298 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 



The dewberry forms low, trailing, nearly thornless 

 thickets at the level of one's shoetops in dry fields. There 

 are other blackberries and raspberries also, in both wetter and 

 drier situations, and many other thorny things, such as wild 

 rose, wild gooseberry (fig. 3 on p. 18) and greenbrier, in the 



thorny thickets 

 of the farm. 

 But such as 

 those above 

 described are 

 the ones that 

 have most 

 affected human 

 interests. Fit 

 only to be burn- 

 ed — except 

 when (as not 

 infrequently), 

 without care or 

 thought from 

 us, they happen 

 to be found 

 bearing a load 

 of luscious fruit. 

 Their fruit- 



Fig. 128. Wild red raspberry. . • , 1 -i j 



mg m the wild 

 we may, indeed, with profit observe, if we would manage 

 wisely their cultivated relatives; for in the wild we may 

 easily see what sort of soil and amount of shading and kind 

 of mulch produce the finest crop of fruit. Their love for 

 partially shaded situations renders raspberries especially 

 adapted to be used as "fillers" in young orchards. 



Any good blackberry patch, clustering about an old stone 

 heap or rail pile in a pasture, will give an excellent opportunity 



