SB 381 co fl p y 3 1 vBBOTTg porticultoal Leaver -A-ZTsTID SMALL FRUIT. ■■■ DEDICATION. Believing that the cultivation ■ will not reach its highest excellence until the women of our country study and practice horti- culture, and recognizing the fact, that one \ lady at least fulfills the requisite qualificn for this work, To Mia An expert in grafting and budding fruit-ti The* rds arc inscribed By the ' COPYRIGHT 1887, BY FRANCIS B. ABBOTT. -^— *-\SM==~^ — »- HAND BOOK OF MALL FRUIT •\$} PUBLISHED BY/' I FRANCIS B. ABBOTT, CHICAGO, ILL. 7 1889 * PREFACE. In cultivating small fruits for several years, I have become aware of the fact that very few people know how to prepare the soil with fer- tilizers, propagate and cultivate with the skill necessary to make it a complete success. I have endeavored to state in as few words as possible, just what to do, leaving out all unnecessary talk about the matter, which would only con- fuse the amateur horticulturist. I firmly be- lieve that horticulture will not be successful in a high degree, until the women take a lead- ing part in this great branch of farm and garden culture. As a general rule, men are engaged in other pursuits and business cares, and do not have the time to spare. I believe the time is near when a change will be made, and the com- munity become awake to the importance of the foregoing statements. The Author. V A lady at Austin, 111., said to me as I was un- loading trees and small fruits: "If I knew how to manage these fruit trees and grape-vines, I could supply our table with all the small fruit we want." I replied that I should soon publish what I shall call, "Abbott's Horticultural Leaves," which would supply a long,- felt want. I meet with many ladies of refinement, who delight to work amid the small fruits and flowers of the gar- den. In the Great West, and in fact, there are thou- sands all over our great land who feel the same interest in this subject as this Austin lady. I shall offer the Leaves to the public at a moderate price, when we consider their value to those unlearned in the cultivation of small fruits. Hoping that these lines will meet with approbation from the public, I will further say that any man who supplies or aids his neighbors in procuring a plenty of small fruits, confers a great blessing upon the community. How to Cultivate Fruit Trees. CONTENTS Management of fruit trees after being taken from the Nursery. A table showing the number of trees required to plant an acre, from 1 to 50 feet apart. Distances at which trees should be planted. How to make a Barren Fruit Tree bear. Cuts of Fruit. Mow U (juititate Currants, CONTENTS. How to transplant. How to propagate from slips. How to prepare the soil for the slips. How to put roots on the slips the same year that they grow. H~w to raise Currant trees; a single stalk; suck- ers never grow from the roots, nor limbs on the trunk of the tree, any lower than you choose to have them. How and when to trim currant bushes. Currant Enemies and how to destroy them. How to make Spiced Currants. How to make Currant Preserve. (A new way). Cuts of Fruit. How to Cultivate Gooseberries. CONTENTS. How to transplant. How to propagate from slips. How to prepare the soil for slips. How to put roots on the slips. How to raise Gooseberry trees which never grow suckers from the roots. How to prevent Mildew upon Gooseberries. (This item alone is worth more than you pay for the Gooseberry Leaf.) Cut of Large English Gooseberries. How to Cultivate Grapes* CONTENTS. How to transplant. What place is most favorable for raising Grapes. What season is best for planting Grapes. What season to prune Grapes. How to prune Grape-vines. How to trellis Grape-vines. How to prevent Mildew. What enemies have Grapes. How to destroy them. Cuts of Fruit of the different kinds of Grapes. How to Cultivate Raspberries. CONTENTS. Preparation of the soil and fertilizers. Plants and planting. Propagation Culture of the Fruit. What varieties to plant. Cuts of Fruits and Plants. How to Cultivate Strawberries. CONTENTS. Soil and Situation. Preparation of the soil. Where to get Plants. What kinds to plant. How to plant. Mode of culture Cuts of Fruits. ■ tr^&.^*.&&^^*^^j**^.&^<)^^*&# ^&* M m *MmJ».