1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
145 
Baspberries and Blackberries. 
It is pleiisiiig to notice that a share of the en- 
thusiasm that has attended tlie culture of the 
strawbeny and grape, is being diverted to tile 
raspberry and blackberrj'. And well it may be, 
for they are the fruits that bridge over thd inter- 
val between the strawberry and the early 
grapes. For a selection of the best varieties of 
raspberries, we gave three years ago the follow- 
ing: Hornet, Franconia, Brincklc's Orange, and 
Belle de Fontenay. These are all excellent and 
well known sorts ; the first three require cover- 
ing in winter. A variety called the Philadelphia 
is very popular among the growers in New 
Jersey. It probably does better upon their 
light soils than elsewhere. Near New- York it 
has not proved valuable. Mr. Parry, of Cin- 
namiusou, N. J., a grower of large experience, 
prefers it to all others as a market varietj', and 
states that he had a yield of 230 bushels to the 
acre the second year after planting. At the 
West the Purple Cane is the favorite red va- 
riety, where it is considered the best for market, 
and does not require covering in winter. The 
improved varieties of the Black-Cap have now 
become so popular, that nurserymen find it difH- 
cult to keep uji with the demand. Tliev have 
indeed valuable qualities; they need uo covering 
in winter, do not send up any suckers, are great 
bearers, and the fruit is so firm that it reaches 
market in good condition, and it finds a 
ready sale. The Black Caps, and the crosses of 
them also do not produce suckers, which in the 
ordinary red sorts causes them to multiply rap- 
idl}', but are propagated b}' layering the tips 
of the new growth in September, or whenever 
it becomes firm. We recently saw a communi- 
catiou in the London Gardeners' Chronicle, in 
which a cultivator complained that some choice 
seedlings obtained by a cross with the Black 
Cap were likely to be lost, as they would not be 
propagated. Above is a Yankee trick which is 
commended to our brothers over the water. 
Doolittle's improved Black Cap is the one most 
cultivated. Miami Black is said to keep in 
bearing two weeks later, and the Golden Cap, a 
yellow variety, is also grown. Of Blackberries 
the New Rochelle and Dorchester are the best 
known. TheKittatinny, a now sort, has every 
good quality of the New Rochelle, keeps longer 
in bearing, and is a better fruit. Wilson's 
Early is another new variety which finds favor 
with those who grow for market, both on 
account of its earliness, and the fact that it ripens, 
up its crop at once. Both these new sorts are 
rather too scarce, as yet, to allow of setting large 
plantations of them, but they are well worthy 
the attention of fruit growers. Good soil and 
good culture are needed for both the raspberry 
and the blackberry. In gardens, blackberries 
do well against a fence, and they can be made 
to form a barrier which marauders will respect. 
It is common to grow them in stools set 6 or 8 
feet apart each way, and train the canes to a 
strong stake. Raspberries are set in rows six 
feet apart and the plants three feet apart in the 
rows. Fall planting is preferable, but plants 
may be set early in the spring before they have 
made much growth. The following, from A. 
JI. Purdy, a fruit grower al South Bend, Ind., 
gives his method of field culture. It came too 
late for insertion in October, the month for 
which it was intended: 
" Our objection to setting in tlie spring is, 
that tlie young and tender sprouts which start 
so early are apt to get broken off. We prefer 
setting ia October, and pass over the ground 
early in the spring and loose up the ground 
with a fork down to the roots, which will cause 
every root to seud up their sprouts and make a 
full growth the first season. We set rows 6 to 
8 feet apart, and 3 to 4 feet in row. In August 
cut off the tip of the new growth, which causes 
them to branch out, and if branches grow too 
spindling cut them off also. Cut out all old 
wood in the fall and mulch heavy with corn 
stalks, straw, orauy coarse litter to protect from 
the drouth. We have lost hundreds of dollars 
buying different sorts of raspberries, but find 
none that will stand through our changeable 
winter but the Black Cap family. Purple Cane 
and Catawissa. These possess all the desirable 
qualities sought for in a raspbeny. As to 
blackberry, if there are any varieties that are 
better than the New Rochelle or Lawton and 
Dorchester Hi^■h Bush, in every respect, we are 
yet to find them." 
