200 



THE ILLINOIS F^HMER. 



end of winter, ig more in accordance with 

 the intent of the Wise Giver of all these 

 good gifts. 



Those who desire to pursue the search 

 after a perpetual raspberry, should per- 

 severe with seedlings from the best and 

 most continuous bearers, and they may 

 hope for success eventually! That a 

 perpetual berry is not the normal type is 

 very apparent, and this is more patent 

 when we observe, among the seedlings 

 that have been produced in this class of 

 perpetuals, many that flower most abun- 

 dantly, and some of them have double 

 flowers, but all abortive. This seems to 

 show that there may bo a limit to the 

 advance in this direction. This fact also 

 induces the inquiry as to the perfectness 

 of the inflorescence of all raspberries. — 

 Some vaneties, among which the Allen 

 may be prominently presented, have 

 failed to produce full crops, though they 

 had bloomed abundantly. We find the 

 aberrations from the normal type of in- 

 florescence in another species of the 

 same natural family of Rosacejfi — the 

 strawberry presents itself with imperfect 

 flowers. Who has examined the organg 

 of the blossoms of the Allen raspberry 

 to see if they are perfect ? It may have 

 been condemned without a fair hearing 

 by the American Pomological Society 

 last September, when placed on the re- 

 jected list; for surely it is a fine fruit un- 

 der Bome circumstances, as our awards 

 will indicate — the premium fruit of our 

 tables. in 1859, and a most hardy, vig- 

 orous BOTt. 



Soil — Preparation — Planting. — 

 Almost any soil of reasonable fertility, 

 will answer to grow the raspberry, but a 

 good loamy clay, or sandy loam is gen- 

 erally preferred in this country. The 

 aspect too, is not generally considered a 

 matter of much importance, though the 

 coolness of a northern slope, with the 

 moisture incident to a deep sandy loam, 

 will be found highly advantageous for 

 the production of large and luscious 

 fruit, and for the continuance of the 

 season of ripening; for on our clay lands 

 the crop is sometimes cut short by con- 

 tinued drouth, and dried up by the 

 burning sun. The soil should be thorough- 

 ly prepared by trenching in the garden, 

 or by trench-plowing in the field, to in- 

 sure good crops, unless a field of new 

 ground be planted, when the raspberry 

 may do very well among the stumps. — 

 The planting should be done as early as 

 practicable in the springl not only to in- 

 sure a good start, but because the bud 

 for the new cane, which m formed in the 

 preceding season, begins to grow very 

 early, and is easily broken and destroy- 

 ed. Some planters, on y this account 

 recommend fall planting, 'svhich, indeed, 

 is very desirable with the nardy varie- 

 ties, and where canes are planted ; pro- 

 vided, always, that proper care be taken 



to protect the raspberries from the heav- 

 ing effects of frost, which, in some soils, 

 would throw them all upon the surface, 

 and thus ruin them. Mulching should 

 always be attended to in fall planting, 

 for this purpose. 



The planting is a very simple process, 

 to be conducted upon general principles. 

 Having determined whether to set in 

 rows simply, or in squares, light fur- 

 rows are drawn across the field, and the 

 plants are set in the fresh earth, taking 

 care not to put them too deep. The 

 distance which the plants should be set 

 will depend upon the thrift of the varie- 

 ty, but there is no economy in crowding 

 them; give plenty of room, whether in 

 rows or in hills, and never plant next to 

 a fence, as was the common plan in gar- 

 den culture. The raspberry needs room 

 to expand, and it will repay an ample 

 rent for the space occupied. I have set 

 some rows nine feet apart, with a plant 

 every four feet, and found them too 

 close at the end of the second year. — 

 The Black-cap, the Purple cane, the 

 FastolflF, and the Allen, will do very well 

 at six feet apart each way; they should 

 not be set closer than this. The Amer- 

 ican Red, Kirtland, and Orange, and 

 some others, less rampant in their 

 growth, may be set more closely. A 

 single plant is enough to put at each 

 station, and these should be cut back 

 pretty closely; indeed, it is best not to 

 allow them to fruit the first year, as 

 the small amount of fruit is often fur- 

 nished at the expense of the plant, 

 which has not power to produce a cane 

 for the next year, and to ripen fruit at 

 the same time; the wood being biennial, 

 the growth of a good cane is essential to 

 the success of the plantation. 



