PRODUCING YOUNG PLANTS 109 



suckers thrown up by these plants that many failures 

 occur among those who lack the courage or energy to 

 vigorously destroy them. Unless wanted for planting 

 or for sale, these shoots are weeds in the full sense of 

 the word, and detract as much from the vigor and pro- 

 ductiveness of the parent plant as any other class of 

 weeds. The effect on the parent is the same, to be 

 sure, whether the young plants are wanted or not, and 

 no plantation can yield as heavy crops of fruit if 

 called upon to produce plants also. It merely becomes, 

 then, a question as to w^hich are the more profitable 

 and desirable, the plants or the berries. In general, 

 if the plants are needed for planting, or if there is 

 a market for them at fair prices, they are likely to 

 prove more profitable than fruit. 



If it is desired to produce many plants of a new 

 and high-priced varietj^ the number of suckers may 

 be increased by cultivation which tends to disturb the 

 roots. Thrusting a spade into the ground in circles 

 several inches apart about the parent plant will sever 

 many of the roots, practically making root -cuttings 

 of them, thereby causing a large number of plants to 

 spring up. Some careful observers assert that close 

 pruning also tends to increase the number of suckers 

 thrown up, wherefore this might also be used as an 

 aid to rapid propagation. 



Plants in large numbers can be cheaply produced 

 from an old plantation which is to be discarded, by 

 cutting away the bushes, plowing and cultivating 

 the ground in spring, and then letting everything 

 grow. If the land is poor, manuring wdll increase 



