180 



SMALL FRUIT CTJLTIJRIST. 



pair of shears with long handles (Fig. 80) is used, cutting 

 them as near to the ground as 

 possible. A simple and equally ef 

 cient pruning implement is made 

 by attaching a hooked knife to a 

 handle of convenient length, as 

 shown in fig. 81. The manner of 

 using it is sufficiently ob- 

 vious. The young canes 

 should be headed back to 

 four or five feet, and the 

 lateral branches to a foot 

 or eighteen inches. If too 

 many suckers have grown, 

 so that they are likely to 

 crowd, then remove a por- 

 tion of them, as directed 

 for the RasiDberry. All va- 

 rieties of the Blackberry 

 produce suckers very free- 

 ly, and, unless they are 

 wanted, all should be destroyed 

 as soon as they appear, except those 

 reserved for next season's crop. 

 The Blackberry may be propagated as directed for 

 the Raspberry, cuttings of the roots usually making the 

 best j)lants. 



Fig. 80. 



VARIETIES. 



Cut-Leaved. — -Fruit roundish, black, grains large, sweet, 

 with a slightly musky flavor ; borne in loose panicles, 

 stems nearly round, more or less trailmg, fertile ones 

 erect ; prickles small at the base, but recurved and strong 

 above, very numerous ; leaves dissected and sharply serrate, 

 as showm in figure 82 ; flowers white or rose color. A 