^ lorticultal Leaver y »»»»»»»»»>T>>»»»f»» v »»» » » » »»»»» *•** > » » > "WT¥ IF^TXIT TIREIES- *~4U MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES AFTER TAKEN FROM THE NURSERY. The roots of trees should be kept moist during transportation; then cover with moist earth, until set in orchard. Plow the ground deep; then plow a deep, wide furrow where each row is to stand; throw out the earth until you have a hole suffi- ciently large to receive the roots as the3 r naturally grew in a row. Wet the roots, and then use the hand in putting in fine earth around them. Be caeful to place all fibrous roots in their natural position; fill up, pressing down with the foot; then mulch with coarse manure. On prairie or level ground, plow the furrows toward the trees until you get a ditch eighteen inches deep between the rows. Cultivate the ground well until the middle of July. Cultivation after that time produces too late a growth, leaving the trees in unripe condition at the setting in of winter. Autumn is strongly urged as the best time to get trees, which, if properly laid in, are even safer than if left standing. To winter trees perfectly, dig a ditch in dry soil, eighteen inches deep, with the earth banked up on the sloping side, against which the trees are to be laid; then sift fine earth among the roots, watering if soil and root be dry. Cover the tops with a few inches of earth outside, to exclude mice and rabbits. CHERRIES. Early Richmond. — An old European sort. The most valuable for the West and Northwest. It begins to color about the 20th of May, and may then be used for tarts, while it will continue to grow in size and color, losing its acidity; will remain oi* the tree in dry seasons until July. Free, hardy and productive, and by far the best for the West and Northwest. Table showing the number of trees required to plant an acre, from 1 to 50 feet apart. FEET. 1 TREES. ...43,560 ...10,890 ... 4,840 ... 2,722 ... 1.742 ... 1,210 ... 889 ... 680 ... 537 FEET. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 TREES. 222 .."."....193 170 150 130 120 108 98 90 82 75 69 FEET. 26 27.... TREES. 64 59 FEET. 38 TREES. 30 9 39 40 41 42 43 ... .28 3 .... 4 a 6 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 55 51 48 45 43 40 37 36 32 27 26 24 23 7 44 22 8 9 45 46 47 21 20 10 ... 835 ... 360 ... 302 ... 257 19 11 48 18 12 13 37 31 49 50 18 17 DISTANCES AT WHICH TREES SHOULD BE PLANTED. Standard Apples, - Pears and Cherries, - Peaches and Plums, Dwarf Pears, Dwarf Cherries, Dwarf Apples, - Currants, Raspberries, - Black Currants, Red Currants, Raspberries and Blackberries, Garden Culture, Field Culture, Strawberries, garden culture, Strawberries, field culture, 18 to 33 feet. 18 to 20 " 15 to 20 " 10 to 12 " 10 to 12 " 8 to 15 " 4 to 5 " 6 feet 3 " 3x # 4 1 x2 1 x3 To Make a Barren Fruit Tree Bear. Trench in a half circle as shown by the cut, rep- resenting a tree with a semicircular trench; sever all of the large roots, leaving the small fine ones; dig the trench wide enough to make it convenient to reach under and cut the downward roots. First dig the trench around, then commence two feet be- low the surface of the ground; dig under, cutting off those running below. I fill up this trench with two-thirds soil and one-third manure. I utilize the space to put in currant, gooseberry and other cut- tings. Repeat this operation with the other half of the tree three years later. For a tree eight or ten years old, trench two and a half feet from the trunk. For a tree twelve to fifteen years, make the trench four feet distant. Four years from the first root- pruning, extend the circle two feet further away and trench again. This operation will cause an unproductive tree to bear profusely. This experi- ment has been tried on the apple and pear with great success. The best time to do this work is the last of August and the first of September, when growth has nearly ceased, and the leaves are upon the trees, and the bloom buds are forming for the following year. ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT. I have a pear tree, at thirteen years of age it had borne me no pears; I said to a friend, "What is the reason that my pear tree yields no fruit? " His reply was: "It needs iron; " being a machinist I brought out of the machine shop some iron turnings, and with a hoe mixed them thoroughly with the soil around the tree. The next year I had pears. A lady friend of our family had a cousin, a lady, who was the owner of a barren pear tree; she felt very indignant because it yielded no fruit. She took a hammer and nails, and with great energy let the pear tree know that she was not to be trifled with in that manner. The pear tree took the hint from the severe treatment it received at her hands, for she drove the nails into it without mercy.. It be- haved splendidly after that, and gave an abundant yield of fruit. A gentleman of my acquaintance tried the same experiment on a cherry tree with the same success. My customers often ask, What kind of apples shall I buy ? I will mention a few: Summer. — Red Astrachan, Duchess of Oldenburg, Early Harvest. Fall.