512 



BLACKBERRY 



BLANDFORDIA 



burst. Care must be taken not to break or split the 

 canes. Such protection at present prices of labor will 

 cost from eight to twelve dollars per acre. Winter in- 

 jury is sometimes a matter of moisture as well as of 

 temperature, and, in irrigated regions, late irrigation 

 may obviate the necessity of a winter covering. 



Thorough cultivation is essential for the proper 

 conservation of moisture in a blackberry plantation, 

 abundant moisture being a prime requisite for this 

 fruit. It must be frequent and constant until the ber- 

 ries begin to turn in color. After the crop is harvested, 

 the cultivator should be used to put the ground in shape 

 for the cover-crop. The cultivator must be shallow- 

 cutting since deep cultivation injures the roots, thereby 

 weakening the plants, and inducing suckering. Mulch- 

 ing to take the place of cultivation is not to be recom- 

 mended, except in small patches, and in the row with 

 cultivation between rows. 



Blackberries should not be harvested until fully ripe, 

 and the sooner eaten after picking the better the qual- 

 ity. The fruits are not ripe when they attain full color 

 but must be left on the bushes until soft, at which time 

 they should part from the stem readily when the cluster 

 is shaken. In picking, the berries should not be exposed 

 to the sun. Well treated, the plants should bear some 

 fruit the second season, and the third summer should 

 give a fair crop. The length of time the plants will bear 

 depends upon the variety, the soil and the treatment. 

 When the stools become thin, the canes weak and the 

 fruits small, the plantation should be cut down, this 

 time coming usually when the bushes are ten or twelve 

 years old. 



Blackberry-growers have several troubles to contend 

 with. Late frosts occasionally do much harm in north- 

 ern latitudes. Borers often do much damage to canes 

 and can be circumvented only by cutting out infested 

 stalks. Two fungous diseases, orange rust and anthrac- 

 nose, are dangerous, and are successfully kept in check 

 only by cutting out the diseased wood. Root-galls are 

 often found but it is doubtful whether they do much 

 damage, and it is certainly not worth while trying to con- 

 trol them. Good treatment, especially as regards culti- 

 vation and pruning, with careful attention to destroy- 



ing the pests 

 mentioned as 

 soon as practi- 

 cable, will keep 

 the plants in 

 health. 

 The yields and 



Erofits in black- 

 erry-growing 

 are most en- 

 couraging to small- 

 fruit - growers. In a 

 plantation well cared 

 for, a crop of two hun- 

 dred bushels per acre 

 may be expected. 

 Blackberries are not 

 suitable for long-dis- 

 tance shipments and 

 monetary rewards 

 come from local mar- 

 kets and here they are 

 often large when cli- 

 mate, soil and general 

 conditions are favor- 

 able, u. P. HEDRICK. 



BLACKBERRY LILY: 



Belamcanda. 



BLACKWOOD: Acacia. 



Sla- 



581. Sand 

 blackberry. 



(XH) 



580. Wild probable hybrid of blackberry and dewberry. 



BLADDER - NUT. 

 phylea. 



BLADDERWORT: 



Utricularia. 



BLAKEA (Stephen 

 Blake, gardener, of the island of Antigua in the West 

 Indies, who wrote "Compleat Gardener's Practice," 

 London, 1664). Valdesia, Ruiz & Pav. Melastomdcex. 

 Hothouse or greenhouse evergreen shrubs, of which two 

 species are in cultivation for the showy flowers and 

 prominent foliage. 



Erect or scandent woody plants, sometimes small 

 trees: Ivs. opposite, leathery, mostly prominently 3-7- 

 nerved, petioled, nearly or quite entire, often rusty- 

 pubescent beneath: fls. rose-purple or white, showy and 

 large, solitary or fascicled in the axils; calyx with 4 or 

 more scales or bracts at base; petals 6, oblong or obo- 

 vate; stamens 12 with thickened filaments, the anthers 

 cohering and opening by 2 pores at the apex; ovary 

 adhering to calyx, 4-6-celled: fr. a fleshy berry. About 

 30 species in W. Indies and S. Amer. By some the 

 genus Amaraboya (which see) is included with 

 Blakea; Amaraboya has capsular rather than 

 baccate fr. 



trineryia, Linn. Shrub, in the wild the branches 

 supporting themselves on neighboring bushes, 

 and roots sometimes springing from the sts. : 

 Ivs. oval-oblong to elliptic, dark green above, often 

 rusty-tomentose beneath, prominently 3-nerved : 

 fls. pink or rose-color, solitary, on long stalks, 

 in early summer. Mountain woods, Jamaica. 

 A good plant for the warm con- 

 servatory. 



gracilis, Hemsl. Compact shrub, 

 2-3 ft.: Ivs. elliptic, acuminate, 

 leathery, glabrous: fls. solitary, 

 fragrant, 2 in. across, the petals 

 white with a rose-colored spot at the 

 base. Costa Rica. Needs an inter- 

 mediate temperature. L. H. B. 



BLANDFORDIA (after George, 

 Marquis of Blandford). Lilidcaf. 

 Tender rhizomatous plants from 

 Australia and Tasmania, placed by 



