kept reasonably well fertilized and supplied with humus. They prefer a
moist loam, and a northern slope is preferable to a southern slope
because not so quickly affected by drought. Good drainage is necessary,
and if planted on low ground where water is liable to stand at any time
the ground should be tiled or otherwise drained.
Raspberries may be planted either in the fall or spring, or the plants
may be dug in the fall, heeled in outside, covered with mulch, or they
may be stored in the cellar and planted in spring.
Plants bought from a nursery in the spring should be unpacked
immediately on arrival, the roots dipped in thin mud, then heeled in
until permanently planted, even if the delay is but a day or two.
The tops of the plants should be cut, leaving but a few inches, and if
any blossoms appear the first season it would be better to remove them
to prevent fruiting. It would be expecting too much of a newly
transplanted plant to make much of any growth and produce fruit the same
season. If allowed to fruit the first season but little fruit could be
expected at best, and it would leave the plant dwarfed if indeed it were
not killed outright.
The suckers that come up the first season will produce the next season's
crop, after which they die down and should be removed, other suckers
taking their places annually. Not over two or three suckers should be
allowed to each plant the first year; after the first year leave five to
eight in each hill, depending on the kind of soil, fertility, etc.
When plants are cheap and plentiful it is customary to use two in each
hill to insure a good stand the first year, but it is reasonable to
expect, however, where there are two root systems in each hill instead
of one that in after years there would be more troublesome suckers to
remove than if there was but one root in each hill, and this is no small
matter with some varieties.
To obtain planting stock large clusters of roots may be divided to
propagate from, but these usually have but few fibrous roots and are not
as good as first year's growth suckers, springing from roots near the
parent plant. Red raspberries may also be propagated from root cuttings
or even from seeds, the latter not coming true to variety, however.
Plantings should preferably be made on ground plowed the fall previous,
but spring plowed ground will answer if thoroughly disced, harrowed and
planked and then repeated, to make the ground firm.
If the ground is poor add a liberal dressing of well decayed barnyard
dressing before plowing, or if not well decayed wait until after
planting to apply the manure. Future cultivations will mix the dressing
with the surface soil where the roots will be able to reach it, since
raspberry plants are close surface feeders, and for this reason all
cultivations should be shallow after the root system has formed.
When the matted row system of planting is adopted, the late Prof. Green
advised using a heavy mulch for two feet on each side of the rows to
preserve moisture and discourage weed growth close to the plants,
cultivating only a strip through the middle.
Raspberries may be planted in rows five or six feet apart to allow
cultivation both ways, or in rows seven feet apart with plants two or
three feet apart in the rows with the idea of allowing a matted row and
cultivating but one way after the first season.
The matted row is hardly to be recommended unless one is willing to use
a hoe rather freely to keep the plants free from weeds where the
cultivator can not reach them, or unless he can provide a good, deep
mulch to discourage weed growth.
Rows should preferably run north and south, so the fruit will be shaded
during the middle of the day, but this is not absolutely necessary.
In setting the plants place them just a little deeper than they grew
originally, carry them to the field in pails of water or thin mud,
avoiding exposure of the roots to the air unprotected, but do not use
water in the holes unless the ground is extremely dry. Firm the ground
well close to the plant, and cultivate between rows all summer to
preserve moisture, whether weeds are troublesome or not, up to September
1st and be sure to cultivate shallow after the roots begin to occupy the
ground.
Hills that grow exceedingly tall and rank may be cut back to about two
and a half feet in height in the spring, or if one is willing to take
the trouble to pinch off the end of the plants at this height during the
growing season they will get bushy plants better able to hold up a load
of fruit--besides cutting back has a tendency to produce larger fruit.
We only grow two varieties of red raspberries, both of which are
perfectly hardy without winter covering, so we have no suggestions to
make or experiences to relate regarding winter protection. I am afraid I
would be tempted to quit the business if I had to cover our raspberry
bushes for winter protection. I think it would be as big a task as all
the rest of the work combined except picking, and I let some one else do
that part.
For a home garden it is even more desirable to select a variety that is
hardy without winter covering than when grown in a commercial way, for
this is one of the tasks that is liable to be neglected unless one makes
a business of it.
