Success With Small Fruits
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E. P. Roe >> Success With Small Fruits
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_Black-cap Raspberries_
Doolittle's Improved--best early.
Mammoth Cluster--best medium and late.
_Mammoth Blackberries_
Wilson's Early--best early.
Kittatinny--best main crop.
_Currants_
Cherry--best red.
Red Dutch--best for culinary purposes.
White Grape--best white.
Victoria--best late.
Black Naples--best black.
_Gooseberries_
Downing
FOR MARKET--OF VALUE IN THE ORDER NAMED
_Strawberries_
Wilson's Albany, }
Captain Jack, } For shipment.
Crescent Seedling, }
Charles Downing, } For near market.
Downer's Prolific, }
_Red Raspberries_
Cuthbert.
Brandywine.
_Black-cap Raspberries_
Mammoth Cluster.
Doolittle's Improved.
_Blackberries_
Kittatinny.
Wilson's early. [Footnote: "In former years this was the most
profitable of all sorts, but latterly it is so frequently injured by
winter, and so generally attacked by disease or insects throughout the
State, as to render it uncertain."]
_Currants_
Cherry.
Red Dutch.
Black Naples.
_Gooseberries_
Downing.
Houghton Seedling.
In the Sixth Annual Report of the New Jersey State Board of
Agriculture, I find the following interesting statement from the well-
known horticulturist, Mr. P. T. Quinn.
"ONE ACRE OP STRAWBEREIES.
"NEWARK, October, 1878.
"The following are the methods of culture and the products of one acre
of strawberries, grown on my farm near Newark, during the season of
1878. The ground on which these strawberries were grown was planted
with Early Rose potatoes and heavily manured in the spring of 1877.
These potatoes were dug and marketed during the last week in July and
first week in August of the same year. The ground was at once cleared
off, plowed and harrowed smoothly. Furrows were then opened four or
five inches deep and two and a half feet apart. Between the 15th and
22d of August, 1877, the strawberry plants were set in these furrows
from fifteen to eighteen inches apart, without any manure being added.
Some plants died here and there, but the bulk of those set out made a
strong growth before cold weather. They were kept free from weeds by
running a cultivator twice between the rows and hoeing twice. This
treatment kept the ground absolutely free from weeds. In the middle of
December, the plants were covered over with a compost of the sweepings
of the vegetable and fish markets, with some horse manure mixed
through it. The whole was thoroughly decayed and light in character.
About the middle of April, 1878, the coarsest part of this mulch was
raked off the strawberry plants, and left in the spaces between the
rows, the finer portion being left among the plants. To the coarse
part raked off was added salt hay, pressed under the leaves of the
plants on either side of the rows, enough being added to keep the soil
around the plants moist and the fruit free from grit. There was no
disturbance of the soil in any way in the spring, beyond the cutting
off at the surface of a few straggling weeds that started up here and
there.
"The varieties grown upon this acre were Charles Downing and Green
Prolific, and the yield was five thousand four hundred and eighty-
seven (5,487) quarts. The gross receipts from this acre of berries was
seven hundred and ninety-five dollars and sixty-one cents ($795.61).
Deducting the commissions and picking the fruit, the net returns were
$620.60."
Messrs. Gibson and Bennett, of New Jersey, stated before the Western
New York Horticultural Society, that they "liked the bedding system,
say four-row beds, with plants one foot apart each way and two-feet
walks between the beds. We fertilize with fine horse manure, spreading
it heavily and plowing it under. We start plants in pots and transfer
them to the beds in September, the earlier the better. These potted
plants form fine large crowns ready for the finest fruit. The beds are
covered with manure January 1. The fruit is picked the following June,
and the beds then plowed under at once and planted with other crops."
By this system, it will be seen that the plants occupy the ground but
about ten months, and little or no cultivation is given. It is
practically the same method as that employed around Charleston, S. C.,
and, I am inclined to think, could often be practiced at the North
with great profit. In contrast, Mr. J. K. Sharpless said, on the same
occasion, "We grow in the hill system, and expect the plants to last
four or five years;" adding, "My experience teaches me that
strawberries should not be cultivated deeply until their season of
rest is over, say the last of August." I think this view sound.
