NEW YORK, APRIL 28. 1894. 
PRICE, THREE CENTS. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
VOL. LIIl. No. 2309 
THE DEACON INVESTICATES A KASPBERKY PATCH. 
All the Details of Trimming and Tying. 
A MAN CAN KOI.LOW THIS 
What Chance in the Raspberry Business ? 
The Deacon came over this morning and brought 
his nephew, Harry Brown, a young farmer just start¬ 
ing out in life. He introduced him with the remark 
that Harry was thinking of setting out a small held 
with raspberries, and he had brought him over, think¬ 
ing that he might be able to get a few points from me 
that would be of use to him. “ Certainly,” said I; 
“ if you can pump any ideas out of me, fire away with 
your questions.” 
“ In the first place,” said the Deacon, “ we want to 
know if there is a fair chance to make it profitable.” 
“ Well,” said I, “ the chance is all right. It all de¬ 
pends on Harry whether he makes it pay or not. The 
soil and climate of this locality are well adapted to 
raspberry culture, and there are good markets within 
easy reach. The main difficulty will be in securing 
help at picking time. If he set the right varieties, 
and work and feed or fertilize 
them intelligently and thoroughly, 
he will make it pay. If he set them 
out and expect them to take care 
of themselves, he is sure to fail.” 
“ What varieties do you recom¬ 
mend •? ” said Harry. 
“The Cuthbert and Shaffer are 
by far the most productive of any I 
have tried, although I have not tried 
some of the newer sorts. We like 
the Shaffer best for family use, and 
the Cuthbert for market. The 
Shaffer does not sucker, which is 
a great advantage in the ordinary 
garden, and it is a great yielder, 
besides being agreeably tart, which 
is acceptable to most palates. It is 
not so firm for shipping, however, 
as the Cuthbert, and the bright red 
color of the Cuthbert gives the 
latter the advantage in most mar¬ 
kets.” 
“ What is the best time for'plant¬ 
ing ? ” said Harry. 
“ As soon as the ground is in con¬ 
dition to work in spring, although 
the Cuthbert, or any of the varie¬ 
ties that sucker, may be set at any 
time.” 
“How close do you set the-plants?” 
“ Let us walk out into the berry patch,” said I, 
“ where you can use your eyes as well as your tongue.” 
I had hardly been near the berries before since last 
August when we finished picking. Naturally I took 
out my knife and cut open a few of the buds. 
A Caucus with the Berry Plants. 
“ What are you looking for ?” said the Deacon. 
“To see if there will be a good crop. Notice the 
buds on this cane.” The cane was about seven feet 
high, and, beginning at the top, we found that the 
buds were dry ard lifeless. As I examined them 
further down the stalk, I found them green and fresh 
about four feet from the ground. 
“ Why ! ” said Harry ; “you won’t have more than 
half a crop ; half of the wood is winterkilled.” 
“That is the only part of the subject I have not 
mastered,” said I. “ They will winterkill sometimes, 
and I don’t know how to prevent it, unless by setting 
new rows every year. I have never known them to 
winterkill to any extent the first two or three years. 
These, however, are all right, as the tops are all to be 
trimmed back to 3K feet, which will take off all the 
dead wood. You asked how far apart to set the 
plants. Here are some rows that were set six feet 
apart, and the plants three feet apart in the rows. 
On the other side of the field are some that were set 
eight feet ai)irt, and the plants three feet in the 
rows. On good soil, eight feet gives none too much 
room at picking time, especially with the Shaffer, but 
perhaps seven feet is about a happy medium. Here is 
a row that was set two years ago this spring, and is 
ready for a full crop this season. I shall set a stout 
post at each end of the row, which is about 30 rods 
long, and drive a stake every two rods in the row. 
I shall fasten a No. 12 galvanized wire to the post at 
one end of the row about three feet from the ground, 
and drive a staple loosely over the wire into each stake 
at the same height. When I get to the post at the 
other end, I bore a %-inch hole in the post at the 
same height. Into this hole I drive a piece of %-inch 
round iron, with the outer end slightly flattened, and 
a hole punched through the flattened portion. I pass 
the wire through this hole, draw as tightly as pos¬ 
sible, and fasten to the iron. If the wire is not suf¬ 
ficiently tight, I put a wrench on the flattened end of 
the iron, and turn it a few times in the hole in the 
post. This will wrap the wire around the iron, and 
tighten the wire the whole length of the row. A few 
turns with a wrench every spring will keep it always 
tight. Here are four rows of Cuthberts that have 
been set five years, and have borne a full crop for the 
last three years with about half a crop the second 
year.” 
