TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. zC^y 



of the plant until you get the system of new canes. So I 

 contend that that is an important point. 



Now in pruning the 'second year. The second year, if vou 

 are successful, you will get a fairly good number of rather 

 short canes coming up like that (illustrating), and that is 

 where the beginner begins to go wrong. You want to go 

 through the plantation and destroy all that, cut the old canes 

 and get them out of the way. You see you have got to keep 

 those cut back the second year if }ou are going to get any 

 fruit. 



A AIember: ^^'hat time do you do that cutting back 

 the second year? 



]\Ir. Smith : In the spring. Of course, the next year 

 you are going to get a vigorous growth of cane. Perhaps it 

 will be six or seven feet in height, and it will be a matter of 

 pretty heavy pruning if the plantation is growing strong. 

 Now on that year we aim to narrow that hedgerow down 

 about fifteen to eighteen inches. We aim to reduce those 

 plants in that row" to ten or twelve inches. Don't be afraid 

 to cut away the plants and get rid of that surplus vv^ood. You. 

 are going to get more satisfactory berries, and the plantation 

 is better for all other purposes. 



Now I want to refer just a little more to the question that 

 this gentleman brought out with regard to the time that we 

 do that pruning. The spring is the best season we Have, but 

 we have got to be guided, to a considerable extent, by the 

 weather conditions. The rule that you wdll get from many 

 horticultural books and papers will be to go through your 

 plantation, remove the old canes, and I think that most grow- 

 ers agree that you can do that up until about the first of July. 

 I think from the rainfall notes I will simply say from the 

 time the growth starts up until the first of July. That would 

 be two months and a half. Last year we had a rainfall of 

 onlv three inches, \\hile the normal rainfall should have been 

 between ten and twelve. So you see everything was rushed 

 ahead. During the drier part of the season the growth was 

 retarded. About the time we were planning to cut away 



