36 



Red Raspberry. 



The red raspberry is considered the most delicious of the small 

 fruits. It brings the highest price in the market, and is also the 

 most perishable. In the home garden it can be grown to perfec- 

 tion and be put upon the grower's table in a i)erfectly ripe condi- 

 tion, in which condition it would be impossible to transport it 

 even to a near market, and in this condition it has an aroma and 

 freshness seldom found in the fruit purchased in the market. 



The Soil. 



The best soil for the red raspberry is a deep, sandy loam, that 

 is not seriously affected by drouth. In thin soils mulching or 

 irrigation must be practised to insure a crop in seasons of drouth. 

 On a light soil the canes mature better than on a heavy one, and 

 are less likely to be injured during the winter. This injury is 

 prevented by laying down the canes in the autumn before the 

 ground freezes. 



Planting. 



The fall is the best time to plant the raspberry. The canes 

 should be cut back to six inches before planting, and then one or 

 two shovelfuls of soil or manure banked over them. 



The raspberry is grown in rows where the cultivator can be run 

 but one way, or in hills where it can be run both ways. Both 

 methods give good results, the distances being four by six or three 

 by five feet, according to the vigor of the varieties. 



Fertilizers. 



As with the strawberry, a liberal supply of plant food is a 

 necessity, and bone and potash are equally valuable for the rasp- 

 berry, and about the same quantity must be used. If the soil is 

 very light, one hundred to two hundred pounds of nitrate of soda 

 per acre will be found valuable. 



Cultivation. 



No fruit is more benefited by frequent cultivation. This keeps 

 the soil cool and moist, the condition under which it grows the 

 best. In this work the only care needed is not to cultivate too 

 deeply, or to destroy too many of the new shoots as they come 

 up in the spring ; for it is better to have a surplus of canes to 

 cut out at the fall or winter pruning than to have the land only 

 partly stocked with canes. 



