9 



ous stock. Then in the foUowing fall or spring this stock is 

 taken up, inspected for disease, and, if found clean, is set in 

 the fruiting fields. Plants of this type will make wonderful 

 growth in one season, and the second season will bear a very 

 heavy crop of fruit. Blackcaps and purple canes, however, are 

 usually propagated by tip layering. Blackberries may be grown 

 either from root cuttings or suckers. 



Now, having obtained our plants, we are ready for planting. 

 Reds and blackberries may be either planted in the spring or 

 fall, but blackcaps and dewberries should always be planted 

 in the spring. 



The system of planting will vary a great deal with different 

 varieties. The reds are grown both in the hedgerows and hill 

 systems. Some varieties may do better in the hill system, 

 while others give better returns in the hedgerow. For Massa- 

 chusetts in general the latter is preferable. Blackcaps are grown 

 in hills, and the purple canes in both systems. Blackberries 

 are grown in hedgerows and on wire trellis. Dewberries which 

 creep on the ground the first year are usually tied to stakes or 

 to wires on a trellis the second, or fruiting, season. After fruit- 

 ing, the old canes are cut away, and the following spring the 

 new canes are tied, this being repeated each year. 



After setting, the field should be kept thoroughly cultivated 

 and hoed until late summer, when a cover crop should be sown. 

 This is very important, as it protects the land and plants during 

 the winter, and adds humus to the soil. In the growing of dew- 

 berries it is essential that a cover crop or a crop of weeds be 

 allowed to grow to protect the plants over winter. In some sec- 

 tions it may be necessary to protect the red raspberry by laying 

 down and covering. This is rather an expensive process, and 

 I believe we should grow hardier varieties and correct other 

 conditions to prevent, if possible, winter killing, by giving con- 

 siderable attention to the location of the plantation, soil mois- 

 ture, cover crops and windbreaks. 



The latter is very important, as heavy drying winds during 

 the winter and early spring have a great deal to do with the 

 loss of plants by winter injury. Pruning, then, becomes a very 

 important operation in growing these fruits, owing to the fact 

 that the fruit is borne on new canes each season. Thus each 



