20 Bush-Fruits 



brambles. With dewberries this is almost essential if 

 cultivation is to be given. With the other kinds it is some- 

 times desirable. Various methods are employed. When 

 the plants are grown in hills a stake at each hill, to which 

 the canes are loosely tied, is the plan followed. If grown 

 in hedge-rows, posts are set along the row, to which one 

 or more wires are fastened. If a single wire is used, the 

 canes are tied to this. Another plan, which does away 

 with the labor of tying, is to nail cross-pieces to these 

 posts and fasten two wires to these pieces, about eighteen 

 inches apart. The shoots are allowed to grow up between 

 the two wires and are supported by them as they droop 

 outward. The height of these wires should be such as to 

 bring them about to the branching-point of the canes. A 

 method in vogue in the Hudson River Valley, as described 

 later, is to hinge this trellis to short posts in the ground, 

 supporting it by braces, so that the whole can be laid upon 

 the ground and the plants covered for winter protection. 

 Trellising methods are shown in Plates I and V. 



WINTER-KILLING 



The hardiness of the varieties which he cultivates is a 

 point of great importance to the grower. To determine 

 what constitutes hardiness is not easy. Neither is it defi- 

 nitely known what method of treatment is best adapted 

 to prevent winter injury. Conditions of season and of 

 growth undoubtedly affect the result in great measure. 

 Disease or excessive summer heat may so weaken plants 

 that they are unable to withstand the most favorable 

 winter. Strong healthy plants, on the other hand, will 



