37 



Pruning. 



The pruning the red raspberry requires for the best results is 

 the pinching oft' the ends of the canes during the summer as soon 

 as they are two and one-half feet high, which causes a branching, 

 tree-like growth. The fruiting canes are also to be cut out as 

 soon as the fruit has been gathered, and the laterals of the new 

 growth to be headed in at any time after the leaves drop in the fall 

 or before the beginning of growth in the spring. All very small 

 canes should be cut out, as they produce only small fruit, and this 

 being near the ground is so injured by dirt as to be of no value. 

 The fruit also on the large canes is benefited by this thinning. 

 When the pruning is completed, the strong canes should stand 

 from six to eiyht inches apart, and the greater the number of these 

 strong canes the larger will be the crop. 



Meneiving the Plantation. 



Perhaps no fruit sooner exhausts the soil or the soil conditions 

 under whicli it is profitably grown than the raspberry. The roots 

 and suckers permeate the soil in all directions, and after a few 

 years the plantation must be renewed, or an increasing amount of 

 plant food be applied. Six to ten years is about the limit of profit- 

 able growth in one place, when a new plantation should be started 

 on fresh soil. 



Varieties. 



There are but very few varieties of the red raspberry that can 

 be successfully grown under the average conditions and care. Of 

 these, the Miller, Cuthbert, Loudon and Golden Queen will give 

 the greatest satisfaction for home use or market. 



Insects and Fungous Pests. 



There are no insects that are seriously injurious to the rasp- 

 berry under ordinary conditions, but a fungous known as the leaf 

 blight often causes serious damage. This disease first appears as 

 small, reddish spots, which soon increase in size and number until 

 the whole leaf is infested, when it turns brown and falls off, a few 

 of the upper leaves only escaping ; where this leaf blight comes 

 on early it often so weakens the canes that the fruit is small and 

 the plantation soon dies out. The remedy is spraying thoroughly 

 with the Bordeaux mixture just before the blossoms open, and 

 again as soon as the fruit has been gathered. 



