St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-11-01
The BlaekberrHa

We are asked if blackberry plants that
have been ordered from the nursery
can be planted this fall. Yes. The Gull
tiyation of the blackberry is essentially
the same as thatof the raspberry. They
NAV be set either in the fall or tho
spring. A rather dry soil is preferable
30 wet one, and the soil need not be
as rich rs for the raspberry. Tho
plants, too, need more room than tho
raspberry requires, for they grow more
branching and make larger stools. The
rows ought not to be nearer than six
feet, and the larger growing kinds
would do better If the distance between
the rows were eight feet. If planted
this fall, they will need winter protec-
ton, and in the North where our win
tiers are liable to be cold enough to kill
almost anything, it is advisable to
guard against possible injury by pro-
tecting all such things when it can DO
readily done. Laying down the plants
and covering with soil is the best and
cheapest way of protecting such canes.
The cultivation of the blackberry, to
those who have passed middle age, is a
subject of considerable interest. Prob
ably there is none of us who did not
like the wild blackberry when we were
boys. but there is not one of us who has
passed middle age who does not remem.
Der the time when the advocacy of cul-
tivating this briar in the fields would
have been sufficient to have placed the
one who advocated it on the list of lu-
natics. While the berry was not I'M
welcome the ''briar" on which it grew
was esteemed frst-class nuisance, and
rather as mark of poverty of both the
farm on which it grew and the owner.
We can remember how much ridicule
the first cultivation of this fruit that
ever came under our notice excited. It
was in the lower part of New Jersey
where there were quite as many briars
as the people thought they wanted,
without any special effort to cultivate
them. But the cultivator devoted some
of the best land in that section of the
State-that is to say the best located
to the purpose, and as he kept it in
blackberries for years to our knowledge,
and longer, too, we presume it paid.
What has been done in that time in the
cultivation of this excellent and health
full fruit, we need not stop to recount.
1t has been greatly improved and quite
widely cultivated. Yet it is not upon as
many farms as it ought to be by very
long ways. Itshould be upon every farm
that has spot on it anywhere that is at
all favorable to its growth. AS a
market fruit it has proved satisfactory
to our cultivators. But it is not alone
for the market, or for the market at all,
that we would specially advise its cul-
tivation. If farmers do not care to Gull
tivate it for the market, or are not in
situation that would make it practical
to grow blackberries for the market,
by all means cultivate them for the use
of the family. Every farmer ought to
have for his table all the fruit that he
can grow on his farm. It is one of the
most astonishing things that present
themselves for our contemplation. that
some of our farmer friends are so negli-
gent in providing a fine supply of fruit
for home consumption. Usually it can
be produced cheaper than the ordinary
food which the farmer consumes, and
certainly none need be told that fruit is
far more heaithful than much of the
food that is found upon our tables,
This neglect appears stranger when we
observe how eagerly people who do
not live in the country seek fruit. The
grand ideal of a sensible resident in the
city is to have a fruit tree, or a vine;
and half the fruit that is eaten in the
city is not st to eat at all, yet it is eager
" deVoured. Sill we, who live ON
farms, and have every opportunity to
grow fruits of all kinds, often neglect
to do SO, and have no more of the lux
urv of the orchard and fruit garden.
than the most unfortunate of fruitless
cities. - Western Rural.