THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



85 



New Victoria, Raby Castle, Red Dutch 

 and Versailles. Among the better class 

 of currants it would be difficult to select 

 a limited number of varieties to recom- 

 mend under all circumstances. If the 

 reports of the experiment stations are 

 studied and the opinions of other grow- 

 ers considered, a diversity of opinion in 

 regard to this vexed question will be 

 noted. The man who is making currant 

 growing a business will find it to his 

 advantage to investigate closely for him- 

 self those varieties recommended by 

 experiment stations and make his own 

 selection of those best suited to his con- 

 ditions. 



The soil for currants should be thor- 

 oughly prepared before the plants are 

 set out. It must be rich and deeply 

 tilled in order to give the best results. 

 Currants are a shallow-rooted plant, 

 spreading out their rootlets near the 

 surface, hence deep cultivation cannot 

 be given after the plants have become 

 established without doing severe injury 

 to the bushes. For best results they 

 require a rich, damp, but not wet, soil, 

 preferably a sandy or gravelly loam. 

 When setting out the bushes give them 

 plenty of room. There is some vari- 

 ation of size of bush in the different 

 varieties, but generally speaking, six 

 feet each way is close enough. Care 

 should be taken to get the plants set 

 deeply enough ; a good guide is to plant 

 them somewhat deeper than they were 

 in the nursery row. 



Before planting the roots should be 

 made in proper condition for setting 

 out. When digging the plants many of 

 the roots become broken and torn. 

 These should be pruned back, leaving 

 a clean, oblique undercut which will fit 

 closely to the soil, and from which new 

 rootlets will more readily spring than 

 they would from the bruised and muti- 



lated ends as they come from the nursery. 

 Currants will adapt themselves to a 

 great amount of neglect, but for large 

 currants and productive bushes, the 

 plantation must receive proper atten- 

 tion. They will respond liberally to 

 careful cultivation and enriching of 

 the soil. Owing to the shallow-rooted 

 system of the currant, cultivations 

 must be frequent and shallow to 

 conserve moisture, keep down weeds 

 and avoid injury to the roots. Stable 

 manure is one of the best fertilizers that 

 can be used in a currant patch, as it also 

 serves as a mulch. If necessary, it may 

 be supplemented with a small amount 

 of bone dust and potash fertilizer. 



To get the best results it is necessary 

 to prune annually and systematically. 

 There must be a gradual removal of old 

 wood, and a constant supply of new 

 wood developed to take its place. Keep 

 the branches as well distributed as pos- 

 sible, and the bush symmetrical. Do 

 not allow branches to become long and 

 straggly, or they are apt to bend over 

 and break at the time of maturing the 

 fruit, so that it is soiled in the dirt and 

 made unfit for market. Under branches 

 that have a tendency to sweep the 

 soil should be removed. The fruit on 

 these is almost sure to be splashed 

 with soil when a heavy rain-storm 

 comes. 



V 



Raspberry Cxaltvire as Practised at tKe 

 LaKe Huron Station 



A. E. SKerrington, A^alKerton 



Rev. Father A. E. Burke, Alberton, P.E.I. 



One of Oie Ueleeates from the Garden of.,theiGulf 



RED raspberries are grown in rows 

 six feet apart, the land is first put 

 into good condition by either plow- 

 ing in clover or barnyard manure the 

 fall previous to planting. As all plant- 

 ing is done in the spring, the land should 

 be plowed deep as soon as fit to work, 

 then well worked with disk or cultivator, 

 so as to have a fine surface. The rows 

 are made by plowing a deep furrow, 

 throwing the soil out both ways; the 

 plants are then set in the bottom of the 

 furrow, putting in sufficient soil to 

 cover the roots well. The furrow is 

 gradually filled by the process of culti- 

 vation. Frequent and shallow cultiva- 

 tion is practised so as to control the soil 

 moisture and destroy all weeds. 



As the red raspberry propagates by 

 suckers, the rows are allowed to fill 

 with plants and spread to about 30 

 inches. The rest of the space is kept 

 clean by frequent cultivation. Plow- 

 ing or dee.p cultivation should never be 

 practised in a raspberry plantation. 

 For fertilizers, barnyard manure and 

 wood ashes are used. Some growers 

 are using commercial fertilizers alone 

 so as to avoid weed seeds, but under 

 this system the land will soon become 

 deficient in humus, which is such an 

 important factor in the production of 

 plant growth. The soil, when depleted 

 of its humus, dries out much more 

 readily than when well supplied with 

 humus or vegetable matter. 



After testing some 70 varieties for the 

 last eight years, the following varieties 

 has proven to be the best all-round 

 sorts for either market or home use: 

 Marlboro — plant of dwarf habit, strong 

 and hardy, fruit large, firm, rather dry 

 and seedy for a good table berry ; color, 

 bright red; quality fair, ripe July 13. 

 Herbert — a new berrv of recent intro- 

 duction plant a good grower, hardy. 



fruit large, firm, but not nearly so dry 

 as Marlboro; color, bright red; quality 

 good, ripe July 17, very promising. 

 Cuthbert — the Queen of all berries, 

 plant strong and very vigorous, hardy, 

 fruit large and firm, dark red, quality 

 of the best, ripe July 19. Phoenix — 

 plant strong, vigorous and hardy, fruit 

 medium to large, color, dark red; qual- 

 ity good, ripe July 22, a good cropper. 

 These four varieties are given in order 

 of ripening, and will cover the rasp- 

 berry season. 



BLACK CAPS 



The blackcaps are grown in rows six 

 feet apart and three feet in the rows. 

 As they propagate from tips, they do 

 not spread as the reds do. It is very 

 important that they should be planted 

 in a deep furrow; if not set deeply they 

 are liable to be blown out by the winds 

 Cultivation is the same as for the reds. 

 The pruning is done by pinching off an 

 inch or two of the terminal points of 

 the young canes the first year, when 

 about 18 inches high. This will cause 

 them to grow stalky, and establish a 

 good root system. The laterals should 

 be cut off the next spring to about 10 

 or 12 inches. The second year the 

 canes may be allowed to grow to 24 or 

 30 inches before pinching back. By 

 this method strong canes will be formed 

 with the laterals near the ground. The 

 laterals at this pruning can be left about 

 24 inches long; they should be cut back 

 in early spring. This treatment will 

 produce a strong upright bush that will 

 need no tying. It is also a system of 

 thinning, which is necessary if first- 

 class fruit is wanted. 



The two best varieties are : Conrath — 

 plant strong and vigorous, fairly hardy, 

 fruit large, quality good, and Hilborn— 

 plant vigorous and very hardy, fruit 

 large and of good quality. 