Mr. E. B. Underhill, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., said that he "valued the
Golden Defiance for late fruit. The Glendale is more vigorous. I think
highly of the Champion and Kentucky. The Duncan is our best early of
those well tested. As the mid-market in this section will probably be
glutted with Crescents, I shall take great pains with the Cumberland
Triumph, which, picked in pints (on account of its softness), will
yield almost as well, and bring more dollars than any sort I have
tested yet."
From Mr. Frank S. Alling I learn that all the small fruits succeed
finely on the shores of Puget Sound, Washington Territory.
I will close this chapter of experiences with a very interesting
letter from the Rev. Mr. A. A. Von Iffland, of Quebec, who gives an
admirable statement of the conditions of success in the latitude of
Northern Canada. It will be seen that his light, warm soil makes a
difference of several degrees of latitude in his favor.
"My soil is of a light gravelly nature, with a subsoil of coarse sand.
It requires annual applications of large quantities of manure to bring
about the best results, but _then_ yields generous returns. It is
warm and quick, and so porous that it can be worked almost immediately
after the heaviest showers. Plants form roots in the soil with
marvellous rapidity. All kinds of vegetables can be successfully
cultivated. Potatoes, tomatoes, squash, corn, carrots, parsnips,
melons, cucumbers, beans, and peas are grown to perfection. Of course,
it is liable to suffer severely in a drought--an evil which I find is
best obviated by plenty of barnyard manure and cultivation. The
climate is doubtless severe, and the winters long, but the abundance
of snow affords the best kind of protection and is of the greatest
possible advantage in the culture of small fruits. Winter sets in with
us sometimes as early as the first of November, sometimes not till the
middle of December, and the snow has not disappeared from the vicinity
of the fences till the last week in April. The average depth of snow
is 4 1/2 half feet, and we have cold spells of three or four days at a
time, when the glass varies between 20 and 30 degrees below zero.
"STRAWBERRIES
"I think that all the varieties which are cultivated in the United
States can be cultivated here under the same conditions of soil. I
grow successfully the Colonel Cheney, Triomphe de Gand, Wilson,
Charles Downing, Nicanor, Green Prolific, Monarch of the West, Seth
Boyden, but have discarded Jucunda and Kentucky. I have the greatest
success with the Cheney, Charles Downing, Wilson, and Triomphe, in the
order written. I plant both in fall and spring, but prefer fall
setting when it can be done early and you have good plants.
"I used to strike plants in three-inch pots, but have abandoned that
plan, and instead, lay the runners as early as I can get them (from
1st to 20th July), and when well rooted, set them out, with a ball of
earth, from 15th to 20th August. If the season is at all moist, so
that the young plants make good progress before the frosts set in
(about middle of October), I get a good crop (half a full crop) the
following summer. From plants set in the spring, I take no fruit. With
this exception, fall and spring settings are treated alike. As the
cultivation is all done by hand, I have found that planting in beds of
three rows each combines the greatest advantages. The rows are 15
inches apart, and the plants 18 inches apart in the row--in the
quincunx form; each bed is separated from the rest by a path 80 inches
wide. I need not say that the soil has been previously well enriched--
with compost, generally, and well-decomposed manure. In fact, as I
usually plant on soil from which a crop of potatoes has been removed,
the ground has received two applications the year the plants are set.
As the Colonel Cheney is my favorite, in order to fertilize it, I
plant alternate beds of some good staminate variety, Charles Downing,
Triomphe, or Wilson. The cultivation of the young plants the first
season consists in cutting off any runners that may form, and keeping
them clear of weeds. When well established, the beds are top-dressed
with an inch or two of old manure; this feeds the plants, keeps the
soil about the roots moist, and acts as a mulch when the fruit sets,
and yields the following summer. The following spring and summer,
nothing is done to these beds till after fruiting, except to hoe out
the weeds. After fruiting, a thorough weeding is effected, and the
runners are cut every three weeks; and before the frosts set in, the
beds are given a top-dressing of old manure. After the second crop of
fruit is taken off, they are weeded, and the runners are allowed to
strike. The third spring, wood-ashes are applied; and after fruiting
the plants are turned under. No winter protection is given to the
plants, unless you except the top-dressing of manures; but this is
sometimes not applied till spring, and I observe no appreciable
difference between the plants with and those without it. What I do
observe is that an early winter, and plenty of snow, kills fewer
plants than a winter in which the snowfalls have been delayed till
after frosts and rains.
