SMALL AND BUSH FEUITS. 



147 



SMALL AND BUSH FEUITS. 



By D. T. Pish, assisted bi William Cabmichael. 



THE BASPBERRT. 



THIS— alike for eating for dessert ; conversion into 

 jam ; the making of tarts, either aione or with 

 a certain proportion of Currants; conversion into 

 wine and Raspberry vinegar— is one of the most 

 esteemed and popular of all our dessert fruits. Un- 

 like the Gooseberry and the Cm-rant, the Easpberry, 

 even in a wild state, is often found of good size and 

 of high quality; though cultivation greatly im- 

 proves it, and several superior varieties have been 

 raised. The stems are biennial ; that is, those pro- 

 duced one year fruit the next, and then die. So 

 that Easpberries always run, as it were, two crops 

 abreast ; that is, one of fruiting, and the other of 

 growing shoots. Both of these shoots are called 

 canes, from their smooth and straight character, and 

 the chief art in Easpberry culture is to maintain a 

 constant succession of these canes as strong and as 

 straight as may be. 



The Easpberry is held to be sanitary as well as 

 pleasing and refreshing, and its use either in sauces, 

 sweets, ices, or cooling cordials, or syrups, is strongly 

 recommended for children and invalids. The yel- 

 low varieties especially are very much prized for 

 the dessert, and for this purpose they should be 

 gathered with the husks, which improves their 

 appearance, and adds to the convenience of eating 

 them. The Easpberry is extensively cultivated in 

 private and market gardens, but hardly to the 

 extent its great merits entitle it to, and as fruit 

 becomes of more importance in the future economy 

 of our agriculture, doubtless not a few fields now 

 devoted to the production of com will be planted with 

 Easpberries, and thus help to satisfy the insatiable 

 demand for this popular fruit. 



Propagation. — Practically there is but one 

 method of propagation, and that is by suckers. The 

 plants of Easpberries are really aggregates of plants 

 called stools. Each stool is composed of from three 

 to seven canes — four being a good average. From 

 «ach of these separate canes, one or more offsets, or 

 isuckers, may arise. The two terms are not used 

 here as being synonymous, neither are they so in 

 iact ; for in hardly anything do different varieties of 

 Baspberry differ more than in the number and 

 manner of their suckers. Some have few ; others, 

 many. In some the sucker is so close to the plant 

 as to be a mere offset from it. In others the suckers 

 come up six, nine, twelve, eighteen inches or more 

 from the plant. 



Baumforth's Seedling is a striking example of a 

 far-running numerous sucker variety, while Prince 



of "Wales is an example of one with few and closely 

 placed offsets. The distinction is of considerable 

 practical importance, as those that have many suckers 

 widely distributed are easily propagated, the suckers 

 being well rooted and easily detached without injury 

 to the stools. On the other hand, varieties with close 

 offsets must be handled with care, as otherwise the 

 plants are seriously injured by the removal of the 

 sucker, and it is also difficult to get sufficient rods 

 with each. 



There is also occasionally the further difficulty of 

 obtaining sufficient suckers where the demand for 

 plants is urgent. However, by generous culture, 

 and careful painstaking over all the suckers pro- 

 duced, a sufficient number may mostly be found to 

 meet the demands for fresh plantations. 



The Best Time to Remove and Plant 

 Suckers.— This is doubtless about the last week 

 in October. Prepare the ground for their reception 

 ■before interfering with the suckers. Then, with a 

 sharp spade, or an implement called a suckering- 

 iron, a sort of hybrid between a chisel and a spade 

 that has almost disappeared from our modem 

 gardens, remove the sucker, with as many roots as 

 possible, and immediately plant it, either singly or 

 in twos or threes, in the fresh soil. 



There are, however, two other methods of propa. 

 gating Easpberries that must have a passing notice 

 before we proceed to plant them ; that is, by cuttings 

 and seeds. 



Cuttings of the nut-brown young wood of the 

 current year, that is, of the young canes from nine 

 inches to a foot in length, should be inserted about 

 the middle of October. The soil should be rather 

 light and sandy, and if a little leaf -mould, or cocoa- 

 fibre refuse, or road-sand, can be placed under the 

 base of the cuttings so much the better. Plant them 

 exactly as described for Eose-cuttings, and make 

 them as firm as possible. A partially shaded position, 

 such as is provided by a' north or east border, is the 

 best for Easpberry cuttings. A liberal percentage 

 of these may be expected to produce roots, but unless 

 there is a scarcity of suckers, Easpberry cuttings are 

 not worth the trouble. 



Easpberries come freely from seeds, and, of 

 course, this is the only way of obtaining improved 

 varieties. Comparatively little has been done in this 

 direction, and the greater number in cultivation 

 appear to be careful selections rather than new and 

 original seedlings. In all probability the Easp- 

 berries of the future may be- further enlarged, and 

 otherwise improved, by crossing with other species 

 of JRubiis, and in other ways. There is no difficulty 

 in raising the plants. Wash the seeds out of the 

 fruit, and moderately dry in the sun, to secui-e even 



