EASPBEKEY. 



159 



They may be set either in fall or in spring ; if in fall, a 

 covering of four or five inches of litter should be spread 

 over the roots to prevent them from getting too much 

 frozen. And even when the plants are established and 

 growing, it is necessary in many cold sections, to bend 

 down the canes and cover them with pine branches or 

 some covering that will shield them from severe freezing. 

 On the large scale the canes are bent down and covered 

 with a few inches of earth, an operation that may be 

 rapidly performed by two persons. One bends down the 



Fig. 65. —LAYING DOWN RASPBERRY CANES. 



canes, (using a pitchfork or other implement), as shown 

 in the accompanying diagram, (fig. 65), while the other 

 throws sufficient earth near the tips to hold the canes in 

 place ; after a row is thus bent over, the two go back 

 and cover with earth more completely. All the 

 pruning that is necessary for the Easpberry is to 

 thin out the shoots in each hill to four or six ; this 

 is best done in the summer after the fruit is gathered, and 

 at the same time the old canes that have borne the 

 fruit should be cut out, so that the young shoots, coming 

 forward to do duty next season, may have room to grow 

 freely, and develop and ripen the wood. "When the leaves 

 drop in fall, the canes may be shortened down a foot or 

 so, which will complete the pruning process. To get the 

 full benefit of all the fruit, it is very necessary to stake 

 the Easpberry, this may be done either by tying the canes 

 of each plant separately to a stout stake, driven two feet 



