258 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
live wood remaining to furnish a large yield 
of fruit. The only effect of the frost was to 
kill the upper part of the canes, which in¬ 
duced a heavier growth of side branches. 
Mr. Seymour recommends to pinch off the 
top of the canes in all cases where they 
have obtained the height of 3£ to 4 feet, 
which leads to a much fuller growth of side 
branches as well as of fruit. If this course 
is not pursued the canes grow 6 or 8 feet 
high, and even higher, and when loaded 
with fruit they are more liable to bend down 
if unsupported. During nine years that this 
plant has been fruited by Mr. Seymour it 
has shown no variation in bearing from year 
to year, and though growing entirely unpro¬ 
tected in open fields, it has never been in¬ 
jured by cold until last Winter, and then it 
suffered much less than the peach, pear, and 
many of the evergreen trees growing in the 
same field. 
A CHANCE FOR A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT. 
Above we have recommended all of our 
readers to procure a few plants for home 
use. We will here add that we believe a 
few enterprising men would find it a decid¬ 
edly paying investment, to secure three to 
five acres or more of suitable land in the 
vicinity of some of our larger cities, and en¬ 
gage in producing this fruit for market. It 
sold readily last year for 25 to 50 cents per 
quart in this city, and it will be a long time 
before it can become so abundant as not to 
bring very remunerative prices. It has been 
tried for wine-making with the most satis¬ 
factory results, and the high value set upon 
“ blackberry wine for medicinal purposes” 
will call for a large amount of this fruit for 
its manufacture.— [Ed. 
THE EFFECTS OF COLD UPON THE LAWTON 
OR NEW ROCHELLE BLACKBERRY; RED 
CEDAR, &C. 
New-Rocheli.e, July 15, 1850. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
The low temperature of the past Winter 
was destructive to trees and plants that have 
hitherto survived all changes—and it is not 
surprising that in some localities the black¬ 
berry should be injured, I had several 
acres crowded with plants, and in taking up 
many thousand in the Spring I in no in¬ 
stance found them “ killed down to the 
ground.” The extremities of the canes 
being the latest growth of the season, were 
in some cases killed, but not below the 
point to which I recommend cultivators of 
these plants to prune them. I visited the 
grounds of Messrs. George Seymour & Co., 
(which you have heretofore described,) to 
ascertain the effects of cold upon their 
plants, and from what I saw, and from the 
evidence of Mr. Seymour, I am convinced 
that under every vicissitude of climate and 
variation of soil this blackberry remains true 
to the original, and that the genuine plants 
are more hardy than the wild varieties, and 
will endure without protection the coldest 
climate, and all who keep the true variety 
unmixed with seedlings or the wild upright 
plants which abound everywhere, will give 
the same testimony. 
When the effects of the low temperature 
of last Winter began to be seen upon our 
various hardy trees and plants, I took a 
stroll of several miles in this neighborhood, 
to examine them in different localities. The 
effect upon the common red cedar was very 
peculiar and destructive, equally so upon 
low or high ground. The vitality seems not 
only to have been destroyed, but the sap en¬ 
tirely dried out; sometimes a single branch, 
or the branches on one side, or the top only, 
and sometimes in a larger collection, one 
half appeared to be unscathed, and the resi¬ 
due totally destroyed or injured as above 
described. But the dead or injured trees are 
mingled in with the healthy, without any re¬ 
gard to the aspect or locality. 
Respectfully yours, 
Wm. Lawton. 
A COUPLE OF RASPBERRY PATCHES-A 
LARGE AND A SMALL ONE-HOW TO 
GROW RASPBERRIES. 
Happening into the market stand of Messrs. 
Hawley, Smith and Carman the other morn¬ 
ing, we were so much pleased with a lot of 
Antwerp Raspberries, and with what we 
heard of the plot they came from, that we 
struck a ‘ bee line’ for South Norwalk, Conn, 
to hunt up the grower, Mr. Samuel Sey¬ 
mour, a young farmer some 22 or 23 
years old, and who is yet upon the old home¬ 
stead. (We mention this fact for the benefit 
of other young men.) 
