176 Notes and Gleanings. 



Traxsplaxting Raspberries axd Blackberries. — Nursery-men, of 

 course, understand a great many arts that are unknown to ordinary cultivators : 

 hence, in giving some facts tliat may benefit the latter class, I do it without any 

 reference to the instruction of the former. However old my suggestions may 

 be, I only know that they are not generally practised by the mass of fruit-grow- 

 ers ; and if I can show that they are not difficult to adopt, and that it is excellent 

 economy to do so, I may accomplish some good. 



Most persons who attempt to cultivate such raspberries as propagate by 

 suckers allow the suckers to stand during the current season, under the mis- 

 taken impression that they cannot be safely removed until the season's growth 

 is completed. Then they are transplanted, cut back, and must grow another 

 season before fruiting. The result is, that two years elapse from the time the 

 young plant appears before it fruits. 



But there is a better way than this. In the spring, when the sucker appears 

 an inch or two above ground, take a round-pointed shovel, and cut it out, and 

 carry it, with the adhering earth, to the place where you desire it to grow. The 

 ground and the hole should be previously prepared, the latter just about large 

 enough to admit the ball of earth without allowing it to fall to pieces : slip it 

 from the shovel carefully, draw the loose earth up with your foot, press it down 

 slightly, and the work is done. In general, the young plant will not wilt, even 

 if the weather is warm, and will continue to grow as if nothing had happened to 

 it. Perhaps one in ten may wilt. But it is not an alarming sympton at all : it 

 will almost always recover at night. Occasionally, the extremity of a plant may 

 wither after some days ; but even that is not a dangerous indication : cut it oflf, 

 and, in a week or so, three or four branches will start from near the earth, and 

 you will usually have a better and more symmetrical plant than if the single 

 stem had gone on growing and thrown out branches near the top. In fact, 

 though I have not yet generally practised it, I am prepared to recommend that 

 every plant — of the Philadelphia at least — be pinched or broken off at the dis- 

 tance of a foot or less from the ground. Probably it would be best to do this at 

 transplanting; certainly, if the plant is six inches or more in length. It induces 

 the growth of side-branches from near the base of the plant, makes more wood 

 for fruiting, and the plant is better able to withstand high winds, exactly as is 

 the case with a pyramidal tree. 



My experience with raspberry-plants grown from suckers is confined almost 

 exclusively to the Philadelphia variety ; but the Clark, though a stronger grower, 

 seems to be similar in its habits, and the same treatment will no doubt answer 

 for it. 



My experience, too, in transplanting, has been mainly in the mode explained, 

 because I considered that certain of success ; while the loosening of the plants 

 from the earth about them, and the exposure of their tender roots to the air, 

 seemed to be dangerous. But, occasionally, a plant will be shaken loose in spite 

 of the utmost care ; these I always plant : and the result, with an occasional 

 experiment in the same direction, leads me to conclude, that, if there is no 

 unnecessary exposure of the roots to the air, no serious danger need be appre- 

 hended. Keep the roots moist by plunging them into water or mud, or by cov- 