In choosing a variety the other qualities to look for besides hardiness
without winter covering are size, color, flavor, prolificacy and good
shipping qualities.
We are located only twenty-five miles northwest of Minneapolis, and one
would naturally suppose we would market our berries there, but we get
better prices in towns along the Soo railroad in western Minnesota and
the Dakotas.
Although our berries are a variety that crumble unless left on the
bushes until ripe they do not spoil readily, which is probably due to
the fact they are quite acid, and we ship to points in North Dakota
nearly as far west as Chicago is east of us with very little loss.
Wherever our berries have been introduced they have made friends, and
there is hardly ever a time that we do not have standing orders for two
or three times as many berries as we can furnish.
We usually ship in flat cases, two boxes deep, twenty-four pints to a
crate, which brought us $2.00, $2.25 and $2.50 per crate net, f.o.b.
shipping point.
There is but one other berry grower near us, so we do not have much
difficulty in getting pickers. The first year we built a couple of small
cottages to accommodate people from the city who might care to combine
berry picking with a few days' outing, and it was surprising what a good
class this proposition appealed to, but we now have enough local pickers
to care for our crop.
The profits in raspberry culture vary all the way from little or nothing
above cost of production up to several hundred dollars per acre,
depending on the season and how well cared for.
Whether raspberry culture is a money making proposition or not in a
commercial way, there certainly is no good reason why every farm or city
garden should not have at least a few hills of raspberries for home use.
Even leaving the matter of cost out of the question, there is a
difference between fruit just off the bushes and that which has stood
around in hot, dusty places several hours or longer waiting for a
purchaser. Try it and be convinced!
* * * * *
TO INOCULATE SEED.--Coating the seed of legumes with inoculated
soil before planting is a simple method of insuring soil inoculation at
slight cost. County agents in Illinois have found ordinary furniture
glue effective in holding particles of inoculated soil to the seeds.
This method gives each individual seed some of the particles of
inoculated soil, which it carries with it when it is planted. The scheme
requires but a small amount of inoculated soil and costs but a few cents
an acre. The method is described in Farmers' Bulletin 704 of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Dissolve two handfuls of furniture glue for every gallon of boiling
water and allow the solution to cool. Put the seed in a washtub and then
sprinkle enough of the solution on the seed to moisten but not to wet it
(one quart per bushel is sufficient) and stir the mixture thoroughly
until all the seed are moistened.
Secure the inoculated soil from a place where the same kind of plants as
the seed are growing, making sure that the roots have a vigorous
development of nodules. Dry the soil in the shade, preferably in the
barn or basement, and pulverize it thoroughly into a dust. Scatter this
dust over the moistened seed, using from one half to one gallon of dirt
for each bushel of seed, mixing thoroughly until the seed no longer
stick together. The seed are then ready to sow.
The Flower Garden.
(AN EXERCISE LED BY G. C. HAWKINS, FLORIST, MINNEAPOLIS, AT THE 1915
ANNUAL MEETING.)
Mr. Hawkins: We have a question box and I would be glad to have any one
use it or rise and state their question. I will answer, giving my
experience.
The first question I will read is--"What would you advise about covering
in the garden in a season like this?" There are now two questions to be
answered. First, what kind of covering? Second, how much?
The first question can be answered this way. Every garden is benefited
by a good covering of well decayed manure. Second. Any light covering of
straw or horse manure with plenty of straw in it is very good. Leaves
make a good covering if they can be kept dry, but leaves when not
covered get wet, pack down over a plant and too often do more damage
than good. The advantage of covering, or mulching, is to prevent thawing
and freezing. To keep plants frozen from fall until spring would be
ideal. The ideal winter is one when the snow falls early and stays on
during the winter. We should cover lightly the plants that need
protection, and when the snow falls, as a warm blanket, the plants will
come through the winter in perfect shape.
Mr. Hawkins: We have a question box and would be glad to have any one
use it, or rise and ask your question, and we will endeavor to answer it
and give our experience along that line.
Mr. Horton: What would you advise for plants that are infected with
aphis?
