146 



SMALL PPiUIT . CULTURIST. 



No rule or set time should be heeded in this matter, but 

 so soon as the plants fail to produce remunerative crops, 

 plow them up and plant some other crop upon the soil, 

 for two or three years, after which it may again be planted 

 with Easpberries if it is desirable. 



DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



The diseases affecting the Easpberry are principally 

 those known by the common names of rust and blight. 

 They are microscopic fungi or parasitic j^lants of a low 

 order, which seem to thrive best under conditions inimi- 

 cal to their victims. If i3lantations of the Easpberry are 

 neglected, and weeds are permitted to grow and ab- 

 sorb the moisture and fertility of the soil, some of the 

 many species of rusts are pretty certain to appear, and 

 aid in the destruction of the plants. A cold, wet, or dry 

 season, over-bearing of the plants, exhaustion of the fer- 

 tility of the soil, in fact, any condition imfavorable to 

 the growth of the Easpberry canes, is usually followed by 

 the appearance of blight or rust. A peculiar species of 

 red or orange-colored rust has, of late years, been very 

 prevalent among both Easpberry and Blackberry planta- 

 tions of the Eastern States, but appears to be more 

 abundant and injurious to Black-cap Easpberries than 

 other species. It has received the scientific name of 

 Uredo riihi^oritm. Various remedies hare been recom- 

 mended, and while some may answer, together with good 

 cultivation, the safest plan is to dig up and burn every 

 infested plant as soon as it is discovered in one's grounds. 

 Applications of lime, salt, ashes, soot, and similar ferti- 

 lizers, may in some instances ward off attacks of fungoid 

 diseases, but when they once become prevalent, the cul- 

 tivator had better spend his time in setting out new 

 plantations on fresh soil, than in attempting to renovate 

 those. that are old and diseased. 



