tance it will seldom be convenient to plant them at
once. They should be unpacked as soon as received,
the bunches loosened enough to bring all the roots in
contact with earth when heeled -in, which should be
done on the north side of a building or in a cool cellar
in moist earth. A shallow trench should be opened
with one side somewhat slanting, laying the plants
against this side and covering the roots with earth,
which should be closely pressed about them. Tier af-
ter tier may be packed in this way. Plants so treated
will remain in a cool place with safety for some time.
If dry when received dousing the roots in water or thin
mud before heeling -in is advisable. Even burying the
plants entirely in the earth may assist them to recover.
When well fitted the field should be marked and
furrows plowed the desired distance apart. If check-
rows are used the marking should be done in both di-
rections, to facilitate rapidity of planting, though fur-
rows need be plowed but one way. Most workmen will
make a straighter furrow if the land is previously
marked, though a good driver will plow them very
straight by using stakes and ranging with objects in
the fields beyond.
Some successful growers recommend deep planting
for all bush -fruits, urging that plants set deep are
better able to withstand drought, and will stand up
better. The plants are set in the bottom of the fur-
12 BUSH-FRUITS
row, but only moderately covered, allowing the furrow
to be filled in by subsequent cultivation, after the
shoots have started. Deep planting is not always sat-
isfactory, especially with tips. If the subsoil is heavy
and hard the plants will lose more than they gain.
Experiments at the Nebraska Experiment Station gave
uniformly better results from shallow planting of black
raspberries.
In mellow ground the plants are quickly set by
drawing the earth about them with the hands and firm-
ing it with the hands or feet, leaving the furrow to be
filled in with a hoe or by subsequent cultivation. When
two or three persons are planting together one should
carry the plants in water and drop them just in ad-
vance of those who are setting. He should never be
allowed to get ahead of the planters, for every expo-
sure to sun and wind, even though brief, lessens the
vitality of the plant. If one person is working alone,
the plants may be carried in a pail containing some
water.
MANAGEMENT OF THE LAND
Some return may be obtained from the land the
first year by planting hoed crops between the rows.
In many cases nothing will be gained by this practice.
Under intensive culture it can be done with profit, but
with common farm methods what is gained by the
catch -crop is likely to be more than lost in diminished
growth of the fruit -plants.
Cultivation during the first year differs little from
that of other hoed crops. Frequent stirring of the
TILLAGE 13
soil to destroy weeds and preserve a dust-mulch upon
the surface is demanded. The grower cannot afford to
allow weeds to usurp food and moisture which belong
to the plants ; neither can he afford to allow the mois-
ture to evaporate from the soil by neglecting to mulch
it with dust. As in every horticultural operation, the
better the tillage the better the growth.
Each succeeding spring tillage should begin early,
using any implement which will loosen the soil thor-
oughly and leave the ground level. The soil immedi-
ately about the plants should be loosened with a hoe or
rake so that the whole surface may be mellow and in
good tilth. If done early this is not a serious task,
but if neglected until the ground becomes hard and the
weeds have started it is difficult and expensive. A
shovel or spade can sometimes be used with advantage
in first turning the soil. Some growers plow between
the rows in spring, but this is undesirable, since it may
injure many of the roots and leave the land in ridges.
Plowing is especially undesirable among currants and
gooseberries.
Most writers recommend that tillage should cease
by July or August to permit the plants to ripen their
wood before winter. Other men of wide experience,
whose opinions carry much weight, believe that tillage
should continue throughout the entire season. It is a
point still open to discussion and one upon which more
light is needed. Much depends upon the locality and
the season. In semi-arid climates, like that of the
Plains, there is little danger of inducing too great fall
growth by continuous tillage. There is more danger
14 BUSH-FRUITS
that the plants may go into winter quarters with a
deficiency of moisture in the soil. In Nebraska con-
tinuous cultivation gives good results.
