PRUNING AND CARE OF BLACKBERRIES 413 



Though these systematic methods of summer pruning are prac- 

 tised and advocated by the most careful growers, it should be stated 

 that there are large plantations which are conducted upon a more 

 simple system. The pruning consists in cutting out old canes in the 

 winter, and the only summer pruning is slashing off these canes 

 which interfere with cultivation. The canes are sometimes held up 

 by tying bunches of them together with ropes. Of course this 

 system costs less than the more careful one which has been 

 described, and yields profit enough to induce adherence to it. No 

 doubt quite as great weight of berries could be had from a smaller 

 area by a better system of growing. 



After the leaves fall, the canes which have borne fruit during 

 the summer are all cut off even with the surface of the ground with 

 long-handled pruning shears or with a short hooked knife with a 

 long handle, and all debris removed from the rows. 



Application of Manure. The blackberry loves very rich ground, 

 and plenty of well-rotted stable manure or compost should be 

 applied. It is a good plan to apply in a thick covering all over the 

 ground and between the canes as soon as the patch is cleaned up 

 in the fall. The early rains carry down the soluble parts of the 

 manure, and later in the season the whole is plowed in between the 

 rows, leaving a foot or more next the plants to be carefully forked 

 in, as the digging fork does not cut the roots like the spade. 



Mulching. The mulch, to keep the ground moist and to obviate 

 summer cultivation, is very satisfactory where it is thoroughly done. 

 Apply coarse manure or partially-rotted straw and the like, after 

 the last spring cultivation, and use the hoe to keep down weeds and 

 suckers which come up between the rows. Some growers use mulch 

 close to the canes, cultivating the remainder of the ground between 

 the rows. 



Bearing Age and Longevity. If blackberry plants are well 

 treated the first year after planting out, there will be considerable 

 fruit the following summer. How long the plants will bear satis- 

 factorily depends, also, on situation and treatment. Sometimes the 

 plants fail early ; even with good, generous treatment in good soil, 

 the old stool becomes weak, the shoots are thin, and the fruit small. 

 Some count about eight years as the profitable age of the plant, and 

 then cut out plants and give the land a change. Of course berry 

 growers prepare for this by frequently making new plantations. 



Irrigating Blackberries. Though a good part of the blackberry 

 crop is grown in regions of heavy rainfall without irrigation, the use 

 of water is sometimes very profitable. Mr. T. B. Cannon, near 

 Los Angeles, works in this way : 



Mr. Cannon aims to get Crandall blackberries from June 15 to Novem- 

 ber, which is possible by his system of irrigation and pruning. So the 

 water is applied in winter and about every ten days until the berries are 

 as big as peas, cultivating between times. The rows are eight feet apart 

 and the plants four, so that one-horse cultivation is possible until the 

 fruit gets so heavy as to bend over into the open space. When ripening 

 time begins in June, a ditch is dug close to the vines on each side of the 



