PRUNING — STAKING, ETC. 213 



I would recommend that others, especially those of the later 

 varieties, be cut back one -half. Even for market purposes 

 I beheve that the superb fruit resulting from such pruning 

 would bring more money in most instances. At any rate, 

 the season of bearing would be greatly prolonged. 



Mulching on a large scale would not pay in most locali- 

 ties. In regions where salt hay, flags, etc., can be cut in 

 abundance, or where straw is so plenty as to be of little value, 

 it no doubt could be appHed profitably. On Staten Island, 

 I have seen large patches mulched with salt hay. The 

 canes were unstaked, and many of them bent over on the 

 clean hay with their burden of fruit. When there are no 

 stakes or other support used, the berries certainly should be 

 kept from contact with the soil. The chief advantage of 

 the mulch, however, is in the preservation of moisture. 

 When it is given freely, all the fruit perfects, and in a much 

 longer succession. The weeds and suckers are kept down, 

 and the patch has a neat appearance. Moreover, mulching 

 prevents the foliage from burning, and enables the gardener 

 to grow successfully the finer varieties farther to the south 

 and on light soils. In keeping dowm the weeds through the 

 long summer, a mulch of leaves, straw, or any coarse litter, 

 is often far less costly than would be the labor required. 



Staking raspberries is undoubtedly the best, simplest, and 

 cheapest method of supporting the canes of most varieties 

 and in most localities. I agree with the view taken by Mr. 

 A. S. Fuller. " Chestnut stakes," he writes, *' five feet long 

 and two or three inches in diameter, made from large trees, 

 cost me less than two cents each, and my location is within 

 twenty miles of New York city, where timber of all kinds 

 commands a large price. I cannot afford to grow rasp- 

 berries without staking, because every stake will save on an 

 average ten cents' worth of fmit, and, in many instances, 



