The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Raspberry
RASPBERRY.
Rubus idèus.—Framboisier, Fr.—Himbeerestrauch, Ger.
Some species of this plant are natives of all temperate countries, and have been much improved by cultivation. Its fruit is extensively used for making syrups, wines, jams, and jellies; it also forms an excellent dessert fruit, considered healthful, refreshing, and cooling. Of late, much has been said and written on the Raspberry; but as yet, we may say, there are but two or three sorts worth general culture.
Red Antwerp.—Canes dark brown, long, short-jointed. Fruit fairly thimble-shaped. Flesh firm, rich, juicy, with a fine, sweet flavor. Ripe about the fourth of July. There is a variety called Red Antwerp generally cultivated, with small fruit, readily broken into pieces, and wood of a reddish-brown color.
Franconia is a hardier variety than the former, and does better in colder latitudes. Fruit large, conical, of a bright red color. Flesh firm; flavor sharp; rich and abundant. Ripe about the middle of July.
White, or Yellow Antwerp.—Fruit nearly as large as the Red Antwerp; of the same shape. Flesh yellow, very tender, rich, and very sweet. Wood yellow; a great bearer.
Fastolff.—Within the past few years this variety though) an old one with a new name) has created quite an excitement in England, and not a little in this country. We fruited it two years ago, and consider it one of the best reds, though we do not think it the very best. Fruit very large; of an oval, conical form. Flesh very rich, juice abundant, and makes a beautiful dessert fruit. It will never be a popular market fruit, being so soft that it will not bear carriage, but will hold its place for home consumption. Ripe 4th of July.
Ohio Ever-bearing.—Fruit conical; color black; large size, produced in clusters on the points of the shoots. Flesh dark-red, juice not very abundant, produces through the whole season till frost, and quite indispensaable on this account. Wood strong, of a dark purple color.
There are several very astonishing and superior Raspberries raised from seed by an amateur gentleman of this city, some of them of a beautiful orange, and others of a bright amber color, whose true characters will be known in another year.
Propagation.—This is of the easiest character. Give the plants rich, deep, sandy loamy soil, and they will send up an abundance of suckers every season, each of which will form a plant and produce fruit the year following.
Planting.—They should be put out in rows three feet apart and four feet from row to row. Two hundred plants is not too many for a family. Give them plenty of manure every year. Dig deep, but not close to the bottom of the plant. A situation partially shaded, or naturally moist, though not wet, is the best locality. A plantation will last twenty years if properly attended to by enriching every year.
Pruning.—The first fruit I ever pruned was the Raspberry, and it is the only one that can be reduced to a simple rule. In the Autumn cut out all the old wood that produced fruit the past summer, close to the ground; tie up the new shoots to a stake or trellis, about five feet high; then cut off about a foot of the tops of the shoots, and the work is done. In cold situations the plants, after having been deprived of their old wood, have to be laid down all Winter, and covered with earth, Spruce, or Pine branches, till Spring, when they are lifted and tied up as above. The Ohio and Franconia varieties do not require this protection.