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The Garden Magazine, October, 1921 



RASPBERRIES MULCHED AND READY FOR WINTER 



Whether you decide upon Latham, La France, St. Regis or some other preferred sort of Raspberry, a good mulching 

 down with straw, leaves, or some similar protective material after the first heavy frost will prove a wise provision 



cultivation. The reason why the Blueberry was not long ago 

 brought into cultivation is that people tried to handle it in the 

 same manner as domestic farm fruits, without a proper knowl- 

 edge of its marked eccentricities. Both lime and manure have 

 been applied to Blueberry bushes transplanted to the garden, 

 with the result that they soon died, for those are two things 

 which the Blueberry definitely abhors. Blueberries thrive in 

 acid, sandy soil. 



Blueberry plants can be transplanted readily if properly 

 handled, the fall or early spring being the best time to do the 

 work. It is important, though, to select good plants, and wild 

 Blueberries vary to a far greater extent than might be supposed, 

 and the selected cultivated varieties now offered are vastly su- 

 perior to the run of the wild plants. All Blueberries are not 

 blue, some being black. Then there are plants which are very 

 unproductive, while others yield heavily. Some plants ripen 

 early ; others very late. If a careful selection be made the blue- 

 berry season can be greatly extended by using both kinds. 



Which Raspberries and Why 



UNDER its new name the Latham Raspberry, formerly the 

 Minnesota No. 4, is proving its worth in the East as well 

 as in the state which gave it birth. Grown in association with 

 several other Raspberries in New England, its performance is 

 highly pleasing. In fact, I am about ready to discard all vari- 

 eties except Latham and La France, but will keep St. Regis 

 until 1 get a larger plantation of La France; but so far as I can 

 judge the latter is the better, being larger and more prolific. 



One good point about the St. Regis berry is the fact that it 

 gives a crop ahead of all other kinds in the spring. I am eating 

 raspberries at least a week sooner than any of my neighbors. 

 On the whole, though, I am sure that La France is going to 

 prove enough better to supersede it. Erskine Park has a very 

 straggling habit; the berries are not large, and its spring crop 

 has never been at all satisfactory to me. Yet I have never seen 

 a Raspberry which has so many berries on the canes in the fall, 

 ripening as early as mid-August, being produced not only on 

 the tips, but at the axils of the leaves up and down the stems for 



nearly two feet. When in full fruit, a planting of Erskine Park 

 is a remarkable sight. The plants must be supported, however, 

 and require more attention, I find, than other kinds. 



The Latham, which was created to meet the severe weather 

 conditions of Minnesota, is an ideal Raspberry in many ways. 

 It seems absolutely hardy; the canes grow sturdy and erect. 

 The fruit is large, well flavored, and hangs to the stems a re- 

 markably long time. No more can be wanted in a Raspberry, 

 either for home use or for shipping. 



Handy Helps to Pruning 



IT IS impossible to have success with Raspberries unless the 

 plants are kept properly thinned out. A small hoe with a 

 V-shaped blade makes a very good tool to use in a berry patch, 

 especially if it has a handle not more than three feet long. With 

 such a tool it is easy to cut out the old canes and the surplus 

 growth without undue labor. Sometimes long handled pruning 

 shears are useful, too, and of course there must be hand clip- 

 pers for shortening back the canes that are left. It pays to 

 have all the tools sharp so that the canes will not be pulled 

 and torn. 



When it comes to pruning the Blackberry plantation (which 

 requires even more attention) the pruning shears often prove 

 very convenient as the canes are large and stout. There is a 

 new tool on the market which has been found useful, although 

 not designed for this purpose. It is a tree pruner which has a 

 sharp blade resembling a carpenter's chisel mounted on the 

 end of a stout handle which moves back and forth in a deep 

 wooden socket. The blade is placed against any small limb 

 to be removed. Then the socket is thrust violently against 

 the handle, when presto, the limb shoots into the air! When a 

 little skill has been acquired this tool can be used to great ad- 

 vantage, especially in cutting out branches not easily reached 

 from a ladder. It is a splendid tool for severing stout Black- 

 berry canes at the surface of the ground, as with it these canes 

 can be cut off without bending back, and without necessitating 

 intimate personal acquaintance with the sharp spines on the 

 canes! 



