under such conditions that systematic tillage is not practica- ^^^'^ ^°^ 

 ble. For this reason such plant food essentials as may exist ^"^^ 

 naturally in the soil become available to the uses of the ^5 

 plants very slowly. This is as true of the decomposition 

 of animal or vegetable ammoniates as of phosphates and 

 potashes. Consequently, small fruits in the garden suffer 

 from lack of sufficient plant food. All these plants w^hen 

 planted in gardens are usually set in rows four feet apart, 

 the plants about three feet apart in the rows; about 4,200 

 plants to an acre. In field culture, blackberries are usually 

 set four feet apart each way. 



So far as possible, small fruits should be cultivated in 

 the early spring, and all dead canes removed. Work into 

 the soil along the rows from 300 to 600 pounds of phos- 

 phate and potash; when the plants are in full leaf, broadcast 

 along the rows from 200 to 400 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, 

 and work in with a rake. If at any time before August the 

 vines show a tendency to drop leaves, or stop growing, apply 

 more Nitrate. Small fruits must have a steady, even growth; 

 in most cases unsatisfactory results can be directly traced to 

 irregular feeding of the plants. In field culture, the crop 

 must be tilled quite the same as for corn; in the garden in 

 very dry weather irrigation should be used if possible. The 

 yield per acre is very heavy, and, of course, the plants must 

 be given plant food in proportion. 



Greenhouse Plant Food. 



The use of rotted stable manure as a source of green- 

 house plant food has been the custom for so many years 

 that more effective forms of plant food make headway 

 slowly; yet this rotted stable manure has many disadvan- 

 tages. It always contains more or less weed seed as well 

 as disease germs, and it supplies its plant food in available 

 form very irregularly. Also, by fermentation it materially 

 influences the temperature of the seed bed, a temperature 

 we have no means of regulating. The ammonia it contains 

 is not Nitrated, hence for forcing it cannot be safely relied 

 upon. For greenhouse work, the fertilizer chemicals should 

 be used, such as Nitrate of Soda, acid phosphate, and 

 sulphate of potash. They should always be used in such 

 proportions that 100 pounds of ammoniate Nitrogen are 



