P. J. Berckmans Company's Tree and Plant Catalogue 
16 
Small Fruits 
BLACKBERRIES 
Hoot-cutting Plants, 50 cents for 10 , $2 per 100 , 
$15 per 1 , 000 . 
As a preventive for rust, spray with copper sulphate 
solution during fall and winter, and with Bordeaux 
mixture if rust appears in spring and summer. The 
spraying will be found very beneficial. 
Cultural Directions 
The same as for Red Raspberries. 
Minnewaski. Long, oblong, and of good quality; 
a very profuse bearer, and canes exceedingly vigorous. 
Ohmer. A very large and good berry; ripens very 
late and is very prolific. 
Wilson’s Early. Growth somewhat trailing; berry 
very large, sweet, very good; very prolific bearer; 
early; begins to ripen end of May. A well-known 
variety in the North; it has been very largely planted. 
DEWBERRIES 
Price, 50 cents £or 10 , $2 per 100 . 
Austin’s Improved. Origin Texas. After three 
'ears’ trial we can unhesitatingly pronounce this the 
>est Dewberry for this climate. Fruit very large; 
subacid, vinous; of second quality. Enormous bearer. 
Ripe 8 to io days ahead of other varieties. The most 
profitable market variety we have ever grown. Canes 
healthy, and stands our hottest summers. 
RASPBERRIES 
Price, 50 cents for 10 , S 2 per 100 , $15 per 1 , 000 . 
Cultural Directions 
Upright Growing Varieties, or Red. The soil 
should be rich and well worked. 
For Field Culture. Plant in row's 6 feet apart and 
4 feet in the row, or 5 feet apart each way. In July, 
after the crop is harvested, remove all the canes which 
have produced fruit, and cut back the new canes to 2 
feet; this will cause them to branch and become self- 
supporting. During winter give liberal manuring 
and good working. 
Caps. Plant further apart in the row, as they 
propagate from the tips of the canes, bent down. 
They should not be pruned until winter, and cut at 
the bend of the cane. Remove the old canes entirely. 
For Garden Culture. Plant the red varieties 4 feet 
apart, and the caps 6 feet, and train to stakes. The 
summer pruning of the reef varieties may be done if 
stakes are not used; otherwise omitted. Large yields 
of fruit can be expected only if the plants are well 
manured and thoroughly cultivated. Cotton seed 
compost, cotton seed meal, or pure ground bone arc 
all desirable fertilizers, and should be applied liber¬ 
ally during winter or early spring. 
Plants cannot be supplied before November 15. 
Cuthbert. After several years’ trial, this proves 
one of the best and most reliable of the red-fruited 
varieties. Fruit red; large, of excellent quality; yield 
very prolific; ripens middle of May, and continues 
for several weeks. 
Golden Queen. Fruit golden yellow, similar in 
quality to Cuthbert, to which it is evidently a close 
relation. Its fine color attracts the eye. Prolific; 
stands our summers. 
Loudon. Fruit large, rich crimson; excellent qual¬ 
ity; very productive, and stands the southern climate 
without injury; is a good shipper, as berries do not 
crumble. 
Shaffer. Of vigorous and rampant growth. An 
excellent market variety; berry large and good, but 
of an unattractive reddish color; prolific and hardy. 
Of the cap class ; ripens late. Plants stand our driest 
summers. 
STRAWBERRIES 
Prices of strong plants tied in bunches of 25 : 
50 cents per 100 , $4 per 1 , 000 . Special prices for 
large lots. 
Cultural Directions 
A deep, rich, sandy loam is the most desirable; 
still, with proper work and manure, any soil not too 
wet or arid may be made to yield large crops. 
For Field Culture, use from 15 to 25 tw'o-horse 
loadsof manure per acre. This should be well plowed 
under and the soil well pulverized before planting. A 
top-dressing of hardw'ood-ashes or bone-meal should 
be applied during February. Plants set out after the 
fall rains will yield a fair crop of fruit during the spring 
following, but a large crop is only certain the second 
year. It is undesirable to let the plants remain after 
the second year, and more profitable to plant every 
year, so that one field may take the place as the other 
is plowed up. Plants may be set in rows 3 feet by 1, 
and this will require 14,520 plants for one acre. 
For Family Use, the plants can be cultivated in 
hills, with the rows sufficiently apart to cultivate the 
ground thoroughly, or along garden walks. Manure 
the ground well, and plow deep before planting. 
Well-decomposed stable manurewill make a luxuriant 
growth, but to induce a large yield of fruit, a libera! 
supply of potash must be added. Either hardw-ood- 
ashes (20 to 40 bushels), muriate of potash (300 
pounds), or ground bone (500 pounds) per acre will 
return a good profit. Put a top-dressing of cotton¬ 
seed between the plants as soon as set in fall. Leave 
this all winter, and fork it in during March. After 
the crop is gathered, keep the soil well stirred and 
always free from weeds. If you expect a large yield 
of fruit, give the soil liberal manuring, and cut off the 
runners as fast as they appear. This will increase the 
size of the plants, and from these large stools or bushes 
a crop of fine berries may be expected. 
We have tested hundreds of varieties, and find but 
few that w'ill give general satisfaction. Locality in¬ 
fluences this fruit more than any other cause, and we 
cannot, therefore, depend upon the same variety thriv¬ 
ing equally well in different soils. 
Mulching. After a thorough working of the soil 
early in the spring, the ground may be covered with 
a coat of straw or leaves; let this remain during the 
fruiting period, then remove, and keep the beds well 
worked and free from weeds during the balance of 
the year. 
Sex of Blossoms. The blossoms of most varieties 
are perfect or bi-sexual, and are termed staminate , 
but some varieties destitute of stamens are imperfect 
and are termed pistillate. The latter are, as a rule, 
the most productive if planted near perfect-flmvering 
sorts; otherw'ise they will not produce fruit. Plant 
three rows of a good pistillate variety, then three rows 
of a perfect or staminate sort, and so on. Enhance, 
Hoffman, Michel, and Tennessee Prolific are good 