— Snow, 'Maiden Blush, Talman Sweet. Winter. — Ben Davis, Rawles' Janet, Mann, Willow Twig. Transcendant Crab Apples ^^ [lorticultoal Leaved aTT^^^isTTS- *-~i*-S?-« s ~^ GHIGAGO, ILL. How to Cultivate Currants. HOW TO TRANSPLANT. Throw out the earth until you have a hole suffi- ciently large to receive the roots as they naturally grew; see that you have some good soil at the bot- .; torn of the hole; place your bush in position, sift on , good fine soil with your coal sieve if you have no other; see that the fine dirt is paoked thoroughly among the roots; turn in a pail of water, so as to bed the soil perfectly around the roots; throw in more soil, and near the top of the ground mix manure with the soil, and press down the earth around the bush. HOW TO PROPAGATE FROM SLIPS. Cut the slips into eight-inch pieces, leave one bud ■ out of the ground, sprinkle a little light manure : over them to protect them through the winter. TO PREPARE THE SOIL FOR THE SLIPS. I dig a trench two and a half or three feet wide, and fifteen to eighteen inches deep, throw out the . soil, then put in a layer of manure (good cow's manure if you can get it), then a layer of soil, alter- nate layers of each, and fill up the trench; then fork it over two or three times, to thoroughly mix them together. Take Abbott's Slip Transplanter, and put them in all of the same depth ;#the Slip Transplanter is much larger than the slip, so that it will drop in very freely; throw common mortar-sand or very fine soil upon the bed; then with a watering-pot with the sprinkler off, holding it about four feet from the ground, pour the water and wash the sand into the holes around the slips, and fill them solid. TO PUT ROOTS ON THE SLIPS THE SAME YEAR THAT THEY GROW. I take a piece of tin or sheet-iron, bend it up like a tube, put it around the main stalks of the bush, leaving a half-inch space between the old branches and the tin tube to let the air circulate and prevent roots from growing out of the said branches, then bank up six inches or more, and in the late fall cut off the slips with good roots upon them. ANOTHER METHOD. Cut off the slips about the middle of August, strip the leaves, cut off the large end square with a very sharp knife, so as to not injure the bark. Then use the Slip Transplanter as before, and the sap will go down and heal over the end, and the fine roots wi grow out of the part under ground. How to Raise Currant Trees. Take the largest and most vigorous slips about two feet long, cut out the buds with the point of i knife or a V tool; plant it eight inches deep in th soil; cut out all of the buds as high above ground a you wish your limbs to appear on the trunk, say fifteen inches from the large end of the slip. They will never grow suckers or branches where the buds were removed. I have two black Naples currant trees with their trunks two and a halt inches in diameter, and their tops spread out five feet. I have red Dutch currant trees, fourteen inches from the ground to the lower branches; they are near the cherry currant patch, and my family, not knowing about them, took the fruit to show a customer a sample of cherry cur- rants. They were very large indeed for red Dutch currants. RED DUTCH CURRANTS. PhotcarapUd by John Ahem, 175 Mil. Av., Chicago. HOW TO TRIM. I first seek out the oldest branches. You can readily see if they show signs of decay, or have limbs broken or dead. Cut them close to the ground. You will often find them hollow, a worm having gone through the center of it. Take all limbs that lie horizontal near the ground; leave ten limbs in a bush that shows great thrift, but only seven other- wise ; cut out of the center of the bush so that the sun can shine through; then you will raise fruit, not wood. WHEN TO TRIM CURRANT BUSHES. I prefer the last of August or the 1st of Septem- ber, when the leaves are on the branches, and the slip full of sap; the wood mature; there is enough sap in the slip to heal over the lower end and be ready to throw out a multitude of fine roots all around the slip. Many people suppose the roots come from the buds, but these will notice that the suckers spring from the buds only, and the slip has a large number of fine roots all around. I have taken off slips in August and any time in fall or winter, or early in spring, before the buds start to grow. In the fall put a scoop-shovelful of