Mulch should be left undisturbed in the spring until warm weather has come to stay; then it should be stirred or removed from the crown of the plants, if there is enough over them to check their growth. If early berries are desired from part of the bed, take off all the mulch and leave it off until a few days before they begin to ripen, when it should be carefully placed under the fruit stems, covering all vacant places between the plants. Five years ago it was thought that red raspberries could not be successfully grown in Wisconsin, but now with such varieties as the Turner, Brandywine, and Cuthbert, our markets are being well supplied with home grown berries. These varieties have given better returns since their introduction than the black raspberries, where they have received proper care. The Turner or Cuthbert are the best varieties for home use, and the Brandywine for shipping. By having the Turner and Brandywine the red raspberry season will commence before the strawberry season is through, and will continue until the blackberry season. Success with the red raspberry depends largely on proper pruning and thinning out the canes. If fruit is desired, all suckers and canes not wanted to fruit should be cut out early in the growing season. The black raspberry season can be lengthened so as to be the same as the red raspberry season, by having the following varieties: Souhegan, Doolittle, Mammoth-Cluster and Gregg. Black raspberry canes are not generally headed back soon enough to obtain the best results. The Doolittle will not grow much higher after it has been headed back; while the M. Cluster and Gregg headed back at the same time, will increase their height about one-third. This proves that it is necessary to head some varieties lower than others. The same holds true in regard to blackberries. It has been claimed by many that blackberries could not be profitably grown for the market in Wisconsin, on account of the abundance that grow wild in the northern part of our state, and on account of our severe winters. I had a good demand and paying prices for the 8,000 quarts I raised last season, and I am confident that there never were as many sent into our state from the south and from Michigan before. The northern crop of wild ones was very large also. Even with the large crop last year, the demand seemed to exceed the supply. My experience in growing blackberries during the past eight years convinces me that I can grow them with as much certainty as any other fruit that I grow; and no kind of berries fills a wider gap in the small fruit season than blackberries; coming before raspberries are gone and holding out until grapes are ripe. If we compare small fruit growing in Wisconsin fifteen years ago with the present, we can see that we have truly made great advancement. Then five or six weeks was the limit for the berry season; now, with the new and tested varieties of strawberries, red and black raspberries and blackberries, we may extend the berry season over a period of three months. My records show that last season I regularly furnished berries by the case, for market, from the nineteenth of June to the twenty-sixth of September. This could not have been accomplished with the varieties we cultivated here fifteen years ago; but by selecting the best of the new varieties which have come to the front during this time, and by keeping the old tried and true in their proper places, we have been able to accomplish it, and may reasonably expect to continue, with now and then a failure of some one kind in the succession, which will be the exception, and not the general rule. The customary vote was taken, making those who had read papers on invitation honorary annual members of the Society. |