378 
'She RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 10, 1917 
Black Raspberry Culture 
Labor Dtfficx:ltii:s. —One of tlie farm¬ 
ing indastries of Central and Western 
New York to suffer from the scarcity 
and high price of labor is the black 
raspberry culture. Formerly a grower 
of 10 or 20 acres of blackcaps had no 
worry about the harvest, as there would 
be plentj' of transient help along two 
or three Aveeks before the berries were 
ripe. They would .speak for their job, 
and iK>ssibly some would want to go to 
Avork .at once, pitching hay or Avhatever 
there Av.as to be done, and Avhen the 
bi-rry harA’ost did begin, and all hands 
were on the job, if the work was slack 
for a day or tAVO in the fruit they Avould 
helj) get the wheat and hay in the barns, 
and Avere glad to do it for ,$1.25 to ,$1.50 
per day and board, and sleep in any old 
jdace. Last Summer it Avas almost im- 
jKissible to hnd help at any price, and if 
<»ue did get a fcAV hobos and said any¬ 
thing to them about drawing hay or 
wheat they Avould leave. These condi¬ 
tions are not A’ery pleasant for the pro- 
di>cer Avhen the dried berries are selling 
around 40c the pound, as they are at 
pre.sent. 
I'laxtinCt.—T he blackcap is A’cry par¬ 
ticular about its home. It cannot sur¬ 
vive Avet feet; in other words, a light, 
well-drained soil is best suited to the 
culture of this fruit. A field that has 
produced a nice clean crop of corn is an 
ideal place to set berries the following 
Spring. With deep plowing and thor¬ 
ough cultivation, mark the ground as for 
corn, only 4x8 feet, and then furroAV out 
for the roots, with a plow, setting the roots 
in the bottom of this furroAV, being care¬ 
ful to get good, fine soil around the 
plant, and firming the soil around it so 
the fine fibor roots Avill not dry out and 
die. This planting can be done as early 
as the ground is dry enough to Avork, or 
one can Avait until the plants are a fcAv 
inches high, but one has to be careful 
not to break off the tender shoots. 
C’T'r.TiA'ATiON. —After the plants are 
set and as they begin to grow one can fill 
in the furroAV by cultivating, or Avith 
a hoe. and by cultivating betAA’een the 
roAvs Avith a harrow keep the weeds down 
'and hold the moisture until ready to 
pliuit a roAV of corn or potatoes or tAvo 
rcuvs of beans between the roAVS of ber¬ 
ries. Along about the first of Septem¬ 
ber the end of the berry canes will begin 
to turn red; then put a small shovelful 
of dirt on the end of each cane, and next 
Spring you have roots to set more acres 
Avith and. if your young vines have made 
a good growth, you can put doAvn from 
tAATi to 10 roots from each plant set the 
Spring previous. With root.s .selling at ! 
.$10 i)er thousand as they are this Spring 
it is Avorth looking after. 
Frttntnc.—T he follOAving Spring, after 
the bt'rries ar(! set, the canes want to be 
cut back to about 15 or 18 inches long. 
This can be.st be done Avith a pair of 
pruning shears, and when the ncAV canes 
or .shoots are about knee high the top of 
the cane must be cut out. This is called 
tiiiping. and it causes the vine to sprangle 
or branch out, throAving out branches 
fi'Oin every joint. This makes a nice, 
lai'ge bush for the tVdloAving year. This 
tipping must be att('ndi‘d to the first 
year also. 
Ti.ka^" f'Tn-Tt'KK Nekded.—A nother 
thing that is .all important in the berry 
culture is thorough cultivation. Tom- 
menciug in the Spring, after the la.st 
yf'ar’s canes or old Avood, as it is gener¬ 
ally called, is taken out, the bushes are 
pruned; then ploAV the soil aAvay from 
the roAVS .and hoe all grass and Aveeds 
away fi*om the bushes. IlarroAV several 
times, then .along the last of May or in 
June again ploAV them, this time return¬ 
ing the .soil to the bushes, but do not 
ever ploAv very deep, as this AAmuld cut 
off the fiber or feeder roots. Then con¬ 
tinue harroAving at least once a Aveek 
until they are ready to harve.st. 
IIara^esting.—W hen they are ready to 
harvest be ready to gather them either 
by pickers or Avith berry harvesters, on 
account of their falling from the bushes 
so easily. A heavy AAund or a hard rain 
or hailstorm Avould put a large quantity 
of the fruit on the ground, thus entailing 
a heaA^y loss. 
If the berries aie not sold direct to a 
canning factory they are evaporated in 
a kiln such as is used for drying apple.s 
and then you have the dried raspberries 
ready for market. b. l. r. 
Caustic Potash as Fertilizer 
I have 20 pounds of cati.stic potash, 
lias it any value as fertilizer? v. y. R. 
Lloomingdale, Mich. 
It Avill depend on Avhether this is true 
caustic potash or caustic soda. A large 
proportion of the so-called potash lye or 
camstic potash on the market is not pot- 
a.sh at all, but a .soda, sold under the 
name of potash. Of cour.se the soda 
Avould have very little benefit as a fer¬ 
tilizer. If you are sure this is potash it 
might pay to make it into a fertilizer. 
The most practical way to handle it will 
be to dissolve the material in Avater. 
Then .sprinkle this w.ater over a quantity 
of dry coal ashes, and let them fully ab¬ 
sorb the liquid. The result of that would 
be that the potash in the li<iuid will be 
distributed freely all through the ashes. 
