BUSH FRUIT PRODUCTION 



are larger and finer. The hills are usually 

 spaced seven or eight feet apart each way. 



Pruning 



Careful pruning is a great aid in growing 

 good blackberries easily. Without pruning, 

 the patch soon becomes a wild tangle of thorny 

 canes which is utterly unmanageable. Black- 

 berry canes grow in one season, produce fruit- 

 ing branches in the second season, then die and 

 are ready for removal. The root system lives 

 for many years but the canes are short-lived. 



Summer Pruning — The first pruning 

 which the cane receives is in its first or grow- 

 ing season, when the tip is pinched off at a 

 height of two to three feet, varying with the 

 vigor of the plants and the notions of the 

 grower. This checks the elongation of the 

 cane, forces the production of side shoots, and 

 brings about the development of a fruiting 

 area near the ground. 



This pinching of the green and growing tips 

 may be done with the hand. It should be 

 done as the young cane reaches the proper 

 height, to give the side shoots a long time to 

 grow and mature and form fruit buds. If the 

 young cane is allowed to grow to a height of 

 four or five feet, then cut back to two or three 



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