 

 by its originator. The canes of the Mammoth are very peculiar, being 

 very large and thickly covered with small, short spines. The canes 

 start early in March, grow thick and stout until about five feet high. 

 They then take on a running habit and grow from twenty-five to thirty 

 feet in a season. Late in the fall the tips or stolons seek the ground 

 and take root. The Mammoth is not an evergreen like its Texas parent, 

 although it does not entirely lose its leaves in winter. It begins 

 to grow and flower very early in spring and ripens its fruit the last 

 of May, some weeks earlier than the Lawton. The fruit is more 

 acid than the Lawton, but, when perfectly ripe, is sweet and of superior 

 flavor. When cooked or canned the flavor is identical with the wild 

 berry of California. This variety is often wrongly called "Black 

 Loganberry." 



The Himalaya is a blackberry of wonderful growth and prolificness, 

 highly praised by amateurs, but not yet fully made out from a com- 

 mercial point of view. It is magnificent on a garden fence or trellis. 



The Dewberry. The improved varieties of the dewberry, or 

 trailing blackberry, are now quite widely known and highly praised, but 

 are chiefly grown for home use. Some growers use trellises; others 

 train the vines along rows on the ground surface. The following is 

 the method of Mr. A. M. Munger, of Fresno, and includes irrigation 

 arrangements : 



For planting the Lucretia dewberry, prepare the ground by plowing deen and 

 cultivating until the dirt is thoroughly pulverized. Set the plants about three 

 inches deep: and four feet apart, in rows, leaving a space of six feet between the 

 rows. Plant between February 15th and March 15th. Irrigate as often as once 

 a month, always thoroughly cultivating after each irrigation. By so doing a 

 sufficient growth is secured to produce a good crop the second year. Immedi- 

 ately after the first rainfall, generally in October, the vines should be pruned 

 by cutting back within about sixteen inches of the base of the vine. 



In February of the second year, plow between the rows with a small one- 

 horse plow, turning the furrows toward the vines, but using a shield so as not 

 to cover them. Follow immediately with a hoe, drawing the dirt up under the 

 vines and forming a ridge. This ridge should be high enough to keep the vines 

 up out of the water when irrigating. After this ridge is formed, water should 

 be run quite often, as the dewberry requires a great deal of water to mature 

 properly. The vines should be irrigated as often as three times at least during 

 the spring. The fruit begins to ripen in Fresno about May 25th, and continues 

 about one month. The dewberry roots readily from the tips without covering 

 if the soil is loose and moist. If many plants are desired it is advisable to 

 cover slightly, and the tips will root as soon as the soil is moistened by the fall 

 rains. 



A trellising method for dewberries consists in driving posts to stand 

 about three feet high for the dewberry can not be trained up as high as 

 other berries. Make a half hoop of coarse wire extending from the 

 root of the plant over the arms at top of the post and training the 

 plants on this. The rows are usually six feet apart and the plants six 

 feet apart in the rows. The vines should be well thinned to produce 

 large berries. 



The dewberry which has recently been most largely planted in cen- 

 tral and southern California is known as the Gardena because of the 



