The Small Fruits. 153 



the rows should be avoided, as it is liable to cut off main 

 roots. 



2\X, Daration of the plantation. The plants of the 

 bramble fruits lose vigor and the crowns become very 

 large after 4 or 5 crops of fruit have matured. It is there- 

 fore best to renew the plantation once in 5 or 6 years. 



218. Pruning:. As each cane (191) of the bramble fruits 

 develops one or more shoots from near its base, the num- 

 ber of canes tends to increase rapidly a,*! the plant acquires 

 age. It is therefore important to tliin out the canes after 

 the second year. The number of canes to be left depends 

 upon conditions; probably 3 to 6 would be best for the 

 majority of plantations. 



It is customary to pinch the tips of the shoots of the 

 blackberry and blackcap raspberry as they attain the 

 height of 12 to 24: inches to induce a stocky, branching 

 growth. Recent experiments have failed to demonstrate 

 the importance of pinching the raspberry, especially where 

 winter protection is practiced. The pinched canes bore 

 scarcely enough more fruit to pay for the labor of pinch- 

 ing, while the expense of covering them for winter was 

 much increased. Shoots pinched lower than 24 inches 

 yielded no more fruit than uupinched ones. Pinching un- 

 questionably stimulates the i)roduction of shoots. 



The dead fruiting canes of the bramble fruits are com- 

 monly cut off and removed after the berry harvest or before 

 the following spring. Where the raspberry cane-borer (223) 

 is troublesome, it is important to remove and burn the dead 

 bearing canes soon after the fruiting season, to destroy anj' 

 larvae they may contain; — otherwise experiments indicate 

 that it is better to postpone removing the dead canes until 

 autumn, or, in case winter protection is not practiced, until 

 the succeeding spring. 



