BLACKBERRY WINE 123 



adds the white of eggs beaten to a froth and stirred 

 into the juice; spices are also enclosed in a cloth bag, 

 and dropped into it. 



Formerly there was a market for good blackberry 

 wine at $2 to $3 per gallon for medicinal uses, and 

 if a glut of fresh fruit occurred, it could be turned into 

 wine to good advantage, but in recent years it seems 

 to have been largely replaced in practice by other 

 medicines and stimulants, and there is little demand 

 for it. 



Probably the greatest value of the blackberry, 

 how^ever, is not so much as a medicine to cure dis- 

 ease, as in its healthfulness when used as a food. 

 Perhaps nothing is more conducive to health and 

 good spirits than fresh, well ripen'ed fruit, and 

 among all fruits there is none better adapted to ac- 

 complish this much wished -for end than the bright, 

 shining, and luscious blackberry. Not a home in 

 all our land should be without it in abundance. 



DURATION OF PLANTATIONS 



The profitable duration of a blackberry plantation, 

 as with all other small fruits, depends much on the 

 care and management. They generally last longer 

 than black raspberries, perhaps from five to ten years 

 on the average, longer in special cases. Attempts to 

 lengthen the lifetime of a fruit plantation of any kind 

 are rarely profitable. It is better to force the plants 

 to do their best, get what can be gotten from them 

 before they begin to decline, then let them go, to be 



