FRUIT-GROWING ON A LARGE SCALE. 



157 



in the season, and is liked by preservers. Superlative is a new 

 variety ; the fruit is large, and suitable either for dessert or 

 preserving. The canes should be planted as soon as possible in 

 the autumn after the leaf is off, and cut down to within 18 inches 

 of the ground ; this causes them to throw up good strong canes 

 the following summer. About three canes should be planted 

 together, and the distance from stool to stool should be 2 feet 

 6 inches in the row, and the rows 5 feet apart. Canes cost 

 about 20s. per 1,000, and, assuming they have to be bought, 

 planting will amount to about £14: per acre, exclusive of manure. 

 Picking costs 6d. per dozen lbs. for an average crop, and the 

 fruit is generally sent to market off stalk in tubs holding 56 lbs. 

 Cultivation and manure costs about £8 per acre, exclusive of 

 picking. If the soil is suitable Raspberries will stand ten to 

 fourteen years, and in many cases still longer. The average 

 crop may be taken as two tons per acre, according to the season, 

 at an average price of £25 per ton net. For the past three or 

 four years Raspberries have been more and more in demand, and 

 crops being short, the price has been higher, £30 per ton being 

 made, and at the end of the season even £4:0 per ton has been 

 realised. As soon as the canes have finished bearing they should 

 be cut out as soon as possible, which gives the young canes a 

 better chance to ripen. The young canes, as soon as the leaf is 

 off, should be thinned out to five or six, leaving the strongest, 

 and these are tied together about 3 feet from the ground, and 

 then left until the spring, when the tops are cut off, leaving the 

 canes about 4 feet high. The later they are topped the better, 

 as the lower buds will not start into growth so early, and they 

 thus escape the frost. 



It is a mistake to cultivate too deeply amongst Raspberries, 

 as they root close to the surface of the ground. If the ground 

 must be dug 3-tine forks should be used. 



Black Currants. — Black Currants like a good strong soil. 

 Baldwin's Black, Black Naples, Lee's Prolific, and Carter's 

 Champion are all excellent varieties. They may be planted 

 5 feet apart, which takes 1,750 per acre, and the bushes should 

 be cut down to within 6 inches of the ground after planting. 

 This makes them throw up good strong shoots the following 

 year, on which a small crop is obtained. Black Currants bear 

 on the young wood ; they should be cut hard every year, all the 