manure around each bush; also give them a liberal top- dressing of manure; spade it in so as not to disturb the roots. A pick with rounded edges is the best to work with in loosening the ground near the roots; it will not cut them. Black Napfes Currant Tree. CURRANT ENEMIES AND HOW TO DESTROY THEM. The currant has three enemies, which in some local- ities are very destructive. One of them, called the currant worm, is about an inch long, and yellow in color, dotted with black spots; another is known as the currant borer; he gets inside of the stalk; often starts near the ground, and makes the stalk hollow nearly the entire length; sometimes he gets inside a new and tender branch, near the top of a bush. Remedy.— Make a strong soap-suds, using whale- oil soap; put into it about two teaspoonsful of crude carbolic acid. It is the better way to cut the stalk away and burn it. One more enemy claims our attention — the little green lice; give them a shower of whale-oil soap-suds and carbo^c acid with a syringe. It kills every time. Spiced Currants. Take four quarts of currants de- prived of the stems, one pint of vinegar, two pounds of crushed sugar, one teaspoonful each of allspice, cloves, and cinnamon powdered fine; boil all together until about the consistency of jelly; then remove from the fire and put away in closely covered jars for use. BLACK NAPLES CURRANT. A very few people know the value of this currant or its medicinal qualities. One of my customers who has a large number of children ordered a bushel, because they were excellent for dysentery. They cure sore throat and nursing sore mouth. They sell readily for $4.00 per bushel, when the red sell for $2.00. Black currant jam, a tablespoonful in a goblet filled with water, makes, one of the very best drinks in warm seasons; it is an excellent beverage for the sick room. LEE'S PROLIFIC BLACK CURRANT. The best black sort in cultivation. Berries very large, best duality ; a vigorous grower and immensely productive. The plants and fruit are entirely exempt from attacks of the Currant Worm or any other insect. The fruit will hang on the bushes a long time. "We have grown to like our Black Currants very much. Stewed (when ripe) and sweetened; stewed after being dried in sugar, made into preserves or jelly or canned, they are delicious. No other fruit has that pe- culiar delicacy of flavor." How to Pick Black Currants Rapidly. Persons having a large quantity of black cur- rants to harvest, know how tedious it is to pick them; the stems are so very short that it does not pay to take them from the bush. In years past 1 could make more money growing red Dutch currants as $2 a bushel than the black Naples at $4. This present year, 1887, 1 have tried a plan which is a success! Make a frame two feet wide and three feet long of strips of board, let the strip be two inches wide and one inch thick; get some canvass or Burlap, will cost about 8 cents a yard, tack it on one side. Place two frames opposite each other close to the bush with canvass side down; let the the fingers work lively, making every currant fall on the canvass below, empty in a box or basket. A large number of leaves will fall with the currants. To separate the leaves, take a sieve with the mesh a half inch, which will let the currants fall through and re- tain the leaves; the sieve should be concave, the currants will find their way out of the sieve more speedily. How to Trellis Currant and Goose- berry Bushes, Raspberry and Blackberry Canes. Black currants if planted six feet apart, will covei the whole space of ground around them ; the foliage is too heavy if they are not trimmed and cut back freely. The advantage of a trellis for the above bushes and canes is five fold. It gives ample space to walk among the bushes, lets sunlight to every part of the bush at once, ripens the fruit more evenly, the lower fruit at the same time with that higher up; it holds the bush steady to pick the fruit; it brings every limb within easy reach of the pickers, with no other limb in the way while picking the fruit. Take two plaster laths, bore a quarter inch hole one and a half inch from each end; then bore holes tour inches apart the entire length of the lath; pieces of lath from fifteen to twenty-four inches in length for raspberries and blackberries because of less number of strands than currants and gooseberries; then take wire, such as is used in baling hay, bend it double in the form of a letter T, bring the limbs into line by putting a lath each side, put the wire through the holes and press the laths together so as