Abstract

Raspberries in England and Wales occupied slightly less than 2,500 acres in 1958, about one-third of which were in Kent and the rest mainly in the counties of Norfolk, Worcester, Hereford and East Sussex. By contrast, the area under raspberries in Scotland exceeded 8,000 acres. Of these some 7,300 were almost equally divided between the adjoining counties of Perth and Angus, and a further 300 were in Fife. Several causes have led to this distribution of the industry, one, no doubt, being the general tendency of the raspberry to do well in northerly parts of Britain. In east-central Scotland, and particularly in Strathmore, favourable conditions of soil and climate and the growth of wholesale markets have encouraged a gradual expansion of the industry since it first began there towards the end of the last century.
Research at present makes its impact upon raspberry growing from three main directions: by the breeding of new and better varieties; in the application of the results of virus research to the production of disease-free nursery stocks; and by the investigation of problems in the cultivation and management of fruiting plantations. These lines of work are interrelated and complementary.