50 



be strengthened. If a cane is six feet high I would reduce it to 

 four feet. If a cane is but three feet in height I would not leave 

 more than eighteen inches to bear the next season ; small canes 

 show a lack of vigor which must be increased by pruning. If 

 there are side branches, I would cut off two-thirds of their 

 length. This is one of the cases -in which we suffer loss through 

 our avarice, and usually it takes years of experience to teach 

 one to prune his raspberries and grapevines with sufficient rigor. 

 I was once taught a very useful lesson in this respect. I had 

 some raspberries which were called hardy. They were up to 

 the point where the snow covered them — about two feet that 

 winter, but the tops were killed. From those canes, but two 

 feet high, we picked more and better fruit than from a row five 

 feet in height that had been covered. Where the ground is 

 rich and the canes vigorous I think that three and a half to four 

 feet is a good height. Early in November or just before freezing 

 weather, bend down and cover with earth all the foreign and 

 half-hardy kinds. The best way to do this is to let a man throw 

 a spade full of earth up against the hills on one side. Then 

 let a boy bend the canes (all in one direction) gently down 

 over these little mounds, which prevent their breaking by 

 making too sharp an angle, while a man covers them with earth. 

 The work can be done ftir more rapidly, by two men — one work- 

 ing on each side of the row, and by this method a great many 

 plants can be covered in a day. It is best to cover them well, 

 so that the rains will not wash the soil away and uncover 

 the canes. Early in spring after the heavy frosts are past, first 

 remove the earth on each side of the plants and then raise them 

 by placing a fork carefully under the ends and lifting them gently. 



Early in spring place stakes by the side of the hills with a 

 crow-bar and tie up the canes at once, using soft but strong 

 twine. Tie up the ends of the canes snugly as well as lower 

 down, otherwise they break with the wind or their burden of 

 fruit. 



Next loosen the ground thoroughly between the rows with a 

 fork, digging in a dressing of manure, and then mulch as before. 