not to clamp too tight on the limbs; then bend back the two ends of the wires. *fej ieXa^^i (forticutol Leaved aOOSZEZBIEEBIEBXES. Tn-«WTr vm rin-r r«rr m r iTi— ii- HOW TO TRANSPLANT. Throw out the earth until you have a hole suffi- ciently large to receive the roots as they naturally grow in a row. Wet the roots, place the plant in the right position; be careful to place all fibrous roots in their natural position. Then with your ! coal-sifter or some other coarse sieve put the fine earth around them, pour in some water, put in more good soil mixed with good stable manure, and press down the soil with the feet. HOW TO PROPAGATE FROM SLIPS. Cut off slips of the past year's growth in Sep- tember or October; dig a trench two and a half or three feet wide, and fifteen to eighteen inches deep place alternate layers of manure and soil; then fork it over thoroughly, mixing it together; then with the Abbott Slip Transplanter put them in ii-om six to eight inches deep; spread common mortar-sand upon the bed; take a watering pot with the sprink- ler off, pour the water from the pot held about four or five feet from the ground to wash the sand solid around the stem. HOW TO PUT ROOTS ON THE SLIPS BEFORE THEY ARE CUT FROM THE MAIN BUSH. Bend up a tube of tin or sheet iron so as to leave a half -inch space around the main stems; then bank up in six or eight inches, and in the late fall cut them off from the main bush. The propagation of the gooseberry is about the same as the currant— deep cultivation of the soil, well fertilized, and strict and careful pruning. The gooseberry bush soon attains a large size, and the secret of raising large berries lies in the fact of pruning down to one stem. If you are a nursery- man and want to propagate, you will want the suck- ers to grow; but if, on the other hand, you want to raise large fruit, observe the item entitled " How to Raise Gooseberry Trees." If you do not wish to propagate, cut out all of the suckers that start in the spring. As the slips do not take root as readily as the currant, I think that layering is preferable if one is in any haste to get the slips rooted. Varieties: Large English, Houghton Seedling, Downing, and Smith's Improved., HOW TO RAISE GOOSEBERRY TREES. Take the largest slips; cut out all the buds six- teen inches from the large end; plant them about six or eight inches deep in the ground. They will grow a tree with a single stock, and never sprout up from the roots. HOW TO PREVENT MILDEW ON GOOSEBERRIES. Make a very strong brine with salt and water; pull some grass and give a thorough soaking in the brine; then lay it out and dry it; when the berries appear dig around the bush; then spread the grass under the bush, and when the moisture evaporates it passes up through the salt grass, makes a salt air the same as in its native home in England, Scotland and Germany. This has been found to prevent mildew in the West. porticultol Leaved C3-^2^^^E1S. t ^ s *'^ lr£ ^ CHICAGO, ILL. How to Cultivate Grapes. When we take into consideration the bountiful return that the grape bestows for the labor and care used in its cultivation, it is surprising that peo- ple neglect this important branch of horticulture, they will get cherry, apple and pear trees, currant, gooseberry, raspberry bushes, and almost, if not wholly, neglect the cultivation of the grape, which yields such large and beautiful clusters of fruit. These trees and bushes take up a large space, while the grape takes comparatively little. A person having an extra lot connected with his homestead can raise several bushels of delicious fruit, and trellis upon the fence around the lot, behind a row of currants or other fruit bushes. The only word I can use to explain this matter is ignorance; the want of knowing how to manage, prune and care for the vine. Do not people love grapes ? Are they not sold by thousands of boxes and baskets on South Water Street, and the peddler stands at our street corners, and beside the store fronts and curb- stones of all our great thoroughfares ? There would be much less sickness in the family if all of its members, parents and children, would partake more freely of this health-giving fruit. WHAT PLACE IS MOST FAVORABLE FOR RAISING GRAPES? A southwestern slope is considered the best, all things considered. In the time when frosts appear the ground is more warm and less liable to be affect- j ed by the frost. Hardy grapes will grow in almost any locality. HOW TO TRANSPLANT. Dig a trench two feet deep, fill it a third full of heads and bones of cattle or other animals, sift in