37 



winter. Windbreaks seldom prove of much value. Wood- 

 lands and hills may to some extent offer shelter from storms 

 and winds, but under^^ unfavorable conditions the wind- 

 breaks may prove a disadvantage causing more harm than 

 f^ood especially to the strawberry at blooming time. 



PROPAGATION.— Time forbids taking up in detail the 

 propagation of the different Small-Fruits. Kortunatelj'. 

 the methods are simple as compared with those of tree- 

 fruits, and most growers readily increase their stock under 

 personal supervision. Briefly stated, strawberries are in- 

 creased by using the new plants developed from the run- 

 ners; red raspberries by the use of suckers which spring up 

 along the row ; black raspberries, purple raspberries and 

 dewberries by using the new plants secured by ourying or 

 "tipping" the ends of the canes in the soil in the fall, when 

 properly matured ; blackberries by the use of suckers or by 

 plants grown from root-cuttings made by cutting the larger 

 roots about four-inch lengths and growing in nursery rows 

 for one or two years; currants usually by making cuttings 

 eight to ten inches long, in the fall, and planting deeply 

 either in fall or spring about four inches apart in nursery 

 rows, where they remain one or two years; gooseberries 

 by cuttings as with currants or more commonly, especially 

 with English varieties, by mound-layering in mid summer, 

 drawing up the earth, in and about the bush and canes. 

 Roots spring out from the covered wood and at the proper 

 time all shoots thus rooted are cut from the mother plant 

 and are grown in nursery rows for one or two years before 

 setting in the commercial plantation. Currants are also 

 sometimes mounded. 



SELECTION OF PLANTS.— The best plants are none 

 too good and the Small-Fruit grower, especially when he 

 grows his own stock is in position to select nothing but 

 choicely good plants to set. All weaklings from whatever 

 cause should be discarded. A good, large, strong, fibrous 

 root-system is a decided asset to any plant, and the little 

 attention required to select such stock is repaid many times 



