1327 
Winter Covering Red Raspberries in 
Minnesota 
XFAVORARLE CONDITIONS.—That raspberry 
growing may be a profitable venture oven where 
the climate may at times be unfavorable is clearly 
demonstrate*! in ^Minnesota. There arc several locali- 
Staked ItUI Raxphtrrirfi. Covered. Fif/. (i2G 
ties within the State where the red raspberry is 
grown extensively. Each locality has it own peculiar 
problems, but the growei’s who locate anywhere in 
the central part of the State, or farther north, have 
to contend with Winter injury. The injury is largely 
confined to the canes, and is more pronounced if the 
site be an exposed one, or the soil not well supplied 
witli humus, so that tlie moisture 
content is low. In this portion of 
the State the Winters are generally 
cold enough fully to satisfy anyone, 
and the cold northwest wind is 
usually a drying wind as well. As a 
general rule the snowfall is not 
heavy, so that there is little in-otec- 
tion for the canes from this source. 
PROTECTION REQIDRED. — 
Whether the injury is due to cold 
alone, drying alone, or a combina¬ 
tion of the two is not clearly under¬ 
stood, but the fact remains that the 
injury does occur. Tliere is a con¬ 
siderable variation in the degree of 
injury. Sometimes vigorou.s, healthy 
canes e.scape entirely^ while at other 
times the canes kill to the snow line, 
or to the ground if snow is lacking. 
The injury is much more severe on 
exposed sites and, of course, with 
tender varieties. This state of af¬ 
fairs has led many growers to prac¬ 
tice some form of covering to protect 
the canes during the Winter. Ex¬ 
perience has shown that the oidy 
safe protection is a complete biiry- 
ing under the soil. Fig. 025 shows 
a hill growing noiunally after Win¬ 
ter protection of this sort, while Fig. 
G24 shows the extent of Winter in 
jury in a hill left uncovered. The 
crop may be cut to half or less with¬ 
out the covering, so the labor and 
time expended seems to be vei-y pro¬ 
fitable crop imsurance. 
LABOR AND EXPENSE. —To 
gain a full appreciation of the great 
amount of labor necessary for this covering it is only 
necessary to stand in a covered field and see the 
height and width of the l idges, which are at least 50 
inches broad at tlie base and over 15 inches high. 
This means a tremendous amount of soil has to be 
moved in the proce.ss. While some or all of this 
covering work can be done with a plow or special 
machine, there is a lot of hand work in the uncover¬ 
ing, and one familiar with the expense of any farm 
operations will not be surprised that it costs 
over $20 an acre for the whole proces.s, and 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
sometimes costs as much as twice that sum. 
illETHOD OF COVERING.—When the plants are 
grown in the staked hill, as in Fig. G2G, the covering 
work proceeds in three different stages. First, the 
canes when mature are bent over, and a shovelful of 
soil thrown over the tips to hold them down. Then 
the ridge is started by plowing two furrows toward 
the center from either side of the row. Tlie work is 
then finished by hand. One look at the long ridges 
will convince the most skeptical individual that this 
is no job for a “son of rest”! In a few localities the 
covering is done by machine if the rows are not 
staked. This is a far easier method, although hand 
Mork is necessary in covering where the machine 
fails to work properly. Such a field is seen in Fig. 
050. 
THE COVERING iMACHINE.—The business parts 
of a covering machine can be seen in Pig. 027. To 
a heav.v two-wheeled frame is slung a half funnel or 
half cone of sheet iron with the larger end pointing 
ahead. This slides over the row and forces the canes 
down beneatli it. On either side of the smaller end 
a right or left plow is fitted, with provision for free 
action so- that a furrow is turned from either side 
upon the berry canes as they come out from the fun¬ 
nel. Two teams are hitched tandem to operate, and 
three men malce up the crew, one to drive and two 
after the ridges are broken the canes are lifted from 
tlie ridges witli a heavy fork, and are left with con¬ 
siderable slant. They recoATr quite a lot towards 
the upright position and can be set completely up¬ 
right as soon as they become softened with new .sap 
tiow and new growth. The final smoothing down of 
th(' ridges is done in the first hoeing. 