among the bones rich, fine soil, plant the vine up t against a brick building; if a frame, make a trellis off from the side of the building so as not to injure the wood-work. Train up the vines, put some well rotted cow manure in with the soil near the surface. The roots will run in through the bones. The vines will bear bountifully for several years. Fer- tilize with good, well-rotted stable manure. WHAT SEASON TO PLANT GRAPES. The plants should be set in the fall or very early in spring, before the buds start, as there is danger of breaking off the buds. WHAT SEASON TO PRUNE GRAPES. The autumn, as soon as the leaves arjg off; or it may be done in winter or very early in the spring, or when the sprouts are about three inches long in summer. HOW TO PRUNE GRAPE-VINES. If you wish a good crop of fruit the next year, 'cut back all of the last year's or new growth, leav- ing three buds. In summer, when the sprouts are about three inches long, take off all that do not show blossoms or signs of fruit. In August cut off the tops of the stock canes eight feet high ; that will cause the grape to ripen early. HOW TO TRELLIS GRAPE-VINES. I have spoken of one plan. Some people set cedar posts, stretch wires from one to another. The vines stand once in six feet, or six feet apart. A great .bristly head shows itself on the vine about three feet from the ground, and tied up to the wire. The new wood is cut back to this point every year. Another way is to set cedar posts six feet apart, and coil the vine around the post, which is seven feet high. ANOTHER PLAN FOR A TRELLIS. Have a trellis with three or more uprights, about eight feet high, and four lateral bars, the upper to be eight feet from the ground, the lower eighteen inches high; divide the remaining space between the middle bars equally. Let the vine have two branches; train one to the right and one to the left on the lower bar; train uprights as shown by the cut of the Prentiss grape. The branch here repre- sented is the left-hand branch. You will see that all the branches trained up perpendicular have been cut back to three buds, and consequently three clusters of grapes from each stem; when these branches get strong cut back all of the upright branches to three buds. I have practiced for sev- eral years a method of starting a new vine. I dig a trench a foot wide and sixteen inches deep, six feet long, lay down a branch in this trench; let it be attached to the parent vine.. In this way you will secure great root power. In starting to plant a new vineyard, plant the rows eight feet apart, and when the vines are three years old dig the trench four feet to the center between the rows; if you have a long vine, lay it also in this trench, and return it to the same point on the old vine that you started from. In this way you secure very great root power. Grapes sometimes fall from, the vine. The cause of this is a want of sufficient nourishment; there is not sap enough to support the grape while ripening. They need more length of roots or more root power. THE SINGLE POLE OR STAKE SYSTEM I have practiced for several years. I coil two or three branches of the vine. Some people call it spurring down. I make the coils two feet in diame- ter, and from buds near the stake leave three or four buds to grow the canes for bearing fruit another year, and tie them to the pole as they increase in length. Vines coiled in this way ripen their fruit much sooner than those on a high trellis. Let the coil be fifteen inches from the ground. HOW TO PREVENT MILDEW. With a bellows blow powdered sulphur on when wet. WHAT ENEMIES HAVE GRAPES? Worms and lice. Remedy: Take whale oil soap- suds and crude carbolic acid, two teaspoonfuls to a quart of water. g=^S> » f »f>»»»»T»» » »»»i »H v "j. y»»»» y < H >»» y TT»»»t STBA-W^BEKRIES. s> ^*'^^ £ ^ 3 CHICAGO, ILL. How to Cultivate Strawberries. SOIL AND SITUATION. There are so many varieties of every kind of small fruit that it is nearly impossible to lay down the same rule for all of them, but we will endeavor to strike a general average. The soil adapted to many kinds of strawberries is a deep, moist, sandy loam, with a plenty of sunlight and pure air. The straw- berry thrives on moist land; not wet, undrained stagnant soil, but on underdrained, or, like my own bed, near a ditch four feet deep, upon what is now my sales ground. I have a space 2 5x125 feet, the size of a common house lot. Along one side and across one end I had Houghton Seedling gooseber- ries, the other side Davidson Thornless raspberries; across the other end a row of black Naples