RASPBERKY AND BLACKBERRY GROWING 

 IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



S. L. DAVENPORT, NORTH GRAFTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



Massachusetts is not considered to be one of the most im- 

 portant fruit-growing States of the Union; nevertheless, we find 

 in many sections of the State that the industry has developed 

 very rapidly during the last ten years, and that to-day we are 

 producing large quantities of apples, like the Baldwin and 

 Mcintosh, of the highest quality. Not only are we producing 

 them, but grading and packing them correctly, and meeting the 

 competition of the fine fruit from the West, and obtaining 

 equally as good, and many times better, prices. What, you 

 ask, has been the cause of this great awakening in fruit grow- 

 ing? Surely we must give considerable credit to the Massa- 

 chusetts Fruit Growers Association and the fine work they are 

 doing, and also to the State Department of Agriculture, the 

 Agricultural College and agricultural schools for the education, 

 encouragement and leadership they have given. However, I 

 believe that we must give our fellow fruit growers of the West 

 the credit for most of this awakening, for they, through their 

 pioneer work and great success, have aroused us to the won- 

 derful possibilities right here at home. 



But most of this development has been with the large fruits, 

 like apples, etc., and we find that very little has been done in 

 developing the wonderful possibilities of the raspberry and 

 blackberry. Here, again, I am wondering if it will not take the 

 West to show us the great opportunity we have in growing 

 these fruits right at home. Already large areas in raspberries 

 and blackberries have been developed in the West, and are in- 

 creasing rapidly, while we in Massachusetts are hardly doing 

 anvthing at all. 



