234 Home Vegetable Gardening 



up altogether too much wood. This must be cut 

 out to four or five of the new canes and all the 

 canes that have borne fruit should be cut and burned 

 each season as soon as through fruiting. The 

 canes, for instance, that grow in 191 1 will be those 

 to fruit in 1912, after which they should be imme- 

 diately removed. The new canes, if they are to 

 be self-supporting, as sometimes grown, should be 

 cut back when three or four feet high. 



It is best, however, to give support. In the case 

 of those varieties which make fruiting side-shoots, 

 as most of the black raspberries (blackcaps) do, 

 the canes should be cut back at two to three feet, 

 and it is well also to cut back these side shoots one- 

 third to one-half, early in the spring. 



In cold sections (New York or north of it) it is 

 safest to give winter protection by "laying down" the 

 canes and giving them a mulch of rough material. 

 Having them near the ground is in itself a great 

 protection, as they will not be exposed to sun and 

 wind and will sometimes be covered with snow. 



For mulching, the canes are bent over nearly at 

 the soil and a shovelful of earth thrown on the tips 

 to hold them down ; the entire canes may then be 

 covered with soil or rough manure, but do not put 

 it on until freezing weather is at hand. If a mulch 

 is used, it must be taken off before growth starts 

 in the spring. 