"Strawberries begin to ripen with us about the 28th of June, and
raspberries about the 15th of July. With the above treatment, I have
grown Wilsons and Cheneys at the rate of 11,000 quarts, or 344
bushels, to the acre.
"RASPBERRIES
"I prefer fall planting, which may be done as late as they can be put
in. I have set them the last day of October, without losing one. I
plant them four feet apart, but five would be better, and tie the
canes, when grown, to stakes four and a half feet high.[Footnote:
"The following fall, of course; when planted, the canes are cut back,
so as to be only six inches above ground." ] Sometimes I have laid
them down, and sometimes have tied up the young canes to the stakes
in the fall, and I find but little difference. They always bear, and
are never winter-killed.
"As to blackberries, I have but little experience. That blackberries
will succeed here, some canes I saw 15th August, in a friend's garden,
some two miles from my house, afford ample proof. They were loaded
with clusters of magnificent, large, luscious fruit, and were equally
prolific last year. My friend told me he was obliged to give them.
very warm protection--literally bury them in straw and earth.
"Red and black currants grow well with us, under ordinary treatment.
Gooseberries, however, are liable to mildew; that is, the English
varieties. The native hybrids, of course, are safe enough. Still,
under some conditions, I have seen the English varieties without a
touch of mildew. My English varieties mildewed badly this summer, and
the man from whom I got them says that he has never seen it in his
garden, not far from me. I went to see his bushes, and there was not a
sign of mildew affecting his gooseberries, which were very large and
fine."
CHAPTER XXXII
A FEW RULES AND MAXIMS
Suggestive experiences and the methods of successful men are usually
far more helpful than a system of rules. Nevertheless, I have thought
that some concise maxims and formulas would be of use to those not yet
well versed in the labors of a fruit farm. Such rules, also, may be of
service to the unfortunates who are dependent on the "hired man,"
since they can be copied and given to this minister of destiny whose
hands work out our weal or woe so largely. There are two types of
workmen that are incorrigible. The one slashes away with his haphazard
hoe, while he looks and talks in another direction. His tongue, at
least, is rarely idle, and his curiosity awakes when he does. If any
one or anything goes by, he must watch it while in sight and then
comment and expectorate. He is not only versed in all the coarse
gossip concerning his neighbors, but also can talk by the hour of the
short-comings of even their horses and dogs. The virtues of man or
beast, however, make but little impression on what answers in his
organism for a mind. That which is good, wholesome, and refined
interests him no more than strawberries would a buzzard. To the degree
that he is active, he usually makes havoc. The weeds do not suffer
seriously from his efforts, but if you have a few choice plants, a
single specimen or two of something unpurchasable and rare, or a
seedling that you dream may have a future, the probabilities are that,
unless watched and warned, he will extirpate them utterly. It rarely
happens that you can teach this type of man better things. The leopard
may change his spots and the Ethiopian his skin, but this man--though
resembling both outwardly, through his uncleanliness--never changes.
His blunders, garrulity, and brainless labor, however, would transform
Izaak Walton himself into a dragon of irritability. The effort to
reform such a man would be heroic, indeed, but let those who enter
upon such a task give their whole souls to it, and not attempt
gardening at the same time--unless the garden is maintained for the
sake of the man, and they, in their zeal, approach Titania in her
midsummer-night's madness, when she bade her attendant fairies to
"feed" the "translated" weaver-
"With apricocks and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries."
This degenerate descendant of Bottom, however, needs no such
considerate attention; he will help himself to the choicest and
rarest.
Scarcely better than the type portrayed above is the deliberate
workman, who can soon show you how easy it is to spend two dollars in
order to make one. His wages--the one thing he is prompt about--will
leave little margin of profit on the berries that he has packed,
although, by reason of his ancient pipe, they may outrank all the
fruit in the market. This man never walks nor runs, no matter how
great the emergency and press of work; he merely jogs around, and
picks a raspberry as he would pry out a bowlder. He does his work
fairly well, usually; but the fact that it would require a hundred
such men to care for a small place causes not the slightest
solicitude. He would smoke just as stolidly and complacently after
bringing wreck and ruin to a dozen employers.
Men of these types are as disastrous on a fruit farm as the
_Lachnosterna_ or currant worm. Unless the reader has far more
native goodness and acquired grace than the writer, he had better
dismiss them speedily, or his feelings may resemble those that Sam
Jubilee described on previously. I have given two extreme examples,
but there are also gradations of these characters, who had better find
employment from those requiring "hands" only. Successful work on a
fruit farm, or in a garden, requires a quick brain, a keen eye, a
brisk step and a deft hand. Many of its labors are light, and no
profit can follow unless they are performed with despatch, at the
right time and in the right way.
