22 The Bulletin. 



At present the ciitting-off is usually done witli a pair of hand 

 pruning shears. Another excellent tool is a pair of shears with long 

 handles and long curved blades, made by a local blacksmith ; it has 

 the advantage of cutting more vines at a time and requiring little or 

 no stooping. It can readily be made by any good blacksmith. In 

 cutting off the vines, care should be taken to cut as close to the ground 

 as possible; the stubs should not project above the ground. Often 

 in dewberry fields one finds a great many plants shriveling and the 

 vines actually dying because these old stubs had been left during the 

 previous season and the young vines had simply grown from these 

 old dying stubs. Another disadvantage is that the anthracnose is 

 left on these old stubs and is carried over to the young vines the fol- 

 lowing season. 



CULTIVATION AFTER CUTTING OFF THE CANES. 



After the canes have been cut oft' it is necessary to make enough 

 new canes during the remainder of the season for the following year's 

 crop. This means cultivation of the most thorough kind. The cul- 

 tivation should begin immediately after cutting off, and should be 

 repeated as often as possible, giving at least one cultivation per week. 

 As soon as the new vines are long enough to interfere, cultivation 

 should cease. 



If there are any weeds near the crowns of the plants, hand-hoeing 

 must be resorted to. It is practically impossible to get a g-reat many 

 of the w^eeds which are clustered immediately around the old crowns 

 with a cultivator. These should be carefully removed with hoes and 

 hands. 



STABLE MANURE. 



Few growers realize the great importance of stable manure in dew- 

 berry culture. Some, however, who have tried it know that it is of 

 the greatest importance. 



Stable manure is usually richer in nitrogen than in potash and phos- 

 phoric acid, and hence is not a w^ell-balanced fertilizer for dewberries. 

 Where gTOwth alone is desired, it answers the purpose quite well. 

 Whore a large crop of fruit is wanted, the manure cannot be relied 

 on when used by itself. 



Citable manure has a far greater value than that of adding plant 

 food to the soil. It is composed largely of humus, or vegetable mat- 

 ter, which is in the very best condition possible for the soil. The 

 great value of humus has already been discussed in a previous para- 

 graph. It should be added that stable manure has also the power to 

 set free plant food present in the soil, especially potash. 



It is possible to use too much stable manure, which has a tendency 

 to make too much vine at the expense of fruit, but there is little dan- 

 ger of using too much in this State, especially in the dewberry sec- 