Then Avhen these are dry .again they can 
be distributed like a chemi<'al fertilizer 
and thus make an even distribution of the 
matter. This same plan is sometimes fol- 
loAved with nitrate of soda, slops from 
the chamber or similar material, and 
when properly done makes a good medium 
for supplying fertility. 
Buffalo Markets 
There is only about one product that 
is now cheap on the market, cranberries, 
A few other things are only a trifle ad¬ 
vanced, but the great bulk of the neces¬ 
sities. potatoes, cabbage, beans, onions 
are .about out of sight, and eggs and but¬ 
ter are following. 
I’otato('s are not quoted below $.3.50 
wholesale, Avhich means about $4 to the 
consumer; Bermudas are $11 and ,$12 
per barrel, and SAveets are $1.75 and $2.i50 
per bushel hamper. There is prospect of 
an entire giving out of potatoes unless 
the Southern crop comes to the rescue 
early. Apples have advanced 50 cents 
since last report, the top price being $G 
per barrel for No. 1, Avith common grades 
not less than $1.50 per bushel. Onions 
are .$4..50 and .$.5.7.5 per bu.shel for home- 
groAA'n yelloAV; Havana, ,$4.75 and $5 per 
crate. Beans have taken another jump 
and wholesale at $S..50 for best marroAV, 
$.8.25 for red kidney and nothing loAver 
than $7.75. String beans are no longer 
quoted. 
With cranberries down to 5 cents re¬ 
tail for seconds and none above 10 cents, 
straAvberries are 25 and 45 cents whole¬ 
sale. fair grades retailing for 40 cents. 
Good grades of California grapes retail 
for 15 cents per pound. Oranges and 
lemons are normal, at .$.3 and $4..50 per 
crate, and retailing .at 15 cents up per 
dozen. Grape fruits are $.3 and $4 per 
box ; good ones retailing at 5 cents apiece. 
Honey is dull at 10 and IG cents per 
f)OHnd. Everything in this paragraph is 
normal or low, but they stand alone. 
All vegetables that are quoted at all in 
this paragraph are up, unless it be cab¬ 
bage, which was at the limit before. It 
is now .$.3 per hamper for new and $G per 
crate for old. The retail price is 10 cents 
per pound. Old beets are .$2..50 per bu., 
and new, G.5 and 7.5 cents per dozen 
bunches; parsnips, $1.75 per bu.; tur- 
nif)!3, $4 per barrel for yelloAV and $2.25 
per bu. for white: carrots, $1.75 per bu. 
Lettuce is $4 per Florida hamper; celery, 
$1.25 per bunch or .$4..50 per crate, noth¬ 
ing retailing for le.ss than 10 cents. Hot¬ 
house cucumbers are .$1.50 and $2 per 
dozen ; tomatoe.s. 18 and 20 cents per lb.; 
shallots', .50 and GO cents per dozen 
bunches, and no small bunch of green 
onions is less than .5 cents retail. 
Butter is up to 45 cent.s, wholesale, for 
best and 40 and 44 cents for creamery, 
fair to good, with .34 and .30 cents for 
dairy, and .32 and .37c for prints. Cheese 
remains at 2G cents for best domestic, 
and 22 and 25 cents for loAver grades. 
Eggs are from 47 to 49 cents for all 
grades and advancing. Avith all storage 
grades about exhausted. No guaranteed 
eggs are retailing for less than 50 cents. 
Poultry is active and firm in sympathy 
Avith other foods, Ih'e turkey wholesaling 
at 28 and .30 cents per lb.; foAvl, 20 and 
25 cents; old roosters, 18 cents; ducks, 
25 cents; geese, 20 cents. Live poultry 
is about .3 cents lower than dressed. Bab¬ 
bits are still very plenty, but higher at 
,35 and .50 cents per pair for cotton tails 
and (>5 and 90 cents for jacks. J. w, c. 
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Means $5 to $50 extra profit per acre. 
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BOOKS WORTH READING 
Landscape Gardening, Parsons.2.00 
Lawn Making, Barron. 1.10 
Fertilizers and Crops, Van Slyke.... 2.60 
Weeds of Farm and Garden, Pammel 1.60 
Hook of Wheat, Dondllnger.2.00 
Successful Fruit Culture. Maynard.. LOO 
Irrigation and Drainage. King.... 1.60 
Study of Corn, Shoesmith.fio 
The Soil, King. 1,50 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
133 W, 30th St., New York City 
Tfte Farmers are 
the Founders of 
Human Civilization 
(JDtanUL \\2hst&r} 
a\ 
HIS is as true of the fanner now as it was in early 
days. And as builders of a ^reat public utility, the 
Firestone Organization is a bi^ factor in this vital work. 
Progress depends upon transportation and amon^ its most 
valuable factors are 
TIRES 
Wherever the road leads, whatever the work requires, your 
machine will ride safest, easiest, best on Firestone equipment. 
Firestone rubber is selected and prepared to ^ive tou^h, 
resilient service; the service that means lon^, comfortable 
riding. And many plies of Firestone fabric, of a quality ex¬ 
clusively Firestone, mean bi^ ^ain in strength and stamina. 
On every Firestone Tire there is stamped the name of the 
founder and present head of the business, Mr. Firestone. 
And when a man puts his name on a product he ^ives a 
pledge to the public which only quality can make ^ood. 
Your dealer and the nearest branch work together for you. 
FIRESTONE TIRE AND 
Akron, Ohio 
RUBBER COMPANY 
Branches and Dealers Everywhen 