The plants should be kept clean by 

 frequent use of the plow or cultivator, 

 during the first season at least, to in- 

 sure a good crop the next year. The 

 culture afterwards is very simple, and 

 consists in an occasional plowing, or the 

 whole surface may be covered with a 

 coarse mulch, such as corn-stalks to keep 

 down the weeds and to retain the moist- 

 ure of the soil ; a good coating of corn- 

 stalks will answer for two years, after 

 which the use of the plow in the winter 

 or spring will be accain found advanta- 

 geous. Those who feel that they are 

 devoting too much space to the rasp- 

 berry plants, by setting them at the dis- 

 tances indicated above, may use the in- 

 termediate soil by planting some low- 

 hoed crop the first year, such as pota- 

 toes, cabbages or beans — but after the 

 first season there will be no more room 

 than the raspberries will require if they 

 be thrifty. 



Stakes and trellises are recommended, 

 and generally some kind of support is 

 used, but I think them altogether unnec- 

 essary, and a useless expense and 



trouble ; and I never heard but one ar- 

 gument advanced in their favor, which 

 applied particularly to the Black- cap 

 variety. My informant assured me that 

 it was cheaper to pick them from stakes ; 

 for where four or five strong canes were 

 tied to one stake the fruit branches all 

 looked outwardly, and the berries were 

 all well exposed, and easily harvested ; 

 those that were not outside were smoth- 

 ered. Now, precisely the same efiect 

 follows the judicious pruning, upon the 

 the plan which will be indicated below. 

 When stakes are used they are made 

 from five to seven feet long, and firmly 

 driven into the soil beside the plants. 



Some use trellises made by driving 

 stakes or posts into the ground on each 

 side of the row, and fastening a strip 

 or pole to the tops ; tnese support the 

 raspberry canes, which may be tied to 

 them. Wires are also used by some cul- 

 tivators for the same purpose. Others 

 tie the canes from each hill or plant to 

 those from the nearest diagonals, leav- 

 ing four canes to each hill ; one is in- 

 clined in each direction, for the sake of 

 the exposure to the sun and air. This 

 plan, of course, precludes cultivation, 

 or easy locomotion for the fruit gather- 

 ers, and it is, therefore, undesirable, 

 especially where we do not need any 

 extra exposure to insure the ripening of 

 the fruit. For stakes and trellises there 

 is this advantage : the new shoots are 

 exceedingly succulent, and are very 

 easily broken by the wind, hence the 

 apparent value of these supports ; but 

 I do not find the loss by breakage at all 

 commensurate with the expense of stak- 

 ing. 



Trimming and training upon my plan 

 are very simple processes, and may bo 

 performed at any rate during the winter 

 or early spring, when the canes are not 

 frozen. The tender varieties may be 

 kept for the last, unless pruned in the 

 autumn, for the sake of the trimming 

 that may be laid over the plants for a 

 winter protection. All old wood is first 

 removed, and some gardeners advise 

 that this be done at midsummer, imme- 

 diately after harvesting the crop, when 

 the feeble shoots should also be removed 

 in order to strengthen those that are left. 

 How good soever this advice, it is sel- 

 dom followed, and we generally reserve 

 the job for a winter's day. In our rich 

 soils there is less need for the summer 

 pruning ; indeed, some of the varieties 

 grow only too strong if left alone, with- 

 out any trimming or culture, after tak- 

 ing the crop, and even when the field 

 had been given up to a rank growth of 

 weeds. In trimming, at whatever sea- 

 son performed, all slender shoots should 

 be removed, leaving only the strongest, 

 and not more than three or four in each 

 hill. These, in the winter prunings 

 should be cut back very freely, taking 



