American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-09-12
Small Fruits on the Farm.

The extensive cultivation of small
| fruits for market has undoubtedly
proved profitable to the planters, else the
| markets of our cities would not continue
| to be supplied, year after year, at such
comparatively low rates as nowadays
prevail. And yet, in the farm garden we
seldom see plantations of small fruits
sufficient to give the family even mod
crate supply. Too often the few bushes
or vines obtained are thrust in some out
| of-the-way place, to take care of them
| selves, spread into thickets, or degenerate
into wildings, and are finally grubbed
and cast out as rubbish.
From time to time we have called at
tentiOn not only to the pleasure attend
ing well-kept farm garden, but also to
its economy. 1t would seem that there
was vast amount of missionary work
yet to be done in this direction before
the average farmer is fully walked up to
the importance and economy of this sub
ject. We shall continue to call attention
to gardening as an important part of the
| farmers art until the people shall be
| fully walked up to its value, and shall
come to practice what they believe. Our
present purpose is to call attention to
small fruits.
1t is impossible to have success in any
| thing valuable as food without cultiva-
| is especially SO with berries. They sell
| dom have space enough allowed them,
and when this is the case it is impossible
to properly prune them, much less cult
vatc them. Currants and gooseberries
should never be planted at less distance
than from four to four and half feet
between the rows; raspberries, five to
five and u half feet, and blackberries
never less than six feet. If so, the two
| hs. nj cd fae for in
the row, the third three and half feet,
and the latter four feet in the row.
Currants and gooseberries should be
kept properly thinned, so that the foliage
may get due proportion of sun and air
and raspberries and blackberries should
have the old wood taken out each season
and the new growth cut back to three
and half or four feet, or be pinched
when the seasons growth has progressed
| so far. If to this we add cultivation suf-
ficient to keep the surface mellow and
the weeds killed there is no reason why
Il full crop of fruit should not be gath
cred every season that is favorable to its
| maturity; and experience has demon
stratcd that there are few that are not
favorable if the y-blossoming sorts
are kept back so that the blossoming
season may not occur during frosty
weather.
d u
cultivation than strawberries and fully
as easily gathered as strawberries, even
when this fruit is well cultivated; that is
when the plants have been placed three
feet apart between the rows by not less
than twelve inches in the row and the
runners kept scrupulously cut. Else
rst-class fruit cannot be expected and
certainly the beds cannot be kept free OF
weeds unless so treated without more
labor than the crop is worth.
To those who have already good gar
dens without berries as IA promincn
feature therein we say, Lose no time il
setting apart sufficient portion, or, il
need be, enlarge it for this purpose. Il
there are any who have not yet go
ready to have the garden permanently
fixed we say, Do SO at the earliest prac
ticable moment and make it of size to al
low ample space for berries.-Wester,
Ruiui
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