Raspberries. 437 



have grown a foot or so in length, being shorter above and longer 

 below. With the Cap varieties they should not be more than two 

 and a half feet high, which will obviate the necessity of staking. 

 The Antwerps may be pinched back at three or four feet, but 

 usually this is omitted, in which case they need stakes. The 

 height should vary with the vigor of the plant, strong plants re- 

 quiring more height. When suckers are numerous they must be 

 cut away when they first appear at the surface, or they will en- 

 feeble the plants, Four or five canes are enough to leave for each 

 stool. The Antwerps and their varieties require the support of 

 staking which may be effected as shown in fig, 477, or by means 

 of wires stretched between stakes as in fig. 478. 



In many parts of the Northern States, some tender varieties 

 need winter protection. This is easily given, by covering the 

 stems, when prostrate, very thinly with earth ; placing a small 

 mound of earth against the bottom of the stems before laying them 

 down, to bend upon' and prevent breaking. This covering is re- 



Fig. 477. Fig. 478. 



moved early in spring. It will be found to prove very useful, even 

 when not necessary to prevent winter-killing, by rendering the 

 crop larger and more certain . 



A plantation of raspberries will continue in bearing five or six 

 years, when it should be renewed. If it remain longer, the fruit 

 becomes small, and the crop gradually declines. Nearly the same 

 varieties succeed in the different States of the Union. The foreign 

 or Antwerp raspberries are worthless in most places south. 



PLANTING FOR MARKET. 



Wm. Parry, who cultivates extensive plantations of the raspberry 

 near Philadelphia, gives the following directions for their manage- 

 ment : 



" Plow and prepare the ground as for potatoes or other crops ; 

 mark the rows six feet apart, and set the plants three feet distant in 

 the rows, requiring about 2,500 plants to the acre. The tops should 

 be cut down to within a few inches of the ground, that the roots 



