136 SMALL FRUIT CULTUEIST. 



In the great Raspberry plantations of New York, stakes 

 are used, and every fruiting cane is tied up, early in spring. 

 The stakes used are four or five feet long, one being driven 

 near each stool, and the canes tied loosely to it. After the 

 crop has been gathered, the stakes are all taken up and 

 put aw.-iy under cover until wanted the next season. The 

 old canes are all removed in the fall, and all suckers not 

 Avanted for fruiting are taken up, preparatory to giving 

 winter protection to those that remain. 



WINTER PROTECTION. 



Until within a very few years, the varieties principally 

 cultivated for market were those of foreign origin. Oc- 

 casionally one would be introduced that was quite hardy 



Fig. 53. LAYING DOWN THE CANES. 



even in the Northern States, but as a whole they required 

 protection to insure a full crop. Many different methods 

 for protecting the plants in winter have been suggested 

 and tried, but there is probably none so simple or cheap 

 as that of laying down the plants a:id covering with soil. 

 To perform this operation rapidly,it requires two men, one 

 to bend down the plants while the other throws a shovel 

 full of soil upon them, or just enough to keep them in 

 place. The canes should be bent down lengthwise of the 

 row, as shown in figure 53. When the plants have all 

 been laid down, a plow is passed along on each side of the 

 row, turning the soil upon them. In this manner an acre 



