Small Fruits
The labors of those who have given their attention to the propagation and improvement of the small fruits have been so abundantly successful that we now have a delicious and healthful supply for the warm season. The necessity which the human system feels for fruits in the summer has caused most farmers and even those who have but a few rods of land to raise them more or less extensively. The increasing demand for them in the market and the remunerating price which they bring make their cultivation a subject worthy of the attention of this Club.
Before speaking of the different kinds, I will say that I do not claim any original ideas in regard to cultivating them, and will acknowledge that I have learned quite as much from other sources as from my own experience, and shall only attempt to state a few well known facts that may call on the experience of more practical farmers.
The earliest and most common—the strawberry—ripens in June. It is the most delicious of all the small fruits and very healthful. It is easy of cultivation and grows well on any soil, but flourishes best in a deep warm light loam or alluvial. It suffers much from drought therefore in setting out a bed it is of the greatest importance that the ground should be thoroughly dug over and well pulverized. When doing this wood ashes may be introduced with much benefit to the future crops.
A good plan for laying out a plot is to make beds three feet wide with a walk between of eighteen inches putting two rows of plants in each bed and by changing the walks every three years—digging up the old walks and allowing the runners to grow into them, and making new walks through the center of the old beds—a plot may be kept in bearing for many years by the application of liquid manures.
A better plan is to make the beds as described and renew a portion every year so to go over the whole in four or five years.
Care must be taken to mix the varieties so that there will be a proper proportion of staminate and pistillate flowers though there are a few varieties having perfect flowers which will bear alone.
[Word illegible] spread between the rows serves the double purpose of enriching the plant and protecting the fruit from dirt. When this is not use[d] it is necessary to protect them in some other way—either by leaves or straw.
By a little care in selecting varieties and locations the season of this fruit may be much prolonged.
The raspberry season immediately follows the strawberry. This fruit requires a deep rich soil and rather moist. It is very easily propagated by suckers. Put three or four in a hill and make the hills three feet apart. All the old wood is to be cut out annually and the new shoots to be thinned to the number desired in a group and those that remain should be shortened in. They need winter protection.
About the same time comes the blueberry which till within a few years has been little cultivated because it grows wild so abundantly, but it is found to be much improved by cultivation and is well worthy of a place in every garden. The method of propagation is the same as that of the raspberry.
The currant is an August fruit but may be kept much later when sheltered from the sun. There are two principal species—the black and red—though many varieties all of which grow easily and yield good crops with little culture but will repay more generous care. It is said to be a native of the N.W. part of Europe but it is also found wild in the northern latitudes of America, and therefore we find it a small and very hardy shrub. The red and white currants are the most common. The black is considered less valuable and is cultivated chiefly for its beautiful and fragrant flowers.
A jelly made of its fruit is sometimes used as a remedy for sore throat. The best method of cultivation is by cuttings which should be of strong new wood. They may be set at any time and will be ready to transplant in two years. The cutting may be from ten to fifteen inches long and should be set at least six inches deep, all the eyes below that point having been first cut our as they would produce suckers.
Suckers should never be used for propagation and ought to be removed whenever they appear, that the plant may be kept in tree form. When trained in this manner in any ordinary soil large and handsome fruit may be obtained. This may be increased by pinching off the ends of the stronger shoots in June before the fruit is fully grown. In setting the plants for bearing, they should be placed three or four or even more feet apart.
They need an annual pruning of the old and superfluous wood which will greatly increase the bearing of the bushes and the size of the fruit.
The gooseberry is cultivated and propagated in much the same way as the currant, and like the rest of the small fruits well repays the little care and attention it requires.