We found the ‘raspberry patch’to con¬ 
sist of just 100 square rods, (not 100 rods 
square,) or five-eighths of an acre. The 
ground was uniformly covered with plants 
all just up to our eyes, (we stand 5 feet 10 
in low heeled boots,) and we could not find 
a fruitless hill upon the whole. As a mat¬ 
ter of information to the novice in raspberry 
growing, and its profits, we proceed to give 
the history of this plot. 
The soil was a very stony one on a side 
hill. Without estimating the countless loads 
of stones removed in times past, one hun¬ 
dred cartloads were taken off to prepare it 
for the raspberries. This was in the fall of 
1852. Twelve cartloads of manure were 
then worked into the surface. This manure 
consisted of barn-yard manure composted 
or rotted with swamp muck. 
November 1852 the plants -were set out, 
four in the hill, and the hills four feet apart 
each way. The canes or stalks when trans¬ 
planted were about three feet in hight. 
They were immediately bent down and cov¬ 
ered with one to two inches of soil. In the 
Spring they were uncovered ‘just before 
the peach trees were in full blossom.’ The 
canes were then raised up and tied to small 
stakes set in the center of each hill. They 
were afterwards cultivated ‘just like corn,’ 
the cultivator and hoe being used to keep the 
weeds down and the ground loose and level. 
The plot yielded 440 pint baskets of fruit the 
first season, (1853). When the bearing sea¬ 
son was over the old canes were cut off 
close to the ground and the stakes taken 
up. In the Fall, before the ground froze, the 
young plants were bent down and covered. 
In the Spring of 1854 the same course 
was pursued, as during the previous year. 
The season was a bad one and only 226 
baskets were picked for market. In the 
Fall, cutting down old wood and cover¬ 
ing the young plants, were again resort¬ 
ed to. 
In the Spring of last year, (1855) in addi¬ 
tion to the previous cultivation, a coating or 
mulching of three loads of salt hay was 
spread over the surface. This kept down 
weeds and saved nearly all trouble of hoe¬ 
ing, and kept the ground moist, besides pre¬ 
venting any soiling of the fruit during rain. 
The crop for 1855 amounted to 5,026 pint 
baskets, which sold for $360. Considera¬ 
ble quantities were also consumed at home, 
and distributed among friends. The same 
season young plants were sold amounting 
to #176 50. The 100 square rods thus pro¬ 
duced in 1855 $536 50, or at the rate of 
$858 40 per acre. The entire expense of 
culture, picking, marketing, interest of land 
and capital invested, &c., was $125. Net 
proceeds of the plot $411 50, or $658 40 
per acre. 
Last fall the usual cutting and covering 
were again pursued. The mulching was 
spaded in at the time of burying, and formed 
part of the covering. 
In the Spring of this year (1856) the 
ground received a new mulch of salt hay, and 
to this date very few weeds have grown 
through it. Straw, bog hay, saw dust, spent 
tan, &c., will answer as well as the salt 
hay, which was used in this case because 
more conveniently procured. We cannot 
estimate the amount of the crop the present 
season, as the gathering is still going on. 
To this date (July 24) 4,600 baskets have 
been sold. The plants are now suffering for 
want of rain. Since the old plants are cut 
down every year, and new ones take their 
places, there is no reason why such a plot 
should not continue in good bearing for any 
length of time. The picking is done by boys 
at one cent a quart, at which price they 
make 40 to 621- cents per day. 
As stated above, these are the pure Ant¬ 
werp variety. The fruit is not quite as 
large and ‘juicy’ as the Fastolf, but it is 
mych firmer, and therefore bears marketing 
better where they are to be carried far. 
For home use we give the preference to the 
Fastolf. Mr. Seymour sends them to mar¬ 
ket in pint baskets and quart boxes. We 
have seen tin cans used the present season, 
but the berries do not keep as well in these 
as in open baskets. Berries in baskets sell 
a little higher and more readily than when 
in wooden boxes. 
RASPBERRY PLOT NO. 2- FASTOLFS. 
One of our ‘ right hand’ men in the Agri¬ 
culturist office, having looked over the above 
in type, proposes to add something about his 
‘ patch’ of berries, or rather, we propose to 
have him do so, as we can vouch for the ac¬ 
curacy of his statements, as well as for those 
of Mr. Seymour, given above. Plot No. 2 
consist of only 2i square rods or 612 square 
feet, located in a small garden. The plants 
are of the Fastolf variety, set in rows 3^ 
feet apart, and the canes about 18 inches 
