206 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



be allowed between the rows for the dwarf-growing varieties, 5 feet for the vigorous, 

 and 6 feet for the robust. Some cultivators have the rows farther apart, and intercrop 

 with vegetables. It is better to utilise the whole of the ground, allowing the raspberries 

 sufficient space and no more than is needed for the perfecting of the crops and for facili- 

 tating cultural operations. Plants for espaliers may be placed 1 to 2 feet apart, but it 

 is generally preferable to arrange them at the distances before named. 



PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 



Propagation. This is effected by seeds, cuttings, and offsets or suckers. Seeds ger- 

 minate readily, and the plants bear fruit in the second or third year. The seedlings 

 are very sportive : a few may equal the parents, while occasionally a variety may prove 

 superior to them, but the majority bear small worthless fruits. There is, however, a 

 chance of securing an improved variety by sowing carefully selected seeds from the 

 choicest fruits. The seeds should be washed to separate them from the pulp, afterwards 

 drying a little, and either sown at once in shallow drills 1 foot apart in light rich soil 

 in an open situation, or kept until the spring, when they will germinate, and the seed- 

 lings be fit for transplanting the following autumn. 



The rows may be 2^ feet apart, and the plants 18 inches asunder in them. If kept 

 clea 11 , mulched, and moist at the roots, they will make vigorous canes the first season. If 

 they do not, cut the seedlings down to the ground in the autumn, reduce the growths 

 in the following spring to one or two on each plant; then stout well-matured canes 

 will be made that will produce characteristic fruit in the third year. A selection can be 

 made and promising seedlings improved by cultivation. 



Cuttings may be made of the well-ripened canes, about 9 inches in length, severing 

 them transversely below a joint, inserting nearly their whole length in light rich soil, 

 also moist and shaded from the midday sun. Most of the cuttings will root, but it is a 

 mode of propagation only had recourse to for increasing scarce varieties. Root cuttings 

 underground stems especially those running near the surface, cut into 3-inch lengths, 

 and placed in pans of sandy soil in the autumn, wintered in a cold frame, develop one or 

 more growths in the spring, and as soon as these can be handled they may be planted in 

 rows as advised for seedlings. In suitable soil, each root cutting will form a good cane 

 the first season. 



Offsets or suckers are produced freely from the creeping root in some varieties, 

 others expend their forces on a few canes springing from the base of the rootstock. 