Rd-sitherrp Field MoclCute-Covered. llfi. <>d0 
VARIETIES GROWN.—Up until the last few 
years no variety has proven entirely hardy in central 
or northern portions of the State. The King has 
done very well, and is the leading commercial 
A'ariety, with some plantings of Marlboro, Minne¬ 
tonka Ironclad, and Cuthbert. With¬ 
in the last few years, however, 
the State Fruit Breeding Farm has 
produced a seedling, Minnesota No. 
4, which gives much promise of be¬ 
ing not only entirely hardy, but very 
good in fruit characters, and market 
(pialities as well. It is hardly neces¬ 
sary to say that this variety is being 
eagerly sought and cordially wel¬ 
comed by the growers. 
Minnesota. w. g. bkierley. 
A Factory Where Fola.<<h Is Produced hy Evaporation of the Lake Water 
Fiy. 02S 
Raspherry Covering Machine. Fig. 627 
}*iping and Pumping the Potash Brine. Fig. 62'J 
to guide the plows. The plows are hitched so that 
most of tlie draught is used in working them with 
sufticient surplus to keep the frame moving. There 
is some play in tlie attachments of the funnel, so 
that the canes will not be broken where the ground 
is uneven. Such a machine generally is u.sed to cover 
raspberries for an entire neighborhood. With soil 
conditions favorable and the planting not too widely 
separated this machine will cover from five to eight 
acres a day. The majority of the raspberries in the 
State are grown on the hill system. This can be 
more easily covered by hand, as the canes in a hill 
can all be handled in one bundle. A machine can 
cover either the continuous row or hill s.vstem eipially 
well, but there is a great difference in uncovering. 
All the canes in the hills can be located readily, and 
are easily lifted, but the canes in the continuous row 
are hard to locate and generally come up singl}\ 
UNCOVERING THE CANES.—To uncover it is 
necessary first to pull off the toi)s of the ridges until 
an occasional cane shows in the row. This prevents 
a sudden change from the covered to the standing 
position, and is thought to be less severe on the cane, 
although there is no direct evidence of this. In 
staked hill plantings, as in Fig. G20, this work is all 
done by hand with a potato hook or hoe. When the 
stakes are not used the ridges can be broken down 
by what is commonly called a “go-devil,” as .seen in 
Fig. 051. This is simply the fork of a tree with a 
bolt or chain to hitch to. The canes may be bruised 
and scraped a little, but this loss is more than made 
ui» in the rapidity and ease of the work. A few days 
A Young Farmer Pays Out 
Y ou have been publishing articles 
about hill towns in New York 
State, and perhai)s a story of a hill 
farm in Western Massachusetts may 
interest you. Some years ago I bought 
a farm of 100 acres, with a 10-room 
house, about SO, years old, and a 
barn, for a Summer home. The 
price which I paid was $1,500, but 
the buildings probably could not be 
replaced today for five or six thou- 
.sand dollars. Tvater I bought another 
farm in the same town, which I 
thought was better for my purpose, 
and leased the first. In the Summer 
of 1917 a young man living upon the 
farm asked me to name a price at 
which I woxild sell. He frankly told 
me that he had no money, but that 
he felt sure that he could pay for 
the farm out of the lumber. The 
young man was born and brought 
up in the town, had recently mar- 
rie<l and was anxious to have a 
home. He liad bought a fine pair of horses, which he 
had paid for with money borrowed from the savings 
bank, for which he gave his note (of course, en- 
dor.sed), and had paid the note when due, with the 
money earned b.v his own labor with the horses. He 
had thus establi.shed his credit at the Iwink. I 
found that the bank was ready to loan him $1,000 at 
five per cent on a mortgage on the farm. I told him 
that I would sell to him for $2,000, although I had 
l»reviously told a real estate agent that my price was 
$5,000. I felt that the .young man and his wife were 
a desirable addition to the permanent population of 
the town. I agreed to take his note for $1,000 at 
five per cent, payable at the rate of $200 a year, un¬ 
secured by mortgage. When I was at the farm last. 
Breaking Ridges Before Lifting Covers. Fig. 631 
