508 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



twenty shoots, but only a few of them should be allowed to remain 

 How many shall be left must depend entirely upon the vigor of the 

 plant, closeness of planting, strength of soil and like circumstances 

 Usually five or six canee from each root are sufficient, and if very 

 excellent fruit is desired the number may be reduced. The strong- 

 est canes should be left and the others pulled out when they are still 

 only four or live inches high. It will be necessary to go over the 

 patch four or live times early in the season to remove these super- 

 fluous shoots. It is true that many growers entirely neglect this 





-^-■^.^Wi-r. 



92. — Early Harvest Blackberry patch in August. (Roland Morrill, Benton Harbor, Mich.) 



thinning of the young shoots, but it is a question if better results 

 would not always follow their removal. 



These growing canes should be lieaded-in, — two to four inches 

 of the tips cut off, — when they are from two and a half to three 

 feet high. It will be necessary to go over the plantation three or 

 four times for this purpose, as the different canes reach the desired 

 height at different times. Laterals will now push out vigorously, 

 but these are allowed to grow their full length. Early the follow- 

 ing spring, these laterals are shortened. There is no rule respect- 

 ing the proper length to leave these laterals. Sometimes they are 

 injured by the winter and must be cut in short. And there is 



