22 BUSH-FBUITS 



be little doubt that in all regions where the winters 

 are especiallj^ severe or trying, it will certaiul}' pay 

 to lay down both raspberries and blackberries. A 

 writer in American Garden in 1890 makes the state- 

 ment that he can insure a quart of blackberries a 

 minute, for the time spent in lajdng them down. 

 Some growers advise less vigorous summer pruning, 

 or none at all, where plants are to be laid down. 

 Others who practice laying -down ver}^ extensively 

 also prune severely. 



Bailey writes* as follows on this subject: "Black- 

 berries and raspberries are extensively laid down in 

 cold climates, and it may be well to relate the method 

 here for the benefit of those who occupy bleak loca- 

 tions. Late in fall, the bushes are tipped over and 

 covered. Three men are generally employed to per- 

 form this labor. One man goes ahead with a long- 

 handled, round- pointed shovel and digs the earth 

 away six inches deep from under the roots. The 

 second man has a six-tined or four-tined fork which 

 he thrusts against the plant a foot or so above the 

 ground, and by pushing upon the fork and stamping 

 against the roots with the foot, the plant is laid over 

 in the direction from which the earth was removed. 

 The third man now covers the plant with earth or 

 marsh hay. Earth is generally used, and if the va- 

 riety is a tender one the whole bush is covered two 

 or three inches deep. Hardy varieties may be simply 

 held down \>y throwing a few shovelfulls of earth 



*'' Principles of Fruit-Growing," 98. 



