LABOK EiiQUlREMEXTS OT ARKANSAS CROPS. 
43 
FIRST-YEAR BLACKBERRIES. 
TEe work on first-year blackberries is not heavy, because there is 
no crop to harvest. The peak load occurs in May and June when the 
hoeing and weeding is done. (Fig. 42.) Most growers do all the 
cleaning with a hoe, but the largest grower in the community where 
these data were gathered thinks that weeding by hand is desirable and 
profitable even though it is more expensive. 
Fig. 42.— Labor on 10 acres of 
first-year Blackberries, north- 
west Arkansas. 
Conditions. — Sandly loam to 
silt loam and slightly gravelly 
soil; northwestern part of State; 
white farmers on medium-sized 
farms; preparation of soil with 
two and three horse teams: 
cultivation with two-horse im- 
plements; in actual practice 
rows of tomatoes or corn planted 
between so that part of the cul- 
tivation may be charged to those 
crops; rows, 8 feet apart; about 
5,000 plants per acre, according to 
farmers' practice; some authori- 
ties advise planting 8 feet by 3 
feet or 1,815 plants per acre; 
plants set out in early spring. 
NUMBER 
OF 
DAYS 
90 
MONTHS 
JAN FtS MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT N3V DEC 
NUMBER 
OF 
DAYS 
90 
M 
\U L 
61 
.A3 
DA 
:r 
YS 
SO 
• • 
• ' 
eo 
70 
' 
■ • 
70 
eo 
• 
• ■ 
60 
50 
SO 
40 
40 
30 
• 
: ' 
' 
30 
20 
' 
20 
10 
M 
■ 1 
10 
^ H 
■ 
■ 
■ 
■ ■ 
■ 
SO 
HG 
RSE 
46 
LA 
DA 
30R 
YS 4 
SO 
40 
J 
' 
40 
30 
30 
20 
20 
^_JO 
■ 
io 
Prepare. 
Plant. 
Cultivate. 
Hoe and 
weed. 
Top. 
Total. 
22 
13 
2 
11 
22 
24 

4 

61 
46 
If rooted plants are used for planting there is apparently no need 
for weeding, but where root cuttings are used they are very slow in 
coming and are easily destroyed. 
The chart assumes that no crop is interplanted between the black- 
berry rows the first year, but there is plenty of room for corn or 
tomatoes, and it is a common practice to plant one of these crops, 
usually corn. 