Trimming the Bulk Out of a Row. 
“What is the matter?” said the Deacon, as he 
noticed a look of discouragement on Harry’s face. 
“ It Igoks to me like a regular swamp. I would 
never know where to begin to trim or cultivate them. 
Here are canes that are eight feet high.” 
“ It won’t look like so big a job,” said I, “when you 
get accustomed to it.” Stephen, my 14-year-old son, 
had accompanied us to the field. “ Run to the shop, 
Stephen, and bring the tools, and we will trim a row 
for Mr. Brown.” While he was gone, I called Harry’s 
attention to the old canes that had borne last season’s 
crop of fruit. They were still tied to the wire that 
was tightly stretched over each row. 
“What kind of strings are those ?” said the Deacon. 
“I vum, they are not strings at all, they are little 
wires.” 
“ Yes, we experimented with all sorts of string, but 
found nothing perfectly satisfactory till we tried No. 
19 soft or annealed wire. We cut it into short lengths, 
and it is easily tied by giving it a couple of twists ; is 
cheap, and never breaks or cuts loose as the wind 
sways the bushes.” Harry went half way down the 
row, and reported that he failed to find a single one 
broken loose after standing the strain for a whole 
year. Stephen now came back bringing a pair of 
buckskin mittens, a pair of pinchers, a carpenter’s nail 
apron, containing short pieces of the soft wire, and a 
pair of pruning shears.” 
“ Well done,” said I, “you have not forgotten any 
of the tools, although it is nearly a year since we used 
them. Go ahead ! ” He took the pinchers and com¬ 
menced to cut the wire strings with which the old 
canes were tied to the large wire, while I put on the 
mittens and followed him breaking out the old canes. 
They were so dead and brittle that they snapped like 
pipe stems. I could break most of 
them by taking my boot and bend¬ 
ing them over. 
“Hold on,” said Harry; “you 
have gone far enough. That part 
is easy, any one can do that.” 
How the Vines ara Wired Up. 
“ All right,” said I; “ we will go 
back to the end of the row and begin 
again.” This time Stephen ex¬ 
changed the pinchers for the apron 
containing the short pieces of wire 
while I retained the mittens. I se¬ 
lected four of the best canes, and 
held them in a bunch against the 
large wire, while Stephen passed 
one of the short pieces of wire 
around them and also around the 
large wire, making it fast by a sim¬ 
ple twist of the wrist. I had my 
eye on the next hill, and by the 
time he had made them fast, I had 
selected the four most promising 
canes, and soon had them bunched 
against the wire as before, ready to 
tie. We had not gone a rod before 
the Deacon said: 
“What is the use of going any 
farther? Harry is not so dumb but 
he can see how that is done.” 
“ Nevertheless,” said I, “ this is the most important 
part of the whole job. Upon the selection of the best 
canes depends the value of the coming crop. It is a 
little early yet to distinguish easily between wood 
that is partially winterkilled and that in full vigor. 
I usually wait till the buds are nicely started before 
attempting to do anything.” We went back to the 
end of the row again, and Stephen took the pruning 
shears and clipped the tops of the canes just tied fast, 
four inches above the point of tying, while I retained 
the mittens and pulled up or cut off close to the 
ground all surplus canes. 
“ You will ruin the crop,” said the Deacon ; “ there 
is scarcely anything left.” 
“ Never fear* If you will come over next .June you 
will change your mind.” 
“ There are no side branches left, even on the few 
short whips you have tied up to those wires. I notice 
that most writers on the subject recommend pinching 
back the new canes every summer to induce them to 
form a branching growth. Evidently you did not 
pinch back these shoots last summer, and now you 
are cutting them hack fully one-half.” 
Beak Scak as it Afkkcts Fkuit and Ijeaf. Fio. 73. 
