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252 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



I 



Raspl)erry and Blackberry. 



At a meeting of Horticulturists in New York, 

 the following facta were giren hj the different 

 cultivators present. 



It is a asrioQS truth that W9 have not at this 

 time, in this section of the West, a good rasp- 

 berry which will withstand the vicissitudes of 

 oar climate and produce constantly good fruit. 

 Many of the nsw varieties are oh trial, but we 

 cannot yet speak with confidence of their merits. 



"Charles Downing said that the variety known 

 as the Hudson River Antwerp was the only 

 sort cultivated largely for the New York mar 

 ket. The product was from $300- to .S800 per 

 acre. Sold at wholesale at 10 cents a basket, 

 aod three baskots made a quart. 



H. E. Hooker, at 10 cents a quart, found the 

 yield here to be about 3140 per acre. Had 

 taken correct account of one bed containing 16 

 rods — one-tenth of an acre, aod containing 136 

 hills four feet apart each way. The product 

 was 200 quarts, which at 12 J cents per quart, 

 would be ?25. Charging the cost of picking 

 and marketing, manure and cultivation, and 

 cost et plants, use of land, &c., at fair prices, 

 thera was left a clear profit of fourteen dollars 

 and eight cent* on this small piece of land. 



C^L. Hoag, of Lockpon, sold -over one 

 hundred quarts this season at 16 cents. — 

 Brinckle's Orange ia not only the best fruii, but 

 bears altogether the best crop. He did not 

 think it firm enough to bear carriage a great 

 distance. The plant is hardy, though he found 

 that when covered in winter a better crop is 

 prodaced, and finer. The Hudson River Ant- 

 werp killed back unless covered. 



Nathaniel Draper, of Rochester, had grown 

 the Red and Yellow Antwerp on the same soil 

 for twentysfive years. Used no manure during 

 the time, but kept the weeds down and the 

 canes tied to stakes. Never lost a crop, but 

 plants taken from his beds and planted in 

 hishly manured soils have proved barren. — 

 Others hid observed that high manuring bad 

 resulted in strong growth and unproductive.- 

 B9S8. P. Barry thought that raspberries might 

 be raised for six cents n quart at good profit. 



The following remarks on the management of 

 the Blackberry, were made by 0. P. Bi^sill, 

 who has many thonaand plants under cultiva- 

 tion: — The young plants should have good roots. 

 The first season the branches spread on the 

 ground the second and third years throw up 

 strong shoots. >^hoiild be planted in rows some 

 eight feet apart, and about the same distance in 

 the rows. For training, the be»t way is to set 

 posts and run two wires from post to post, to 

 which the bearing canes should be tied. In the 

 spring cat the cane baek to about five feet, and 

 also shorten the laterals to five or six buds, or 

 or they become so heavy with the weight of 

 fruit as to break from the cane. The black- 

 berry fills a vacancy between raspberries and 

 peaches. Had picked over 400 berries from one 

 plant. After bearing is over, the canes may be 

 antisd from the wires and allowed to fall by their 



own weight. When fully ripe, the fruit was 

 good, but persons often picked it before ripe. 



P. Barry, thought the High Bosh or Dor- 

 chester Blackberry, better and more valsabla 

 than the New Rochelle. Charles Downing 

 thought the former the best flaarored, but it was 

 not 80 large nor productive as the New Roch 

 elle. The Newman was sweeter than either, 

 but not very productive. 



It was resolved unanimously, to adopt the 

 name New Rochelle for the variety knowa by 

 this appellation, instead of Lawton." 



Difficulties in the Way of Fruit Culture. f- 



L "One hundred millions of fruit trees should 

 be planted the coining fall. The ground should 

 be got ready at once. Now is the timt to ub- 

 der>drain the ground for your future orehard. 

 Have a compost heap, composed of muck, 

 torest loaves, straw, leeched ashes, etc., ready, 

 with which to mulch the trees when planted 

 Do all this, then give your orders to a reliable 

 nurseryman for a lot of the best trees, of the 

 bast varieties of fruit Depend upon it, your 

 (arm will sell for 50 percent, mure than the cost 

 of the trees, within five years. Farmers, plant 

 fruit trees! 



We have often called the attention of our 

 readers to the vapt importance of raising a 

 greater quantity and betier quality of Iruit; and 

 we shull doubtless have occasion to give them 

 "line upon line and precept upon precept." On 

 this subject the public mind must be educated. 

 We believe that the health of our people, the 

 prosperity of ou? nation and the perpetuity of 

 our institutions, are more intimately connected 

 with the cultivation of fruit than with any other 

 one subject that can be named. Why? Be- 

 cause the people most have cheap food and good 

 h'falth, or wunt, disease, vice and crime, misery 

 and degeneracy, are insvitable.'" 



"It is true there are some difficulties in the 

 way, as with every enterprise under the sun. — 

 But they are to be studied, understood and over- 

 corna." 



The above is copiecj from "Life II ustrated," 

 by Fowler & Wv\U, New York. What h^ be- 

 come of most of the orchards planted out in 

 this State? Many of thtin have been nearly 

 destroyed by the excessively cold winters, and 

 others have been greatly injured. Thousands 

 upon thousands of the trees brought from the 

 east perish on our prairies the first year, even if 

 their vitality is cot gone before they are planted 

 out. 



We should not give up the eultivatian of 



orchards; but we should learn experience from 



tho past. We have now some knowledge of the 



varieties of apple trees which best stand our 



changing cliinate of winter, and we should profit 



by that knowledge. But few apple trees of 



varieties orignatiog in the East succeed well 



The Ohio Cultivator very properly says on 

 this subject: 



