FRUITS 399 



spring and then transplanted, and of course runner plants 

 that have not borne fruit are the best. To secure the best 

 berries, each plant should have a space to itself (" hill "), 

 which can be cultivated all around. The old way of allow- 

 ing beds to become matted with runners is passing out, for 

 many berries are covered up and in a very unfavorable posi- 

 tion for development. Therefore, when a large area is under 

 cultivation, and liberal hills are impracticable, narrow and 

 rather close rows are used, so that as much fruit as possible 

 may be "on the outside." In the fall it is usual to mulch 

 the beds to protect them through the winter and early 

 spring. This mulch is a covering of clean straw or material 

 containing straw. In the south, pine needles are used, while 

 near the sea-coast salt marsh hay is convenient. 



The growth of strawberry plants is during the cool season 

 of the year, and of course in the south this means very early 

 in the year. In fact the cultivated berries seem to find their 

 most congenial home in the south, where they are the most 

 important of the small fruits. 



106. Raspberry. Raspberries are brambles, associated 

 in the same genus (Rubus) with blackberries, from which 

 they differ in the fact that the close cluster of small fruits 

 separates from the receptacle like a cap. The European 

 species (Rubus Idceus) has been longest in cultivation, and 

 has yielded many important varieties of high quality, but 

 it lacks hardiness and productiveness in the United States, 

 and for this reason it is our least important species. 



It is from American species that we have obtained our 

 commonly cultivated red and black raspberries. Rubus 

 strigosus is a red raspberry, like its European relative. Per- 

 haps it is inferior in quality, but it is more hardy and pro- 

 ductive, and therefore almost all the red raspberries of the 

 market are from this American species. Rubus occidentalis is 

 the black raspberry, or " black cap," and its races, although 

 they are perhaps less liked by most people than the reds, are 



