14 



W. F. ALLEN, Strawberry Specialist, SALISBURY, MARYLAND 



The tops or canes of the Red Raspberry, like those of the 

 blackberry, are biennial, and are to be cut out after the 

 fruiting season is over. Three or four good canes are 

 suflScient in a hill, and all suckers should be kept hoed out. 

 New caneS can then gather strength for ripening next crop. 

 Planting and ^^^^ the old Antwerp varieties were 

 CultivcUion grown, it was common to plant them 6 



feet apart each way, but with the varie- 

 ties now grown commercially we have found that rows 6 

 feet apart and plants 3 feet in the row give the best 

 results. In very strong garden soil it may be better to 

 give a little more room in the rows. In planting, the canes 

 should be cut back well, for the first season's growth should 

 be devoted entirely to the making of strong canes for the 

 following season's fruiting. This is also true of all Rasp- 

 berries and blackberries. The best fertilizer for Red Rasp- 

 berries is rotten stable manure, but where this cannot be 

 had any high grade commercial fertilizer may be used in 

 a Hberal manner. Bone meal seems to be especially suited 

 to the needs of the plants. Clean cultivation and level 

 culture is important through the whole season, making it 

 rather shallow to prevent the formation of too many 

 suckers, and where the cultivator does not reach in the 

 rows the hoe must come in to clean the weeds, for weed 

 growth of any sort draws the needed moisture from the 

 plants and makes it difficult to pick the berries. 

 Pruning Some growers prefer to let the full growth be 

 ^ made during the season, and to shorten back 

 the leading cane and the side shoots in spring. A better 



plan, I think, is to pinch the leading shoots at about 4 feet 

 to induce more side shoots, and these, if necessary, may be 

 somewhat shortened in the spring. The main pruning for 

 all the Rubus tribe is the cutting out of the old canes 

 after the fruit is off. Some defer this until the canes are 

 dead in the fall, but this interferes to a great extent with 

 the growth of the new canes, and it is better to cut out 

 the old ones as soon as the fruit crop is over. They are 

 far more easily handled then than when dead and brittle. 

 Training- ^^^Y growers still adhere to training to 

 ^ stakes, but where the summer pinching is 

 attended to the plants get bushy enough to stand upright 

 well and stakes are not necessary in the field. The varie- 

 ties now generally grown are better suited to this method 

 than the old Antwerp varieties of the European class. 

 In the garden, where neatness is an object, the plants can 

 be trained out on chicken-wire, in a sort of fan-shape, and 

 tied to the wire trelHs. This chicken-wire makes the best 

 support in the garden for all sorts of climbing plants, like 

 beans, peas, blackberries and dewberries. With simple, 

 systematic care more satisfactory results are obtained from 

 raspberries than from most other fruits. 

 Winter ^^ ^^^^ climates, north of Maryland, it is 



Protection ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ some protection to the canes of 

 the Red Raspberry in winter. The best 

 and most simple plan is to bend the canes down along the 

 rows and cover with earth from the middles. This is 

 done late in the fall, and the earth removed, after hard 

 freezing is over in spring. 