Mulching to replace tillage is often suggested. In
the home -garden where tillage is often difficult, owing
to the smallness of the plots or the inconvenience of
getting at them with a horse, mulching may be the most
satisfactory, but in field culture no other mulch is so
practicable as that formed by a layer of mellow, fre-
quently-stirred soil. The chief objections to mulching
are the difficulty and expense of obtaining material, the
labor involved in applying it and the fact that mulching
induces surface rooting of the plants. In tilled land
the roots are kept below the part which is stirred and
if neglected this part remains to protect them. With
mulching the roots come close to the surface, where they
are quickly injured if the mulch is allowed to disappear.
On very rich soils in moist climates continuous culti-
vation may induce too rampant wood -growth. Under
such conditions cultivation is sometimes abandoned
after the second year, the ground being seeded to clover,
which is cut when the fruit begins to ripen and left on
the ground for a mulch. A practice in vogue on the
Thayer farms in Wisconsin is to grow clover on other
land, to be cut and spread along the rows, while tillage
is maintained in the spaces between.
Cover-crops have not been largely used among bush-
fruits heretofore, but there is good reason to believe
that they can be employed with advantage. If legumes
are used all the nitrogen which is needed may be thus
obtained. If too much results, non-leguminous crops
CO VER - CROPS 15
should be substituted. Where crimson clover thrives it
makes an excellent plant for this purpose, forming a
dense close mat to aid in winter protection of the roots
and in the prevention of heaving. Its chief objection
lies in the fact that it involves extra labor to destroy the
plants in spring.
TILLAGE TOOLS
Few special tools are needed in the bush-fruit planta-
tion. A cultivator is the first and most important
implement. Any kind which will thoroughly loosen
the soil and leave it level will serve the purpose. It
should be one which will do good work when widely-
spread, for with full-grown bushes it is impossible to
work close to the plants except with a wide tool, the
wings of which can run beneath the branches. For
suckering varieties it is decidedly advantageous to have
teeth which are square on the end instead of pointed, as
most cultivator teeth are. Square teeth will cut off the
suckers beneath the surface of the ground, while
ordinary kinds permit most of them to escape. Such
teeth are also useful in cutting off Canada thistles and
other deep-rooted weeds which often escape.
In soil which is free from stones, knives or cutting
blades of steel can be made by a blacksmith and at-
tached to an ordinary cultivator, so that they will fol-
low and either cut or uproot everything which escapes
the teeth. Such a device is used by E. T. Hartley, of
Lincoln. Neb., for cutting off plum -sprouts.
In mellow soil a scilffle-hoe is useful for working
among plants which have become large and spreading.
16
BUSH-FRUITS
The crescent scuffle -hoe answers this purpose admira-
bly. If preferred, and the materials are at hand, one
can be made by riveting the outer tines of an old fork
to a piece of bush -scythe, as shown in
Fig. 1.*
In this connection two devices for the
horse which does the cultivating should
be mentioned. One is a wire muzzle, in
the shape of a basket, which can be
slipped over the nose and buckled into
the bit -rings. With such a device to
prevent the horse from nipping the plants
he will keep his place in the row and do
his work better. The other device is a
leather apron, to be worn on his breast,
which will save him many an ugly
pig.i. Home-made scra t c h. It is generally necessary to
scarifer or scraper.
keep the horse close to one row to make
the cultivator reach under the bushes, and this apron
will materially aid in doing it.
PRUNING
The old canes of raspberries and blackberries are
best removed and burned as soon as fruiting is over.
Any insects that may be contained in them are thus
destroyed. The canes can be more easily cut at that
time, for they are still soft, while by spring they be-
come very dry and woody. This early removal offers
a good opportunity to clean up the plantation and culti-
* Other patterns of useful tools are illustrated in "Garden-Making.'
IMPLEMENTS
17
vate close to the bushes. Though the fruiting -habit of
currants and gooseberries is different from that of bram-
bles, a similar principle of renewing the fruiting -wood
may be used with advantage. Fruit borne on old wood
becomes deficient in size. It is better therefore to cut
out all parts more than two years old and allow the
younger shoots to take their places. This is preferable
to shorten ing -in the shoots, for that induces additional
branching and a dense undesirable form of bush.
