23 

 Yields of Blackbeme*. 



The blackberry ia a more uncertain cropper than the currant, gooseberry and 

 raspberry, as it suffers more in winter and is afiected more by dry weather in summer. 

 No really good crops of blackberries have been produced at Ottawa, the best yield 

 being in 1896, when the Agawam yielded at the rate of 2,452 boxes per acre. The 

 next best yield was in 1903, when the Agawam yielded at the rate of 1,979 boxes per 

 acre. 



Bailey, in his Horticulturist's Kule Book, gives the yield at from 50 to 100 bushels 

 per acre, which at 32 lbs. to a bushel is from 1,600 to 3,200 lbs. 



Varieties of Blackberries Recommended. 



Agawam, Snyder, Eldorado; and for southern sections, Kittatirmy. 



Diseases and Insects. 



Anthracnose or Raspberry Cane Bust. — Anthracnose has seriously injured rasp- 

 berries in many parts of Canada during recent years. So serious is the injury in 

 some places, and so difBcult is it to eradicate, that growers have become discouraged 

 and have given up the culture of this fruit. This disease first makes its appearance 

 when the young shoots are from twelve to fifteen inches in length, and ia recognized 

 by the brownish or purplish patches or depressions upon the young shoots and leaf 

 stalks. As the shoots grow, the blotches become larger and greyish in the centre, and 

 by the end of the season may encircle the cane and practically girdle it. The plant 

 suffers most during the second season, when the disease has usually spread so much 

 that a large portion of the canes and smaller stems are affected and moisture is cut 

 off from the fruit, thus preventing its proper development and often oausing the can* 

 to die. This disease reproduces itseK by spores in summer which are scattered by 

 wind and rain. The disease is supposed to pass through the winter by means of the 

 mycelium of the fungus in the intercellular spaces of the cane. 



Poor success usually attends any attempt to control this disease by spraying, 

 although some experimenters claim to have obtained good results. The best residti 

 have been obtained from spraying by beginning with Bordeaux mixture before th« 

 leaves open in the spring, giving a second spraying soon after the young canes appear 

 above the ground, the young canes being thoroughly covered with the mixture. A 

 third spraying is made about two weeks after the second, paying special attention to 

 the young canes. A fourth spraying should be made just before blooming. 



Fruiting canes should be cut out and burned immediately after fruiting. Healthy 

 plants should, if possible, be obtained from another source when making a new planta- 

 tion, and these planted on different soil. 



Anthracnose is usually worse in neglected plantations, hence raspberries should 

 be well cared for and the canes, kept thin in the rows, as if there is a good circulation 

 of air there is less likely to be injury from this disease. 



Bed Spider. — In dry years great injury is occasionally done in plantations of 

 raspberries, currants and gooseberries, as well as on apples and many other kinds of 



