STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETT. 69 



others have withdrawn. In open field culture I plant in rows five 

 feet apart. I put the plants one foot apart and let them multiply 

 until I get quite a hedge. I prepare the ground as I would for black- 

 berries. I usually plant beans, &c., on the same ground the first 

 year. The crop often pays for the use of the land and care. 



Raspberry canes need a support in the fruiting season. Without 

 it the weight of berries and the foliage with the dew or rain causes 

 them to fall to the ground where the fruit gets soiled and the later 

 blossoms are blighted. They also need support in winter. Rasp- 

 berrN" canes are weak and bre.ak down easily under weight of snow. 

 Where but few are cultivated for home use it is easier to plant in 

 hills and tie up each hill to a stake with wool twine or any other soft 

 string, cIosel3' for wintering and loosely for the fruiting season. 

 When planted on a larger scale and in the hedge-row system, I have 

 tried a number of plans. I first used a line of wire on each side of 

 the row. This is by far the cheapest support. I found that where 

 the canes rested heavily upon the wire the}' were subject to rust. I 

 have discarded that method on that account. I think the safest and 

 best way is to nail small round poles to a line of stakes on each side 

 of the row and tack laths across at intervals. I have this A'ear a 

 very strong growth of canes and have gathered them at the top into 

 compact bunches and tied them with twine on a piece set one year 

 ago last May, and not 3^et thickened up to a hedge. Most varieties 

 of this berry, like the blackberry, throw up new canes from the root. 

 The black cap is an exception and must be layered. 



I presume it is understood b}' all that canes never bear but once, 

 and of course upon the vigor and numbers of new canes produced in 

 any one year, depends the next year's crop. The old canes should be 

 removed. When to do this is a disputed point. The correct theory 

 is to do it as soon as the fruit is off. Unless the new canes are very 

 stocky and well supported, the old ones are a stay and support to 

 them and for that reason I usually take them out after the snow is 

 olf in the spring. Like the blackberry, successful wintering and a 

 good crop next year both depend very much upon the time and man- 

 ner of pruning. No definite rule can be given to meet all circum- 

 stances. It depends upon the season, whether wet or dry ; upon the 

 situation, exposed or sheltered; upon the rapidity of their growth. 

 I will say, however, that I should not allow them to grow over two 

 feet high the year they were set. In succeeding years not over three 

 and a half feet. Sometimes it is necessary to prune twice if the 



