Morning journal and courier., 1890-03-28
RaSpberrieG.

Correspondence Country Gentleman.l If all my black and red raspberries were
 planted out 7x2 feet, in one bed, they
 would occupy an acre and a-half of ground,
 but some are in beds and others are planted in the rows of the plum, pear, and cherry trees. A row of Cuthberts, giving me an equal quantity of, but much finer, fruit, is growing under cherry trees, so that shade, which is claimed by many as being beneficial to the currant, in my case at any rate, im- proves the size and appearance of the red raspberry; the fruit is longer in ripening, but that is rather an advantage. as it's helps
 to prolong the season. Where bushes are planted east and west, the fruit on ths aouth side of the row becomes ripe sooner, but it is
 not so fine as that on the north side; and
 when you want particularly nice berries,
 look for them in the middle of the bush, low
 down, on the small sprays which are closely
 shaded. The distance for planting men-
 tioned above is the one which, after several
 experiments, gives us most satisfaction.
 Seven feet is none to wide space for handy
 picking and proper cultivation; clusters of four stout canes, at a distance of 2 feet,
 flourish as well and give as much and as
 good fruit az If planted further apart; the popular distance is 6 feet by 3, a difference of some 700 stools to the acre in favor of the l 7x2 method.
 The experiment I tried with Cuthberts | this summer to decide which is the better
 plan for trimming-topping growing canes l when feet high and shortening laterals at l time of thinning out wood after fruiting, or | leaving the canes untouched until the leaves l have fallen-was satisfactory as far as it
 vent Although, in the hurry of work at
 fruiting time Gust the busiest for market
 gardener and fruit grower), we had no time to pick separately and weigh the fruit on the
 marked canes, examined them sufficiently
 to be satisfed that if you want more fruit
 of medium size, adopt the first plan; if you wish less fruit of finer quality, mako
 use of the second. In the first case, the
 branches and fruit than they could proper
 ly support, while in the other matters seemed
 more evenly balanced; for vigorous young
 beds, the first system would be preferable;
 for older ones, the scend.
 The other experiment. with four years'-
 old row of Cuthber.s, wherein cut off every
 cane in the tall of 1887, and allowed the
 next years growth to remain intact until last spring, when selected and trimmed tho
 best canes for planting, did not turn out as hoped it would, for the szs and quality of fruit did not correspond with the great size and vigor of the canes. though the crop was fairly good one. This row was trimmed l 1Asb 1dil Ou Cuo Socouu pl6u, huu WILL pe fruited once more, as an experiment, when seven years old. After four years's steady i. bearing, no matter how liberal the treatment they have received, think red-raspberry
 plantations had better be plowed up. Black : raspberries seem to bear proftably longer , than red ones, at least my Greggs have moi aged like the Cuthberts. This spring shal plant . succession bed of black-caps, the first for three years, whereas have to plant 3 each year of Cuthberts to keep up an ever supply of fruit. There is more trouble in . getting the Greggs to start, many dying un
 less carefully planted, and the safest plan ir 3 any case is to use two plants instead of one :. We keep our Gregg bushes much lower ant f with shorter laterals than formerly, fndini t we get as many berries. and that tn ]. stems, being stockier and stouter, suppor e the laterals better, keeping them of tn a ground. t The Cuthberth and Gregg are splendid bear Il CTS of handsome fruit of first quality, and n! 2 one taking them to market need fear mucl V successful competition from other varieties y either in appearance, quality, or price.