Some implement is needed for cutting out the old
and superfluous canes. The work can be done with
long-handled pruning - shears, with a corn-cutter or
with an ordinary bush -scythe, but some form of hooked
knife, small enough to work
among the canes easily and cut
one at a time, is more conven-
ient. A good tool of this kind
can be made from a flat file,
properly bent and sharpened,
then firmly driven into a shovel
or manure - fork handle, as
shown in Fig. 2. William A.
Brown of Michigan reports *
that after trying many devices
he prefers a tool similar to this
hook, but made from a piece
of bush -scythe riveted to a flattened shank and driven
into a handle. He also recommends a special rake for
use in gathering up the old canes when through prun-
ing. It consists of a head piece of 4 x 4 scantling 5
Fig. 2.
Pruning-hook.
Fig. 3.
Pruning-spud.
*Miehigaii Horticultural Society Report, 1886, p. 406.
18 BUSH-FRUITS
feet long. Into this are fastened seven teeth of %
inch round iron, 18 inches long. Poles at right angles
to the teeth serve for shafts and a bow is attached to
the head- piece for handling it. By means of such a
tool the canes can be quickly gathered into piles in the
rows, from whence they can be loaded on a hayrack and
drawn away. A spud similar to that shown in Fig. 3 is
often useful in cutting out the canes or in cutting off
soft young suckers. It may also be used with advantage
in putting down the tips of black-caps.
For the spring pruning, which consists chiefly of
shortening -in the laterals, light, quick and easy -working
shears are needed. If the canes are not too large and
woody a good pair of sheep -shears is most convenient.
For nipping back the new growth in summer a long-
bladed knife or sickle with a keen edge will be found
convenient, particularly on young bushes where the
young shoots are so exposed as to allow them to be
clipped readily. On older bushes, where the young
shoots need to be clipped below the height of the older
canes, sheep -shears are better, though the thumb and
finger may be equally good.
It is necessary to go over the plants more than once,
since it is very important that the shoots be pinched
when they reach the desired height. If allowed to
grow taller, then cut back, the laterals will not push
forth so vigorously. If only the tip is removed from
a tall shoot th3 resulting bush will be top-heavy and
unable to hold up its load of fruit.
For full discussion of the principles and practice of pruning,
consult "The Pruning -Book."
WINTER INJURIES 19
WINTER KILLING
The hardiness of the varieties which he cultivates
is a point of great importance to the grower. The
question of what constitutes hardiness has puzzled
growers much, and is still unsettled. That the con-
ditions of the season and of growth aft'ect in great
measure the ability to endure the following winter
is certain, although if a variety is constitutionally
tender in a given locality, there is little hope that
any kind of treatment will make it hardy. Disease
or the intense heat of summer may so weaken plants
that they are unable to withstand the most favorable
winters, while strong, healthy plants will often endure
the most trying ones unhurt. Raspberry plants taken
up and removed to the forcing house in the fall of
1892 showed all the ordinary symptoms of winter
killing when starting into growth under glass, yet
they had been subjected to only enough cold to
admit of a ball of earth being taken up with them when
transferred to the house. It is generally believed that
after a comparatively dry fall, favoring a slow, well
ripened growth, plants endure the winter best, but
even this theory of well ripened wood is still open
to doubt. It is certain that slender canes pro-
duced during the latter part of the season often
winter -kill less than those of the whole season's
growth. It is unsafe to assert from this, however,
that immature wood is hardier, for canes produced
late are smaller, and may make firmer, better ripened
wood than those of earlier and more vigorous growth.
20 BUSH-FRUITS
There are some very successful berry -growers whose
practice is directly opposite to this theory, for they
believe in thorough and frequent cultivation up to
the time of frost. This tends to favor a late fall
growth, producing at least some wood which cannot
be well ripened when winter sets in.
In many localities winter protection is an essential
feature of berry growing, and many growers find it
profitable even where it is not absolutely necessary.
The increased yield, even in mild climates, often more
than pays the cost of protection, and a crop of fruit
is thereby insured, even though the winter should be
an unusually trying one.
Different methods are employed for laying -down
the canes. Some drive over the rows with a wagon,
and the axle bends the plants all in one direction. If
mulch of any kind is used for covering, like sorghum,
bagasse or coarse manure, it can be thrown from the
wagon on to the plants at the same time. A fence
rail is sometimes used to bend down a section of row
at once, leaving the rail there to hold them down. A
simple and practical way is to remove a little earth
from the side of the hill with a spading or manure
fork, bending the plant down in that direction and
throwing enough earth over the tips to hold it there.