A Troublesome Weed— Bur-grass. 
(Genchrits ii-ibuloiden.) 
Among the specimens sent us last year for de- 
termination, we find the Bur-grass, of which we 
give an engraving. Though not as common as 
some other weeds, it is in sandy places, especi- 
ally near the sea coast and the shores of the 
great lakes, oflen abundant and troublesome. 
The engraving shows only a small branch 
of the natural size; the plant is very branch- 
ing, and sjircads to the diameter of one 
or two feet, each branch terminating iu a spike 
of several prickly heads, or burs. Each of these 
burs is a sort of liardened cup, or involucre, 
which encloses several flowers, and is armed on 
the outside v.'ith numerous curved prickles. 
One of the flowers, removed from the bur, is 
given at the bottom of the engraving. The 
prickly nature of the bur, joined with the fact 
that, when ripe, it is readil_v detached from the 
stem, renders it au exceedingly annoying plant, 
as the burs catch upon the clothing, get into 
the hair and wool of animals, and make their 
presence manifest in the most disagreeable man- 
ner. We well recollect the trouble this plant 
gave us while we were traveling in the far West ; 
its burs would work into our blankets, and it 
was almost impossible to remove them. It is 
very fortunate that this ugly customer is an 
annual, and though its prickles provide it with 
unusual facilities for spreading, it may l)e kept 
in subjection, if suflicient care be taken. Our 
illustration will enable any one to recognize the 
plant when young, and destroy it before its seeds 
ripen. In some parts of the country it is called 
Hedgehog-grass, and at the South, where it is 
more common than at the North, it is frequently 
called Cockspur-bur. 
Mr. Bolmer's Peach Orchard. 
In a very long communication, Mr. Lewis 
Bolraer, of the Great Miami Valley, presented 
to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, his 
method of managing peach trees. As the arti- 
cle in question is very much in detail, we ex- 
tract the essential points from his report. After 
giving an account of his early experiments and 
failures, Mr. B. slates the following as the man- 
ner in which he has successfully and profitably 
treated an orchard of 1300 trees: 
" In setting out his trees, Mr. Bolmer plants 
shallow. In light soils, that are sandy and 
gravelly, he digs the holes a foot deep; in light 
loam, six inches; in heavy clay he plants on the 
surface, unless it be on a hill-side, when he 
makes a slight excavation ; in wet places, or 
hollows, he raises the ground a foot or more for 
the trees before planting; the trees are all sur- 
rounded with mounds of earth ; this applies to 
all sorts of fruit, and while it protects them 
from the frosts and winds of winter, it also de- 
ters the rabbits from injuring the bark. 
The branches are formed at two feet high, 
which is the top of the first mound. The sec- 
ond year this is raised another foot, covering 
the lower parts of the limbs, and making the 
hillock three feet high. No other protection is 
needed, as the extremes of wet or diy, heat or 
cold, are regulated by this mass of earth, if it 
be properly made, and kept smooth and sharp 
at the top. The worm cannot gain access, and 
neither man nor beast can injure the bark nor 
split down the branches, neither can the wind 
blow the tree over. The third and fourth j'ears 
the mound is made still larger, so that when fin- 
ished they will be between 4 and 5 feet high. 
For older trees — if more than three or four 
years — he advises cutting back pretty freely as a 
preparation for this earthing process, which is 
aided veiy much bj- plowing both ways toward 
the rows, thus preparing the soil and leaving so 
much less work for the shovel. 
In this case mulching should be freely applied, 
to protect the roots from the sun. The work 
may be done at any time when the ground is 
not frozen or the tree laden with fruit, and even 
then if the earth be brought to the tree from 
beyond the roots. 
This banking up of the soil exposes it to the 
action of the frost, and it is thought that the 
mounds freeze solid to the tree, and remain 
frozen until spring, especially if well mulched, 
and the buds are kept back until late in the 
spring, and escape untimely frosts. It is claim- 
ed for this plan, also, that there is a vastly in- 
creased surface exposed to the heat and air for 
their happy infiuenee. It is found that the earth 
is literally filled with fine fibrous feeding roots 
by the third or fourth year, which are ready to 
make the most of the ' situation.' 
