The RURAL NEW.YORKER 
481 
Treatment of Cane Fruits; Seed Sweet 
Corn 
1. I would like to know 'the right way 
to trim blackberries, blackcaps, and red 
raspberries. When the blackberries were 
about two feet high I cut the tops off, 
which made them branch out. This in¬ 
ter I cut off about a third of all the 
branches, and as they propagate from the 
root. I leave all that stand in the row. 
The blackcaps I treated about the same, 
excepting that 1 left from one to three 
canes to a hill or root. The red rasp¬ 
berries I did not summer-prune, but cul¬ 
tivated the new stuff between the rows 
and cut off the tops of canes in the rows. 
As I do not pretend to know anything 
about red raspberry culture, I would like 
some information. Would 'a Hi per cent 
acid phosphate application put on this 
Spring be any benefit to this year’s straw¬ 
berry crop? 2. 'Would you handle Golden 
Bantam sweet corn the same as field corn 
if raising it for seed? 3. Would nitrate 
of soda act about the same to sweeten 
land as lime, and be a fertilizer as well? 
4. What is the largest strawberry? 
Lorain, Ohio. E. J. C. 
1. E. J. C.’s methods of pruning black¬ 
berries and red and blackcap raspberries 
seem to be those practiced by our better 
small-fruit growers here. The usual mis¬ 
take by beginners, in the matter of pinch¬ 
ing out the tips of new canes of black¬ 
berries and blackcap raspberries, is that 
such attention is not given early enough 
in the growing season. In order to se¬ 
cure low, sturdy, uniformly branched, 
well-balanced and well-matured plants, the 
new shoots or canes should have their tips 
pinched or clipped out when they have 
attained the height of from IS to 24 in. 
Such Spring pinching may necessitate go¬ 
ing over the patches two or three times 
at intervals of a few days, but it will be 
worth while to do so. I have often seen 
the pinching of the tips delayed until the 
canes were four or five feet in height and 
beginning to curve over toward the cen¬ 
ters of the rows. All benefit from tipping 
is lost when the work is thus delayed, as 
such long canes will be. or should be, cut 
back at the regular pruning, at points 
below where the laterals have been formed 
by delayed removal of tips. The ex¬ 
tent of pruning back of the laterals of 
blackberries and blackcap raspberries 
by E. J. C. is just about right, according 
to my own experience. Also his treat¬ 
ment of red raspberries. As a rule, it 
does not pay to Summer-tip young, grow¬ 
ing canes of red raspberries. The reds 
are great plant-makers, by suckering. and 
the rows not only should be restricted in 
width to not above 12 inches, but the 
weaker canes should be treated as weeds 
and clipped out by a sharp hoe. so that 
the fruiting canes may stand several 
inches apart in the rows. Bed raspberry 
canes may be pruned back to the height 
of from 2Yj to feet, according to 
habits of growth and vigor of different 
varieties. If acid phosphate be applied 
to the strawberry rows very early in 
Spring, it may be of some benefit if the 
soil be deficient in phosphorus. I prefer, 
however, to use acid phosphate for straw¬ 
berries at the time of planting, applying 
it after the first harrowing of the ground 
at the rate of from 300 to 500 lbs. per 
acre in connection with well-decomposed 
manure, and working these in by thor¬ 
oughly stirring the surface of the soil. 
2. Seed ears of sweet corn, just as with 
field corn, should be selected in the field 
where the characteristics of the plants as 
well as of the ears may be noted. The 
care of sweet corn seed after being gath¬ 
ered should be practically the same as 
that generally advised for field corn. 
Seed of early maturing varieties, such as 
Golden Bautam. gathered early in the 
season, has a loug period of warm weather 
in which to dry, and in this particular 
lias an advantage over some of the rather 
late-maturing varieties of field corn which 
require quite a little care in thoroughly 
drying. 
3. Nitrate of soda will not serve as a 
substitute for lime in sweetening laud. 
This chemical is one of our most concen¬ 
trated sources of nitrogen, and is rarely 
used in greater quantity than from 200 
to 400 lbs. per acre even for orchard fer¬ 
tilization. The average quantity of lime 
per acre perhaps may be said to be about 
one ton for agricultural purposes. 
4. I shall not attempt naming the larg¬ 
est strawberry. Soil conditions vary so 
greatly and make so great a difference in 
the behavior of the same variety in dif¬ 
ferent places that what would be the 
largest kind in one State or county might 
not be in those adjoiuiug. f. a. rallou. 
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• 1 m, 
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I T may require only a skillful repair to 
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USL Service Stations are expert at keep¬ 
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USL Service Stations sell only the USL 
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be sure to see the USL 
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and have the trouble 
corrected at once. 
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The Battery Starter Co., Inc., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Lee Auto Supply Co., Syracuse, N. Y. 
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