128 



BIGGIE BERRY BOOK. 



THE DEWBERRY. 



There is probably a great future for the dewberry, which is 

 in reality a low-bush blackberry. Prof. George C. Butz, horti- 

 culturist at the Pennsylvania station, writes that many small- 

 fruit growers are planting dewberries for market. I have grown 

 it successfully by tying the vines or bushes to stakes. The flavor 

 of the dewberry is so excellent that there should be money in its 

 culture everywhere. The L,ucretia seems everywhere to be held 

 in highest esteem, though others are catalogued. 



W. F. Allen, Jr., of Salisbury, Md., cultivates forty acres of 

 this fruit, and sent 45,000 quarts to market during the summer of 

 1898. He began picking June 20 and ceased July 12, covering a 

 period of over three weeks, and reaching the market well in 

 advance of the main crop of blackberries ; and he profited ac- 

 cordingly. 



SHOWING MANNER OF TRAINING THE LL'CRETIA 



Mr. Allen's main reliance is the Lucretia, though he speaks 

 highly of Austin's Improved, which is of almost equal size and 

 a week earlier. The latter is a berry of Texas origin. 



Mr. Allen feeds his land well, and puts it in good mechanical 

 condition. He sets the young plants (rooted tips) three feet 

 apart in rows six feet apart. This requires about 2,500 plants to 

 the acre. 



The vines are not tied up the first year, but are simply kept 

 well cultivated and allowed to run. Early the following spring 

 stout stakes are driven along the rows in such a manner that 

 two plants may be tied to each stake ; that is, there are just half 

 as many stakes as plants, the stake standing midway between 



