The Canadian Horticulturist. 325 



bottom of the barrels and turned carefully over. The barrels, after being 

 filled, should be taken on a platform wagon to the shed and sorted, being 

 marked according to quality. The proper time to pack depends upon the 

 locality- Fall pippins picked early keep fairly well until February. The 

 Hubbardstons should be picked by September 20; Baldwins and Russets 

 come in last. This fruit, well grown and carefully handled in cool cellars 

 or cold storage, can be depended upon for fair prices. Two hundred and 

 forty barrels per acre sold at $1.50 per barrel, net $300, which is not an 

 extravagant estimate for a good orchard. Pick and pack the fruit abso- 

 lutely from one end to the other in each barrel. Do this each year and 

 your name will be a guarantee, your reputation widely known and your 

 produce will obtain ready sale at fancy prices with an ever-increasing 

 demand. — P. M. Atigur, Middlesex County, Vt. 



FALL SET FRUITS. 



EARLY spring is the best time for transplanting strawberries, but rasp- 

 berries, blackberries, currants and gooseberries can just as well be set 

 in the fall after the leaves have dropped. Strawberry rows should be 

 31^ ft. apart, blackberries 7 to 8 ft. with plants 2^ ft. in the row. Cuth- 

 berts and all tall-growing raspberries should be 7^^ ft. and Brandywine and 

 small growing varieties 6 ft. between the rows and 2% ft. in the rows. Use 

 a hand hoe only where a cultivator cannot be run. In strawberries be sure 

 you go through the rows the same way each time, narrowing your cultiva- 

 tion as the plants spread. Ground bone and unleached ashes have proved 

 to be the best kind of fertilizer with me. Raspberries require the least fer- 

 tilizer. With all small fruits the land should be well manured with yard 

 manure the year before setting out. Ground bone which has been mixed 

 with twice its bulk of ashes, moistened and covered for a few weeks with 

 dry loam or plaster, is especially acceptable to strawberries, raspberries and 

 currants. As a farm crop I prefer the matted row system of growing 

 strawberries, but for the garden or for a fancy trade the hill system is pre- 

 ferable. 



They should be cultivated once in two weeks the first season after setting, 

 and it is best to plough them under and raise some other crop after the 

 second season. Set out a bed every year to keep up a good supply. A 

 field of Cuthbert raspberries set on good soil six years ago, and have since 

 had good cultivation between the rows until picking time, are growing 

 better each year, although they have not been fertilized. Some Brandy- 

 wines, set seven years ct^o, gave me as fine berries as they ever did last 

 season. A field well cultivated, fertilized and weeded will remain in good 

 condition for years. Blackberries require more frequent fertilizing and 



