54 
BLACKBERRY 
11 j'! ^^^^ simple and fulfills all the requirements. The vines are 
allowed to grow over the ground the first year. Don't pinch or prune 
them but force the growth In the fall cut back all the canes near the 
ground, leaving only a few buds. The second year tie up the canes, as 
they grow, to a temporary stake. In the faU of the second year prune 
leaving one or two canes. Cut away at least one-half of the previous 
year s growth. The treUis can be built any time during the winter after 
the second summer. Posts can be set 16 feet apart, between every second 
vine, borne growers prefer three wires. Two are usuaUy enough, 3]4 
leet and 5 feet above the ground. & > /'^ 
After the second summer the vine can be allowed to bear a fuU crop 
Prune in the fall, leaving three of the one-year-old canes, which start 
from near the ground, all of about the same length. The two outer canes 
* "Ji J °® *° *0P "^^^ wlien stretched at an angle 
ot 45 degrees. The third cane is run straight to the top wire 
Sometimes such a cane will contain twelve or fifteen buds or joints 
With a variety that has short internodes or joints like the Delaware, 
tnere will be fifteen or twenty buds on a cane of the above length. Thirty 
truiting buds are enough for a vine of ordinary strength, such as Moore's 
iJjarly. borne varieties are stronger and more productive than others, and 
tninning is often necessary. 
Never let a vine over-bear. It will weaken the vine and mean a light 
crop next year. If a vine is allowed to set a very large crop, it will not be 
able to ripen it. 
Blackberry 
Blackberries do well in nearly all parts of the country. They are 
persistent growers and will succeed on all soils, although they thrive best 
on a fertile loam. They are later ripening than most other berries, and 
where the soil is thin and sandy they should be planted on a north slope 
It possible, as they are less apt to suffer from a dry summer. 
The plants should be set in rows 4 to 6 feet wide, with the plants 2 
to 3 feet apart in the rows. The upright-growing varieties do not need so 
much room as those that are inclined to droop. The more fertile the soil 
the more room the plants should have. The plants put up suckers from 
the roots so that the row soon forms a continuous hedge. 
Setting the The ground should be prepared as shown on page 11. If 
Plants there are only a few plants to be set, they can be put in 
with an ordinary garden spade by shoving it into the 
ground and pressing to one side so as to open up the hole. However, the 
best method is to plow out a furrow about 8 inches deep along the row 
where the plants are to be set. Place the plants against the land-side of 
the furrow. They should be set just as deep as they stood in the nursery 
row. The foot or a hoe can be used to pull the loose dirt against them, 
and tramp so as to hold them in place. After the row has been set in this 
way, the plow should be run back in the opposite direction so as to throw 
the dirt back into the furrow, and then plants should be given a second 
tramping, so as to have the dirt around them good and firm. 
Pruning at The tops of blackberry plants are usually cut off be- 
PlflTiHno- Tim#> ^^^^ shipped from the nursery. If not, they 
XT laiiujig X iiiic should be removed, leaving them about 4 or 5 inches 
long. The blackberry and red raspberry send up sprouts from the roots, 
and after one or two season's growth form a solid, continuous hedge of 
the canes; and, unless care is used, a great many of the sucker plants 
will sprout in the middle of the row. For this reason these two fruits are 
best raised in the form of a hedge-row. The black raspberry, on the other 
hand, does not send up sprouts from the roots, but forms a single crown, 
or stool, and wherever desired it can be planted in check-rows and culti- 
vated both ways. When the new canes are about 18 inches to 2 feet tall, 