The plants are usually all laid in one direction along
the row, the tips of one lapping over the roots of the
preceding. In very severe climates it is best to en-
tirely cover the plants with earth. This is some-
times done by running a plow along the row, and
throwing the furrow over them after they have been
LAYING-DOWN THE PLANTS 21
laid down. The objection to this plan is that it
injures the roots, and with suckering varieties, causes
more suckers to spring up, so that the time saved
is lost again in fighting the suckers the following
season. Some plow a furrow along the row the first
thing, and turn the plants to the side, but that plan
is open to the same objection.
This laying -down can be done at any time after
growth stops in the fall, but before the ground
freezes. In some instances no injury has followed
covering while yet in full leaf, with several weeks of
mild weather following. The time of taking them
up in the spring, however, is of greater importance,
for if lifted early, with severe weather following, they
are much more apt to be injured than plants which
have not been covered would be by the same tempera-
ture. If left too late, growth may begin while they
are still covered, rendering them very sensitive to
even light frosts when exposed. It is always bet-
ter, if the work can be so timed, that a few days of
mild weather shall follow the date of lifting.
The cost of protecting in this way is variously
estimated. T. T. Lyon reports a large plantation
of Wilson Early blackberries bearing a bountiful crop,
which had been laid down at a cost not exceeding
$1.75 per acre. In Wisconsin, where much of it is
done, the cost of laying -down blackberries and
lifting them again in spring is estimated at about
$5 per acre.
The verdict of all growers who have practiced lay-
ing-down is so unanimously in its favor that there can
22 BUSH-FRUITS
be little doubt that in all regions where the winters
are especially severe or trying, it will certainly pay
to lay down both raspberries and blackberries. A
writer in American Garden in 1890 makes the state-
ment that he can insure a quart of blackberries a
minute, for the time spent in laying them down.
Some growers advise less vigorous summer pruning,
or none at all, where plants are to be laid down.
Others who practice laying -down very extensively
also prune severely.
Bailey writes* as follows on this subject: "Black-
berries and raspberries are extensively laid down in
cold climates, and it may be well to relate the method
here for the benefit of those who occupy bleak loca-
tions. Late in fall, the bushes are tipped over and
covered. Three men are generally employed to per-
form this labor. One man goes ahead with a long-
handled, round -pointed shovel and digs the earth
away six inches deep from under the roots. The
second man has a six-tined or four-tined fork which
he thrusts against the plant a foot or so above the
ground, and by pushing upon the fork and stamping
against the roots with the foot, the plant is laid over
in the direction from w r hich the earth was removed.
The third man now covers the plant with earth or
marsh hay. Earth is generally used, and if the va-
riety is a tender one the whole bush is covered two
or three inches deep. Hardy varieties may be simply
held down by throwing a few shovelfulls of earth
*" Principles of Fruit-Growing," 98.
LAYING-DOWN THE PLANTS 23
on the tops of the canes, thus allowing the snow to
fill in amongst the tops. If the grower lives in a
locality where he does not fear late spring frosts, the
bushes should be raised early in the spring ; but if
frosts are feared, they may be left under cover until
corn -planting time. If the buds become large and
are bleached white under cover, they will suffer when
exposed to the atmosphere ; and one must watch the
bushes in spring, and raise them before the buds be-
come soft and white. This method of lay ing -down
blackberry plants costs less than $10 per acre, and
the slight breaking of the roots is no disadvantage.
Some growers dig the earth away on both sides of
the row, and still others bend over the canes without
any digging. Whatever method is employed, the
operator must be careful not to crack or split the
canes. The method can be varied with different va-
rieties, for some bear stiff er canes than others."
The same author writes* again as follows: "The
tops of plants may be laid down for the winter. Fig.
