CHAPTER X. 

 THE FIELD CULTIVATION OF THE RASPBERRY. 



By Cecil H. Hooper and Rowland King Smith. 



In order to be successful with small fruits 

 the soil should be fertile, well situated, clean 

 and well cultivated. A good working soil is a 

 great asset. For raspberries, as for straw- 

 berries, gooseberries and currants, the best 

 results are obtained by applying about 

 30 tons of dung per acre, then ploughing 

 seven inches deep with three or four 

 horses, following each furrow with a heavy 

 brake drawn by two horses to subsoil the 

 ground, stirring it some four or five inches 

 deeper. This is the method followed by some 

 of the best growers ; 'A is almost equivalent 

 to trenching, and costs much less Steam 

 cultivation may be employed to stir the soil if 

 a large area is to be planted. 



The raspberry, of all fruits, appears to 

 respond most to heavy manuring. The 

 varieties now most popular for field cultiva- 

 tion in Kent are "Superlative" (introduced 

 by Bunyard), "Hornet " (introduced by Rivers), 

 and " Bath's Perfection." This last variety, 

 besides being a bright red colour liked by 

 many jam firms, is a good cane producer, and 

 will often succeed where other sorts fail. 

 " Baumforth's Seedling " is a good late 

 variety. Newer sorts include the "Devon" 

 and "Red Cross," both bright red raspberries 

 suitable for bottling. These varieties have 

 replaced " Carter's Prolific " and " Norwich 

 Wonder," the favourites of 20 years ago. 

 Raspberry, like potato varieties, gradually 

 deteriorate in yield and vigour. 



The raspberry is propagated from young 

 plants which come from the parent stool. 

 These young plants should be dug up yearly. 

 The best suckers or " spawn " is that taken 

 from young plantations, as it makes more 

 vigorous growth than that from old planta- 

 tions. The land to be planted, as already 

 said, should be well cleaned, well manured 

 and deeply cultivated. The tops of the 

 young canes (or spawn) to be planted are cut 

 oflf about six inches above the ground line to 

 encourage strong growth of young shoots. 



A common distance for planting is 4ft. 6iu, 

 between the rows, and 2ft. apart in the row, 

 using one, two, or even three plants to a hole, 

 depending on the strength of the sucker. 



Planting is done from November (or as 

 soon as the leaves have fallen) to the end of 

 February, except during frosty weather. 



The roots of suckers tr be planted must be 

 duly protected from frost and drought by 

 carefully bedding them in the soil. 



The approximate cost per acre of forming a 

 raspberry plantation, including the first year's 

 cultivation, with everything well done, was 

 in pre-war days somewhat as follows : — 

 Pre-War Cost per Acre of Making a 

 Plantation, and First Year's Cultivation. 



£ s d. 

 Manuring, ploughing, and sub-soiling 7 15 

 Heading canes and planting in plough 



furrow, 4ft. 6in. row, 2ft. apart ... 1 

 Forking out weeds ... ... ...0 5 



10,000 raspberry plants, costing from 



£3 to £10, according to variety, 



supply and demand, etc., say ... 5 

 Horse and hand hoeing during 



summer and autumn 2 5 



Cutting out old canes, filling up 



blanks in late auiumn or winter ; 



digging or ploughing and lightly 



forking between plants in winter ; 



and tipping young canes in March 1 15 

 Rent, rates, taxes 2 



£20 

 Note. — Re costings, as with strawberries, 

 compared with pre-war costs, materials cost 

 approximately double, and labour two-and- 

 a-half times its previous cost. 

 As the canes before planting are cut down 

 hard so as to form strong plants, there is 

 hardly any fruit the first summer, and in the 

 second summer after planting the crop is 

 light. 



The land is kept clean by horse-hoeing in 