Mr. Hawkins: Spraying is one of the best things and for that we use a
weak tobacco solution, so as to moisten the plants, a light mist will do
the work. I want to tell a little experience in growing peonies. Last
year I tried the experiment of using ground bone around them, which is
one of the best fertilizers we have. It contains nearly all the elements
of a perfect fertilizer. Just as soon as the little joints come out of
the ground, dig a trench about three inches from the main bush, about
two inches deep and fill with ground bone and watch the result. I
carried this plan out with wonderful success, getting 350 perfect
blossoms on twenty-five bushes. It takes bone about thirty days to
commence to dissolve. The day of the automobile has brought need for a
new fertilizer, and we must carefully select the best that can be had.
We must turn back again to the green crops and the artificial
fertilizers. This also works well with roses.
Mr. Reckstrom: Would bone do that was bought for the chickens?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes. You understand the finer the particles the quicker it
commences to dissolve.
A Member: Where can ground bone be obtained?
Mr. Hawkins: All first class seedsmen have it from small packages of ten
pounds to 100 pound sacks.
Mr. Bell: I tried hardwood ashes, and that seemed to be the best thing I
struck. There were some shrub lilacs that didn't blossom. One winter I
just put the ashes right on, probably a bushel around the one large
bush. After that I had plenty of blossoms. On peonies and roses the
result seems to be very good.
[Illustration: Residence of G. C. Hawkins, 2913 Fremont Avenue South,
Minneapolis.]
Mr. Hawkins: No question but what ashes are very fine, for the simple
reason the potash in hardwood ashes is a very good fertilizer. I would
like to ask some one to give his experience in regard to rust on the
tiger lily and the phlox. The perennial phlox is one of the most
beautiful flowers we have, and there has been considerable trouble this
year with a rust which takes all the leaves off the stalk and is
injurious to the blossoms. I did not find any successful remedy for it,
and I would be very glad if some member would give his experience.
Mrs. Sawyer: I think you will find bordeaux mixture is good as anything
for the rust on phlox. There is another mixture given for use in the
English gardens, but their conditions are not the same as ours. It seems
that changing the location of the phlox may do it good. Phlox is a plant
that wants free circulation of air. Sometimes they get crowded in the
garden, and a combination of heat and moisture produces the rust. By
changing them to some other ground sometimes it entirely disappears.
Mr. Hawkins: Mrs. Sawyer thinks this would be a remedy, as they require
a circulation of fresh air and keep down moisture. We know this, phlox
should be divided every third year. If you lift some you will find in
the middle a woody dry substance absolutely detrimental to a large,
healthy growing phlox. If you take off the little plants that come at
the outside of this and replant them you will find your flowers will be
much larger the next year. If we leave bunches of phlox in the same
place successive years they become small. If you separate them it will
add vigor to your plant, and the flowers will do better. I would like to
ask what success you have had with growing tritoma, the flame flower?
Have you had any difficulty in raising them?
Mrs. Tillotson: I have one blossom that seemed to take such a long time
to get above the ground I wondered what was the matter with it.
Mr. Hawkins: Mrs. Gould, can you give us any enlightenment?
Mrs. Gould: I never raised them, I got some bulbs this year. I know you
have to take them up in the winter and store them like gladiolus, and
they do not require very heavy soil.
Mrs. Countryman: Will yucca filamentosa ever blossom in a garden in St.
Paul?
Mrs. Sawyer: It will, but it doesn't always. It does blossom in
Minnesota, but I know that people have a great deal of difficulty
getting blossoms.
Mrs. Countryman: I have five plants growing four years and have never
seen a blossom yet.
Mr. Hawkins: I have had two growing three years, and I never have seen
the color of a blossom yet.
A Member: What kind is that?
Mr. Hawkins: It is the yucca filamentosa. It is an evergreen. It should
throw up a tall stalk with large branches and plenty of white flowers, I
think hundreds of flowers--that is the description. It is a beautiful
thing in the garden anyway.
Mrs. Countryman: I have seen them in blossom in California.
Mr. Richardson: I have seen them blossom many times in Winnebago.
Mrs. Countryman: Give us the culture instructions.
