THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



491 



duction of seedlings for the purpose of securing 

 new sorts. By hybridization of the hindi-,, and 

 by selecting the finest and largest Iniit, from 

 which to save the seed?, we are certain new and 

 superior varieties CfTn be raised. 



To induce cultivators to give more attention to 

 ihe raspberry, is the object ol' this article; and, to 

 render our inlormation the luore useful, we shall 

 treat of its growth under the (bilowing heads : — 

 situation — soil — procuring plants — planting out — 

 winter treatment — sumaier treatment — autumnal j 

 dressings— pruning — general remarks — and de- 

 scriptions of the different varieties. 



Situation. — A coo! aspect is o( material conse- 

 quence ; and to secure this, the north side ol a 

 lence or trellis, which will form a screen from the 

 sun, is the most favorable ; on the north side of a 

 shrubbery, or row of I'ruit trees, is also a suitable 



Klace. If neither of these situations are to be 

 ad, an open spot in the garden may be chosen, 

 always being careful to avoid the south or east 

 side of a tiance. A temporary shade may be 

 effected in the open garden, by planting a row of 

 running beans on the south side. Having selected 

 a proper place, proceed to prepare the soil. 



Soil. — A good soil is the most important requi- 

 site. Having marked out the size of the bed, il 

 the earth is not naturally very rich and deep, pre- 

 parations should be made to trench it. First 

 cover the surlace with three or four inches of bog 

 earth, if to be procured, or, in its place, leaf soil, 

 and if these are not conveniently to be had, good 

 old roiten hot-bed manure, which has laid at least 

 six or eight months : that from hot-beds made in 

 April will do fijr use in the following Octcber, and 

 if a portion of the bed was leaves, it is so much 

 the more to be preferred. Having spread the 

 manure upon the surface, it should then be 

 trenched in. two spades deep, or about eighteen 

 inches, placing the manure at the bottom of the 

 trench. Levol the sur.'ace, and spade in an inch 

 or two more of the same kind of manure, and 

 after allowing a week lor the bed to settle, it will 

 be ready for planting:. 



Procuring plants.— The success of planting 

 out depends considerably upon a judicious selec- 

 tion of plants. Suckers of all sizes are generally 

 thrown up, and many cultivators would naturally 

 select the largest : such, however, are not the 

 best ; those of medium size, neither too larcre nor 

 too small, have the finest roots, and spread more 

 rapidly than the others. In selecting, relerence 

 should be had to the roots rather than the tops. 



Planting out. — Having prepared the beds, and 

 secured a sufficient number of plants, preparations 

 may be made for setting out. A spade, a rake, 

 and a garden hoe will be the proper implements 

 to accomplish this. The bed being marked out, 

 isiretch the line across the bed, from east to west, 

 at the distance of two lieet from \.h6 walk : com- 

 mence on either side of the line at one end, by 

 taking out the earth the width and depth of the 

 spade ; place in the plant against the line, and 

 throw the soil out of the second hole to fill up the 

 first : in this way proceed until the whole bed is 

 planted, treading the soil lightly around each 

 plant ; with the rake smooth and level the whole, 

 and the work is finished. The rows should be 

 three feet apart, and the plants three feet apart in 

 the rows. 



Winter treatment,~Oa the approach of cold 



weather it will be necessary to protect the plants 

 lor the winter. The best method of doing this is 

 simply to bend the branches down to the ground, 

 and cover them with lour or five inches ol the 

 soil. Some cultivators use leaves, and others 

 coarse manure, but we believe nothing answers 

 better than the common soil in which they grow. 



Summer treatment. — As soon as danger of cold 

 weather is over, which is generally the first of 

 A[)ril, the plants should be uncovered, and a stake 

 placed to each, to which the stems should be se- 

 curely tied : the first summer very little must be 

 expected from the plantation, and only a few 

 suckers will be thrown up from each plant ; but 

 by the second year they will be more numerous, 

 and produce considerable fruit. As soon as the 

 plants are tied up, proceed to level the ground, 

 and give it a neat finish with the rake : the only 

 after culture is to keep down the weeds, and the 

 surlace loose, by occasional hoeings. 



Autumnal dressings. — Enriching the bed at 

 the time of planting is not sufficient to keep the 

 plants in good condition. The beds should have 

 a dressing ol'two or three inches of compost every 

 autumn. This should be laid on in October and 

 ligijtly forked in, bearing in mind that a mixture 

 ol bog earth, or leaf soil and manure, is better 

 for the plants than all manure. This will encour- 

 age the growth of the roots, and in the spring, 

 the suckers vyhich are thrown up to form the bear- 

 ing plants of the next season, will be much 

 stronger. 



Priming. — The raspberry can hardly be said 

 to need pruning in the common acceptation of 

 that term. All that is required is to shorten the 

 most vigorous bearing stems, and to cut away 

 the old wood after it has produced its fruit. The 

 second summer after planting, the plants will 

 throw up a quantity of suckers: if numerous 

 and small, four or five of the best should be left 

 their entire length; if large and strong, they 

 should be shortened to four or five leet, and the 

 superfluous ones rooted up, unless wanted to form 

 new plantations. 



General remarks. — As the raspberry is a rapid 

 grower, after it once takes hold of the soil, quan- 

 tities of suckers will spring up, which, in the 

 course of four or five years, will weaken the 

 plants. 0(1 this account new plantations should 

 be made every fifth or sixth year, and the soil 

 trenched and renewed by the application of the 

 compost already mentioned. 



The raspberry is rarely attacked by insects. 

 We are not aware that we have ever been 

 troubled with any during our cultivation of this 

 fruit, lor upward of 15 years. On this account, 

 it requires very little care at the hands of the 

 cultivator. As a market fruit it is particularly 

 worthy of attention, requiring less care than the 

 strawberry, easier picked, and the finer sorts 

 commanding a good price. 



The following is a list of the beet kinds now 

 cultivated. A few of them are new, and as yet, 

 not very extensively known. The kinds we 

 would recommend for a small collection are the 

 white and red Antwerp, and the Franconia ; for 

 larger gardens, all the others may be added, 

 which will afford a great variety, and a succession 

 of fruit. The names, with the exception of the 

 three last, are according to the London Horticul- 

 tural Society's catalogue. 



