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BETTER FRUIT 



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THE CULTURE OF SMALL FRUITS ON PACIFIC SLOPE 



THIS term usually applies to the 

 berry family — blackberries, rasp- 

 berries, gooseberries, strawberries, 

 currants, etc. The whole Pacific Slope, 

 wherever fruit soils and sufficient mois- 

 ture prevail, is adapted to their success- 

 ful culture. In California there is almost 

 a continuous growth, and intermittent 

 cropping can be carried on almost during 

 the entire year. Every family orchard 

 should have a plot devoted to small 

 fruits, and where the conditions are 

 favorable and near to markets they 

 can be made immensely profitable when 

 grown along commercial lines. 



The preparation of the soil should be 

 thorough. The roots being close to the 

 top of the ground and of a small, rather 

 fibrous nature, the importance of having 

 the soil in the very best possible condi- 

 tion to insure a good stand of plants and 

 a satisfactory growth must be apparent 

 to anyone engaging in the culture of 

 berry plants. Thorough dressing with 



BY GEORGE ROEDING, FRESNO, CALIFORNIA 



well rotted stable manure will do much 

 to promote a vigorous growth the first 

 season, and, having secured this, profit- 

 able crops may be expected the second 

 year after planting. 



Berry culture cannot be successfully 

 carried on in California without irriga- 

 tion, so -that before planting the land 

 should be graded, having the grade as 

 uniform as possible so as to prevent 

 flooding. A berry grower should be 

 absolutely certain of water when it is 

 required, and if there is any question 

 about the supply from ditches a pump- 

 ing plant should be installed to have 

 water available whenever it is needed. 

 A delay of even a few days may mean the 

 loss of the entire crop. 



As the Logan and Mammoth black- 

 berries are practically in a class by them- 

 selves, and the cultural directions for one 

 applying to the other, we will consider 

 them under the same head. They should 

 be planted in rows six feet apart and 



eight feet between the rows. The best 

 results are obtained by trellising the run- 

 ners to wires on heavy posts, which will 

 hold the wires taut. As soon as the 

 fruiting season is past the fruiting canes 

 should be cut away and the new canes 

 be bunched together and wound around 

 the wires. At least two wires should be 

 strung on the posts so that as soon as 

 one wire is covered the remaining canes 

 may be wound around the other. By 

 following this method from year to year 

 a heavy crop of large, fine berries may be 

 looked for annually. 



A novel method of handling them is 

 to plant in squares 8x8 feet. Drive three 

 stakes one and one-half feet into the 

 ground, using 2x3 six-foot posts. Nail 

 an old barrel hoop on the top of the 

 posts and another two feet from the top. 

 The shoots are trained over these hoops. 

 It is simply astonishing the amount of 

 fruit which will be obtained by this 

 method of handling. Another satisfac- 

 tory plan is to set 4x6 seven-foot posts 

 twenty feet apart and nail 2x2 eighteen- 

 inch cross ties to each post. Set the 

 posts three feet in the ground and string 

 No. 12 galvanized wire on the cross ties, 

 holding it in place with staples. The new 

 shoots should be trained across, winding 

 them around the wires from one wire to 

 the other. 



Loganberry originated with Judge J. H. 

 Logan of Santa Cruz, California, from 

 whom it derives its name. This berry is 

 unlike any other in existence, being a 

 hybrid between the raspberry and the 

 blackberry. The fruit is sometimes an 

 inch and one-quarter long, dark red, as 

 large as the largest blackberry, and pro- 

 duced in immense clusters. It partakes 

 of the flavor of both the blackberry and 

 raspberry, a mild, pleasant, vinous flavor, 

 delicious and peculiar to this berry alone; 

 seeds small, soft and few; fruit ripens 

 early, just after strawberries and before 

 blackberries or raspberries. The vine, or 

 cane, of the Loganberry grows entirely 

 unlike either the blackberry or the rasp- 

 berry; it trails or grows upon the 

 ground, more like a dewberry. The canes 

 are very large, without thorns, but have 

 very fine, soft spines; leaves more like 

 tfose of the raspberry than blackberry. 

 It is excellent for the table, eaten raw or 

 stewed, and makes a fine jelly or jam. 

 Ripe in May. 



Mammoth blackberry, supposed to be 

 a cross between the wild blackberry of 

 California and the Crandall Early. It 

 grows entirely unlike any other black- 

 berry plant known. It is a rampant 

 grower, trailing on the ground, and under 

 favorable conditions will grow twenty 

 feet in a season; the canes are large, of 

 deep red color when exposed to the sun; 

 the foliage is large and thick and of a 

 deep green color; enormously productive 

 and exceedingly early, ripening three 

 weeks before other cultivated kinds; fruit 

 enormous, specimens measuring two and 

 one-half inches long; seeds small, soft 

 and abundant; core small and soft; in size 



