26 SOUTHERN ORCHARD PLANTINGS 
By selecting the proper varieties you can have fresh Strawberries from earlv 
spring until frost. Such a collection of equal value for either the home-gardener 
or market-grower would include the following sorts: Excelsior. Missionaryn 
Lady Thompson, Klondyke, Greensboro Favorite, Bubach, Aroma, Gandy, 
and Chesapeake. Of course, there are other varieties, but the ones in the 
above list will give excellent results in the South. Almost any well-drained soil 
will grow Strawberries. Plant them from October to December, or during Feb- 
ruary cuid March, setting the plants about 15 to 20 inches apart each way. 
Everbearing Strawberries. The Everbearing strawberries arc really the 
mast im[x>rtant recent introduction. The plants begin to bear in June or 
July and the Ijerries keep coming until the blossoms are killed by the frost. Of 
the everbearing sort.s Progressive is easily the best. A prominent horticultural 
authority says: "It is more than Progressive; it is the complete Strawberrj'." 
The berries are medium sized and their quality is excellent. While you are 
picking handsome, luscious berries, the plant you are picking from will have 
numerous unripe berries and several blossoms, all at the same time. However, 
Everbearing Strawberries do not do as well in the South as they do in the North. 
Raspberries. After the earliest strawberries have come and gone, the 
Raspberry is the ncKt small fruit that comes into bearing. The leading red 
sorts for Southern planting are Cuthbert, Miller, Cardinal, and St. Regis. 
Among the blacks, Gregg, Cumberland, and Kansas are considered the best. 
Columbian is an excellent purple sort. 
Raising Raspberries for either home or market is not difficult. They do 
well in almost any soil, but prefer a moist location where drainage is good. The 
red kinds like a light loam, and the black sorts seem to give best results in heavy 
loam. Set the bushes in rows 5 feet apart and 3 feet apart in the row. After 
your Raspberry plants have finislied their year's fruiting, take a sharp knife 
and cut back the old canes to about a foot from the ground. This will cause a 
new growth and make your plants more productive. 
Blackberries. Now let us consider another excellent small fruit — the 
Blackberry. It is easy to grow, and for market or home use it is in high de- 
mand. Blackberries ripen in late summer, soon after raspberries. Well-known 
and desirable varieties are Eldorado, Erie, Early Harvest, Snyder, and Wilson. 
Cut out the old wood each year, the same as for raspberries. 
Dewberries. The Dewberry is very delicious. It resembles the black- 
berry' in form and color, but is higher in quality. Austin's Improved and 
Lucretia are the leading sorts. Dewberries should be trailed on low trellises 
or tied to a single stake to prevent the fruit from lying on the ground. 
When and How to Pick Fruit 
If you grow fruit, it will pay you to grow it well, for "a thing well done is 
twice done." If you aim. to be a successful orchardist, you must pick the fruit 
at the proper time, regardless of whether you grow for home or market. Of 
course, there are different times for picking fruit and we could use a dozen 
pages if we wrote about all kinds. Just let us consider the leading classes, 
apples, peaches, pears, and plums. 
Here is a good way to determine when your fruit is ready to pick. Lift them 
up, one at a time, give a gentle twist, and, if ready, the fruit will come away 
cleanly, stem and all. All fruit, except peaches and some varieties of plums, 
should be kept with the stem attached. This aids in marketing and adds to 
the keeping qualities. In fact, cherries will not keep unless the stems are at- 
tached to the fruits. 
