1909.] Small Fruit Growing in Kent. 631 



order to keep the land clean and encourage rooting. When 

 the canes are very luxuriant and there is much fruit, it is 

 sometimes advisable to stake and string the rows. 



Picking is done chiefly by women and children, some of 

 the latter being excellent pickers. As the fruit should not 

 be crushed, nearly all raspberries are picked without strigs, 

 whether for sending away in gallon baskets or in tubs for the 

 jam factories. The raspberries are conveyed by van or rail 

 during the night and delivered at the jam factory next 

 morning, as the raspberry quickly ferments when in bulk. 

 A few of the handsomest raspberries are sometimes picked 

 with the strigs for punnets in early morning for sale the same 

 day. The yield per acre may be from three-quarters to two 

 tons. The price of raspberries varies considerably from 

 perhaps £15 up to £30 per ton if scarce. Sent in gallon 

 baskets, they fetch probably a penny per lb. more than in 

 tubs. 



The best crops are usually from the plantations between 

 three and seven years old, but plantations last ten or fifteen 

 years if the land is suitable. 



In order to check weeds and at the same time add vegetable 

 matter to the soil, I used to sow turnip seed between the 

 rows shortly before picking time when a good tilth had been 

 obtained by hoeing; this made a good cover crop after 

 picking was over, and gave a useful yield of young turnips. 



The Gooseberry. — This fruit is regarded as the hardiest 

 and most regular bearer of our fruits. Before planting, the 

 land is well cleaned, dunged, and deeply worked. The 

 bushes are usually planted about 5 ft. apart, or, if large 

 growing kinds, on good soil up to 6 ft. 



Mr. Fred Neame, of Faversham, has supplied the actual 

 cost per acre of planting four acres in 1906, which is as 

 follows : — 



Cost per Acre of Planting Gooseberries. 



£ s. d. 



Ploughing ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ioc 



Setting out ground for planting 5^ ft. x 5^ ft. ... 050 



Cost of 1,512 two-year-old bushes at 9^. per 100 with carriage 6 17 6 



Planting 017 6 



Twenty loads of dung at 4^. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 400 



Carting out and mulching at is. l\d. ... 126 



Total cost per acre... ... ... ... ...£i\ 2 6 



Mangolds were planted between the rows, and this 



