Pruning Brambles 195 



after having produced one crop of fruit dies. The pruning 

 of these fruits consists in removing the old canes after 

 they have ripened their crop and in heading back the 

 young canes during the early growing period so as to make 

 them branch out and increase their fruiting surface. The 

 winter pruning consists in shortening in the laterals that 

 were formed after the canes were pinched back during the 

 summer. 



With blackberries in all of the country east of the Cas- 

 cade Mountains to the Atlantic Coast, the canes are 

 headed back by pinching out a couple of inches of the 

 tips after reaching a height of a couple of feet. This will 

 make the canes throw out strong lateral branches that 

 become the fruiting wood for the next year. In the winter 

 these side branches are to be shortened in, and the amount 

 of cutting that may be necessary will vary with the va- 

 riety. Some kinds like Wilson produce their fruit mostly 

 close to the cane, and consequently the branches can be 

 shortened in quite close, but with kinds like the Snyder and 

 Early Harvest, the fruiting portion is near the ends of the 

 branches, and consequently not so much may be removed. 

 It is always well to remove plenty of the wood in order to 

 thin the fruit. 



Blackberry bushes that are shaped in this manner -and 

 where the canes were pinched early, will be strong enough 

 to stand alone, but in case of tall growing varieties like 

 the Snyder it may be best to stretch a wire along both 

 sides of the row to keep the canes from bending over when 

 loaded with fruit. 



Many experienced growers of blackberries prefer to 

 train the canes on a trellis of some sort. In New York 

 state, and some parts of the East, a two-wire trellis is ar- 

 ranged with the wires a couple of feet apart, and fastened 

 to a strong post at the ends of the rows. The young canes 

 are pinched just a little above the upper wire and tied to 

 that wire until after the fruit has ripened. This will 

 keep them out of the way of the fruit-producing canes, 

 which are tied to the lower wire. 



The canes may remain tied to the wires all winter, or 



