The Canadian Horticulturist, 



THE RASPBERRY. 



115 



IN the earlier days of fruit history in Canada, when the first settlers had 

 to depend on the wild natives of the country, what a luxury it was to 

 get the raspberry growing along the old snake fences. Nature, always 

 provident and prolific, gave us then what we could not otherwise have 

 obtained. But as time passed, the hard grass sod choked our wild friends, 

 and the cattle browsed them down, so that they gradually retreated before 

 the march of civilization. As these became scarcer the small fruit men 

 came along and rescued some of the best plants, and improved them by high 

 cultivation. Where nature left off skill began, and as has been the case 

 .with all other fruits, a gradual advance took place in the improvement of 

 the raspberry, so that to-day we have varieties suited to every soil and 

 climate. It is not right that anyone owning even a city lot should be with- 

 out this lovely and delicious fruit, especially when it can be grown so 

 easily. 



It is advised that any number of plants, from two dozen upwards, shculd 

 be obtained, either from a nurseryman or a neighbor, planted in a row from 

 eighteen inches to two feet apart, the ground having been thoroughly well 

 prepared by digging and manuring. The plants should be set in the autumn 

 or early spring. No attempts should be made to grow fruit the first year, 

 because if long canes are planted and fruit is produced, the suckers which 

 should give the berries the following season will be weak and unproductive ; 

 therefore the plants should be cut to six inches in length above ground before 

 planting. The raspberry delights in a moist, cool soil, not a wet, soggy 

 one. To produce the proper conditions, drain well if the ground is at all 

 wet, and mulch heavily with long barn-yard manure. The best variety to 

 procure is the Cuthbert, it is a fine red berry of good size ; the plant is fairly 

 hardy, the fruit is firm and rich. From four to five canes should be grown 

 to a hill, that is, from one plant. The row should be maintained as straight 

 as possible ; all suckers appearing outside the row should be treated as 

 weeds and pulled up or cut off. The row itself may be allowed to thicken, 

 but care should be had not to allow it to get too thick unless plants are 

 required. It is best to have cedar stakes to tie the canes to ; these should 

 be two inches thick, driven firmly into the ground. The raspberry is a 

 biennial perennial, that is the roots live on .indefinitely, but the plant grows 

 up one year, fruits the second and then dies. So that every year the old or 

 bearing wood has to be cut out. This may be done after the fruit has been 

 gathered, or where it is required to arrest the snow during winter, it may be 

 removed the following spring. The Golden Queen is considered the hardiest 

 and best white berry. 



The red varieties will sell in almost any town or village for 15 cents a 



