CULTURE AND PRUNING. 85 



taken off, and each piece of root will throrr up one or more shoots 

 and make good plants. Root cuttings are sometimes preserved 

 in boxes of soil, buried in the ground during the winter, and 

 planted in the bed in the spring, or in the field, where they 

 are to grow permanently. 



TRANSPLANTING. The best time for setting out Blackberries 

 and Red Raspberries is in the fall, although they may be set with 

 success in the spring. If planted in the fall, a shovelful or two 

 of soil or manure should be put around the plants to prevent 

 their being thrown out by the frost. The Blackberry will grow 

 upon very poor, thin soil, and upon such is not liable to winter- 

 kill ; but to obtain large fruit, the land must be heavily mulched 

 during June and July to prevent the escape of moisture. When 

 planted upon rich, moist land, in -order to be certain of a good 

 crop, the canes must be covered in the winter, as directed below. 



The distance for planting the Blackberry is four by six feet for 

 Wilson's Early and other small growing kinds, and four by eight 

 feet if to be grown in rows, or six by eight feet if to be grown in 

 hills, for the larger varieties. They are planted so as to run to- 

 gether, forming close rows, or may be kept in hills so that the 

 work of cultivation may be done with the horse. 



CULTIVATION AND PRUNING. There are few crops that may 

 be so easily grown, if the work is done at the proper time, as the 

 Blackberry ; and there are also few fruits, that if neglected, re- 

 quire so much care to put in condition again. 



The hill system has many advantages, and among others, that 

 the suckers, which will come up in large numbers, may be kept 

 down entirely with the cultivator, going both ways, while in the 

 row system they must be thinned out with the hoe and hook, and all 

 suckers not wanted in the hill or row must be treated as weeds. 

 If no mulch is used when the fruit is maturing, the cultivator 

 should be run every few days to keep the soil loose and light, so 

 as to prevent the escape of moisture. Late cultivation, that is, 

 after August first, should be avoided, on account of its tending to 

 cause a late growth of cane, that is very liable to winter-kill. 



The best wa}" to destroy suckers, if they have been neglected 

 until too woody to be cut off with the hoe (and this is the condi- 

 tion of many blackberry plantations), is to put on a thick pair of 

 gloves and an old coat, and pull them out in June or July. If 

 pulled at this time, very few will start until the following 

 spring. 



PRUNING. The success of Blackberry and Raspberry cultiva- 

 tion depends largely upon pruning. The first year, at planting, 

 the one cane used should be cut back to six or eight inches. 

 During the summer, when the new shoots have reached two feet 

 in height, the ends must be pinched to make them stocky, so that 

 they will not require support. At the end of the first season's 

 growth the old cane should be cut out entirely. The second year 

 the canes will bear some fruit, but probably not enough to pay to 



