
HERE IS QUALITY NURSERY STOCK AT ITS BEST! 

GROWING BERRIES 
During the last few days at least two parties 
have written and asked the best way to grow 
blackberries and dewberries. 
I have been growing these berries now for 
many years and some years they are one of the 
most profitable crops. They are like every thing 
else. Some years there is a good demand for them. 
I can not figure this out unless, as often happens, 
a few people have a back yard patch and begin 
to sell them too cheap. Last season one man near 
a town had three or four rows. His kids and wife 
picked them and sold them at fifteen cents per 
gallon. That almost ruined the price until later in 
the season. My berries were a little late and the 
price finally got up to thirty-five cents per gallon 
and we could not supply the demand. If there are 
a lot of early berries around town you are lucky 
to have a late patch, for there is seldom enough 
of this fruit grown to satisfy the demand. Black- 
berries are one of the easiest fruits grown, you 
ean find kinds that suit all kinds of soil and 
climates. We have. the Haupt that does well in 
South Texas and it also seems the Young and 
Boysen do well far South. The Austin thornless 
dewberry will likely make more than any other 
berry but they should be set about a foot apart 
and the rows four feet apart. If the land is sandy 
they have to be mulched to keep them off the 
ground, but they have no thorns and that makes 
them easily gathered. The Thorny Austin makes a 
big vine and not so inclined to get sandy. I find 
the Early Wonder blackberry is about the only one 
recommended in Oklahoma. And it is fine every- 
where. It originated here on my place, but it has 
been sold under more different names than any 
other berry on earth. It is called Dew Black, Ozark 
Wonder, Arkansas Beauty and many other names. 
But all these aliases do not make it a bad fruit 
though some of them do not fit it. 
Berries like all other fruit act better if you 
treat them good. Give them good rich deep moist 
soil and they will certainly produce the fruit. 
However, some people plant them on poor soil, 
then fertilize them to build up the soil. Such kinds 
as Early Wonder should be planted in rows say 
nine feet apart and the plants two feet apart in 
the rows. I recommend nine feet because lots of 
people have tractors and disk harrows and they 
can go between the rows with the disc harrow, 
making them easier to cultivate. I saw a man who 
had two rows on the way to his field. In this way 
he can go between the rows and keep them well 
cultivated and not miss the time. If you have good 
soil an upright berry like Early Wonder can be 
planted nine feet each way and this will reduce 
the cost of cultivation a great deal. However, the 
first year the Early Wonder runs on the ground 
and looks exactly like a dewberry. The vines 

that come out the second year are upright and 
keep the berries well off the ground. There are a 
dozen ways to set the plants. If we are in a hurry 
we often take a spade and stick it in the ground, 
then the operator pulls the handle towards him 
“and lets some one set the plant in the place made 
by: the spade. The plant should be set so the top 
part is a little under the ground. The plant when 
it is dug is usually cut off about an inch or two 
above the ground. The plant will dry out if 
the cut part is exposed to the air. I often plow 
a furrow about three or four inches deep and drop 
the plants in the furrow and cover them entirely 
up so all parts of the plant will be at least three 
inches deep. If the soil is dry it is a good idea to 
tramp it a little. They will come up to a perfect 
stand if this planting is done just right and I be- 
lieve will grow off better. 
They are cultivated about like you would cot- 
ton though we cultivate the first year until nearly 
frost. If you have barn yard manure it will help 
them. 
After your berry patch is set if they are far 
enough apart in the late spring it is a good plan to 
plant strong growing peas between them. Say the 
clay of whipporwill pea. If peas are fertilized it. 
will help your berry patch. Acid phosphate is likely 
as good a fertilizer as you can use under the peas 
and the peas will gather nitrogen and make your 
berries grow better. If the land is sandy the pea 
vines will keep the sand from blowing. This year 
we not only planted peas between the rows, but we 
planted peas between the plants in the row. A dry 
year this would have a tendency to stunt the berry 
plants but it has rained all the year and is raining 
at this very minute. The pea plants will prove very 
valuable as a mulch next spring. I have planted 
cotton between the rows then in the spring let the 
old cotton plants stand to knock off the high winds. 
And say, what has become of those high winds? 
We have not had them now in two years. We also 
have not had the old blue whistling northers we 
had forty years ago. All of which proves even 
climate changes. 
It is owing to how much time you have as to 
whether you trellis your berries or not. If you 
have an acre or two and want to go to extra pains 
to cultivate and take care of your dewberries then 
trellis them. Any kind of cheap wire will do and 
the trellis does not have to be over two feet high. 
There is no use trellising a berry like Early Wond- 
er. It will stand up alone, but it will pay to 
trellis the Austin and Young, Boysen and River- 
side. The Riverside is a rather new dewberry and 
the biggest of all dewberries. It is a very produc- 
tive berry and the seeds are very large. I thought 
these large seeds would be bad for them but my 
customers say the seeds are easily gotten out and 
it makes very fine jam. — 

FITZGERALD NURSERY - - STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS 
[22] 
