3. Bush Fruits 



In Bush Fruits are included the Blackberry, Currant, Dewberry, Gooseberry, and 

 Raspberry. These fruits, while not being of quite so much importance from a commer- 

 cial standpoint as the tree fruits, are grown and consumed in very large quantities in 

 Ontario, and as they are used in many ways by housekeepers there will always be a 

 demand for them. They can be grown between the tree fruits to advantage while the 

 latter are young and hence often augment the revenue of the fruit grower materially 

 before the tree fruits come into full bearing. 



Some idea of the large quantities of bush fruits which are grown will be obtained 

 from the Dominion census statistics for 1911, where it is stated that there were at that 

 time 13,940 acres devoted to small fruits in Ontario, on which were produced about 

 27,000,000 quarts, valued at $1,383,000.00. The strawberry is included in the above esti- 

 mate. The present area devoted to small fruits is estimated at 15,000 acres. 



THE BLACKBERRY 



The blackberry is not grown so largely in Ontario as it might be. It is one of the 

 most profitable fruits to grow where it succeeds well, but as the crop is rather uncertain 

 except in southern Ontario and in localities farther north where it is protected by a 

 deep snowfall, its range of successful culture is somewhat limited. Where there is not 

 danger of winter killing, a well drained clay loam is probably the best for the black- 

 berry, as it is cooler and more retentive of moisture than lighter soils. The blackberry 

 must have plenty of soil moisture when the fruit is ripening, otherwise but little of the 

 crop will develop. Further north, where hardiness is of greater consideration than con- 

 servation of moisture, the poorer and warmer soils are preferred, as the blackberry on 

 these soils does not make as rampant a growth and hence ripens its wood better. 



The blackberry may be planted in late fall or early in the spring. Tf planted too 

 early in the fall young growth may start which is likely to be winter killed. The soil 

 should be well prepared and the plants set a little deeper than they were in the nursery, 

 in rows about eight feet apart and three feet apart in the rows. Some growers prefer 

 planting them in hills seven or eight feet apart each way, thus finding them easier to 

 control. Larger fruit is so produced as they can be kept cultivated both ways. Summer 

 priming is important with the blackberry, as the lower the canes can be kept the better 

 they are likely to come through the winter, and the easier they are to handle. Summer 

 pruning consists in merely pinching back the young growth to within about eighteen 

 inches of the ground, after which side shoots will be thrown out. It is better to err 

 on the side of low pinching than to let the canes get too tall. This summer pruning 

 may, if delayed, cause late growth, which will not ripen; hence it should be done in 

 time or not at all. In the spring the laterals should be headed back to within eighteen 

 inches or two feet of the main canes. Old canes and the weakest of the new ones should 

 be cut out in the fall or early in the spring each year. There will be a light crop of 

 fruit the second year and a full crop the third year. Four or five full crops are about 

 as much as should be taken from one plantation. 



Blackberries should not be picked until they are ripe. This fruit will never increase 

 in popularity if fruit growers persist in marketing green blackberries, as they are quite 

 unpalatable, whereas the ripe fruit has a fine flavor. 



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