THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 129 



Have usually pinched back the new canes aliout two feet from 

 the ground so as to force plenty of lateral branches, then before 

 growth commences in the spring cut back the laterals to 10 to 

 12 inches; this treatment (the shortening of the main shoots to 

 24 inches and the laterals to 10 or 12) renders the plant able 

 to support a crop without the aid of a trellis. The next pruning 

 is to remove, preferably right after the season's crop has been 

 harvested, all the wood older than the present season's growth. 

 The fruiting wood can easily be distinguished from that which 

 has grown during the season. By taking out that which is 

 useless all the energy of the root is reserved for the new growth 

 which is to supply the crop next season, and the danger from 

 spread of disease somewhat diminished.* 



A close watch is kept for orange rust and any plant showing 

 the least sign of it is immediately removed, care being taken to 

 keep it from touching any healthy plant. Have sprayed with 

 Bordeaux to prevent the spread of anthracnose, but without 

 success. 



Have usually followed the plan of paying pickers i^ cents 

 per quart at the end of each week and Yz cent extra at the end 

 of the season to all who worked when wanted all through the 

 season ; those who work only when the picking is best do not 

 get the extra 5^ cent. 



We tried at one time the plan of marketing all the berries 

 the same day that they were picked, getting the pickers at work 

 early in the morning and planning to complete the day's picking 

 by 9 o'clock or soon after. It was difficult to get enough 

 pickers so early in the morning, however, and as the dealers 

 all wanted berries by 7 o'clock, and we were six to twdve 

 miles from our markets, this was given up as impracticable. 



My plan for the last two or three years has been to start the 

 pickers about six to seven o'clock, a few of them usually getting 

 at work much earlier. Through the middle of the day (an 

 hour or two before noon and until perhaps three in the after- 

 noon) they are employed at picking cherries, finishing up the 

 day at raspberries. 



Most of the morning pick of berries are marketed the same 

 day, those picked in the afternoon being kept over and sent to 

 town early the next morning; teams leaving for the nearby 

 towns about 5 a. 'M., and for more distant points early enough 



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