194 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1916 



the base of the fence, the stalks lean 

 forward holding their bloom just beyond 

 the reach of the Woodbine foliage, though 

 occasionally a tendril does take hold and 

 needs removing. Never was a picture 

 hung more prettily. A clump of Day Lilies 

 (Hemerocallis) also grows here for the sake 

 of variety. A row of Iris fronts the Lilies, 

 quite a variety. To one end of the border 

 there are Gaillardia and fronting its entire 

 length dwarf Iris to bloom in earliest spring. 

 Between the German and the dwarf Irises 



•there is an open space for annuals to be 

 sown each spring. At present this space 

 has been occupied by the low purple 

 Lobelia, a plant that unlike so many others 

 finds an excellent background for its bloom 

 in naked earth. The plant seems to make 

 you aware of its color before you perceive 

 its individual flowers. 



From the first peep o' green in spring 

 when the native Gooseberry buds forth till 

 frost overtakes the late Asters this garden 

 is a succession of bloom. There are three 



bursts of bloom that mark time in this 

 garden, the Iris, the Tiger Lilies, and Bol- 

 tonia asteroides. The last mentioned have 

 been planted in everywhere in the large 

 border since they interfere not during 

 spring and summer and are a pretty autumn 

 show. 



Reader! Go thou, this spring and plant 

 about your house, anything to start with— 

 and read diligently in this magazine to get 

 improvements with expanding knowledge 

 and acquaintance with plants. 



The Bramble Berries for Your Home Garden 



By J. R. Mattern, 



Mary- 

 land 



R 



ASPBER- 

 RIES and 

 blackber- 

 ries are 

 valuable and 

 essential in a 

 complete home 

 fruit garden 

 because they 

 get ripe 

 after straw- 

 berries and cherries 

 are done, and be- 

 fore pears and 

 grapes and winter 

 apples are ready to 

 eat. The black 

 raspberries ripen 

 first, then the red 

 sorts, next dew- 

 berries, and last, 

 blackberries. All 

 these berries have 

 distinctive flavors. 

 They provide a 

 pleasant change, 

 both in fresh fruit 

 and in canned and 

 preserved fruit. 



There are other 

 kinds of bramble 

 berries that might be planted in gardens, 

 but they are only novelties. They should 

 be considered as playthings and not as pro- 

 ducers of fruit to eat or as mainstays of 

 the fruit garden. 



Raspberries as a general rule are not at 

 home south of the northern line of Virginia, 

 though they do succeed to a considerable 

 extent in the higher elevations of the Alle- 

 ghenies as far south as northern Georgia. 

 Raspberries belong in the north. That is 

 where they grow wild in the greatest 

 luxuriance, which is the true test of climatic 

 adaptability. Blackberries thrive in both 

 the North and the South. Some of the finest 

 sorts are too tender to stand winters north 

 of Pennsylvania and Missouri, while other 

 sorts will stand Canadian winters without 

 protection. Any of the tender sorts can be 

 grown in the North by giving them pro- 

 tecticn — usually by laying them down and 



A dish of 

 berries 

 smothered 

 in cream and sugar! 

 Um, Yum! — Let's 

 set out some roots 

 this spring 



covering the canes with a mulch of straw 

 or other such material held in place with 

 earth. All blackberries do well in the South. 



With the foregoing in mind, it will be 

 plain that a small garden in the South should 

 contain few, if any, raspberries, and a 

 greater number of blackberries. The same 

 sized garden in the North should contain 

 a somewhat less number of blackberries 

 and more raspberries. A raspberry plant 

 occupies only a half or a fourth as much 

 ground as a blackberry plant, so twice to 

 four times as many raspberries may be 

 planted as you would plant of blackberries. 

 The plants of some varieties of both berries 

 grow larger than others, but this may be 

 disregarded in garden planting because they 

 all should receive the best of cultivation 

 and pruning, which will keep the most 

 rampant of them within bounds. It is a 

 safe general rule that all the bramble berries 

 must receive good care or they will overrun 

 and make a jungle of the garden. Black- 

 berries especially are so inclined. 



An eighth-acre garden in the South should 

 contain about 8 blackberry plants. These 

 should produce about 40 quarts of fruit. 

 In the North this same garden ought to 

 contain only 4 blackberry plants, and 8 to 

 12 raspberry plants, giving about 20 quarts 

 of each kind of berries. In the middle 

 climatic belt 10 blackberry plants, yielding 

 about 50 quarts, and 30 raspberry plants, 

 Yielding about 75 quarts, should be about 

 right. An acre-garden should contain three 

 or four times as many plants of both rasp- 

 berries and blackberries. Dewberries may 

 be considered as blackberries or they may 

 be planted in addition to the blackberries. 

 Their chief value is due to the fact that 

 ripen between the raspberries and the 

 blackberries — after the former is done, and 

 before the latter is ready. 



Consideration of comparative earliness 

 or lateness of the different varieties of the 

 bramble berries is unimportant. Plant the 

 kinds that suit your purposes from other 

 considerations and the ripening time will 

 suit you too. If you were growing the 

 berries to sell it would be a different thing. 

 But in a home garden you are not. The 

 best varieties of these berries, particularly 



of red raspberries, never will bear long 

 shipping. They must be grown in your 

 own garden if they are to reach your table 

 in first class condition. None that you can 

 buy are as good as those you can grow. 



Black raspberries are most used for 

 canning and red raspberries for eating with 

 sugar and cream. Some people do not like 

 the taste of red raspberries when they are 

 fresh, and very much like the black kinds 

 right off the bushes or on the table. Your 

 own preferences in this respect should enter 

 largely into the selection of plants for your 

 garden. Don't plant what you don't 

 want, just to have the garden "complete." 

 A home garden is intended primarily for 

 your own pleasure and benefit, therefore 

 it should reflect vour own tastes in the 



And even for their flower effect the brambles are not to 

 be despised 



