48 FRUIT FARMING 



RASPBERRIES are generally too little pruned ; the 

 forests of cane which the best grounds produce would 

 pay for thinning as soon as the crop is gathered ; and 

 at the same time the old canes that have fruited 

 should be removed, to assist those that are to crop the 

 following year, and in February or earlier, the canes 

 should be shortened to about 4 feet long, according 

 to the strength of the cane, the object being to leave 

 as much as the cane can support without assistance, 

 as they are not staked in fields. Some growers gather 

 the shoots at the top with yarn, which prevents the 

 canes bearing down under the weight of foliage and 

 fruit, which may happen in showery weather. Where 

 Raspberries are grown for sale in punnets, it pays to 

 leave the canes longer, and arch them over, tying 

 them in a continuous line. One grower states that by 

 tipping back the points of the summer growth on 

 young canes in August, he increased his crop to three 

 tons per acre. The land should be cleaned as directed 

 for Strawberries. 



Early in August, Apple trees, especially those from 

 five to ten years old, will pay well for attention. The 

 Americans understand a good many of these matters 

 quite as well as we do, and they always have their 

 trees thinned out in August or immediately after the 

 fruit is picked ; this system is strongly advocated and 

 practised in the Allington Nurseries of my firm. The 

 correct plan is to thin out the superfluous central 

 wood so as to admit all the light and air possible to 

 ripen the main branches. If pruned too early in the 

 year, the trees make a second shoot, which does harm. 

 The month of August is the best time for this 

 " summer pruning." It is immaterial whether the fruit 



