86 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



trained on this system is very much greater than with plants trained 

 on the Kniffen system. From the T-head, which, as has been stated, 

 is carried to the height of the lowest wire, canes are carried in both 

 directions along the lowest wire and are firmly tied to it. Near the 

 base of each of these canes, but upon the older wood of the T-head, 

 short spurs carrying two or three buds are maintained, from which 

 shoots develop which, in turn, are usually employed to furnish the 

 fruiting canes of the succeeding year; that is, the spurs are the means 

 of renewing the fruiting wood of the vine grown on the high-renewal 

 system. The same plan can be and frequently is employed with the 

 Kniffen system. 



Pruning the Raspberry. In many sections of the country the 

 black raspberry as well as the red raspberry is extensively cultivated 

 for commercial purposes and also for family use. When grown upon 

 a commercial scale the plants are set in rows 6 or 8 feet apart and 3 

 feet apart in the row. With this style of planting and judicious 

 pruning no trellis is necessary. 



The First Step. The usual plan is to allow the young shoots 

 which annually spring up from the root of the plant to grow to the 

 height of 2 feet or a little more. When the shoots have attained this 

 height the first step in the pruning of the raspberry begins by break- 

 ing off 3 or 4 inches of the topmost portion of the shoot, leaving it 20 

 to 22 inches in height. The rapidly growing succulent shoots snap 

 off easily between the thumb and finger, and as a rule no shears or 

 other pruning device will be found necessary to accomplish this 

 heading-in. As a result of the check sustained by breaking off the 

 terminal bud, the stalk thickens, the leaves grow larger, the axillary 

 buds near the end of the stalk increase in size, and soon lateral shoots 

 develop from them. As a rule, five or six of the topmost buds push 

 out and, instead of having one sturdy stalk several feet in length 

 which would carry one-half dozen fruit clusters near its tip the suc- 

 ceeding season, pruning has restricted its height to 20 or 22 inches 

 and has induced the formation of five or six lateral shoots, each of 

 which may grow to be as much as 18 inches or more in length before 

 the close of the season and, instead of a single cane for fruit produc- 

 tion, there are five or six, each of which will carry as many fruit 

 clusters as would have been produced by the original shoot had it 

 been left to itself. Here, then, is an example of pruning inducing 

 fruitfulness. 



Removing Old Wood. The second stage in pruning the rasp- 

 berry consists in cutting out all the wood which is older than the pres- 

 ent season's growth. This pruning should be done immediately after 

 the season's crop has been harvested. If done at this period it is easy 

 to distinguish the fruiting wood from that which has grown during 

 the season, and by taking out all the useless wood at this time the 

 whole energy of the root is reserved for the new growth which is to 

 supply the crop next season. For cutting out this wood a special im- 

 plement is employed. A cutting edge is provided on the hook which 

 reduces it to a hawkbill knife, and as well upon the chisel-shaped 

 portion upon the back. In one case the implement serves the pur- 



