1909.] 



Small Fruit Growing in Kent. 



629 



equivalent to trenching, and costs much less. Steam cultiva- 

 tion to stir the soil may be employed if a large area is to 

 be planted. 



The Raspberry. — The raspberry is a plant that responds 

 to heavy manuring. The varieties now most popular for 

 field cultivation in Kent are "Superlative" and "Hornet," 

 which have replaced "Carter's Prolific" and "Norwich 

 Wonder," the favourites of twenty years ago. The rasp- 

 berry is propagated from young plants dug up yearly from 

 the side of the parent plant; these suckers or "spawn" are 

 best when taken from young plantations. They should be 

 planted out in land well cleaned, well manured, and deeply 

 worked, the tops being previously cut off to about six inches 

 above the ground line. A common distance for planting is 

 4 ft. 6 in. between the rows, and 2 ft. apart in the row, using 

 one, two, or even three plants to a hole, depending on the 

 strength of the sucker. The planting is done from November 

 to the end of February, avoiding frosty weather, and keeping 

 the roots of the suckers duly protected from frost and drought 

 before planting by carefully bedding them in the soil. 



The approximate cost per acre of forming a raspberry 

 plantation, including the first year's cultivation, if every- 

 thing is well done, will be somewhat as follows: — 



£ s. a. 



Forking out weeds ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... 050 



Manuring, ploughing and subsoiling .. ... ... ... ... ... 7150 



Heading canes and planting in plough furrow, 4 ft. 6 in. row, 2 ft. opart 100 

 10,000 raspberry plants at from ^3-^10 say ... ... ... ... 500 



Horse and hand hoeing, summer and autumn ... ... ... ... 250 



Cutting out old canes, filling up blanks, digging or ploughing the following 



autumn and winter, tipping young canes in March ... ... ... 1:5 o 



Rent, rates, and taxes ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 200 



£20 o o 



As the canes before planting are cut down hard, so as to 

 form strong plants, there is hardly any fruit the first summer, 

 and the second summer the crop is light. 



The land is kept clean by horse-hoeing the centres, followed 

 by hand-hoeing against the plants. The cost during the 

 first year is often reduced by growing a crop such as early 

 potatoes between the rows. 



The annual cost per acre of cultivating raspberries may 

 be estimated as follows: — - 



