164 



THE FRUIT GARDEN 



Espalier Pruning 



Established plants, showing — (c) fruited 

 canes cut out in pruning ; ( /) succes- 

 sional bearing canes pruned back to 

 well ripened wood, as the sappy and 

 immature extremities cannot be'.;relied 

 upon to bear fine fruit. 



October. It is not uncommon to find a few rows of these double bearers 



(an unfortunate name, by-the-bye) grow- 

 ing with the summer sorts, and from them 

 some late dishes are obtained ; but the 

 culture which requires two crops from 

 the plants defeats the object for which 

 they are grown, as the first crop, borne 

 on last year's canes, strains their resources 

 and prevents the second crop, borne on canes 

 of the current year's growth, from being 

 anything but an average one. Why it is 

 left for raspberries to produce two crops 

 while we are content with one of any other 

 fruit is a mystery. The summer crop on 

 the autumn bearers (such as Belle de Fon- 

 tenay, the best and finest, and the red and 

 yellow Four Seasons, which are both very 

 prolific) is not necessary, as the regular 

 summer bearers should then be providing 

 quite sufficient. 



My practice is to cut down the autumn 



fruiters to the ground in February or March, and to thin out the new suckers 



which appear soon after sufficiently to allow them 



plenty of room. Any extra strong sucker which 



may appear well ahead of the rest should be cut 



away, as this in a cold season will continue growing 



without fruiting, and weaken the medium-sized 



growths. From about forty yards' run of canes I 



have picked, about the middle of October, 18 lbs. of 



as fine fruit as one could wish to see. 



Autumn raspberries, like the summer varieties, 



enjoy liberal treatment, and the ground when 



being prepared should at least be deeply dug, and 



as the beds ought to last for many years some 



good manure from the stockyard, together with 



any bones, burnt rubbish, and anything that will 



tend permanently to enrich the soil should be dug 



in. October and November are the best months 



for planting, and the canes should be from suckers 



that have appeared at some distance from the old 



stools, as these are most likely to grow away 



freely. Each year a good mulching of manure 

 is given in March or April, and in dry seasons 

 on hot soils it may be necessary to give soakings 

 of water, though in this respect the autumn bearers 



are more independent than others, as they have no old growth to support. 



Training to Upright Stake, 

 AND Removing Surplus 

 Suckers 



Plant shown second season after 

 planting ; (^) stake (ash , Spanish 

 chestnut, or larch is best) driven 

 firmly into ground i8 inches or 

 more, and about 4 feet above the 

 soil; (A) last season's cane bear- 

 ing fruit; (i) strong successional 

 canes for fruiting the following 

 season ; [k) surplus suckers 

 wh ich sliould be pulled up when 

 quite small. 



