Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-04-24

OAtOh w - Ala q pm sASA eNONS
at very small expense. During a dry
time a portion of the earth a be
moved with a scraper, so as to make
an excavation deep enough for a fish
pond. The earth removed can be
used to raise a part Of the land high
enough to be of value in raising cult
waited crops. In Michigan improved
boys have been used during the past
few years for raising celery, which does
best in a moist soil. In New York i'm
proved boys have been used for pro-
ducing onions for the market. Many
small boys so situated that the surface
a be flooded during the winter might
be made very valuable for raising cram
berries for supplying t he family. AS
a rule cranberrys are only raised on
an extensive scale, but there are thous.
ands of small bogs in the west that
might be made to produce berries
enough to supply local markets and
meet the wants Of private families.
CULTIvATING BLACKBERRIES.
In an essay published in the trans
actions of tie American Pathological
society, Mr.. e.. Cowing writes: A rich
and well drained clay soil is most ia
vorable to the blackberry. On such a
soil l have never known some Of the
most hardy sorts to be injured by the
most intense cold, while l have seer
them much injured or killed in more
sterile ground. This does not accord
with the belief Of many who claim
that a rich soil causes a rank growth
which is easily winter killed. Cultiva-
ton late in autumn should be avoided,
and the plants should be allowed to
rest and mature their wood. A deep
and rich soil is necessary to the pro-
duction of large and luscious fruit. To
prevent the effects OF drought, l re-
gard a heavy mulch of leaves or straw
as better than cultivation. The best
wild b~lackberries are always found
near brush heaps or rotten logs. In
planting, the rows should be seven or
eight feet apart. The plants should
be two feet apart in the row., and
have found strong sucker plants to be
quite as satisfactory as those from
root cuttings. l recently pruned some
rows of the Taylor kind from sucker
plants, tr~ansplanted sixteen months
before; they were generally three and
a half feet high. three feet across the
top, and presented the dense and com
pact appearance of a well kept hedge.
For pruning such a line of plants a
grass-hoOk or sickle is best. To save
tine and labor, it has often
been my practice when planting
blackberries TO plant strawberries in
rows with them and in rows mid.
way between them. Some of my best
Strawberries this season wero from
plants set last year along with black
berries. All blackberry plants, when
three feet high, should have their term.
inal buds nipped, to force them to
throw out lateral shoots. A severe
nipping is often necessary to produce
a compact and sturdy growth capable
of resisting strong wind. The berries
should not be picked until sweet, nor
oftener than twice a week if intended
for a home market, nor after being
packed should they be exposed to a
burning sun, as such exposure will
change their color from black to red,
and give them a bitter flavor. But
few varieties of blackberry worthy of
general cultivation have yet been test
ed. The Lawton, introduced about
twenty-nine years ago, was the first
generally cultivated. Kittatinny fol-
lowed it, and proved slightly harder
and of better flavor, but very liable to
rust, and not sufficiently hardy to be
reliable In the west. Snyder, Taylor
and Wallace, all originating in Indi-
ana, and Stone. from Wisconsin, have
since been introduced and found to be
the only sorts that can be protitably
planted west of the Alleghenies and
north of the Ohio river. They arc all
remarkably productive, vigorous, free
from disease. and OF the most luscious
flavor. Snyder is the first to ripen,
and its earliness is a strong point in
its favor; when grown on rich ground
its berries are above medium size.
The berries of Taylor and Wallace are
larger than those of Snyder, and are
hardly equaled in their exquisite flavor
by those of any other variety, and !
can think Of no reason why they should
not prove profitable in the south.
GREEN CROPS AS MANURE.
M. George Ville explains. in the
Journal d. Agriculture Practique, his
so-called new system, Enthusiastically
termed agricultural Sideration," or,
as it was styled when we referred to
the subject on a previous occasion.
"Sidereal Agriculture" 1t amounts