THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



sides of lakes or streams. The best varieties are the Apple- 

 Shaped, Pear-Shaped, and Meech's Prolific. Champion and 

 Reay's Mammoth are new varieties that cannot be recommended 

 until they have been tested for a few more years. 



Raspberries. 



In the Open. — In many gardens Raspberries are not the 

 success they should be, owing to the natural character of the soil, 

 or to their being planted in too hot and dry a position. To get 

 the best results, it is essential that the situation be cool and moist, 

 yet not waterlogged, at the roots ; for that reason the plants 

 make better growth, and the fruit is larger and borne in greater 

 profusion on somewhat heavy soils than on light, hot, sandy ones. 

 The plants also quickly become exhausted on thin, hot soils, 

 unless annually mulched with good farmyard manure ; and, even 

 then, it is wise to make a new plantation every four or five years, 

 selecting fresh soil for the plants. 



Before planting, the ground should be thoroughly cleansed of 

 all noxious weeds, such as Couch-Grass or Convolvulus, and the 

 ground deeply worked. Planting may be done at any time 

 between the end of October and the middle of March, when the 

 soil is in a good working condition. The canes or stools should 

 be placed in clumps of three (if single canes) in the form of a 

 triangle, and there should be 5ft. each way between the clumps. 

 In March the canes should all be cut down to within 6in. of the 

 soil ; this may appear a drastic measure, but it is a wise one, as 

 unless it is done, weak canes are produced, and a whole season is 

 practically lost. On the other hand, by catting down the canes 

 as advised, stout vigorous ones are made that will yield an 

 abundant crop of fruit the following year. It should always be 

 borne in mind that the Raspberry is a surface-rooting plant, and 

 to dig amongst the canes destroys a large quantity of the finest 

 and best roots, indirectly acting detrimentally on the health and 

 vigour of the canes ; therefore only the surface-hoeing necessary 

 to keep down weeds is advisable. A mulch of farmyard manure 

 should be applied annually in the spring, to feed the surface roots 

 and thus maintain the strength of the plants ; this mulch and the 

 frequent use of the Dutch hoe will also assist materially in 

 conserving moisture in the soil, and the hoeing will expose the 

 larvae of insect foes to the keen eyes of birds or poultry. 



The pruning should, if possible, be done immediately after the 

 fruit has been picked, cutting out all the old fruiting canes and most 

 of the weak ones, and leaving only about seven of the strongest 

 canes to each stool or clump. If more are permitted to remain, 

 the growth becomes congested in the following season, and the 

 fruit is neither so fine nor so plentiful. Market-growers do not 

 stake their canes, but simply shorten them back a little, and as 

 they always liberally manure, their canes are strong and able 



