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Show Blackberries Are Grown on All Kinds of Soils Blackberries are successfully grown In all kinds of soil iiniJ under varying conditions. In truth, it may be said that they can be produced everywhere, yet to be a profitable crop, tketv axe a few conditions that "must be taken into account. The first of these is the market. The berry is not a first-class shipper, but where a good market is not far away it will pay to set a blackberry black-berry plantation. With reasonably good care an acre of blackberries ought to produce at the rate of 2,300 or 3,000 quarts to the acre. These should never sell for less than 10 cents per quart aud usually the price will be considerably higher than that figure. Some of the best varieties are Snyder, Sny-der, Taylor and Minnewaskam. Some varieties winterkill in the colder regions, re-gions, hence it Is better to plant only the hardy sorts. Some winters the canes of the tenderer sorts suffer badly. bad-ly. This may happen even in the milder mild-er seasons, being caused largely by alternate al-ternate freezing and thawing, rather than by extreme cold. Blackberries 6et In a well-drained sandy loam withstand with-stand the winters better than those set in a stiff water-soaked soil. The right location is a gentle southern slope where the soil Is rich and well supplied with moisture. Water must not stand around the roots, yet plenty Is needed to ripen the berries. If moisture mois-ture Is lacking the berries will be small and of poor quality Land that haa been cultivated for a year or two is well prepared for the plantation. Put on a good coat of stable manure and harrow this well Into the soil. Lay out the plot In rows 6 feet apart and set the plants 3 or 4 feet apart in the rows. Cut back the canes at least one-third and get the roots down 6 inches or more. Cultivation should be kept up until midsummer, after which It Is well to sow a cover crop. The first year an Intercrop may be grown. This should be something that is not of tall growth, as shade from a crop like corn hinders the growth considerably. Garden vegetables veg-etables which require constant cultivation cultiva-tion are best for the purpose. It should be the aim, however, to plant something that can be taken off early. Blackberries continue to bear on the same ground for ten years or more, If pruning is properly attended to. It should be the aim to keep all sprouts from starting between the rows, and this can only be done by yearly cultivation. culti-vation. After the first year cultivation cultiva-tion need not be so constant but It Is well to plow a few furrows between the rows each spring, and cultivate several times during the season. Manure Ma-nure or commercial fertilizer should also be applied yearly. Berries are borne upon canes that are one year old, that is, the canes develop one year and the next season sea-son bear fruit, after which they die. In the fall all dead canes should be cut out and a considerable portion of the top of each live cane clipped off. This keeps them from becoming ,-weighted down with snow and Insures larger and better berries. It is also well to cut out part of the new canes, leaving them some distance apart. To facilitate cultivation, a wire should be stretched along the row3 and each cane tied up at a distance of 2 feet from the ground. |