66 



fruit from healthy and vigorous plants under high cultivation. 

 If two varieties have been grown near each other, the seedlings 

 are likely to be a cross, and some of them may prove superior 

 to either parent. 



The seeds are more safely planted in fall, if the operation is 

 properly performed, and the young plants carefully protected ; 

 but they may be preserved in sand in a cool cellar until spring, 

 and planted as soon as the ground is in suitable condition. The 

 seed-bed should be well fertilized, finely pulverized, and so 

 located that partial shade can be given. The young plants are 

 exceedingly tender, and are likely to be injured, if not entirely 

 destroyed, by hot suns when fully exposed. Boards six or eight 

 inches wide, placed around the bed so that it can be covered 

 by a screen made of laths an inch and a half apart, will be 

 found convenient, as it may be removed for cultivation, or in 

 cloudy weather, when full light and air are desirable. 



By all means plant in rows for convenience in cultivation 

 say in drills one foot apart and let the seed be covered not 

 more than half an inch deep. The soil over the rows should be 

 made firm with the back of a spade, or otherwise. If sown in 

 the fall, the young plants will appear early the next spring, and 

 if in spring, they will germinate in a few weeks. The seeds of 

 the raspberry retain their vitality for several years if kept dry 

 and cool, and may be sent by mail to any part of the country. 

 Seedlings will require some care the first winter, as the wood 

 is not likely to be sufficiently matured to bear exposure to the 

 cold, and the roots are almost sure to be drawn out by frost and 

 injured. Protection may be given by mulching with straw, or 

 covering with evergreen boughs, care being taken that the 

 mulching is not so thick and heavy as to injure the plants. 

 Some prefer to take up the plants in autumn, and heel them in 

 in some dry, sheltered place, to be planted again in spring into 

 trial beds, at suitable distances for future development. 



The growing of seedlings is like a lottery where most of the 

 tickets draw blanks. Only a small percentage of the plants 

 will prove to be of any value. Some will prove tender ; others 

 wanting in vigor, or unhealthy in growth ; still others will be 

 found unproductive, small, soft, of poor quality, form, or color, 

 and so be soon rejected ; while a few may be thought worthy of 



