136 THE HOME ACRE. 



Meanwhile, for a dollar you can get all the plants 

 you want of the two or three best varieties that 

 have yet been discovered, from Maine to Cali- 

 fornia. After testing a great many kinds, I should 

 recommend the Souhegan for early, and the Mam- 

 moth Cluster and Gregg for late. A clean, mellow 

 soil in good condition, frequent pinchings back of 

 the canes in summer, or a rigorous use of the 

 pruning-shears in spring, are all that is required 

 to secure an abundant crop from year to year. 

 This species may also be grown among trees. I ad- 

 vise that every kind and description of raspberries 

 be kept tied to stakes or a wire trellis. The wood 

 ripens better, the fruit is cleaner and richer from 

 exposure to air and sunshine, and the garden is 

 far neater than if the canes are sprawling at will. 

 I know that all horticulturists advise that the plants 

 be pinched back so thoroughly as to form self- 

 supporting bushes; but I have yet to see the 

 careful fruit-grower who did this, or the bushes 

 that some thunder-gusts would not prostrate into 

 the mud with all their precious burden, were they 

 not well supported. Why take the risk to save a 

 twopenny stake? 



If, just before the fruit begins to ripen, a mulch 

 of leaves, cut grass, or any litter that will cover the 

 ground slightly, is placed under and around the 

 bushes, it may save a great deal of fruit from being 