currants; inside of these a row of Philadelphia raspberries, one gooseberry and three Lawton blackberry bushes, one apple tree four years old. With the exception of the apple, these were all fruit-bearing bushes. Near the middle of the lot I had 150 young Davidson Thornless raspberry bushes. The remainder of the lot was covered with Wilson Seedling strawberries. I picked 290 quarts, a fraction over nine bushels. We sold 72 quarts for 10 cents per quart, equals $7.20, and 218 quarts at 7 cents, equals $15.26. We have here $22.40 for strawberries, not to men- tion gooseberries, raspberries and currants. Let those persons who have a vacant lot take notice of this fact. Our soil with deep spading is nearly all clay. PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. For garden culture, get some old, well rotted cow manure if 3'mi can ; cover your plat three inches deep with this manure; spade it in to the depth of fifteen or eighteen inches, as the strawberry roots run to a greater depth than many persons suppose. It is very amusing to see people pay a great price for the Monarch of the West, or Big Bob, and then plant them in soil stirred to the depth of six inches, and expect to raise large strawberries. You will gain much by forking over the soil a second time, and thoroughly mixing soil and manure. It is much more profitable to prepare the soil right at the first opera- tion, and not suffer with drouth from shallow culti- vation. Avoid shade. If your plants run among the currant bushes, you get very large plants, providing the soil is rich, and very few large sized berries. Do not work the soil when it is wet. For a bed that has been long planted, I use hen manure and wood ashes. I often put them both together into a half barrel, fill up with water, and apply with the sprink- ling pot with the sprinkler off. I have done thi? three times in spring, the last time just before they blossom. In using these fertilizers, I avoid filling the ground with weeds. WHERE TO GET PLANTS. I make it a rule to get the plants as near home as possible, and in the same climate. If they cannot be procured near home, do the best you can abroad. WHAT KINDS TO PLANT. Wilson Seedling, Charles Downing, Prouty, Cres- cent Seedling — mixed with some other variety ; Sharpless, Big Bob; and there are many others. Every garden should have two varieties of straw- "berries, early and late. In this way the season can be prolonged; every person knows that people are sorry to part with this delicious fruit when the plants cease to bear July 4th. The Crescent Seed- ling is one of the most productive of the whole list; it is a pistillate, and should always be planted uear some other sort that contains both stamens and pis- tils. The pistillate are strong growers, and heavy producers if fertilized by flowers of another variety; the two varieties should be within ten feet of each other. I have the Crescent Seedling, Charles Down- ing and the Wilson Albany all mixed up, a foot apart, and they give an abundant crop. The Wilson is the standard berry for shipping. Monarch of the West. — Fruit enormous, holds its size well to the last; has a fine flavor, very good for home use, a trifle soft for shipping. Charles Downing. — One ,of the best varieties; fruit large and abundant; it is extremely vigorous, hardy and productive; does well in any soil; good for home use. Big Bob.— It is claimed to be one of the best; it has not been introduced very commonly as yet. The originator says: I will grow Big Bob and get fruit in great abundance; richer color, larger average and vastly superior in quality to the Sharpless, which I believe to be accepted as the standard among big berries. It ripens about the same time as the Wil- son. Our Wilsons give us usually the first box June 3, and last box July 3. HOW TO PLANT. Take the Abbott Transplanting Trowel; plant any time when you can put a spade into the soil. I have piarited With the best kind of sticcess in December, just before the ground froze up. I do it every month— spring, summer, fall or winter. I have done it in January with the trowel. I make the rows for garden culture about two feet apart, and one foot apart in the row. If you wish to raise j fruit, cut the runners, keep out the weeds, give a top dressing of hen manure and wood ashes, onc shovelful of ashes and manure and five or six of black soil*, dc this in July and August. I water in early spring — sometimes take any manure soluble in water, put in a tub or half barrel; stir up; take two thicknesses of coarse matting and strain it; this prevents getting