CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Frequency of cultivation depends upon irrigation, for the culti- 

 vator must always follow the application of water. The spaces in 

 the row which can not be reached with the cultivator must be kept 

 clean from weeds, and free from baking, by the use of the hoe. It 

 is advisable that the cultivation be the cleanest possible, for moisture 

 exhaustion by weeds can not be afforded. 



Pruning and Training. There is a little difference in the ways 

 of training blackberries practiced in this State. Of course this does 

 not include the "let alone" system, which is not followed by any 

 good grower. The difference lies mainly in the use or disuse of 

 artificial supports for the canes. In either case. the pruning of the 

 canes is similar in kind but different in degree, for if no supports are 

 used, the canes are headed lower. 



At planting out, cut back the cane to near the surface of the 

 ground and mark the plant with a small stake. At first the top 

 growth should not be checked, but when new canes grow out 

 strongly they should be pinched at the tip to force out lateral 

 branches for fruiting the next year. Those who intend to tie canes 

 to a stake or trellis let them attain a height of five or six feet before 

 pinching off the terminal bud ; those who intend to teach the cane 

 to stand alone pinch when it is about four feet high. All agree to 

 pinch off the ends of the lateral branches at about eight to twelve 

 inches from the main stem. This pinching of blackberry canes may 

 be done by the watchful grower of a few plants, with the thumb and 

 finger, but thrifty blackberry plants are such rapid cane growers 

 that in large plantations cutting back is often done with a sickle or 

 corn hook or sharp butcher-knife, several times in the course of the 

 summer. It is also advisable to thin out the suckers with the hoe 

 while cutting out weeds, leaving only about as many as it is desired 

 to have for fruit the next season. This method gives stout canes, 

 with plenty of short side branches, well supplied with buds, which 

 will send out fruiting shoots the following spring. If supports are 

 used, the four to six canes which are left to each stool are gathered 

 within a loosely-drawn bale rope and tied to the stake ; or if a trellis 

 is used, the branches are brought up to the wire or slat so that the 

 distance is about evenly divided between the shoots. 



Mr. Claud D. Tribble of Elk Grove gives the following advice 

 for handling the Lawton, which is the chief upright variety grown 

 in California: 



Give the plants some support the first season by a stake, and the sec- 

 ond season the permanent stakes are put in, one on each side of the 

 plant. In driving them, allow the tops to be wider than the bottom so the 

 berries can be picked easily. Large wires or wooden cleats are used to 

 support the vines or canes. The posts are about six feet long and driven 

 in the ground until solid, making the top about five feet high. During 

 the first season's growth there is very little pruning except thinning to the 

 desired number of canes. The second year the canes are allowed to grow 

 above the stakes and then tipped to cause laterals to form, which are cut 

 back to less than 12 inches to produce berries the following season. The 

 old wood is cut out each season and the new shoots trained as before. 



the old canes are cut out as soon as the crop is gathered, it is done 

 more economically and the young plants grow better. 