Mr. Richardson: I grew in nursery rows some odd stuff, had the same
culture that the nursery had. But when it blossomed one year I have been
told on good authority it would be five years before that stalk would
blossom again, only blossoms once in five years, but by having many
stalks they don't all blossom at the same time. I have had them two or
three years in succession but not on the same stalk.
Mrs. Countryman: Do you cover them winters?
Mr. Richardson: Never.
Mr. Hawkins: I think the only reason why the yucca filamentosa doesn't
do well is because it is a plant of the southwest and grows in a warmer
climate.
Mrs. Sawyer: I had a varied experience in growing those plants, and I
took a great deal of pains to learn all I could from different sources
and different people, and I believe our trouble is our late frosts, I
think that is conceded by people who have really gone into the question
thoroughly. Our late frosts injure them more than anything else. A
little protection in the spring is what they need more than protection
in winter, and we know that they don't want a wet place.
Mr. Hawkins: I want to recommend a flower that should be very popular.
It is perfectly hardy, blossoms for years, the hardy pyrethrum. It is a
daisy-like flower, absolutely free from insects and a sure bloomer. We
have plants in the garden that have bloomed six years. It comes in many
shades, from white to deep crimson, blooms from the 15th of May to the
1st of July and makes a beautiful showing. In regard to iris, did any
one have any trouble with their iris coming a little ahead of time last
year and being frozen?
Mrs. Sawyer: I guess they all froze off. I don't think it was because
they were ahead of time; it was because of the frost.
Mr. Hawkins: What would you recommend?
Mrs. Sawyer: I don't think there is anything to do in weather like last
spring, you can't cover anything away from a hard black frost like that
was.
[Illustration: G. C. Hawkins, of Minneapolis.]
Mr. Hawkins: We have several hundred plants on a southern slope, and I
thought perhaps the sun beating against the southern slope is what
started them earlier.
Mrs. Sawyer: Ours weren't on a southern slope, pretty near level, rather
north than anything else, and they got frozen.
A Member: What causes the rot in the iris?
Mr. Hawkins: That depends upon the kind of iris. With the bulbous rooted
iris, the bulb is filled full of water during the heavy rains, and if
you add more water to it it simply decays. The Siberian and many of the
fibrous rooted iris will stand a great deal of water.
A Member: Does the German?
Mr. Hawkins: The German is a bulbous root. As I said, it takes all the
moisture it needs. That is one reason why iris never wilts down in a dry
spell. It always looks fresh and green.
A Member: I would like to say it is well not to plant the iris deep. The
natural iris will lie almost on top of the ground, and they like to have
the sun beat down on them. The iris likes to bask in the sun.
Mr. Hawkins: This would prove to you that the bulb takes enough water to
support it and doesn't need any more because it rests on the top and
basks in the sun. Has any one tried anything new in the garden that will
stand our climate?
Mrs. Norton: I would suggest that hardy alum-root, or heuchera. It is a
perfectly hardy perennial, can stand our worst winters without any
covering, and it grows about so high from the ground (indicating two or
three feet), with its geranium-like leaves, and the flower grows about
three feet high, all covered with pink bells on the stems. It is a very
decorative plant and perfectly hardy. I think it has been much neglected
in the Northwest because it is so perfectly hardy and it increases very
rapidly. I have over one hundred.
Mr. Hawkins: I would like Mrs. Gibbs to say a word.
Mrs. Gibbs: The only thing I can say is that I enjoy being around among
other people's gardens. I think that is one of the best places to find
out things that we want; so many times we buy something that sounds
well, but when we have it planted it doesn't look as well. I think one
of the best ways is to visit gardens and especially those that use
labels.
A Member: I would like to ask about the trollius.
Mr. Hawkins: Has any one had experience in raising trollius?
Mrs. Gould: I have had experience in not raising them. I planted three
years, and after getting the seeds from all the seedsmen I discovered in
a book on plants that the seed would have to be in the ground two years
in order to germinate. I didn't know that and left them in only a few
months. I think the only way is to buy the plants. It is a very
beautiful plant, yellow and shaped like golden glow, belongs to the same
family as the buttercup.
