February, 1918 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
85 
think of doing without them. The 
best way to attach the ratchets to 
the post is to first fasten one to 
each end of a fifteen inch piece of 
trellis wire by twisting the ends of 
the wire in the form of a hook and 
honking into the eye of the rat- 
chet, then closing up the hook so 
it can't slip off. Place this wire 
and ratchets crossways against 
the back of the post 20 inches 
from the ground and staple it mid- 
way between the two ratchets ; 
then take the ratchets, one in each 
hand, and pull them forward to- 
ward the front of the post ; attach 
end of trellis wire to roller of rat- 
chet and string wire to other end 
of row, go around the post with it 
and back on the other side and 
attach wire to the other ratchet. 
Lay the wires up on the cross- 
arms and staple them one foot 
apart. Don’t drive staple down 
tight against wire but leave so 
wire will slip through as it is 
tightened. It is a good plan to 
put across a tie wire half way be- 
tween the stakes, otherwise the 
weight of the bushes is apt to 
spread the wires a little too far 
apart at those points. Any old 
rusty wire will do for that pur- 
pose. A roll of old telephone wire 
will furnish material for a long 
time. Now tighten up the wires 
by turning up the ratchets and all 
is ready to begin trimming. 
For trimming use leather gloves. 
Go down one side at a time and 
with pruning shears cut loose from 
the ground all branches on that 
side that have taken root and as 
you go along bend all branches 
around and up between the wires, 
thinning out of course, if too 
thick, and removing all diseased 
branches. 
The idea of tying raspberries is, 
I know, more than most growers 
can swallow. Hut we tie grape- 
vines, often making two or three 
ties to one cane; while with rasp- 
berries we never tie a branch more 
than once and much oftener two 
at a time and frequently three or 
four at a time. Many are not tied 
at all as they are prevented from 
coming down by the tying of the 
others. So the work goes along 
quite rapidly. 
For tying I use grape twine, 
such as is used in the Michigan 
grape-growing district. It comes 
in balls just the right size to go 
in the pocket and unwinds from 
the center of the ball. 
To protect the hands while ty- 
ing wear cotton flannel gloves 
with the ends of the thumbs and 
forefingers cut off, which liber- 
ates the fingers so they can make 
the tie. The twine is cut with the 
pruning shears, which are held be- 
tween the knees while making the 
tie. It makes an easier job of it 
to trim a row, then tie a row. 
When the trimming and tying is 
completed it is time to dig out 
the plants from between the rows 
and set out a new patch. When 
plants are out of the way proceed 
to cultivate and hoe and do it fre- 
quently until along toward fall, — 
especially the cultivating. The 
new growth will begin to start 
soon after we are through trim- 
ming. Sprouts from the crowns 
of these yearlings will shoot up- 
ward very rapidly and we must 
give attention to those shoots for 
they are what form the bushes 
that bear the fruit the following 
year. Go down the rows occa- 
sionally with a knife and clip the 
ends from all shoots that are as 
much as eighteen inches high. The 
rows will soon be a mass of green 
and as attractive to look at as a 
well-kept ornamental hedge and 
will attract a lot of attention, es- 
pecially along about the Fourth of 
July when they are covered with 
ripening fruit. 
We are now done with pruning 
until the spring of the next year, 
when all badly diseased bushes 
must be removed and the branches 
on those we leave cut back. 
The bushes of this second year’s 
growth are much larger and 
stronger than those of the first 
year and with the support of the 
wire will stand without tying. It 
is a good plan at this time to bring 
the wires on the cross arms closer 
together, also to tie the wires be- 
tween the stakes together. By so 
doing the bushes are more firmly 
held. Rake brush from between 
the rows and cultivate until crop 
is gathered ; then mow it off and 
plow it up. Managed in this way 
the very finest of black raspber- 
ries can still be profitably grown. 
SOME RECENT SIGNIFICANT 
FACTS IN HORTICULTURE. 
Prof. J. G. Moore at Annual 
Convention. 
There is an old saying to the 
effect that “Coming events cast 
their shadows before them.” The 
prophet of old was the man who, 
reading the “signs of the times” 
had the ability to reason out what 
the logical result of the current 
action would be. We are horticul- 
tural prophets only in so far as we 
observe present tendencies and 
correctly interpret their ultimate 
influence on horticultural develop- 
ment. In interpreting the facts, 
we should be exceedingly careful 
not to let our desires for certain 
results prejudice our interpreta- 
tion. We are all desirous of see- 
ing horticulture and the hortieul- 
