Yields 111 



If plants are to remain unprotected during the winter, the 

 selection of varieties should be largely influenced by the 

 question of hardiness. The method of protection is de- 

 scribed in the introductory chapter. 



YIELDS 



Blackberries generally yield better than other members 

 of the bramble family. Not only do they yield well when 

 growing wild among the rocks and woods, and even under 

 worse conditions which may sometimes pass under the 

 name of cultivation, but they respond promptly and 

 generously to liberal care and attention. In answer to a 

 request for an estimate of what each considered an aver- 

 age yield to the acre of blackberries, fifty growers in differ- 

 ent parts of the country gave replies varying from 1,280 

 to 10,000 quarts, the average being 3,158 quarts, or over 

 ninety-eight bushels to the acre. These figures, obtained 

 from practical growers, are worthy of credence. Some 

 of the estimates are very high, but others are extremely 

 low, and the average is considerably below the yield which 

 many good growers are securing. It is safe to say, there- 

 fore, that any grower whose yields fall much below this 

 average is not living up to his possibilities, and unless 

 some uncontrollable disease or insect is preying upon his 

 plantation, there is something wrong with his system of 

 management, or his location is unfavorable. 



A point which those engaged in all lines of agricul- 

 tural production need to appreciate, is that the bulk of 

 any crop is required to defray the actual cost of produc- 

 tion, and that profit lies only beyond this limit. As an 



