LAYING-DOWN THE PLANTS 23 



on the tops of the canes, thus allowing the snow to 

 fill in amongst the tops. If the grower lives in a 

 locality where he does not fear late spring frosts, the 

 bushes should be raised early in the spring ; but if 

 frosts are feared, they may be left under cover until 

 corn -planting time. If the buds become large and 

 are bleached white under cover, they will suffer when 

 exposed to the atmosphere ; and one must watch the 

 bushes in spring, and raise them before the buds be- 

 come soft and white. This method of lay ing -down 

 blackberry plants costs less than $10 per acre, and 

 the slight breaking of the roots is no disadvantage. 

 Some growers dig the earth away on both sides of 

 the row, and still others bend over the canes without 

 any digging. Whatever method is employed, the 

 operator must be careful not to crack or split the 

 canes. The method can be varied with different va- 

 rieties, for some bear stiff er canes than others." 



The same author writes* again as follows: "The 

 tops of plants may be laid down for the winter. Fig. 

 4 shows a method of laying down blackberries, as 

 practiced in the Hudson River Valley. The plants 

 were tied to a trellis, as the method is in that 

 country, two wires (a, bj having been run on 

 either side of the row. The posts are hinged by a 

 pivot to a short post (c), and are held in position by 

 a brace (d). The entire trellis is then laid down 

 upon the approach of winter, as shown in the illus- 

 tration. Tl}e blackberry tops are so strong that they 



t 



* Garden-Making," 62. 