The majority of those we employ wish to do right and to give
satisfaction. They are not only willing but are glad to learn; and
while only actual and long-continued experience can make a thorough
gardener, perhaps the following rules, maxims, and principles,
embodying the experience of others, may be of service to beginners,
giving them a start in the right direction:
1. Never put off till spring work that might be done in the fall.
Spring is always too short for the labor it brings, even when not wet
and late.
2. Plow in the fall all heavy, loamy land that you intend to plant in
spring. This exposes it to the action of frost, and if done late,
tends to destroy insects and their larvae. Do not plow sand in the
fall unless there is upon it sod, stubble, etc., that is to decay.
3. Top-dress very light land with an inch or two of clay or heavy loam
in November, and let the winter frosts and rains blend the two diverse
soils to their mutual advantage. Harrowing in fertilizers on light
ground is better than plowing them in.
4. In the fall top-dress all the small fruits with compost, bone-dust
or other fertilizers that have staying powers, spreading it along
close to the rows and over the roots, and working it into the soil
lightly by cultivation. This gives everything a vigorous start in the
spring.
5. If possible, take out before winter all perennial weeds--sorrel,
white clover, etc.--but do not greatly disturb the roots of
strawberries, just on the approach of winter.
6. In most localities and soils, raspberries, currants, gooseberries,
and blackberries do better if planted any time after they drop their
foliage in the fall. Such planting can be continued even into the
winter, on mild, still days, when frost is neither in the air nor
soil. Frozen earth should never come in contact with roots. I plant
strawberries, also, all through the autumn, even into December; and
before the ground freezes, hoe upon them one or two inches of soil,
raking it off as soon as freezing weather is over in the spring.
7. The earlier plants are set out in spring, the better, if the ground
and weather are suitable. It is usually best to wait till the danger
of severe frost is over. Do not plant when the ground is wet and
sticky, or dry and lumpy, at any season, if it can be helped. Do not
plant in a high, hot or cold wind. Make the most of mild, still, and
cloudy days. If plants can be set before a storm or shower, much is
gained; but this is not essential if roots are imbedded their whole
length in moist (not wet) earth, and the soil made very firm, around
them. Plantings may be made in very dry weather if the land is forked
or plowed late in the afternoon, and the plants set immediately in the
fresh, moist earth. Keep the roots from contact with unfermented
manure.
8. In handling plants at any time, _never_ let the _little_ rootlets
dry and shrivel. Keep them from sun, frost, and wind. If the roots of
plants received in boxes are frozen, let them thaw out in a cellar
undisturbed. If roots are black, shrivelled, or musty from long
transportation, wash them in clean water, and, in the case of
strawberries, shorten them one-third, and then plant at once in moist
soil.
9. In cultivating strawberry plants recently set, stir the surface
merely, with a rake, _not over half an inch deep_.
10. Never disturb roots by working among them in dry weather. At such
times, stir the _surface only, and often_.
11. If you water at all, water thoroughly, and keep the soil moist
till rain comes; otherwise watering is an injury.
12. The easiest and cheapest way to keep a garden clean is to rake the
ground over once a week on sunny days. This method destroys the weeds
when they are just appearing, and maintains moisture.
18. Pick fruit, if possible, when it is dry, and before it is over-
ripe. Do not leave it in the sun or wind, but take it at once to
coolness and shade. Pack carefully and honestly. A quart of small,
decayed, green, or muddy berries scattered through a crate of fine
fruit may reduce its price one half.
14. Mulch everything you can. Save all the leaves and litter that can
be gathered on the place, and apply it around the plants only when the
ground is moist. _Dry_ ground covered with mulch may be kept dry all
summer.
15. Practice summer pinching and pruning only when plants are in their
spring and early summer growth, and not after the wood begins to
ripen. If delayed till then, wait till the plant is dormant in the
fall.
16. Sandy or gravelly land can usually be worked immediately after
rain; but if heavy land is plowed or cultivated when wet, or so dry as
to break up in lumps, it is injured.
17. Watch all crops daily. Plants are living things, and need
attention. Diseases, insects, drought, or wet may destroy them in a
few days, or even hours, if left uncared for.
