25 



been ^yeakened by the winter, and produce the fruit nearer the main stem or 

 source of food sup2Dl3\ 



There are some good advocates of both methods, and good patches under 

 both systems of pruning; but in the colder sections of tlie Province, especially, it 

 is highly recommended not to cut back till the following spring. 



The thinning out of the rows or hills is not usually done until very late winter 

 or early spring. This is best done when the ground is still frozen or before 

 growth starts, leaving only the hardiest and healthiest and only from five to 

 seven good canes in the hills. A few more may be left in the rows but the canes 

 should not be closer than six or eight inches, and the rows more than a foot wide. 

 The grower should, with a little practice, be al)]e to space the plants fairly evenly 

 in the rows. This work should be done sufficiently early to remove all insect pests 

 that have wintered in the old canes. These begin to move with the first growino- 

 weather. A great m^any growers remove the old canes in early fall or late sprin^y^ 

 but in the opinion of the writer the spring is preferred. 



If the effects of the winter are not plainly noticeable at this time, the cuttino- 

 back may be left a little later or till growth has started, when the frozen tips are 

 much more easily distinguished, 'i'he earlier pruning is recommended, however. 



In the colder sections of the province, where winter injury or freezino- is 

 common, the practice of tbinning out the old canes in the hills in tlie fall is followed 

 quite largely. The canes, wliich may be from four to seven feet long are then 

 laid down in the line of the row and covered with eartli. This method of protection 

 is expensive, but gives fair results. 



Another method is to keep the young plants cut back to about eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches during the summer. This causes them to send out quite strono- 

 laterals and then the plants in tree form being quite low are protected bv snow 

 during the winter. 



In the Niagara Peninsula, however, where the investigation was made, no 

 protection is given except that which follows from good cultivation, manurin"-, 

 and pruning practice. 



CuUivation. The cultivation must be thorough. A few days' delay often 

 gives tbe grass and weeds a start, and wlien once they take possession of the rows it 

 is a very difficult task to get rid of them. :\Iany of the best growers cultivate twice 

 a week from early spring up to the picking season, and some cultivate even between 

 the picking. It is best to cease cultivation with the opening of the picking season, 

 or. at most, to give one or two cultivations later. This would be to clean up the 

 patch, loosen the soil and give the young shoots, if they are required for planting 

 the next year, a chance to grow. Loosening the ground between the rows after each 

 picking conserves a great deal of moisture and is advised if it can be done with- 

 out injury to the fruit and plants. Too late cultivation tends to produce new 

 growth late in the fall, which is not as hardy as the older wood, and is consequently 

 more likely to be injured bv th" winter. Many good patches have been severely 

 injured by practising late cultivation. 



Fall plowing up to the plant and cultivating and hoeing the earth away in 

 the spring as much as is required to remove the weeds and form a nnilch is 

 recommended. Quite a number of growers ]ilow away from the plants in the 

 spring as it gives a much better chance to remove the refuse from the row. Also 

 this plowing covers up any manure or nnilch that may have been applied in the 

 winter. The plantations of the best growers are not intercropped after the first 

 year; the soil then has all it can do to support the berries and without first-class 

 care and attention it will not do even this. 



