36 



factured, and are best ; failing that a heavy 

 garden roller may be used, the horse being 

 attached by chains to the axle, and the roller 

 guided by a man holding the handle and 

 the reins. 



Hand-hoeing is also frequently done in 

 order to keep the land clean and encourage 

 rooting. 



When the canes are very luxuriant and 

 there is much fruit, it is sometimes advisable 

 to stake the rows and support the canes vpith 

 cocoa nut string. This, we understand, is a 

 common practice in Scotland, where heavier 

 crops of ra.spberries are grown than in the 

 South of England. As with the turnip and 

 swede, the further north the better they 

 thrive, so with the raspberry, the cooler 

 climate of Scotland favours the raspberry, 

 almost to its most northern parts, whereas in 

 some seasons in the south of England the 

 raspberry may suffer from drought. 



Picking is done chiefly by women and 

 children, some of the latter being excellent 

 pickers, as they can see the fruit near the 

 ground. The Iruit should not be crushed, 

 and needs light handling. 



Nearly all raspberries are picked without 

 strigs, whether for sending away in chip 

 baskets or in tubs for the jam factories. The 

 raspberries are conveyed by van or rail during 

 the night and delivered to the factory as 

 early as practicable in the morning, as the 

 raspberry quickly ferments when in bulk. 

 A few of the handsomest raspberries are 

 sometimes picked with the strigs into punnets 

 in the early morning for sale the same day. 

 The yield of raspberries per acre in England 

 varies on an average from, say, three-quarters 

 of a ton to two tons. Sometimes in Scotland 

 and New Zealand four tons an acre is reached. 

 The price of raspberries varied considerably, 



in pre-war days from £20 to £40 per ton, 

 according to season and supply. 



Raspberries sent to market in chip 

 baskets fetch about Id. per lb. more than 

 those sent in tubs, but the picking costs 

 more, as they must in this case be picked 

 quite whole and uncrushed ; also large 

 quantities are difficult and expensive to 

 handle in this way. In former days the 

 baskets that the Southampton growers had 

 used for their strawberries were afterwards 

 used by the Kentish raspberry growers for 

 their raspberries. The best crops are usually 

 from plantations between three and seven 

 years old ; but plantations last 10 and even 

 15 years on suitable land. In order to check 

 weeds and at the same time add vegetable 

 matter to the soil, I used to sow turnip seed 

 between the rows shortly before picking time, 

 when a good tilth had been obtained by hoe- 

 ing ; this made a good " cover crop " after 

 picking was over, and gave a useful yield of 

 young turnips. 



The raspberry thrives best on a medium 

 light soil, which does not " pan " down tight. 

 It is a shade loving plant naturally, and is 

 therefore a useful undercrop between standard 

 or half standard trees. 



Pests. — Of these the raspberry weevil is 

 perhaps the worst. This small beetle lays its 

 eggs in the flower, developing into the maggots 

 so often met with in ripe raspberries. Arse- 

 nate of lead has not been found much use ; 

 clean cultivation and clearing up of dead 

 canes is the best preventative. 



A fungus disease has lately visited some 

 plantations, which has done considerable 

 damage in America. It is called Conicthyrium 

 Fuckelii. This attacks the young shoots in 

 spring and causes them to wilt and die and 

 may need to be carefully watched for. 



