138 THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FRUITS. 



PROPAGATION. 



To obtain plants of the black-cap sorts, the tips of the new canes 

 (which are already bending over and seeking the ground) should be 

 slightly covered in mellow soil in the fall — say in September — when 

 each shoot or branch will become rooted and form an independent 

 plant. These may remain all winter undetached from the parent 

 stem, and in the spring taken up and transplanted for permanent 

 growth. The other sorts, when plants are wanted, may be allowed 

 to sucker freely, and transplanted either in the fall or spring. All 

 but a few inches of the stem should be cut away in transplanting. 



If the plantation is fully established, and no more plants needed, 

 it is best to cut away early in the spring all the canes not desired for 

 fruiting of the suckering sorts, treating them as weeds. Many fail 

 of securing good crops of fruit from being too lenient towards these 

 suckers. Four to six canes in a hill, with the hills two feet apart 

 in the rows, are quite sufficient; all else should be rigidly kept 

 down. Of the tip varieties the growing canes should be pinched 

 off in the sammer, the first season after planting, at 18 inches 

 high; and in after seasons at two and a half to three feet. This 

 causes them to throw out side- shoots, which, in tarn, should also be 

 pinched back once or twice during the season. It Is seldom they 

 get pinched too often. By this process the cane is greatly strength- 

 ened, and it will form large bushy heads for next year's fruitage, 

 and the crop thereby largely increased. The suckering sorts 

 should also be pinched for the same purpose. 



SOIL, ETC. 



Any soil that will grow a good crop of corn will answer for rasp- 

 berries ; but the best is a naturally loose, rich loam, with a slight 

 admixture of sand. Stiff clay soil should be previously well 

 worked and plentifully supplied with barn-yard manure. Lime, 

 muck, and particularly ashes, are all good fertilizers for raspberries. 



PLANTING AND DISTANCES. 



Many plant in rows five to six feet apaMt, and three feet in the 

 row. In this way near 2,000 plants are required to the acre. But 

 as good culture is desirable, a better way, perhaps, is to plant in 

 hills four feet apart each way, so that cultivators can be run both 



