832 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



October or November, just previous to covering them. However, in gardens where it is desired 

 to keep the plants trim and neat, or where winter winds are not feared, then the old canes 

 may be cut out at almost any time without serious injury to the plants. 



In pruning the bearing canes in spring, the laterals should be cut back to within about a 

 foot of the main stems, or when the tips are frozen, to a point back of where they have been 

 winter-killed. The frozen canes are usually of a different color from the rest of the wood. 

 Frequently I have had my plants pruned as late as the middle of April, waiting three or four 

 days after the buds have opened, and then pruning off the branches just beyond a strong 

 bud. At this pruning any surplus canes may be cut out, if not hoed out the previous year 

 when small. 



In hill culture, from three to five canes will usually give more and better fruit than if a 

 larger number are allowed to grow. Even when grown in rows, it is best to keep the rows 

 quite narrow, not over a foot and a half or two feet wide near the ground; cutting off or 

 hoeing down all canes coming up in the paths. 



Winter Protection. In localities where the winters are very severe, it is well to 

 give protection to raspberry vines, to prevent them from winter-killing. Some varieties will 

 do well without this care, but most of the best varieties will do enough better to pay for the 

 trouble. The usual and best method is to bend the canes down upon the ground, and throw 

 a shovelful of earth upon the tops to keep them in place; then plow a furrow each side the 

 row to afford a covering of three or four inches of soil. In the spring the canes can be 

 loosened up with a fork; this should not, however, be done until all danger of frost is passed. 

 Other methods are practiced, such as binding the canes to the ground and covering them 

 with pine boughs, or to tie them to a stake and bind straw around them; but the best is that 

 first recommended, since it affords a secure protection with the least labor, and obviates the 

 leaving of refuse material to furnish a harbor for mice during the winter, or the scattering of 

 waste material about to be cleaned off in the spring. The canes may be pruned in the fall, 

 instead of the following spring, if desired. In giving winter protection by this means they 

 will then require less covering. In protecting plants set in the fall, many growers throw a 

 forkful of manure over each plant, instead of soil, allowing it to remain until spring, when it 

 is mixed with the soil by the use of a light harrow. This furnishes warmth, besides fertiliz 

 ing the plants for the next season s growth. 



Cultivation after the First Season. As soon as the weeds commence growing 

 in the spring, shallow plowing should be given between the rows, if the ground is suitable. 

 If the plowing is so deep as to tear the roots, injury -is done; and, as the roots extend near the 

 surface of the ground, care should be exercised in this respect. The weeds and refuse matter 

 should then be carefully wed out from among the plants, and either carried off the land or 

 put in the furrows and covered with soil. Cultivation should be given sufficiently often to 

 keep the earth loose and friable, and the weeds exterminated. When the plants are in blos 

 som, no further cultivation should be given until after the fruit is picked. 



How to Obtain a Crop of Raspberries in the Fall. This is done by selecting 

 some late-bearing variety, and cutting off all the canes early in the spring, at from four to six 

 inches from the ground, and giving good cultivation or mulching during the spring and 

 summer. Leave only the strongest of the new shoots that come up for bearing, and these 

 will give a fine crop of berries in the autumn, at the season when they will bring a large price 

 in the market. A smaller crop can be obtained also in the usual season for this fruit by 

 simply permitting the plants to grow naturally, like other raspberries, thinning out the 

 smaller canes when too thick for a vigorous growth. 



Yield and Profits. With good care, raspberries may be made a very profitable 

 crop. The average yield of the red varieties will range from fifty to sixty bushels per acre. 



