4 The Coeorado Experiment Station. 
in the rows. This distance gives ample room for thorough cul¬ 
tivation and irrigation. If planted closer, the roots will not have 
sufficient feeding room and the plants will crowd one another. 
Thorough cultivation is just as important as irrigation; in fact, 
more so, as the number of irrigations ordinarily given can be re¬ 
duced by one-half if frequent and thorough cultivation is prac¬ 
ticed. Ordinarily the plants are obtained from some nursery. 
Plants taken from a nearby plantation of known varieties and 
free from disease, give excellent results. Only young plants or 
suckers should be planted. 
Few fruits are produced the second year, and the aim should 
be to grow strong, vigorous plants rather than early fruit produc¬ 
tion. After the plantation comes into bearing, each plant or hill 
should not be allowed to grow more than twelve new canes each 
year. These should be reduced to eight or ten in the spring. The 
extra canes are to replace those that happen to break in covering 
and uncovering. All others should be removed as soon as they ap¬ 
pear. By keeping these young canes or suckers down, the strength 
is thrown into the main canes, thus promoting stronger growth and 
greater fruiting capacity. 
As soon as the picking season is over, all the canes that bore 
fruit should be cut out and burned. Cut as closely to the ground as 
possible; otherwise the crown of the plant becomes elevated and 
thus increases the difficulty of covering in the fall of the year; also 
the root system tends to become shallow and concentrated in the 
ridge along the row. Keep the land around the bushes and the row 
as level as possible. 
Pruning .—Extensive experiments have been made as to the 
value of pruning the red raspberry to encourage lateral branching 
and thus the production of more fruiting wood. Almost without 
exception, these experiments have been negative; in other words, 
no beneficial effect from the pruning has been obtained. In the case 
of healthy cane growth, it may be advisable to cut back the canes in 
the spring after uncovering. If pruning is done in midsummer, the 
secondary branches formed will be more or less destroyed in cov¬ 
ering and uncovering and nothing is gained. The purple-cane va¬ 
rieties are generally cut back either in the fall or the spring. This 
cutting back is almost necessary, since the canes often grow to the 
length of ten or twelve feet. From one to four feet is cut off, de¬ 
pending upon the length of the canes. 
While training or supports are not necessary in growing the 
red raspberries, for the purple-caned varieties and the black-cap, a 
