32 



much below zero, and are never so severe as in the interior of New 

 England, yet these fruits will pass the winter with much less injury in 

 the colder interior than with us. Laying down and covering the plants 

 during winter will sometimes afford a sufficient protection, particularly 

 in cold climates. With us it has not proved uniformly successful. Either 

 the protection has been insufficient or the injury was done before the 

 plants were put down. In many northern localities, however, this prac- 

 tice is regularly followed and must give good results. 



One rather strange fact with regard to winter-killing is that the 

 smaller, late-growing canes seem to pass the winter better than the 

 larger and apparently more mature ones, which have grown during 

 the entire season. This suggests a possible means of reducing winter 

 injury by pulling out all the first young canes when well started and 

 allowing the later ones to take their place. Why these small canes are 

 more hardy than those of earlier growth I am unable to say, but I have 

 observed this to be the fact in several instances. 



The site, or particular elevation of land chosen, is sometimes of great 

 importance. Not only frosts are more frequent on low lands, but the 

 cold of winter is also more intense. Plants may therefore escape injury 

 on high lands which would be severely hurt in the valley near b}' We 

 find these conditions often marked on our college farm, ihough the dif- 

 ference in elevation is but little. A series of temperature records taken 

 last winter often show dift'erences of six and eight degrees in the mini- 

 mum temperature between different points chosen on the farm. At times 

 the extremes were even £:reater than this. 



Fertilizers. 



How to fertilize bush-fruits is to some extent a still unsolved problem. 

 Some tests made in our experiment station work gave very conflicting 

 and unsatisfactory results, if stable manure is available, it can always 

 be safely used to a limited extent. Blackcaps will make use of a liberal 

 supply to good advantage, but it must not be used in too large amounts 

 for red raspberries and blackberries, particularly if the soil is already 

 fairlj' fertile. This may be supplemented with j)otash in any convenient 

 form, since, like all other fruits, the bush-fruits are benefited both in yield 

 and quality by this element. If chemicals alone must be depended u])on, 

 it is largely a question of personal trials to learn what will give best 

 results under the given conditions. Judging from theoretical I'easons, 

 as well as from some hints derived from our trials here, I am inclined to 

 believe that nitrogen in the form of blood or tankage may give better 

 results than nitrogen in the form of soda. This is only a suggestion, and 

 may not prove true under general conditions. 



Preparation and Planting. 



Ordinarily deep and thorough preparation of the soil is all tiiat these 

 fruits demand unless upon land which requires imderdraining. With a 

 heavy soil, retentive of moisture, luiderdraining should prove as profit- 

 able with these crops as with others. Sod land should be avoided because 

 of the greater difficulty and uncertainty in planting; old sod may also 

 be infested with white grubs, which may cause considerable loss of 

 plants. 



The distance apart for plants may vary with the kind of fruit and the 

 preference of the planter. Raspberries will do well with rows six feet 

 apart and the plants three or four feet ai)art in the row Some success- 

 ful growers prefer to make the rows of blackcaps seven feet apart. 

 Blackberries need more room. Seven or eight feet apart is none too far 

 for the vigorous growing varieties. 



The methods of planting are simple. In a large way, it can be most 



