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The year's cultivation of the raspberry begins after the picking- 

 is finished, the rows are hand-hoed, and as soon as the leaves have 

 fallen the old canes that have borne fruit are cut out near to the 

 ground line, and the new canes are thinned, these thinnings are 

 tied up with string and used by the pickers as fuel. The young 

 plants that have been produced by the parent plant are then dug 

 out. The young plants, or " spawn, " as they are called, when 

 taken from young plantations, and of a good variety, may yield a 

 good return, but it is not advisable to allow much spawn to grow, 

 as it takes from the strength of the parent plant, so it is usual to 

 hoe off and destroy most of these shoots unless specially wanted 

 for propagation. 



The plantations are usually dunged once in three years, using 

 a truck that is narrow enough to run between the rows without 

 injuring them; if dung is not used, some other manure is probably 

 given each year. It is advantageous for the land to be turned over 

 early in winter to allow the frost to pulverise it. After the winter 

 is over, the canes are headed off to a height at which they are 

 sufficiently strong to hold the weight of the fruit without requiring 

 to be stringed. Between March and October the land is horse- 

 hoed; first with a heavy two-horse hoe, then during the season with 

 one-horse hoes to remove the weeds and form a tilth. If in the 

 early part of the year the land is cloddy, a rib or flat roller is 

 used in the rows. Hand-hoeing is also frequently done in order 

 to keep the land clean and encourage rooting. When the canes 

 are very luxuriant and there is much fruit, it is sometimes advisable 

 to stake and string the rows. 



Picking is done chiefly by women and children, some of the 

 latter being excellent pickers. As the fruit should not be crushed, 

 nearly all raspberries are picked without strigs, whether for sending 

 away in gallon baskets or in tubs for the jam factories. The rasp- 

 berries are conveyed by van or rail during the night and delivered 

 at the jam factory next morning, as the raspberry quickly ferments 

 when in bulk. A few of the handsomest raspberries are sometimes 

 picked with the strigs for punnets in early morning for sale the same 

 day. The yield per acre may be from three-quarters to two tons. 

 The price of raspberries varies considerably from perhaps 15 up 

 to 30 per ton if scarce. Sent in gallon baskets, they fetch pro- 

 bably a penny per Ib. more than in tubs. 



The best crops are usually from the plantations between three 

 and seven years old, but plantations last ten or fifteen years if the 

 land is suitable. 