4 shows a method of laying down blackberries, as
practiced in the Hudson River Valley. The plants
were tied to a trellis, as the method is in that
country, two wires (a, bj having been run on
either side of the row. The posts are hinged by a
pivot to a short post (c), and are held in position by
a brace (d). The entire trellis is then laid down
upon the approach of winter, as shown in the illus-
tration. Tl}e blackberry tops are so strong that they
t
* Garden-Making," 62.
24
BUSH-FRUITS
hold the wires up from the ground, even when the
trellis is laid down. To hold the wires close to the
earth, stakes are thrust over them in a slanting posi-
tion, as shown at n n. The snow which drifts
through the plants ordinarily affords sufficient pro-
tection for plants which are as hardy as grapes and
Fig, .">. Laying -down trellis-grown blackberries.
berries. In fact, the plants may be uninjured even
without cover, since, in their prostrate position, they
escape the cold and drying winds."
In this connection it should be noted, that severe
cold is not the only cause of winter- killing. In
Nebraska, red raspberries and blackberries are com-
monly killed to the ground if left unprotected, while
black -caps fare only a little better, yet the climate is
no colder than in New York or Pennsylvania, where
protection is rarely given. The winter of 1895-6 was
RAISING SEEDLINGS 25
an exceptionally mild one, the mercury falling below
zero but once at Lincoln, and then only five degrees
below, yet the destruction was as complete as ever.
Young plants of the Taylor blackberry were uni-
formly killed to the ground during this winter, while
plants in adjoining rows, of the same age and in every
way comparable, but which were laid down and cov-
ered, came through perfectly green to the tips. The
following winter, 1896-7, was much colder, but the
preceding summer and autumn had been favorable,
with plenty of rain, and the plants went into winter
quarters with abundant moisture in the ground. Con-
trary to their usual custom, and in spite of much
lower temperature, both raspberry and blackberry
plants came through the winter in good condition with-
out protection. Drought is more disastrous than cold
in Nebraska.
PROPAGATION *
The common methods of propagation consist in a
division or continuation of the parent plant by means
of tips, suckers or cuttings, according to the habit of
the species. Reproduction from seeds, by means of
which new varieties are obtained, "is the same in all.
When the fruit is thoroughly ripe the seeds should be
washed out of the pulp in water, and may then be
sown at once, or first dried, like other seeds, and sown
later. There is reason to believe that a larger propor-
tion of the seeds will germinate the first spring after
sowing if put in the^ soil at once, than if dried and
*For extended discussions of propagation of plants, see "The Nursery-Book.'
26 BUSH-FRUITS
kept some time before sowing. Certain it is that by
the latter method most of them remain dormant during
one whole season, germinating the second spring.
Unless they are to be sown in very large quantities,
gardeners' flats, about two feet square and five or six
inches deep, will be found most convenient. The soil
used should be rather light and porous, one which will
not bake or pack hard. The seed may be sown in
rows two or three inches apart, or broadcast over the
surface of the ground. Cover lightly about one -fourth
of an inch deep. The boxes can then be put outside
in a protected, shady place, and left till the seeds ger-
minate. If the seeds are the product of crosses or
particularly choice selections, so that they need to be
kept pure, the flat should be covered with a fine screen
to prevent the possibility of birds dropping other
seeds into the same box, as might easily happen,
especially if the box has been placed "under trees to
secure the desired shade. The only attention required
from this time on is to see that the soil is not allowed
to dry out enough to injure the germinating power of
the seeds. Weeds should also be pulled out as they
appear. As soon as the plants are strong enough to
bear handling, they should be potted off or reset in
other flats, putting them two or three inches apart
each way. The flats or pots in which these young
plants are growing should be well plunged in the
soil to avoid drying out. This is of especial impor-
tance in getting the plants through the winter safely,
for lack of moisture in winter is as destructive to
plant life as lack of moisture in summer. After one
THINNING 27
season's growth the plants may be strong enough to
be set in the open ground, but they need mellow,
well -prepared soil and careful attention, for most of
them will still be small and weak. Growing plants
from seeds is a slow process, and in the majority of
cases the offspring will show nothing superior to the
parent or to other varieties already in cultivation.
THINNING THE FEUIT
Thinning is often advantageous with the larger
fruits, and is easily done with berries by clipping off
a part of each cluster or some clusters entirely. A