18. If you cultivate strawberries in the spring, do the work _very
early_--as soon as the ground is dry enough to work. After the fruit
buds show themselves, stir the ground with a rake or hoe only, and
never more than an inch deep. I advocate early spring cultivation,
and then the immediate application of the mulch.
19. Just as the ground begins to freeze, in the fall or early winter,
cover strawberry plants with some light material that will prevent
alternate freezing and thawing during the winter. Never use heavy,
unfermented manure for this purpose. Leaves, straw, salt, hay,
_light_ stable manure, or any old litter from the garden, answer.
20. In setting raspberry plants, or any fruit, never set in hard,
unprepared soil. Do not stick them in little, shallow holes, nor in
deep, narrow ones, wherein the roots are all huddled together; make
the holes large and deep, either with the plow or spade, fill the
bottom partly with fine, rich, moist, surface soil, free from lumps
and manure, and _spread_ the roots out on this, then fill in with
very fine pulverized earth, setting the plant, in light land, one or
two inches deeper than it grew naturally; and in heavy land at the
same depth. If manure is used, spread it on the surface,
_around_, not up against, the stem of the plant.
21. Both for the sake of economy and thoroughness, use the plow and
cultivator rather than fork and hoe, whenever it is possible. Ground
can be laid out with a view to this rule.
22. In cultivating crops among trees, use short whiffle-trees, with
the traces so fastened as to prevent the young trees from being
scratched and wounded.
23. Save, with scrupulous economy, all wood-ashes, soap-suds, and all
articles having fertilizing qualities. A compost heap is like a
sixpenny savings bank. Small and frequent additions soon make a large
aggregate. The fruit-grower and his land usually grow rich together,
and in the same proportion.
24. Once more I repeat--in handling and setting out plants, _never_
let the roots shrivel and dry out. After plants and cuttings are in
the ground, never leave them just long enough to dry out and die. Keep
them moist--not wet and sodden, but _moist_ all the time. In setting
out plants, especially strawberries, spread out the roots, and make
the ground _very firm_ about them. In trenching stock, put the roots
down deeply, and cover well half-way up the stems. The gardener who
fails to carry out the principles under this number has not learned
the letter A of his business.
Mr. William Parry gives the following rule for ascertaining the number
of plants required for one acre of land, which contains 43,560 square
feet:
"Multiply the distance in feet between the rows by the distance the
plants are set apart in the row, and their product will be the number
of square feet for each plant or hill, which, divided into the number
of feet in an acre, will show how many plants or hills the acre will
contain, thus:
"Blackberries . . . 8 feet by 3 == 24)43,560( 1,815 plants.
Raspberries . . . 7 " 3 == 21)43,560( 2,074 plants.
Strawberries . . . 5 " 1 == 5)43,560( 8,712 plants.
Strawberries . . . 3 " 16" == 4)43,560(10,890 plants."
The same rule can be applied to all other plants or trees.
I would suggest that fruit-growers take much pains to secure
trustworthy pickers. Careless, slovenly gathering of the fruit may rob
it of half its value. It often is necessary for those who live remote
from villages to provide quarters for their pickers. Usually, the
better the quarters, the better the class that can be obtained to do
the work.
CHAPTER XXXIII
VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES
To attempt to describe all the strawberries that have been named would
be a task almost as interminable as useless. This whole question of
varieties presents a different phase every four or five years.
Therefore I treat the subject in my final chapter, in order that I may
give revision as often as there shall be occasion for it, without
disturbing the body of the book. A few years since, certain varieties
were making almost as great a sensation as the Sharpless. They are now
regarded as little better than weeds, in most localities. Thus the
need of frequent revision is clearly indicated. In chapter thirteen I
have spoken of those varieties that have become so well established as
to be regarded as standards, or which are so promising and popular as
to deserve especial mention. More precise and technical descriptions
will now be given. I shall not copy old catalogues, or name those
kinds that have passed wholly out of cultivation. Such descriptions
would have no practical value, and the strawberry antiquarian can find
them in the older works on this subject. Neither shall I name many
foreign kinds, as the majority of them have little value this side of
the Atlantic. Soil, climate, locality, and other reasons, cause such
great differences in opinion in regard to varieties that I expect
exceptions to be taken to every description. Many of the new sorts
that I am testing have not, as yet, proved themselves worthy of
mention.
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