100 AGRICULTURE. 



are imperfect, they have pistils but no stamens (fig. 47) ; these 

 will not form fruit, unless pollen from perfect blossoms is 

 brought to them by the wind or by insects. Some of the best 

 producing varieties of strawberries have imperfect blossoms ; 

 they are pistillate varieties and if we wish them to produce 

 good crops we must plant alongside of them some plants of 

 varieties bearing perfect blossoms. This is very important and 

 should be well understood. In some of the varieties of fruit 

 trees also, the blossoms are either imperfect or else able to 

 fertilize themselves only with difficulty, and the planting of 

 varieties whose blossoms produce an abundance of pollen is of 

 great help. 



RASPBERRIES. When you pull off a strawberry, part of the 

 stem comes with it,; but when you pull off a raspberry, it comes 

 away freely from the stem, leaving a pointed end. This is 

 because the receptacle or end of the stem is the fleshy part of 

 the strawberry, whereas the raspberry is a collection of soft 

 fruits distinct from the receptacle. In the case of the straw- 

 berry, we eat the end of the swollen stalk ; in the case of the 

 raspberry, we eat a cluster of fruits like small cherries. 



The roots of raspberries are perennial and the canes are 

 biennial. Thus, canes grow up one year, bear fruit the second 

 year, and then die. Therefore, in pruning the bushes we cut 

 away all the canes as soon as they are done fruiting, and save 

 the new canes for next year's fruiting. 



The bushes are increased or propagated by suckers or by 

 the tips. The suckers, which grow up from the roots, are 

 removed by cutting away below the soil and then set out as 

 new plants. The tips of the canes are bent over and buried 

 in earth, when they take root. The red varieties are propagated 

 by means of suckers or root cuttings ; the black-cap and purple 

 cane varieties by the tips. 



