The Peculiar Merits of the Blackberry— By chas. E. chapman, 



THE LATEST AND THE LONGEST IN BEARING OF BERRY FRUITS — IMPROVED VARIETIES 

 FOR THE HOME GARDEN THAT ARE LARGER AND MORE LUSCIOUS THAN THE WILD KIND 



Connec- 



THE newest of the berry crops to be brought into cultivation, 

 the blackberry, is the last of the season's small fruits. Did it ever 

 occur to you how beautifully the berry fruits are distributed over so 

 long a time? The strawberry comes first in the season, fol- 

 lowed by the raspberries without any break and then the black- 

 berries lengthen out the season till the orchard fruits are 

 ready; and I think the blackberry is about the best of the berry 

 fruits, making a longer season in full bearing, usually lasting 

 from a month to six weeks when once established. 



If we are to enjoy really good blackberries to-day, it is not safe 

 to depend upon the wild berries; they do not seem to grow as 

 they formerly did, as they have been too much sought after, 

 and often there are scarcely any to be found. 



An acre of blackberries will yield (the third year 



after planting, on an 

 average), one hun- 

 dred bushels, which 

 sell on the market 

 for from ten to 

 twelve cents per 

 quart, or even more 

 in some localities. 

 Commercially they 

 are as profitable a 

 crop to grow as rasp- 

 berries, and for the 

 home are certainly 

 more so. 



In its manner of 

 growth the black- 

 berry is similar in all re 

 spects to the red rasp- 

 berry. There is a main 

 root and from this hori- 

 zontal roots grow in all 

 directions. These hori- 

 zontal roots have eyes 

 from which suckers or 

 new plants are sent up and 

 a patch left to grow at will would 

 soon become a thicket. 



Propagation is either by these sucker plants 

 that grow up spontaneously or by root cuttings 

 which are procured by taking up the horizontal 

 roots of the plants that have become established 

 and cutting them in pieces of about three inches 

 in length either in the fall or spring. If this is done 

 in the fall the pieces are packed in boxes with a 

 layer of sand in the bottom slightly moistened, 

 and then another layer of cuttings, and so on 

 until the box is full. The box is then put away 

 in a cool cellar until spring, when the pieces of 

 root are ready to plant out if they have wintered 

 well. But sometimes if the temperature is too 

 warm there will be considerable loss by the cuttings rooting. 



I believe the better way is to wait until spring, and, when 

 ready to plant the cuttings, take up the roots directly from the 

 field and cut and plant them where they are to remain permanently. 

 If desired, they may be planted in a furrow two or three inches 

 apart. Let them grow one season and transplant the next 

 spring, to where they are to remain permanently. Two inches 

 is deep enough to cover them. If you are beginning the culture 

 of the blackberry the best way is to procure your plants or cut- 

 tings of some reliable nurseryman. 



The best ground for blackberries is a heavy clay loam, but they 

 can be successfully grown on a variety of soils, and it does not 



need to be so rich as for the other small fruits. Too much 

 fertilizer will make an excess of cane growth instead of fruit. Land 

 that is fertile enough to grow a good crop of corn will grow a good 

 crop of blackberries. The land should be previously cultivated 

 for at least one year, and two are better. While there is no 

 danger of getting too much cane growth on the raspberry, there 

 is on the blackberry. If you are setting for family use dig 

 holes with a shovel or spade, setting the plants about as deep 

 as they stood in the nursery row, and about two feet apart, with 

 a distance of six feet between the rows, or for field culture 

 seven feet apart. 

 Allow only two or three canes to grow from each one 

 set; treat all others as weeds, and cut them out, 



unless you wish to have 

 more plants, when you 

 can let some of them 

 remain and they will 

 be all right to set out 

 the next spring. 

 These sucker plants 

 will do very well as 

 a rule, but my prefer- 

 ence is for the root 

 cuttings, as I think 

 the root system is 

 better distributed and 

 plants are apt to be 

 stronger. It is a good 

 plan in garden culture 

 to mulch heavily be- 

 tween the rows and 

 around the plants 

 with marsh hay, leaves 

 or any similar mate- 

 rial, if it can be ob- 

 tained; this will do 

 away with cultivation 

 in summer, and that 

 means a good deal 

 to most of us. In field culture this 

 is not practical. The ground may be 

 fertilized with commercial fertilizers or 

 stable manure, ashes or hen manure. 



Plant as early in the spring as it is possible 

 to work the ground, but any time up to the 

 tenth of May will do; but early setting is 

 better, as the plants are surer to grow. The 

 spring following the setting the canes should 

 be pruned or shortened in. This consists in 

 simply cutting off the ends of the laterals. And 

 this is best done after the blossom buds have 

 begun to show and then you can leave on as many 

 of these as you wish. 

 After the new canes have reached a height of eighteen 

 inches nip off the tip with the thumb and finger, but if you have 

 a large number it is better to use a pair of pruning shears as the 

 work can be done very quickly, cutting off an inch or so of the tip 

 of the cane. This causes laterals or side branches to form and 

 the plant will grow in the form of a bush and be self-supporting, 

 requiring no stakes or wires for support, whereas if the cane is not 

 nipped it will grow up tall and spindling, and blow around and 

 be in the way of cultivating. Some growers recommend delaying 

 the nipping until the canes are three feet high, but then only a 

 few laterals will grow up on the cane, the crop will not be as 

 large, and the canes are more liable to be broken. 



It is characteristic of some varieties to form most of the blossom 



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