Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-03-30
New Blaokberry Culture.


r. NJ. Kellogg, in his pamphlet,
Great Crops of Small Fruits" says:
Nothing sells better, nothing pays
than blackberries. The new method of
starting the plantation produces
double that of the old way. Its fruit
is more luscious and a plantation will
fruit heavily under good culture and
pruning from fifteen to twenty years,
giving annually large crops. The de-
limited The trouble is blackberries as
offered are sour. seedy, and lack flavor.
Scarcely town in the country is sup
piled at all with large luscious black
berries
How it is Done.-Pursue the same
method explained in breeding up
strawberries. Find all the ideal canes
bearing the finest fruit and not over
two years old. Early in the fall dig
them up and cut roots in pieces about
three inches long and pack in boxes
of clean, coarse, sharp sand and place
in a cold cellar regulated with ice SO
the Thermometer will stand at 35 de-
grees. An ordinary cellar will not do,
for if allowed to get too warm the
cuttings will commence to grow and all
be spoiled. If allowed to freeze they
will not callus and thus fail to emit
sufficient roots.
What is a Callus ?-It is law of ma
ture that when a root is cut or injured
the plant will repair the damage by
sending out new roots, but no new
roots will start until callus is formed.
Certain wood cells and gristle-like
substance must form, and out of this
callus the roots start The process re-
quires time and goes on at low tenn
perature and the longer the root is
kept in this dormant condition the
more calluses there will be.
Roots prepared in October form cal
1uses in great numbers before plant
ing time the following May, when the
cuttings are placed in nursery rows in
rich, moist, sandy soil about three
inches apart and one and half deep.
1t is quite difficult to make them grow
properly without irrigation. If the
roots get dry they will fail. If buried
too deep they damp of and die. Low,
springy or cold ground will not do.
They must have frequent cultivation
and not a weed allowed to grow among
them. As soon as dormant in the fall,
the plants are carefully taken up and
roots trimmed to the proper length
and again packed in coarse, sharp sand
so it is solid around every root and
kept as in the first winter, when cal
luses form all along the sides and ends
of roots SO that when planted out
where they are to fruit in the spring
myriads of roots will start at one time
and at the end of the season the ground
will be full of fine feeding roots as
above described. In keeping them in
the callusing cellar it should be sup
piled with ice, for if perchance the eel
lar gets too warm the plants will grow
and be lost.
The common way is, as in the case
of raspberries, to let a patch fruit as
long as it will and then NOW OF the
tops and let suckers come up from be-
tween the rows and the next season
to dig them up to start new patch.
OF course the weakness and exhaustion
of the old patch is carried into the
new. The roots on the plant are few
and commence growing always from
the end, and I have seen them extend
several rods away, while near the
canes the ground would not be Occu-
pied at all. The sap having to come
through these long roots to the leaves
for assimilation they are continuously
sending up suckers which become a
nuisance.
horticultural Observations.
Onions are easily grown where the
proper methods are used. The ground
must be very rich, as growth to ma
turity should be rapid The land must
be thoroughly pulverized and after
ward kept free from seeds. Sow the
seed in rows eighteen inches apart and
cover to a depth of one-half an inch ii
the soil is fine and compact. When
the plants are well up, thin to three to