FRUIT PLANTA TIONS STRA WBERRIES. 30 1 



18 inches, u leet 15 inches in the rows. In rows of greater width the plants are set 

 15 inches apart, the ground between being cropped for a time and in turn occupied 

 with raspberries as the others wear out. This is an excellent method, as the raspberry 

 is only profitable a few years under plantation culture. Some growers prefer stools or 

 hills of three canes each, 4, 5, or 6 feet apart, according to soil and variety. Red 

 Antwerp, Fastolf, and Carter's Prolific are popular varieties, but Baumforth's Seedling 

 and Superlative are being extensively planted. The canes are shortened to about 

 2 feet at planting, and the result is strong suckers for ripening and fruiting in the 

 second year. 



An average crop is 1| ton = 3,360 Ibs. per acre, price (wholesale) 2d. 5d. a pound, 

 according to locality, season, or crop = 35 70. There is a great demand for this 

 fruit for jam, raspberry vinegar, and confections. In full bearing the crop in some cases 

 averages 2 tons per acre, and the prices vary from 18 to 45 per ton. The crop is 

 more liable to suffer from wet than any other, hence it is uncertain ; yet raspberries are 

 largely grown, some persons having plantations of from 20 to 40 acres. The canes should 

 be thinned each spring to the number required for the succeeding year's crop, and the 

 spent fruiting canes removed as soon as the crop is taken. In late autumn the canes 

 are shortened to 2 to oj feet long according to their strength, and to be self-supporting, 

 for they are not staked in plantations ; but it is a good plan to wind yarn round the 

 top of the canes so that they do not hang down under the weight of fruit and thus 

 become spoiled in showery weather. A top dressing of manure or litter is needed in 

 the summer before hot weather sets in, especially in light soils and those liable to bake, 

 the crop also paying for applications of sewage or other liquid nourishment in drv 

 seasons. A dressing of manure in the autumn is imperative, pointing it in, and an 

 application of nitrate of soda in the spring assists the swelling of the crop. The 

 durability of the plantation in profit ranges from eight to twelve years or longer, this 

 being greatly influenced by the soil and management. 



Strawberries. The strawberry succeeds on sandy soils with liberal manuring, on 

 loams and in the freely worked clays. The land should be deeply ploughed, subsoiled if 

 necessary, and well manured. Early potatoes may precede the strawberries, so as to 

 have an enriched soil, clean and in good tilth. The runners are taken from the best plants 

 directly the fruit is picked, put in nursery rows, and thence planted in the fruiting quarters 

 in the autumn, or left on the plants till the autumn, then either planted permanently or 

 placed in a nursery bed and set in the spring. It is better to layer the runners in pots, 