A Member: I would like to ask about the hollyhocks. I saw such beautiful
hollyhocks around Lake Minnetonka and I have never been able to make
them winter. I would like to ask about that.
Mr. Hawkins: We have three plants, hollyhocks, digitalis and canterbury
bells, and nearly all have the same trouble with them. If we mulch them
we are liable to have the center decay and the plants practically
useless. It is a question of mulching them too much or not mulching
them. I would like to have you speak up and tell us your experience. I
have in mind a gentleman who raises splendid hollyhocks in the
neighborhood of the lakes. Takes no care of them, and yet he had one
this year seventeen feet high, which took care of itself and had any
amount of blossoms. I tried that experiment several years myself of
mulching them, and the crown rotted. These are three of the best flowers
of the garden, and we ought to have some certain way of keeping them.
A Member: Have you ever tried mulching them with corn stalks?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes, I have tried it but lost them.
A Member: I had very good luck with them that way.
A Member: It is more a question of drainage than of mulching.
Mr. Hawkins: That might be.
Mrs. Gould: I wish simply to say that the trouble with winter grown
hollyhocks and canterbury bells is that they will head so tall and must
be kept dry. I always cover the hollyhocks and if I had the others I
think I would cover them. I uncover mine early in the spring, and if it
gets cold put on a little more straw. You are almost sure to uncover
them the wrong time. With foxgloves I think it is almost unnecessary to
cover them.
Mr. Hawkins: In our gardens the hollyhocks form one of the best
backgrounds we can have, beautiful, tall, stately stalks, and the
canterbury bells, certainly nothing more beautiful than they. Then we
come to the other, the digitalis, which is equally as beautiful. We must
give our attention to the protection and growth of these in years to
come because they are three of the beautiful things of the garden. It
has been suggested that digitalis be potted and put inside the cold
frame and leaves put over them. I think leaves are a splendid protection
if you can keep them dry. If I were using them as a mulch I would keep
out the water by covering with roofing paper to keep them dry.
Mrs. Countryman: I am told on good authority that the hollyhock is a
true perennial and not a biennial.
Mrs. White: It is listed in the foreign catalogs as both a perennial and
a biennial.
Mrs. Countryman: Wouldn't the hollyhock come under the heading of being
perennial but not a permanent perennial?
Mr. Hawkins: It might be classed that way. There seems to be a
difference of opinion as to just what it is. I have known them to come
six or seven years in the same spot.
* * * * *
TIE TRAP FOR RABBITS.--An inexpensive and permanent sewer tile
trap for cottontail rabbits has proved very effective in Kansas. To make
the trap, proceed as follows:
"Set a 12 by 6-inch 'T' sewer tile with the long end downward, and bury
it so that the 6-inch opening at the side is below the surface of the
ground. Connect two lengths of 6-inch sewer pipe horizontally with the
side opening. Second grade or even broken tile will do. Cover the joints
with soil so as to exclude light. Provide a tight removable cover, such
as an old harrow disk, for the top of the large tile. The projecting end
of the small tile is then surrounded with rocks, brush, or wood, so as
to make the hole look inviting to rabbits and encourage them to frequent
the den. Rabbits, of course, are free to go in or out of these dens,
which should be constructed in promising spots on the farm and in the
orchard. A trained dog will locate inhabited dens. The outlet is closed
with a disk of wood on a stake, or the dog guards the opening. The cover
is lifted and the rabbits captured by hand.
"These traps are especially suitable for open lands and prairies, where
rabbits cannot find natural hiding places. They are permanent and cost
nothing for repairs from year to year. If it is desired to poison
rabbits, the baits may be placed inside these traps, out of the way of
domestic animals or birds. This trap also furnishes an excellent means
of obtaining rabbits for the table, or even for market."--U.S. Dept. of
Agri.
Blueberry Culture.
U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE.
Blueberries thrive best on soils which are so acid that they are usually
considered almost worthless for ordinary agricultural purposes.
Blueberry culture, therefore, offers possibilities of profit to
individual land-owners in districts in which the general conditions are
especially hard and unpromising. Blueberries can not be grown in
ordinary fertile soils.