Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-08
SMALL FRUITS

There ought to be no country home,
no suburban residence without a small
space allotted to grow berries and 9TH
er fruit. By planning judiciously, fruit
of all kinds, sufficient for a family of
six or eight, can be grown in a space
of the size of an average back yard
and enjoyed, freshly gathered from
your own garden from spring until
autumn. The work requires less care
than vegetable growing, and when the
plants are once started the culture is
simple and the harvest fascinating.
Select your plot, possibly the rear
of the lot, near the fence, adjoining
the vegetable garden, or any suitable
ground you can spare. The end of
March or beginning of April is the
ideal time to plant the fruit garden.
Broadcast the ground with well-rotted
manure, so that every part of it is
covered with three to four-inch layer.
Spread evenly over this ten pounds of
muriate of potash and twenty-five of
ground bone (procurable at any seed
store) to every square of twenty-five
feet. Now spade the ground by hand
deeply, turning the manure and fer
tilizer under. When this is done, rake
the soil fine with a steel rake, so it
pulverizes well, then the ground is
prepared to receive the berry plants or
trees, no matter how poor the soil was.
Before setting out, soak the roots of
plants or trees for an hour in vessel
containing liquid poultry manure. A
small shovelful of droppings to pail
full of water, we'll stirred, will do the
trick. Either sprouting will reward
you. Il IA
Raspberries and blackberries are
climbers and delight in upright growth.
Plant about six plants each, three
feet from the fence, allowing four feet
between the plants in the row. Use
yearlings. Dig a hole of sufficient
size, mix bottom well with rotted man
ure, place roots evenly distributed in
the hole, cover with fine soil and press
firmly around plant, then water lib
orally. One of the best varieties of
red raspberries is the King. In black
berries Rathbun ranks as having the
largest berry and is the best yielder.
In order to get large, fine berries,
they must have sun. Avoid the old
idea of bush formation, which will
shade all except toppers. Let two or
three shoots on each side of the plant
grow, tie the growing shoots to the
fence, adding small posts to the latter,
and cross wire their tops at height
of six feet. Pull up all other shoots,
letting the strength of sap concentrate
in the selected canes. After they have
fruited, cut them off and repeat with
new SnOOIS. InlS is cdlleQ Dy some tHe
new culture though it has been
practiced by the writer for a decade.
Three feet away, but parallel with
the above fruits, plant early strawber-
ries. They will ripen first, and will
be out of the way before the raspber-
ries and blackberries are gathered.
Plant Strawberries in rows, fifteen
inches apart each way, SO that all three
will be within a strip forty-five inches
in width. This is termed matted
bed, and gives a large yield in a small
space. A row fifty feet long will re-
quire Is plants, fully enough for family
use. In planting strawberries take
garden line and mark out the rows.
Then with a pointed stick make holes
one inch wide and about three inches
deep, fill these up with water and
place a root in each hole; then press
firmly around the plant, in order to
let the air out, being careful not to
bury the heart. Strawberries set out
this way will live. Water the young
plants for a week in the late after
noon. Never let the ground get dry or
hard. Hoe often to keep weeds out
and the soil loose. Strawberries like
shade and water. Among the good
early varieties recommended are Gil
max, Fairfield and Virginia.