grass or hayseed into your patch. I plant in early spring, then after the fruit is gone. I have planted in December, and the frost did not heave them out; I had a beautiful crop the follow ing summer. Big Bob.' - m BiAcsssm. ~j*^r*» ITS CULTIVATION, SOIL AND SITUATION. Light, warm land is preferable to very damp and heavy soil. If these are used the wood does not ripen fully and will winter-kill ; for the same reason the land should not be too rich. Deep plowing is of great advantage, less liable to suffer from drought. It often succeeds well on high gravelly knolls, but if on such lands, it should be mulched. I have seen wild Black- berries growing in northern Illinois in an open- ing on the edge of the forest, in a very vegetable soil, composed largely of decayed leaves, the fruit hung in beautiful clusters. For field culture set the plants in rows six feet apart, and three feet distant in the rows ; for garden culture place the rows four feet apart and three feet space in the rows. I prefer fall planting for Blackberries, and, in fact, almost every bush and vine in the garden. When the tender shoots intended for fruit next year attain the height of four feet, clip them off the same as the Raspberries ; they will then throw out lateral branches, which will bear the largest berries. The old canes that bear fruit this year, can be cut out as soon as the fruit is gathered. For winter protection see article entitled ''A winter over-coat for plants, shrubs and vines." ERIE BUCKBEEE? m Is a chance seedling that sprang up in northern Ohio, near Lake Erie, and was named at the suggestion of Hon. M. P. Wilder, President of the American Pomological Society. " The JEfie seems to fill in every particular, the de- mand for an entirely hardy Blackberry, pro- ducing large fruit ; and in the ten years this variety has been tested it has not developed a single weakness. The canes are not only of ironclad hardiness, never having failed to pro- duce a crop of fruit, but of the strongest growth, free from "rust" and all other diseases, and won- derfully productive. The robust canes are borne to the ground with the weight of fruit. The fruit is not only of the largest size, excelling the Wilson, Kittatinny or Lawton, excellent quality, handsome and fine, but ripens exceed- ingly early, just after Early Harvest. The berries are almost round in form, very uniform in shape and size, scarcely any small or imper- fect berries; hence, no other sort approaches the Erie, in appearance, when exposed in the crate, picked as it grows." Matthew Crawford, of Ohio, one of the best authorities, says of the Erie : " My own opin- ion is, that when fully ripe it is as good as I ever tasted. It has not failed of a crop in seven years, while the Lawton and Kittatinny, grow- ing near the Erie, have been winter-killed several times. I think there is a fortune in it for any man who can afford to grow it exten- SH7DSR BLACKBERRY A native of northern Indiana. A medium- sized berry, enormously productive; will not winter-kill; has no sour core; has less thorns than the Lawton; is the most reliable of the common high Blackberries. BVERGRES^BUCKBSRRT, The above named Blackberry was brought to Oregon from the South Sea Islands a few years ago, and is found to be the most hardy of all the Blackberry family. It stands the winters well in Oregon, sometimes the mercury goes below zero several degrees. The third or fourth year it will bear a bushel of berries to the single plant. The berry is about the size of the Lawton. The third year after the vines have ripened their fruit, they should be cut back. The vines should be spread out like a fan and tied to stakes. These canes should be cut back every year and should not be over ten feet high, for the convenience of picking. BLACKBERRIES. co> w 0O0 ^ The Lucretia Dewberry is the largest in size of any of the Blackberry family. In size and earliness it-equals any of the high Blackber- ries. This is one of the low-growing, trailing Blackberries. It is very hardy, healthy and very productive; it has large, beautiful flowers. The fruit is often one and one-half inches long, and one inch in diameter. Its fruit is sweet and delicious, with no hard core. Matthew Crawford of Ohio says: "I have fruited the Lucretia Dewberry two years, and am satisfied that it is all that is claimed for it." It will run over a stone-heap, or on a trellis; if trailing near the ground , coarse mulch should be used to pre- vent the fruit from being soiled. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 000 929 961 ^\frs ^v LUCRETIA DEWBERRY